Page 47 of Innocent Until Proven Witch

His eyes light up, the reaction making me smile despite myself. "You enjoy this entirely too much."

Finn pulls out a chair. "That's because every time you say maybe, something explodes."

I sit across from him. "That's obviously false."

His eyebrows rise. We both think about it. Then I sigh. "Fine."

"Thank you."

I slide the diary toward him, and Finn studies the page, the farther he reads, the more focused he becomes. Eventually he looks up. "A relic?"

I nod, my excitement returning immediately. "The references keep repeating."

Finn turns another page. "Weather manipulation."

"Exactly."

His gaze sharpens. "The storms."

"The currents."

"The disturbances."

I tap the diary. "It could explain everything."

Finn's attention remains fixed on the entries. "Or at least part of it."

The correction earns a nod. He's right. We still don't know who is responsible. We still don't know why. The relic only adds another piece to the puzzle.

Finn closes the diary. "Where is it?"

I laugh, without humor. "That's the problem."

His expression falls. "There isn't a location?"

"No," I say, gesturing toward the pages. "My grandmother clearly knew something."

"And clearly enjoyed being mysterious."

A smile tugs at my mouth. "You would have liked her."

Finn leans back. "I think I would have," the answer arriving so naturally that warmth spreads through my chest. I quickly focus on the diary again. Safer. Much safer.

"We need to find it."

Finn nods. "We do, as well as any drawings or fragments that can help identify it,," his hand moving toward his notebook, the suspect list appearing—names, notes, connections, evidence.

I glance between the notebook and the diary, an idea beginning to form at once. "What if we stop looking for the relic?"

Finn blinks. "What?"

I gesture at the suspect list. "We look for whoever wants it."

The sudden silence lasts only a moment, then Finn smiles, the expression immediate, bright, dangerous, the expression of a man who just spotted a path forward. "There she is."

I narrow my eyes. "There who is?"

"The woman who loves solving problems."