It was the one thing he coveted the most. A single emerald stone set on a gold band. The ring once belonged to his mother, who died when he was ten. Shortly after her death, the ring had mysteriously disappeared. Now that was in his grasp, he could hardly detain his excitement.

"It is a lovely piece" the shop owner said. "I've had it for a while now, but no one seemed to have noticed it."

The man straighten up. "Well, I've been told I have a fine eye for jewelry. I will give you five hundred dollars for it."

The shop owner smiled. "I believe it is worth more than that."

"Do you?" the man asked.

"Yes. I had it assessed. So I know it is worth more than five hundred dollars."

The man had a feeling the shop owner might be a bit shady, but he had to get the ring at any cost. He ran his hand through his hair and said, "How about six hundred?"

"I'll take eight hundred" the shop owner replied.

"Seven hundred is my final offer. From what you've told me, not many people have expressed interest in it. And I doubt they would be able to afford your asking price."

The shop owner stared coldly at the man. "Fine, seven hundred it is." The shop owner placed the ring in a black box and handed it to the man. The man whipped out his wallet and pulled out seven crisp one hundred dollar bills. The shop owner was a bit surprised that the man would carry such a large amount of cash on him, but said nothing and took the money.

With the box safely in his possession, the man exited the store with his grand prize. He stopped at the coffee shop on his way home for coffee. He could feel the ring pulsing in his pocket. When he returned to his apartment, he found his sister sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a drink.

"Did you get it?" she asked.

The man walked over and placed the box on the table. "Of course I did."

The sister sighed in relief. "What took you so long to return? I couldn't track you."

"Of course not. I know how to hide myself from prying witches' eyes." His sister rolled her eyes. "I stop by the coffee shop."

She looked at him in shock. "With the ring in your pocket? Don't you know how powerful it is?"

"Of course I do and it's a good thing that shop owner didn't. I wouldn't have gotten it for seven hundred dollars. A bit more than I wanted to spend."

"It was seven hundred dollars well spent." The sister opened the box and stared at the emerald ring. "I can feel its power from here. Can't you?"

The man nodded. "Yeah. It's like calling to the sorcerer in me."

The sister looked up at her brother. "I'm sure others can feel it too. They may be drawn here."

The man replied, "Don't worry. I have it all covered."

"You do?" the sister asked.

"Yes, a protection spell. It will block out all the unwanted magic from the house."

"Your protection spells don't always go well if I recall" the sister reported.

"Don't worry. Like I said, I have it all under control."

The sister looked at her brother curiously, not sure what he was not revealing. But the concern quickly fled her mind as she stared at the ring again.

The sister smiled. "I can feel it pulling my insides. It's like getting high without snorting or injecting."

"I wouldn't know anything about that" the man replied as he sat down. His sister continued to stare at the ring, ignoring his verbal jab at her. The man then said, "I can't believe it. After all these years, it finally has come back to us."

The sister smiled. "Yes, and imagine all the things we can do."

"I believe the first order to business is to pay a fine visit to a certain stepfather and his mother. It should go well."

The sister laughed. "Ah yes. Very well."