The Hidden Grimoire

by Karla Brandenburg

  “You want me to hang around?”

  I waved him off. “No. Go watch television, or fix something across the street, or go to bed. I’ll be fine.”

  “If you’re sure...”

  I leaned up and kissed him. “Go on.”

  “I’ll watch television then. If you need something, I’m within earshot.”

  I pushed him into the living room, turned, and faced the work table. No open books, but there was one I intended to consult. I closed my eyes and called out to the book in the secret cache. When I opened my eyes, it lay on the table before me.

  “What do I do?” I whispered.

  The cover flipped open and the brittle pages crackled as they turned. When they stopped, I took a halting step forward. To Separate a Witch from her Power. With a skull and crossbones and a warning the spell would reflect back on the person casting it. Was the book directing me to use the spell, or guard myself against it? I read the spell, cure her gifts like fired clay, to be repeated three times, and the ingredients to the potion that went with it. Rosemary oil. Clematis. Dandelion. According to the grimoire, the potion helped to harness the magic, which when coalesced acted like fired porcelain to be shattered.

  Did I care if I lost my power? I had a degree in ethnobotany. Regardless of the something extra I brought to my herbs and flowers, I still had the knowledge and ability to help people. A few months ago, I wanted no part of the extra.

  If I lost my gift, who would mentor Georgia?

  Nora came to mind. Or Hannah. Or any of the other wiccan women who had attended the solstice ceremony.

  “Is this what will happen? Or what might happen?” I asked the book.

  In the blink of an eye, the hidden grimoire was replaced by one of the other books, open to a recipe. For constipation. I laughed, struck by the ordinariness of the mixture. Celery seed. Easy enough.

  I shifted gears to work on the other recipes as they presented themselves, trying to ignore what I’d read in the book of spells.

  When Kyle called out he was going to bed, I checked the time. Midnight. Georgia had made her astral visits near midnight. Would she show tonight? Should I guide her dreams?

  Ash jumped onto my lap, and as I stroked her, I picked up Georgia’s sock monkey, closed my eyes and called on the spell. The clouds came for me, carrying me to Georgia, and when I arrived, I found her sitting beside a cradle, not her own bedroom. The baby fussed and Georgia rocked him gently, singing a song—Blackbird. She seemed unaware of my presence. From another room, I heard LeAnne’s voice. Your son is crying.

  While Georgia quieted him, neither LeAnne nor Jason came to check on the baby.

  Uncertain what to do, I set Georgia’s monkey on the floor behind her, and withdrew from the scene.

  Wouldn’t parents hover over a newborn to be sure everything was okay? Was I looking for a reason to suspect LeAnne after what Sharon had told me? She’d been friendly to me, reaching out to me as family. I had no reason not to trust her. Assuming Jason hadn’t heard the baby’s cries, I rationalized LeAnne didn’t get up because she was exhausted or uncomfortable after the ordeal of childbirth.

  Like a cold draft, a blast of negative energy chilled me. I stretched my thumb and forefinger in response, calling on the white light to surround me. The flood of light I’d become accustomed to churned into storm clouds mixed with the negative energy.

  I shot a glance at the staircase outside my workroom doorway, where Kyle had retreated moments earlier. He had made it clear he wanted to protect me. Would I be able to protect him?

  Chapter 32

  Kyle brought me a chocolate muffin when he made rounds the next morning.

  I forced a smile. Peeled off the paper. Set the muffin on the counter. “I can’t reach Georgia.”

  He picked up the muffin and took a bite. “As a police officer, I have to tell you to honor your cousin’s wishes and leave them alone.”

  I huffed and turned away.

  Kyle followed and tugged my arm. “As the man who loves you, I suggest you give them time. A new baby, coupled with a recent move and job change. Top three stressors right there. My suggestion is to focus on us. We have a wedding to plan, don’t we?”

  I rolled my eyes. Kyle was nothing if not persistent. “We have plenty of time.”

  “Okay,” he said. “Then let’s look at the facts in evidence. Georgia knows you, and she knows how to reach you, right?” He raised his eyebrows, reminding me he’d seen her appear in my bedroom.

  I nodded. Points to him for not running screaming after that episode.

  “LeAnne reached out to you in spite of Jason’s wishes.”

