Tess awoke with a start, her undead mutt standing on top of her chest, barking. It's hollow eyes foretold of doom. She looked around her apartment. All of her things were still here. She felt wild, unfocused, and confused. Where was she? Where had she been? Time. She needed the time. Tess moved to the kitchen, taking in her microwave clock. 6:00PM. She didn't know the date. What was the date? Upon not seeing her phone, she held out her hand and tried calling for it. Nothing. Her phone didn't come to her hand.
It was then she noticed the cuff. It was an ugly looking thing. She pulled on it, and it didn't budge. She pulled harder, breaking her nails for her effort. The cuff wouldn't budge. She tried other magic, simple charms, or to see spirits. It all failed. She looked to the cuff that wouldn't come off, and her lack of magic. There was a connection.
"Boooook," she called out. "Boooooooooookkkkkk, come to mommy."
From the living room Book zoomed into the kitchen, opening to a predetermined page.
Anti-magic Cuff appeared as an entry. The Thane's had a wonderful knowledge of magic. She was thankful of her heritage for once. According to Book, only the person who placed it on her could remove it. She didn't know who that was and so she collapsed onto the kitchen floor in frustration. She had no memory of seeking out Wren. She had no memory of the dark angel who held her. She was confused, without magic and alone. Her eyes moved to the rack of knives in her kitchen. She had a desperate idea. Could she really mutilate herself just to get her magic back? Yes. Yes, she could. She could steal life from another to heal herself. It wouldn't be hard to regrow a hand. She'd come back from internal injuries, shattered ribs, and a curse of old age. Her kitchen knives wouldn't be sharp enough. However, the ones in her bag of tricks would be. She rose from the floor and moved to find her bag. It was near the alter in her bedroom, along with the rest of her ingredients.
Her captor had left the Bone Tusk, and her other ritual components behind. Tess opened her black bag of tricks, and added Wren's sperm, the demon fetish she'd acquired, the Bone Tusk, and of course, Book. Once her components were in the bag, she removed a wicked, terrible looking knife. Tess slowly returned to the kitchen and placed her arm on the counter. She held the blade just outside the cuff's range. It felt cold just pressed on her pink flesh like that. She was having second thoughts. There had to be other ways of removing this thing. Maybe Wren had put the cuff on and would remove it if she asked.
Just then, she heard a knock on her door. Someone was here.
