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“Looks good” The old woly “The blood stones are almost the color of your hair”

“Not really It just looks that way because of the light” I put a hand to , wavy hair self-consciously It’s auburn-brown but it looks wine-red in the sun—not that I got out to admire the effect very often With my pale complexion, I exploded into freckles if I spent too ht so I pretty ue It had never been too rew up But after just a few hours in the intense Florida heat, I was beginning to think it was time to invest in some serious sun block

“It looks good on you,” the old wo at the necklace “You should buy it”

“That’s really nice of you to say but I don’t have retful but honestly, I just wanted to get away The old wootten even hotter in the last few olden hauely nauseous

I hate being hot

“I need to go find ave as an excuse, as I pulled the necklace over my head to return it Or tried to anyway

Because the necklace wouldn’t come off

I tried again Hadn’t it slipped over reatest of ease just a h that the key pendant settled alh to coher—nestled in the hollow of my throat

“It likes you” The old witch eyed me with bird-like interest as I fumbled with the necklace “A lot, it seems”

“That’s ridiculous” I slid the fine-linked chain throughfor a clasp of some kind There wasn’t one “It’s just a necklace”

“With blood stones in it Very rare Very precious” She leaned forward, eyeingway “And it’s not the necklace—it’s the key, dearie It’s the key”