and Triton where they sat in armchairs opposite my stance by the sofa. When I finished, Cosmil nodded.
“The contact has further opened your fourth chakra,” Cosmil said when I finished. “You are bonded with the medallion.”
“Like super-duper glue?”
“More like contact cement,” Triton chimed in. He sat with an ankle propped on his knee, unconsciously jiggling his foot. “The same thing happened to me with the Atlantean amulet.”
Saber gave him a sharp glance. “Atlantean?”
“It’s the mate to Cesca’s Lemuria medallion. The one the Hawaiian shaman gave me. I found the Atlantean amulet during my dive trip to Bimini in June.”
“Lemuria, or Mu, was the sister civilization to Atlantis,” Cosmil explained. “It was before my time, but it is said that because Mu perished first, the Atlantean’s lost their divine feminine balance and thus self-destructed.”
“I know the mythology,” Saber said to Cosmil, then addressed Triton. “What I don’t believe is that you just happened to stumble across a second disk.”
“I didn’t stumble. I swam across it. I was led to the amulet by a mermaid.”
“For pity’s sake, Triton,” I snarled, “I don’t care if Disney characters sang you under the sea to the medallion. Your hands don’t have a single one of these inkless tattoos on them. Why not?”
“Because I’m not holding my piece.”
I inclined my head toward Cosmil in silent question.
“Place the medallion on the table, Francesca.”
I did, and the imprints faded.
“Now hold the amulet again,” Triton said.
This time I scooped the disk into my left hand. The marks glowed on my right hand but looked more like faded scars than fresh ones. I rolled the amulet from palm to palm, absorbing its angles and textures. The symbols waxed with the amulet in my right hand, waned with it in the left.
Okay, I could live with this. Now to ask the question of the hour. The one I didn’t really want to ask.
“What are the magick words that make this work?”
“Beg your pardon?”
“Triton murmured a string of words when he slapped it on the vampire’s chest, Cosmil. Like an activation code or something.”
“I see.”
“Good. So how do I turn this on?”
Triton snorted. “You could talk dirty to it.”
I didn’t think I’d heard right, but Triton’s smarmy smirk tripped my temper. Without conscious thought, I closed my hand over the etched copper and smooth crystal.
“You are so dead,” I snapped.
A pop, a flash of heat, and blinding beams of light suddenly shot from every facet of the hexagon.
Triton flew backward out of his chair in an arc and thudded into Cosmil’s front door.
EIGHT
I eyed Triton’s crumpled body and the wisp of smoke curling from the charred circle on his shirtfront. Oops was not gonna cover this.
Saber shot me a sardonic glance as he rose to go to Triton’s aid.
Cosmil chuckled, and I whirled on him.
“You told me the amulet wasn’t a loaded gun.”
“I also told you the medallion responded to intent.” The wizard’s eyes twinkled. “Triton agreed to, I believe the expression is, piss you off.”
“With the amulet in my hand?” I dropped the still-warm crystal on the sofa. “Cosmil, I could’ve killed Triton.”
“No, for no matter your words, you had no true intent of murder, manslaughter, or maiming.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about the maiming,” I muttered.
Cosmil shook his head. “Francesca, it was our way of testing your ability with the medallion. Triton’s crude remark elicited your reaction, and the medallion focused your disgust.”
“In other words, I got ticked and I went after him.”
“Precisely. Of course, lashing out is not the way to defeat Starrack and the Void.”
“Duh,” was on the tip of my tongue, but I got distracted seeing movement from the corner of my eye. Triton was on his feet. Wavering but upright, with a hand on Saber’s shoulder.
“You okay?”
I started toward him, but his sour
“The contact has further opened your fourth chakra,” Cosmil said when I finished. “You are bonded with the medallion.”
“Like super-duper glue?”
“More like contact cement,” Triton chimed in. He sat with an ankle propped on his knee, unconsciously jiggling his foot. “The same thing happened to me with the Atlantean amulet.”
Saber gave him a sharp glance. “Atlantean?”
“It’s the mate to Cesca’s Lemuria medallion. The one the Hawaiian shaman gave me. I found the Atlantean amulet during my dive trip to Bimini in June.”
“Lemuria, or Mu, was the sister civilization to Atlantis,” Cosmil explained. “It was before my time, but it is said that because Mu perished first, the Atlantean’s lost their divine feminine balance and thus self-destructed.”
“I know the mythology,” Saber said to Cosmil, then addressed Triton. “What I don’t believe is that you just happened to stumble across a second disk.”
“I didn’t stumble. I swam across it. I was led to the amulet by a mermaid.”
“For pity’s sake, Triton,” I snarled, “I don’t care if Disney characters sang you under the sea to the medallion. Your hands don’t have a single one of these inkless tattoos on them. Why not?”
“Because I’m not holding my piece.”
I inclined my head toward Cosmil in silent question.
“Place the medallion on the table, Francesca.”
I did, and the imprints faded.
“Now hold the amulet again,” Triton said.
This time I scooped the disk into my left hand. The marks glowed on my right hand but looked more like faded scars than fresh ones. I rolled the amulet from palm to palm, absorbing its angles and textures. The symbols waxed with the amulet in my right hand, waned with it in the left.
Okay, I could live with this. Now to ask the question of the hour. The one I didn’t really want to ask.
“What are the magick words that make this work?”
“Beg your pardon?”
“Triton murmured a string of words when he slapped it on the vampire’s chest, Cosmil. Like an activation code or something.”
“I see.”
“Good. So how do I turn this on?”
Triton snorted. “You could talk dirty to it.”
I didn’t think I’d heard right, but Triton’s smarmy smirk tripped my temper. Without conscious thought, I closed my hand over the etched copper and smooth crystal.
“You are so dead,” I snapped.
A pop, a flash of heat, and blinding beams of light suddenly shot from every facet of the hexagon.
Triton flew backward out of his chair in an arc and thudded into Cosmil’s front door.
EIGHT
I eyed Triton’s crumpled body and the wisp of smoke curling from the charred circle on his shirtfront. Oops was not gonna cover this.
Saber shot me a sardonic glance as he rose to go to Triton’s aid.
Cosmil chuckled, and I whirled on him.
“You told me the amulet wasn’t a loaded gun.”
“I also told you the medallion responded to intent.” The wizard’s eyes twinkled. “Triton agreed to, I believe the expression is, piss you off.”
“With the amulet in my hand?” I dropped the still-warm crystal on the sofa. “Cosmil, I could’ve killed Triton.”
“No, for no matter your words, you had no true intent of murder, manslaughter, or maiming.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about the maiming,” I muttered.
Cosmil shook his head. “Francesca, it was our way of testing your ability with the medallion. Triton’s crude remark elicited your reaction, and the medallion focused your disgust.”
“In other words, I got ticked and I went after him.”
“Precisely. Of course, lashing out is not the way to defeat Starrack and the Void.”
“Duh,” was on the tip of my tongue, but I got distracted seeing movement from the corner of my eye. Triton was on his feet. Wavering but upright, with a hand on Saber’s shoulder.
“You okay?”
I started toward him, but his sour
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