Two days later, a braying goat noise sounded from Addison's office. It was an alarm to let him know he was getting a call from his Chimbrelis.

A Chimbrelis is a communicating device used by magic users. It is a shallow bowl made from black crystal called spreccanite, which comes from the Hearath volcanic region on the Soalnne continent.

The bowl is filled with a clear, watery liquid which is made from leurisse flowers. Leurisse flowers can only be grown by magic users. It's illegal for everyone else.

The liquid smells like candy but it's inedible and dangerous to touch with your bare hands. I found out the hard way when I drank a tiny bit of it once. My head was filled with other peoples' conversations coming from all over Ransara, in all different languages. Somehow, I understood everything.

I heard people at a horse auction in Ennis, men trying to negotiate prices in a brothel in the western city of Aikil, a wife yelling at her husband in the country of Burand because he'd gambled all their money away, students in a classroom in the city of Biede solving multiplication problems, and the Prime Minister of Reluan giving a speech to some troops.

It took almost a week for the effects to wear off.

The Chimbrelis can be set to ring with different sounds, including animal noises. Addison can make it do any kind of sound he wishes. He had it set to a cat meow until we kept confusing it with the stray cats who lived in the alley behind the shop. He got sick of running to answer false alarms, so he finally changed it to a goat braying.

Addison also often set the Chimbrelis with puns, jokes, or riddles because he was a sucker for that type of humor. He did this to "unlock" it before it could be used in order to prevent mischief. In other words, it was his attempt to Coralie-proof it.

Most of the time when people contacted him through the Chimbrelis, it was because they had a question or an easily-resolved issue with a magical item. But occasionally, Addison would get a Big One.

The goat brayed again. We rushed to his office.

"Not you, my dear," he said.

I stood in the doorway with my arms crossed. "Fine."

Addison peered into the Chimbrelis. "Hello?"

“What does a clock do when it’s hungry?” asked the Chimbrelis in its symphonic voice.

I snickered.

He gave me an exasperated look and waved for me to leave. "Get out," he mouthed.

I waited to hear the answer.

"It goes back four seconds," answered Addison.

"That's one of the worst you've come up with," I said.

"Shh! You shouldn't even be in here," Addison said. "This is between magic users."

I stood on tiptoes to see what was happening with the Chimbrelis. A nebulous shape began to swirl within the bowl. It took the form of a man in dark robes.

"Get going, Cor," Addison said. He studied the flat surface of the Chimbrelis.

I saw distorted murkiness surrounding the dark-robed figure from where I stood. It was like looking at someone through the bottom of a drinking glass. Then the figure could be seen hovering above the surface like a projection.

"What the heck, Addison. I'm fifteen years old! When are you ever going to let me do this with you?" I said, running my thumb over the grooves in the brass door hinge.

Addison pointed to the door. "Maybe another time. Out. And shut the door behind you."

I left with a grumble and clicked the door closed, meaning to head back to the shopfront. Instead, I quietly plopped down cross-legged on the floor to eavesdrop.

"Addison here, can I help you?"

"My name is Rufus," the dark-robed man said. "I need to know if you have something that belongs to me."

"What are you looking for, Rufus?"

"A pendant," Rufus said. His voice sounded strained.

"What's it look like?"

"Black, rectangular. Metal chain. The black part of the pendant is...very black."

There was only one pendant in Addison's collection that fit Rufus's description.

"I might have something that sounds like what you're looking for. Typically I ask clients to identify artifacts in person. Can you come here to look at it?"

Rufus swore under his breath. "That would be inconvenient. Can't I just identify it from here? You can just hold it up for me to see or something?"

Addison paused before answering. "Okay. I can't get to it right now. I have it packed away."

I heard the catch in Rufus's voice. "Crap. That's—that's not good news. I need the pendant back soon. I'm in a hurry. Can't you just send it me?"

"You need to prove it's yours first," Addison said.

"I know, I know." Rufus said. "But I doubt there are very many pendants out there like this one. I'm sure you have the one I'm looking for."

"Well, it sounds like it's very important to you."

"It's extremely important," Rufus said.

"Sentimental value?"

Rufus cleared his throat. "Not exactly."

"This pendant wouldn't happen to be hot, would it?"

I bit my lip. Some people didn't react well when he asked them that.

"Of course, not!" Rufus exclaimed. "My ex-wife had it last."

