Page 230 of The Seven Rings
And stepped back.
The seven brides filled the wall.
Sonya waited, gripping Trey’s hand on one side. Cleo’s on the other.
Her breath expelled on a half laugh. “I think I expected a crescendo of music or bright, flashing lights. Maybe a voice whispering:To retrieve the rings, click your heels together three times.”
She jolted when her phone rang out with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
“No, Clover, we won’t stop believing. I know you’re right, Trey. It matters they’re all up there together. But I guess we’re going to have to wait to find out how.”
Owen stepped back. “Help me get Cleo’s up, Trey. Maybe they just need a boost.”
“Edges,” Cleo reminded them. “Maybe we have to wait until three. Or something’s changed somewhere else in the manor, and we don’t know it yet.”
She turned. “Up a half inch on your side, Trey. Another smidge. That’s got it.”
“Wait!” Sonya waved her hand back, bumped it against Cleo’s shoulder. “Did you see that?”
“What? See what?”
“I thought… Yes! Did you see that? The rings.”
“Where?” Trey moved to her.
“In the paintings! The rings in the paintings. I saw— There! Johanna’s. It glinted. Sparkled. Clover’s. Now it’s Clover’s.”
“I saw that!” Thrilled, Cleo gripped Owen’s arm. “Lisbeth’s. Now hers. One, two,” she counted. “Agatha’s.”
“Now Marianne’s. Wait a beat,” Sonya murmured. “Wait two, yes! Catherine’s. Oh, oh, and Astrid’s. Did everyone see that?”
“Hard to miss if you’re looking.” And because he wanted a closer look, Owen moved forward.
“It’s starting again. Johanna’s.” Trey watched each ring sparkle in turn. “From the last bride to the first. The last ring to the first ring.”
In silence they watched as the pattern continued. Then stopped.
“Seven times. It happened seven times.” Sonya pressed a hand to her lips. “Not exactly bright flashing lights, but close enough.”
“And nothing from Dobbs,” Owen pointed out.
“I’m going to guess she’s either still recovering, recharging, or…” Trey liked his second option more. “She can’t do a damn thing about this, about them.”
“Because they’re together now,” Sonya agreed. “And they want their rings back. That’s as clear as it gets. Just not how.”
“You know the order you need to go to get them back,” Trey pointed out.
She frowned a moment, then pressed her hands to her head. “Last to first. Of course! I was just caught up in the moment, and didn’t think through it. Message also clear, and received.”
“You’re thinking it through now.” Trey could see it on her face. “And you know what you have to do to get them.”
Sonya gave herself a moment to just breathe. “I have to go through the mirror. I have to go through the mirror seven times, in that order, and, somehow, take the rings from the brides before Dobbs does.”
“You won’t go through alone. She won’t be alone,” Owen repeated. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
“Not tonight. I mean that,” Cleo insisted. “This is the answer. I feel that, too. Take the rings before Dobbs can, bring them back through so you can give them back. But there’s a lot more to get ready for, and I still believe, absolutely, it needs to be on Samhain.”
“We can wait, and we should,” Trey agreed. “No rushing in. Plan first. Looks like instead of a movie, we’re going to sit down and figure out what to do, and how to do it.”
