The Salt Widow’s Key (Salt Widow Mysteries Book 2) by Teresa Crowe
He digs into his coat pocket and pulls out something small. The metal glints in the sunlight. It’s a key, jagged and corroded. My throat tightens.
“You found another one?” I ask.
“I didn’t find it,” he says. “She gave it back. It turned up tangled in my nets last night.”
He tosses it into the barrel fire, where it hisses and splits like something alive. “No man should hold the same key twice.”
The flame burns around the key, turning it black.
Silas rises, straightening his back. “Tell your curator friend, Mara, that the Widow’s stirring again. Tell her storms aren’t accidents. They’re invitations.”