“I’ll take destitute over prostitute any day,” Marina said, and gave them the finger on her way out.

Ms. Kitty followed her to the parking lot, chuckling all the way.

“What the hell got into you?” she asked as they stopped by her hot-pink dually.

“I don’t know. I guess I got to that point where I just can’t be bothered to care anymore, you know?”

“Oh, I know it well. Welcome to the club. And don’t worry about my hair. I’ll do it myself. I should have left as soon as that witch pointed to Helen’s chair. I know that sister of yours is probably setting up to wage a war on your behalf, but if you need anything, you come by the bar. I’ve dealt with my share of cheating men.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate you standing up for me in there.”

Ms. Kitty waved a hand in dismissal. “That was just me telling the truth. Something I’m guilty of a lot.”

“I wish I was. It still feels a little uncomfortable.”

“Keep trying it on. It stretches to fit real quick-like.”

Ms. Kitty climbed into her truck and Marina waved as she drove away. She turned around to look back at the salon and saw the three remaining women looking at her through the blinds. She waved and grinned and the blinds snapped shut. Laughing, she climbed in her own car. Alexios had no idea the gift he’d given her. Her only regret was that it took forty-eight years to happen.

She pulled out of the parking lot and directed her car toward her cabin, dialing Halcyon’s number while she drove. If she was going to find the ring, she needed help. And the one person who’d always had her back was Halcyon. It would take some convincing to get her sister on board with the whole magical, mystical, descended-from-a-goddess thing, but even if her sister never believed it, she’d still help if Marina asked.

Thank God, because Marina needed all the help she could get.

Chapter Eleven

Thirty minutes later, Marina was perched on a stool in her kitchen, attempting to explain her newfound power to her more-than-skeptical sister. When she finished, Halcyon stared at her for a while, then finally frowned.

“This is the emergency you had me rushing over here for?” Halcyon asked. Clearly her sister had expected something else.

“What did you think I called you for?”

“To celebrate your newfound attitude or commiserate your nervous breakdown…I wasn’t sure which direction you were going to take things. That’s why I brought champagne and Xanax.”

“You know about what happened in the salon already? How is that possible?”

“My current booty call—sorry, ‘gentleman caller’—is the drummer for Ms. Kitty’s band. She was still laughing when she walked into the bar earlier and couldn’t wait to tell them about you going off on Patricia. I’m pretty sure you can get free beer for life if you want it.”

“Not right this moment, but I’ll keep that in mind.”