Alice was in the midst of wrestling with one of the strangling scarves that had decided to attach itself to her arm, when the bell over the door rang. She glanced up, hoping it wasn’t a large group of people this time. She’d just finished dealing with a group of fairy children that had seemed intent on trashing the place, buzzing two and fro between the shelves. She and Maya had to chase after them and try to get them to land without crashing into anything. She was seriously considering a sign that said “please no flying” but then she’d probably have to have other signs that said, “no wolfing out” and “no biting people” and then it would just begin to get ridiculous. Thankfully it was only one person this time, but the sight of the woman made Alice’s mouth firm into a thin line. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Abby, who came in stamping the snow off her boots, giving Alice a cheerful wave. There was fog on the lenses of the woman’s gold framed spectacles, and she took them off and polished them on the wool sweater she was wearing under her coat.

                “Chilly out there,” she slid the red knit toque off, and her dark curls sprang up wildly around her face.

                Alice smiled politely, “looking for anything in particular?”

                Abby hesitated, “Yes, actually. This is going to sound really really funny, but…um…” her cheeks flushed even more, as if she was having trouble saying what she wanted, “I know I told you earlier that I go a bit mad when I work with magic, which isn’t very appealing, but…” she licked her lips nervously, and Alice had the sudden urge to step backwards. Abby was looking at her too intensely again, eyes drinking in her face like she knew something about her that Alice herself didn’t know.

                The woman continued, “I…um, I’m quite good at magic though. Very good, in fact. And I was wondering….I was wondering if you’d like someone to teach you…”

                Seeing the look of shock on Alice’s face, she continued hastily, “I mean, not as a full on tutor, just once in a while. I think we could learn from one another. You wouldn’t be an official apprentice or anything. No binding contract. At least, not for the first little while…”

                Alice was already shaking her head. She couldn’t even believe this woman was asking this. She’d had other people try to get her as an apprentice before of course, grumpy old wizards and witches, eyes alight with greed. But that had pretty much stopped after her run-in with Ambrose. Was it her dislike of Abby that was making her bulk so much at the thought? Or perhaps she was letting pride trickle in a little, insulted that someone still thought she needed tutoring.

                Regardless, it was out of the question. Abby was a stranger, she was very strange, and on top of that, Alice trusted her as far as she could throw her.

                “I’m terribly sorry, but I’ve already got a tutor. Two, in fact. And one of them is an official contract.” This was a flat out lie, but there was something in the set of Abby’s face that made her want to say it. That way there was no way her crazy idea could possibly work. There was no question.

                Abby jammed the hat back over her curls and carefully put her glasses back on. When she looked at Alice over the top of them, there was a light in her eyes, a flicker of something dangerous. Once again her eyes dipped down to Alice’s neckline, and this time Abby’s brown eyes widened. Just for an instant she looked shocked, then she glanced back up, and Alice felt a shiver run through her. It was as if a mask had dropped over the woman’s face. Or perhaps the friendly mask she’d originally worn had dropped away, revealing her true face underneath. Her expression was like ice.

                “It’s been touched.”

                Alice had to resist the urge to place a hand over her chest, over the area the pendant lay. For some reason she wanted to hide it from Abby, from her intense gaze, “beg pardon?”

                Abby’s right eye twitched, and Alice had a vision of the woman having a sudden melt down, or snapping and suddenly lashing out at her.

                Abby repeated in a flat tone, “the necklace, it’s been touched.”

                Alice couldn’t think of what to say. Her heart was suddenly thrumming loudly in her ears. How on earth could Abby possibly know this? Of course, the pendant was black, so it looked different, but a normal person would just think it was an identical pendant in a different color. How could she possibly know that? And how much did she know? Could she somehow know that it had been a Goddess that had touched the pendant and set power there? Would she try to grab the necklace from her? For a moment Abby tensed, and it looked as though she were about to do exactly that. Alice braced herself, ready to fight back if it came to that.

                There came a quiet noise from the back, Maya had stood up, shifting the chair she was sitting on, her dark brows were drawn down, and Alice noticed that her hands were clenching the edge of the desk. At the noise, Abby turned slightly, blinking furiously, as if she had just remembered where she was. Then, abruptly, she turned and stomped out of the shop, the bell ringing furiously as she slammed the door it her.