"Don't take it personally. I ask everyone that when they inquire about missing items. Is there a chance it might have been stolen from her, then?"

"From that shameless harpy? I doubt it. They wouldn’t get very far."

I covered my mouth to keep from laughing.

"Anyways, I would really appreciate it if I could get the pendant back as soon as possible," Rufus continued.

"Can you tell me what your pendant does?"

Rufus sighed. "I didn't make it. My ex-wife did."

"But do you know what it does, what its powers are?"

"Yes, I'm familiar with what that thing does," Rufus said.

"Can you describe its properties?" Addison said.

"It's made from, I don't know...a dark matter? I don't even know where they got it. I wasn't there. But they made it somehow, she and someone else cast the spell together and got it that way," Rufus said in a harried voice.

"Your ex-wife did this?" asked Addison.

"And one other person," Rufus cut in. "I wasn't involved. It's partly why she's my ex."

I wished Rufus would get to the point. I didn't want to hear about his marriage problems.

"I don't have a lot of time to explain this," Rufus said.

Poor Addison. This was like pulling teeth. He'd be rolling his eyes until they fell out of his head if only the people in the Chimbrelis couldn't see him.

"Okay," Addison said, breathing out. He kept his voice even, which meant he was getting aggravated but didn't want to show it. "Is the pendant dangerous?"

Addison knew it absolutely was.

"It's very powerful," Rufus said.

"Okay, so we've established that you're looking for a black pendant, created by magic, and that it's very powerful."

"It would be very helpful to me if I could see it to make sure it's the one I'm looking for," Rufus said. "Soon."

"Is there something about it you're not telling me?" Addison asked.

"Why?" said Rufus. A little too quickly, I thought.

"I just like to have all the facts in order, that's all," Addison said. "The more I know, the more I can help you."

"Listen," said Rufus, "how soon can I see it?"

"If you give me a few days, I can take it out of the vault."

Rufus sighed again. I was beginning to think he only communicated with sighs and evasive, defensive language. Maybe this was the real reason why he was divorced.

"Are you sure you can't come here?" Addison said.

"No, no. Now's not a good time. It's...I've got some things going on right now," Rufus said.

"Okay," Addison said. "Then it's going to have to be a few days."

"Can it be sooner? Tomorrow?" Desperation edged Rufus's voice.

"Like I said, I have it packed away. I have other clients--"

"Are you serious!" exploded Rufus.

I jumped a mile and accidentally punched myself in the face because I had my hands folded under my chin. I hoped Addison was too preoccupied with the pendant drama to hear.

There was another lull in the conversation. I'd have given the tip of my left pinky finger to see the look that must have been on Addison's face.

"Rufus, is everything okay over there?"

"Do I sound like everything's okay?"

"Not really," Addison said. "If someone is in trouble, now would be a good time to say."

Rufus spoke over him. "I thought it was going to be easier getting my pendant back. You're making it unnecessarily difficult."

"Excuse me, but first we have to make absolutely sure that it is indeed yours," Addison said.

"Perhaps if you absolutely put me ahead of other clients that aren't in the rush that I am, we could get somewhere," Rufus said, his voice oozing with sarcasm.

I shook my head. Addison had experienced his share of rude clients, but it always pissed me off when it happened. I never thought I'd grow to feel protective of him.

"Rufus?" Addison said, but there was no answer. "Well fudge you, too."

"Wow, what an ass--" I started to say.

"Coralie, language! I might've known you would listen in."

"Sorry, but that guy was so rude to you. Who does he think he is, demanding that you just send the pendant to him?"

Addison mussed my hair. "Remember when you turned into the dog and you kept threatening to kick my behind if I didn't fix it immediately?"

I frowned. "Yeah, I remember that like it was yesterday. It was terrible."

"I think your exact words were, 'I will break you in half.'"

I snorted. "I was really mad at you. You took your sweet time fixing it."

Addison shrugged. "Yes well, sometimes people need to be taught a lesson in patience. And restraint."

"Is that what you're doing to Rufus?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You catch on quickly."

"It sort of worked for me," I said.

"You've been mostly good since then," he said. "At least you don't steal enchanted dog fur scarves anymore."

"Are you really going to make Rufus wait to see the pendant? And, can I be there when you show it to him?"

Addison smiled. "I'll take it out of the vault tonight after dinner, provided that nothing else pressing gets in the way. As far as letting you watch...I'll think about it."

That was about as much as I could hope for.