“You have no jurisdiction here, Agent Ellis. This is my family’s property, and I’m free to do as I wish.”

The fact he remembered my name was a good sign, right? There he held the advantage. The Garzas had erupted into frequent shouting matches while casting their divinations. His conversational voice—and no face to match it to—stumped me. I had no idea which witch stood before us. “Are you Miguel?”

“No, I’m Enzo.” A huffed sigh, as if the mix-up happened often. “You should have remembered me as the younger, more handsome brother.”

“Ah.” I relaxed my posture. “Yes. Enzo.” The one with a sweet spot for Dell.

“What brings you to our door?” The voice moved closer. “We weren’t expecting Graeson for another week. Unless… Does he have another job for us?”

“No, but I do.”

“Okay, I’ll bite.” The air shimmered in front of me. “What do you want?”

“Information on Charybdis’s whereabouts.”

“Hmm.” The magic shielding him from view dropped altogether, revealing the dark-chocolate eyes and tousled black hair I remembered. He wore a pair of faded jeans well, and his vintage T-shirt defined his torso. “I thought the kelpie died.”

“It did.” My lips tingled as the blood oath let itself be known. “But we have reason to believe the kelpie was an avatar, that the real killer is still out there.”

He rubbed his jaw. “Do you have a fresh sample?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t see how you expect us to help.” He spread his hands wide. “Without fresh biological material or a personal item of his or his current avatar’s, we can’t pinpoint him.”

“What about Harlow—the mermaid girl? Can you cast for her?” I lifted my wrist and exposed the shell bracelet. Hours of her life were sunk into those pearls. Sweat certainly. Blood, possibly. “She made this and gave it to me. Will it work as a focus?”

His arms dropped. “The mermaid is missing?”

Not trusting my voice, I nodded until my throat loosened. “She was taken from the scene of the last crime.”

“Let me see it.” He held his palm out flat. “I’ll be careful.”

For the first time since she gifted me the bracelet, I removed it and set it in his hand.

Fingers closed over the pearls, he moved his lips in a soft incantation. Threads of light bled through the cracks in his fist, and his eyes, when he lifted them, swirled milky white.

“Yes.” Magic distorted his voice until it echoed in many layers. “This will do.”

A shiver skipped down my arms, and Dell pressed closer. Graeson, whose absence at my side I hadn’t yet noticed, appeared behind Enzo. The wolf’s posture remained calm and nonthreatening, but his eyes were sharp and focused, his body taut with the promise of violence.