                Alice forced herself to take a deep, calming breath as Maya exclaimed, “what on earth was that” about?”

                “I have no idea,” Alice shuffled over to the fireplace and slumped into the nearest arm chair, “I knew there was something weird about that woman though.” She rubbed her fingers over her forehead, as if she could massage away all the questions, “maybe…maybe she has something to do with the where the necklace came from. Nobody seems to know where it originally came from. The only thing the Goddess Styx told me is that it was a vessel, but that doesn’t help me figure anything out.”

                “Maybe it originally belonged to Abby?” Maya suggested.

                “Why wouldn’t she just say so then, the first time she came into the shop?” Alice lifted the twist of bone in her palm and looked at it carefully, “I mean, before it was just an ordinary piece of bone, to me at least. IF she’d asked me for it, I probably would have just given it to her!”

                “Given what?” Shakra came wandering out of the back, one half of a sandwhich in her hand, “everything alright?”

                Maya spoke up before Alice could, “She had a visit from her weird fan again.”

                Shakra looked amused, “that Abby woman? What’s she done now? Asked you to sign her underwear or something?”

                “No, not that sort of weird,” Alice grumbled, “she has an obsession with my necklace, oh…and she asked if I wanted to be her apprentice.”

                Shakra made a face, “Right. I think you could probably teach her a thing or two about magic.”

                “I don’t know,” Alice frowned into the fireplace, letting her gaze soften, mesmerized by the orange flames, “there’s something about her. Something that makes all the little hairs stand up on the back of my arms and neck. When she said she was good with magic, I believed her. But I didn’t like it. She feels….threatening. I mean, she said the necklace had been touched. How did she know that? ”

                “Some sorceresses can sense that sort of thing,” Shakra murmured, “so perhaps she is powerful.”

                “Maybe. Whatever else she is, she’s weird and I don’t like her.”

                “Well, you’re sort of famous, you know, you’ll attract all kinds,” Shakra sat down in the chair across from her, “just keep your guard up. Call Azura or I next time she comes in. Just so you have someone with you.”

                Alice glanced over at Maya, “luckily I did. I swear the only reason she didn’t try to rip the necklace off me is because Maya was there.”

                “Glad I was there then,” Maya smiled.

                “Where’s your boy, anyways?” Shakra leaned back in the chair and put her boots up on the ledge of the fireplace, “how come he didn’t leap in between the two of you?”

                Alice grinned, “I think he’d be more scared of Abby than I am.” She turned around in the armchair and looked out the window, “he went across the street to get me coffee…” she halted, feeling her mouth go dry. There was a man standing directly across the street from the shop, under the awning of the Mystics Gallery. She knew it was Altair because he was wearing the green sweater she’d picked out for him that morning, and his shaggy blonde hair was bright underneath a his black hat. He had a coffee in each hand, and he was talking to the woman across from him, who was dressed only in an incredibly tight sweater and a pair of jeans, in spite of the snow on the ground.

                Alice couldn’t hear the conversation, all she could see was the breath rising in clouds above their heads, and the way Sara flipped her hair and tipped her head back when she laughed. She was obviously laying it on thick. Alice had to tell herself to quit clenching her teeth, because it sure wasn’t helping her headache. Still, she couldn’t help gripping the arms of the chair tightly, and tapping one foot on the floor as she watched, hoping that any minute, Altair would turn around and come back towards the shop, maybe with a look of disgust on his face.

                Why is he even talking to her? Ugh, I can’t stand her!

                Instead of turning around, Altair remaining where he was, listening to whatever Sara was saying, twin streams of steam were rising up from the coffee cups in his hands. He wasn’t even shifting from foot to foot, as he sometimes did when he didn’t want to be in the conversation he was in. Did he like talking to Sara? Alice tried to push the doubts back. It was silly and pointless to get all worked up. But still, it wasn’t fun to see…

                Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when Sara suddenly shifted visibly, curling her hair around one finger, moving closer to Altair. She reached out one hand and trailed it across his cheek, and Alice felt her breath stop in her throat.

                Pull away, she thought furiously, as if he could hear her thoughts from where he was outside, you pull away right now! Tell her to stop!

