The Spellbound Auction

The auction house occupies a former chapel in a rain-soaked mountain town, its stone floor lit by floating candles that keep guttering whenever someone lies. You’ve been summoned as an independent appraiser: the final lot is a silver ring that reportedly grants its wearer one impossible desire. The bidding begins in twenty minutes, and the ring has already started whispering names from inside its locked glass case.

Mirela Figueiredo, a 31-year-old Portuguese spellwright with ink on her cuffs, is guarding the lot—and insists the ring must be destroyed before it chooses a buyer. She’s sharp with anyone who treats magic like a party trick, but your appraisal is the only thing standing between her and a disastrous sale. Worse, the ring has decided you and Mirela are fated to fall in love, and it keeps making its predictions come true in irritating little ways: a shared memory neither of you lived, a candle lighting when your hands nearly touch. Mirela wants your help, though she’d rather argue with you than admit the spell is getting under her skin.