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“Ah. The massacred coven.” A slow comprehension spread over Tia’s face. “I should have realized there was a connection. Where did your mother find the magic?”
“I have no idea. Only one of the coven survived, and she said my mother returned to the ranch with a statue in the shape of an owl.”
“A survivor? Where is she?”
“We left her at the ranch,” Peri said, not about to reveal that they suspected Destiny was connected with the evil magic. “She said something about returning home.”
Tia hesitated, easily sensing that Peri wasn’t being entirely truthful, but she didn’t press for more information. No doubt she had a dozen servants to go in search of the missing witch.
“How did the magic travel from your mother’s barn to the Jackalope Station?”
“Another question I can’t answer,” Peri admitted, turning the questions back on her companion. “Can the magic take a human form?”
Tia’s brows snapped tighter. “I never considered the possibility.” Her frown deepened. “Are you suggesting it has become sentient?”
When Tia said the words out loud they sounded ridiculous. Magic was an extension of the mage or witch. Like a sculpture creating a work of art out of a lump of clay. It wasn’t a living, breathing creature.
Of course, the miasma was created from raw emotion, not an actual spell or potion. No. Peri wrinkled her nose. It still seemed implausible.
“Not really. I’m just thinking outside the box.”
“Hmm.” Tia shook her head. “It seems…doubtful.”
“Can the miasma infect someone?” She asked the second question preying on her mind.
Tia narrowed her eyes. “Why are you asking? Do you think the miasma has invaded the body of someone? Perhaps the missing witch?”
Peri surged to her feet. She shouldn’t have revealed her suspicions. Not to a power-hungry mage who acted as if the return of the miasma was something to be celebrated, not treated as an epic disaster.
“I don’t know what happened or how it could have gotten to the bar.”
“Then why were you there?”
“It destroyed my mother. I’m trying to keep it from harming anyone else.”
“Very noble.” Tia’s tone was mocking. “And Valen?”
“The same.”
“Where is the magic now?”
Okay. Enough. She wasn’t going to get the answers she’d hoped for, and worse, she’d revealed more than she should have. Definitely a lose-lose encounter.
“I don’t know. Not yet. But I intend to find it and send it back to the hell it came from.” With stiff movements, Peri crossed the room. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“Where do you think you’re going?” Tia demanded sharply.
“Anywhere I want.”
“I don’t think so.”
Peri halted, slowly turning to face the older mage. “Excuse me?”
There was a strange glitter in the dark eyes. “The miasma is the magic in my dreams,” Tia hissed. “It has to be. There’s nothing that can equal such raw power. Not even a leech.”
Peri stared at her in disbelief. It was one thing to be in awe of the power of the miasma. It was a whole other thing to think it could offer more than a painful death.
“It can’t be controlled.”
