Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire

palm and glared at her younger sister. “Joley! You’re such a rat. All of you stop looking at me that way. Libby, hurry up. I’ve never seen you so slow at this.”
    “Sorry,” Libby murmured, a small frown creasing her face. “I’m just thinking about why this Prakenskii would do this. If he was going to attack one of us with magic, why not do something that would really Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    harm us?”
    “What are the laws of magic?” Sarah asked. “Let’s go back to basics.”
    Hannah shrugged. “I know what you’re getting at, but saying magic can be used as a defense but not an attack is worthless if he’s doing it. Magic is natural and should be used for good and not self-gain, but you know very well it can be turned around.”
    “But he hasn’t harmed anyone,” Libby persisted.
    Joley rubbed her palm along her thigh. “He hurt me.”
    “Maybe it wasn’t on purpose. You pushed magic at him and he shoved back. That’s using magic as a defense, not an offense. Maybe he didn’t intend to shove so hard and you got zapped. He healed your hand, didn’t he? Why would he do that if he seriously intended to harm you?”
    Joley scowled at Libby. “Do not even sound interested in him. Sheesh, Libby. He’s probably stirring a cauldron right now and conjuring up some demon from hell.” She rubbed the pad of her thumb over the injury and shuddered. “I still feel him. It’s as if he left behind his fingerprints on me or something. I hate it.”
    “Let me see.” Libby held out her hand toward Joley.
    Joley took a hasty step back, cradling her hand against her heart. “That’s okay, it’s nothing. We’re supposed to be concentrating on Abbey.”
    Sarah gave a small groan. “Jonas is coming up the steps.”
    She’d hardly given the warning when the front door was flung open and Jonas came striding in. He halted abruptly, observing the hundreds of lit candles, the small table set up facing north with Libby’s equipment for a ritual, and the long wooden staffs made of ancient wood from Italy forming a circle with Abigail and Aleksandr sitting in the center. A scowl settled on his face when his gaze fell on Aleksandr.
    “You’re not going to be killing any chickens, are you?” he greeted the Drake sisters, closing the door with his foot. “I’ve been to Point Arena three times in the past month checking out complaints against Lucinda and I sure don’t want any of that going on here.”
    “You’re so funny, Jonas,” Joley said. “Ha ha ha. As if we’d harm an animal.” She gave an indignant sniff.
    “Hannah’s always harming my hats,” Jonas pointed out. “I’ve taken to buying them in bulk.” He put his hands on his hips and regarded Aleksandr with some amusement in spite of his obvious wariness.
    “You’re a brave man, Mr. Volstov.”
    Aleksandr flashed a brief smile. “My fiancée insists on these strange ceremonies.” He shrugged. “What can I do?”
    “How’s the investigation coming?” Jonas asked. “You any closer to finding your stolen art?”
    “I’m getting there. I wanted to consult with you on a couple of details. Maybe you could give me a few minutes after we’re finished here. And you could fill me in on how your investigation is coming along.”

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    Jonas eyed him with suspicion. “Sure. Gene Dockins, the fisherman Abbey pulled out of the water, is out of the coma, but he doesn’t remember anything at all about the shooting or what led up to it. The doctors say he probably never will.”
    “That’s not uncommon,” Libby said. “I’m so pleased to hear he’s recovering.”
    “Yeah, apparently he made some pretty miraculous progress after you went to visit him this morning.”
    “Libby!” Sarah glared at her. “That’s why you didn’t attend Frank’s party. You must have been totally exhausted. Why didn’t you tell us?”
    “I was fine. I promised Marsha I’d check on him. The doctors had given him a very poor prognosis and he wasn’t showing any signs of coming out of the coma, so it was the least I could do.”
    “We could have helped you,” Sarah said.
    “I spent the evening resting with my feet up,” Libby said. “Let’s get started.”
    “Are you certain you aren’t too tired?” Elle asked. “I can take over for you. I’m just eating all the cookies Hannah made this