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“The cards tell me she hasn’t left Fairhaven.”
“Can they narrow down the location?”
“No, it isn’t a locator spell. It works differently, although I thought the reading would provide more clarity.” Camryn pondered the cards. “It’s like she’s both here and not here.”
“That’s a relief,” Nana Pratt said. “It means we should be able to find her, right?” She floated back and forth behind Camryn’s chair. “What if Ray and I visited every house in town? We could…” Her gaze met mine, and she stopped talking. “We can’t leave, can we?”
I shook my head. “Unfortunately not.”
“That’s disappointing. I’d very much like to help find my granddaughter.”
I offered a sympathetic smile. “You’re a good grandma.”
“Lucky Ashley. My grandmother used to call me fat and told me no man would ever want me if I didn’t grow out of my chubby phase.” Camryn gathered her cards into a pile and stuffed them into their packet. “I was ten.”
I winced.
“What else can you do with your cards?” I asked. Gunther’s display had intrigued me.
Camryn shook her box of Nerds, and I could tell from the lack of sound that it was now empty. She set the box on the table. “A lot.”
That was a vague and unhelpful answer, although one I was intimately familiar with. I decided to press a little harder. “Can you make someone froth at the mouth?”
Her mouth formed a thin line. “Did Gun do that again? I keep telling him it’s a bad idea.”
“Is he the only one who does that?”
“He’s the only mage that theatrical. Anybody else would simply give the target a stomach virus and call it a day.”
“You don’t need cards for that. That’s what undercooked chicken is for.”
She smirked. “Cards work faster.” She clutched her Chanel purse under her arm. “It was a pleasure doing business with you, Miss Clay. My regards to your spirits.”
“Thank you,” Nana Pratt called, waving after her.
I walked Camryn to the door, curious to see whether the shamans would lay their kaftans across the grass for her to cross. The men, however, were nowhere to be seen.
Camryn craned her neck to look at me as she stepped onto the porch. “Tell me, what do you have that Kane wants?”
“Excuse me?”
“Kane Sullivan doesn’t do favors for just anybody.”
“He thinks a missing young woman is bad for his business.”
Camryn cocked her head, studying me. “He would say that, wouldn’t he? Hmm.” She turned and sauntered down the steps to the walkway, stepping daintily over any cracks in the pavement.
Ray appeared on the porch. “Why didn’t the smoke clear us out?”
“For one thing, you were already outside. There were no spirits inside the house to cleanse.”
“What if we’d wandered in unawares?” Nana Pratt asked, moving to join Ray outside.
“Burning sage alone wouldn’t have been enough. They’d need more ingredients.” It was like Jessie Talbot’s wreath; there were a few accurate details but not enough to get the job done.
The elderly woman appeared visibly relieved. “Good to know.”
“The smoke can work as a bridge between worlds.”