                But he didn’t pull away. He didn’t even move. Altair just stood there, still as a rock. It was impossible to see the look on his face, as Alice could only see the side of him, only a slight glimpse of his profile. Sara leaned in further, body language obvious, and Alice was already halfway out of her chair, a shriek of frustration on her lips, when Sara reached out and placed her other hand on Altair’s neck, leaning in the rest of the way to kiss him.

                “No!” Alice shot out the door, ignoring the bell ringing furiously overhead, ignoring the questioning cries of Maya and Shakra behind her. When she stepped out onto the sidewalk the cold air stole her breath, so she didn’t have any to yell across the street at them. There was a car going past, packed snow crunching under its tires, and she had to wait for a few maddening seconds, breath rising hotly into the air around her face. Watching incredulously as Sara finally kissed him. There was no reaction from Altair at first, and Alice’s eyes widened.

                He’s not pulling away! He’s kissing her back!

                Then she was sprinting across the street, too furious to even speak, frigid air burning her lungs, anger and pain tearing at her heart. Her eyes were glued on the figures in front of her. Sara’s head was thrown back, kissing him eagerly. It lasted several seconds, and then as Alice got closer, anger burning in her stomach, she saw Altair’s eyes flick open. His brows creased, and he looked confused. Then he started violently, as if he’d been jabbed by a pin, and reared back, shoving Sara back so hard that she skidded across the ice in her high heels and fell backwards, hitting the ground with an angry shriek.

                Alice stopped just as she reached the sidewalk, confusion warring with anger now. Altair didn’t look like a man who’d been caught cheating. He looked….bewildered.

                His voice was strangely loud in the cold silence, “Alice?”

                Why isn’t he looking at me? Why is he looking at her?

                Her voice shook, Alice could barely speak, “Altair…what…?”

                Altair’s blue eyes went huge as he glanced over at her, and then his gaze snapped back down to Sara, who was scrambling to pick herself up off the ground, cursing and growling under her breath.

                “Alice,” now Altair’s tone was a mixture of shock and horror, and he kept shaking his head, as if he were trying to pull himself out of a nightmare, “I don’t…what’s going on…”he winced suddenly, and reached up, almost unconsciously, to rub his neck. That was when Alice saw it, a thin, pink line glowing faintly around his neck. A thread.

                Anger ripped through her, a feeling more intense than anything she’d experienced in a very long time. Alice strode forward and seized Altair by the collar, pulling his shirt back she wrapped her fingers around the glowing thread and yanked on it violently. The thread came off easily, and Alice shook it out of her hand onto the ground as if it were dirty.

                “She put a spell on you!” Her voice came out in a scream, and she whirled on Sara, who’d finally staggered to her feet, “you put a spell on him, you harpy!”

                Sara only smiled, the expression savage, “come on, Alice. You want to fight over him? I’ll take you on with any spell you got. I’m just as good as you are.”

                They were inches apart now, and Sara’s chin was thrust upwards, defiant and challenging.

                Alice made sure her voice was low and controlled, “You wouldn’t last in a fight against me, you wouldn’t even know what hit you.”

                “Try me,” Sara hissed, “come on, give me your best shot. I can match any magic you throw my way.”

                Alice sucked in a deep breath. It was overwhelmingly tempting to rub the bone necklace, call up the Goddess Styx and have Sara taken care of permanently. She’d be great company in whatever hell Ambrose was suffering in. Styx would do it too, in fact, it would probably really amuse her.

                No, Alice told herself, that would be a waste of the necklace. There will likely be more serious problems than her that come along.

                Sara was smiling, a maddening expression, and it was making Alice see red.

                “Come on,” she taunted her, “can’t do it can you…”

                Sara got out no more, because Alice, suffering a final burst of rage, wound up and punched her square in the face.

                Sara went down in the snow again, and this time there were scarlet drops decorating the white sidewalk. She was clutching her nose and howling, blood dribbling out from between her fingers.

                “She hid me! She hid me!” Her screams were muffled and watery.

                Altair glowered down at her, “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you. You put a god damn spell on me, you crazy witch.” He turned and placed a hand on Alice’s shoulder, looking stricken when she turned away, “Alice?”

                Her voice was strangely choked, “I’m sorry, Altair. I know it’s not your fault. I just need a minute.”