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CHAPTER 1

Luna

It all started with a ranny and a bracelet I didn’t knoas cursed until it was too late

It had been ht it was because I ran a jewelry shop, where I made my own custom pieces and specialized in antiques The bracelet was at least a century old, so it e and saw it, along with a note

Dear a jeweler,

I’m very dirty Cursed to be dirty, or htful oill come and pick me up on Friday, at noon Please have me ready, sparkly clean, and wonderfully pristine

Yours truly,

The very dirty wrist grabber

Yeah, okay, it was a super weird note, but this is New Orleans, and it’s not the first strange thing I’ve received in the mail Obviously, whoever sent it had a dry as dust sense of hus fun I could do with a little more fun Everyone could There was a hundred-dollar bill tucked in with the note, so I knew the sender was serious I know, I know Who sends cash in the mail?

The envelope ht not have had a return address, but it did have a tracking number, so whoever sent it was sure to knoas sent to the right place and received since I did have to sign for it

The bracelet itself is no dirty wrist grabber It is old, and it looks to be frohteen-hundreds It is made of tiny rubies surrounded by even tinier clusters of diaold The bracelet certainly looks its age, which is afor antique jewelry

The bracelet didn’t look very dirty to ain, people n antique stuff are often meticulous about it, as they should be I was instantly dazzled when I saw the bracelet

I own a jewelry shop right off the French Quarter I’ costs me far less than it would just a couple of blocks over in any direction, but I’m not so far that both tourists and locals can’t findthis for a few years now—okay, I’ve been fascinated with antique jewelry for my entire life—but I’ve had the store for three years

I’m the store’s owner and only eency coood online following, though, and a ton of orders for custoh there—far et—so most of the time, it works out okay

I do close the store on popular auction days and Sundays I close at six every night, and I don’t open until eleven in the s, so the store is full of vintage and antique furniture and artwork Even the display cabinets are antique I find most of my jewelry—the antique stuff at any rate—at estate sales, auctions, and online I don’t always get a good deal, but I get what people want I guess I’m a bit of a middleh I do it because it’s a passion, it will always be a passion, and I can’t ruin it by calling it work

The other part of the business is the jewelry I design and s, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings on handmade sites or on apps where you can scroll for those kinds of things, that’s me It’s what I make Half the time, the stones look like they’ve just coh I suppose they’ve been polished, so maybe not so earthy, but their cut often reminds me of a stone just freshly picked from the dirt, a rare and incredible discovery Oh, and I also only use ethical stuff I don’t want any bad voodoo inbad kar on out there already

I glance at the pocket watch I alear around my neck, which I also ed out the chain since it was meant to be fastened to a old to dangle down beside the watch I actually designed it to be sold, but once I saw the completed piece, I had to keep it Opals are my favorite