The Final Catch: Book 2: See Jane Hex (The Tarot Sorceress Series) by Rhea Rose Page B

to stay out of the way of her sword tip, but Emilia was too swift and cut a string on my outfit! My top popped off! I scrambled to keep my kimono wrapped around me as the top slipped down around my ankles.
    “Darkiness!” Maisie yelled. The sound of her sharp voice snapped us out of our dancing reverie.
    When Emilia saw what she’d done, she said, “Oopsy.” She stared down at my ankles where my top rested.
    “Darkiness, if you weren't death, I'd kill you,” Maisie said. Emilia shrugged like it was no big deal.
    I stepped free of the top, and wrapped comfortably in the kimono, I picked up the piece  handed the ruined costume back to Maisie, who snatched it from me and threw it at Emilia. It clung to her like silver and jeweled egg yolk.
    “You're going to fix this!”
    “I can't sew.”
    I saw that Maisie was working herself up into some kind of fury and I didn’t feel like being in the middle of it. I was making my way back to the washroom when I remembered something that I thought might help ease the situation.
    “Wait. Don't sweat it. I've got something I think might work.” I remembered that I’d left my shopping on the front counter and went back there to search through one of the bags. Emilia and Maisie followed right behind me. I reached deeply into one of the most beautiful shopping bags I’d ever been given and pulled out a bathing suit with the tags still on. It wasn’t any bathing suit it was a glamkini by Galen Takeler. “They've fixed the pool at my condo. Look, only slightly more material here than that thingy.”
    Emilia began to chuckle. “That's a swimsuit?” Maisie didn’t say a thing.  She snatched the ruined part of the magic costume away from Emi.
    “Fine. But Darkiness is going to take this to the tailor and get it repaired,” she said to the two of us.
    Maisie snapped her fingers at me to indicate that I should remove the bottom of the skimpy costume. I wriggled and wiggled in Marilyn Monroe-like fashion and the bottom of the dance costume dropped to my ankles.  I hooked it onto my big toe and flicked the costume up into Maisie's outstretched hand. Then Maisie slammed both pieces at Emi.
    “Both pieces stay together. Take them here.” She gave Emilia a business card. While Emilia studied the card, Maisie turned back to me. I stood there like a mute mannequin holding the glamkini.
    “Put that swim suit on the counter.”
    I placed it there.
    “I'm not so sure about this, so I'm going to give it a little help. Stand back.”
    Emilia and I leaped backwards, bumping shelving and nearly tripping on one another.  Maisie gave us a look. I suppose we did over react a bit to her direction.
    “You might want to see this, Jane.”  She indicted that I should move a little closer. I took one baby step toward her.
    “Can I watch from here?” I took another baby step back toward Emi.
    “We'll watch from here, Emi said, while Maisie adjusted and tweaked the position of the swim suit on the counter. She closed her eyes, and opened them suddenly. I jumped, Emi sniggered.
    Maisie looked like she was in a trance. She turned her back to us and spoke as if she was in a distant land.
    “The magic -- in the dance costume -- will run out soon.” Emi looked down at the pile of sparkling string in her hand.  The costume looked like it had hit its own pumpkin at mid-night moment and was turning back into the fishing line it was probably made from.
    Maisie struggled with her words. With her back to us, it was difficult to tell what she said. She reached under the counter and quickly pulled out a brown paper bag. She shoved it toward me. I took the bag, but Emi slipped it from between my fingers and dropped the strings of ruined costume into it.
    “It must -- be repaired -- quickly, or -- it will -- not -- work again.”
    She paused and looked like she was concentrating as hard as she ever had.  She made gestures with her arms, as if she collected something from the air.  I guessed it was the