  “She hasn’t acknowledged the flowers I sent for the new baby.” As soon as I said it, I cringed at how petty I sounded.

  “New baby,” he repeated. “She has other things to worry about.”

  I slipped my arms around his waist and laid my head on his shoulder. “You’re right.” Considering he’d brought up Georgia’s appearance, I drew a shuddery breath to share the rest of my concerns. “If something happens, another confrontation of some kind, you won’t be able to protect me.” I looked up to meet his gaze. “And to be honest, I’m not sure how well I can protect you.”

  “You’re talking about if something happens like what Narcy did?”

  I nodded. “I don’t want you caught in the crossfire. If you’d have been inside the workroom when it caught fire, we both might have died, or one of us if they had to choose which of us to rescue.”

  He narrowed his eyes as if considering my point and took a step away. “We can come up with more ideas tonight. Right now, I have to finish rounds.”

  Kyle left without kissing me goodbye and I wondered if I’d overstepped, if I shouldn’t have mentioned the magic stuff. No. He’d told me enough times he accepted I had gifts. At some point in time I’d have to trust him and not overthink one missing kiss.

  Cassandra arrived in patchwork jeans, a T-shirt and a washed-out denim jacket. From the smile on her face, I assumed things had gone well last night. I knew Cassandra could withstand the wagging tongues in town, but I wasn’t so sure about Lucas.

  Then I worried about Cassandra becoming collateral damage if whatever woman I was supposed to be worried about came after me the way Narcy had.

  I was back in the burning workroom.

  “Brynn!”

  I sat on the stool behind the counter. Ash had crawled into my lap, and Cassandra stood over me, shaking my shoulders. As I focused on her, she backed away. One of the racks of clothing lay on its side. I pulled my arms close to my body, assuming I’d ‘pushed’ the rack over.

  Why did the episodes seem to be getting worse?

  My cell phone rang. Nora. Naturally.

  With a cough to clear my throat of the imagined smoke, I answered. Cassandra left me to right the clothes rack.

  “Again?” Nora asked.

  I hated how out of control I felt. “Yes. Kyle suggested I get help, and I’m beginning to think I should. It seems to be getting worse instead of better.”

  “There’s more going on than either of us can see,” she said. “I have an idea. When is your day off?”

  “Tomorrow, but I’ve already taken time off this week.”

  “You’re taking your day off,” Cassandra called from across the shop. “I’ve got things covered here.”

  I gave way to a smile. “And Cassandra assures me tomorrow is still my day off.”

  “Good. I’m coming to see you.” She hesitated a moment. “Do you think it would help to have Hannah come, too?”

  As much as I tried to deny it, I knew I needed help. “I suppose that depends on what you have in mind,” I said.

  “The book I showed you. It might hold an answer, but if it doesn’t...”

  “How about you and me put our heads together first,” I said. “If we can’t figure this out, we’ll call Hannah then.”

  “I’m going to check with her, just in case,” Nora said.

  “Fine.
I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Cassandra stood across the counter from me. “Nora?”

  I nodded.

  “If anyone can help you, Nora can.”

  I stroked Ash’s fur, taking comfort from the cat. After all the years of no one caring about me, I struggled with knowing when to ask for help, or when to accept it. Ash didn’t expect anything from me, other than food and water. I knew Nora didn’t have an ulterior motive, and yet I felt indebted every time she did something nice for me. I also knew I needed her now.

  “Seems things would be easier if you could wiggle your nose and make the bad stuff disappear,” Cassandra said.

  I laughed. She often made subtle comments about the magic, but I knew she wasn’t looking for proof or validation. More likely, she was making a joke, the way the townspeople whispered rumors about me and Nora being witches.

  “Yeah, that would be nice,” I said. “I think I’ll count my blessings where I find them, instead.” I pulled myself together. “I’m guessing your date with Lucas went well last night?”

  Her smile beamed. “He says he isn’t above playing the ‘who was there for her grandmother’ card if anyone dares badmouth me, that he’ll remind them I have family in this town I have been helping out, in case they’ve forgotten.” She lowered her voice. “And he loves my sense of fashion.”

  “It suits you,” I said. “Another thing you might use to your advantage if someone criticizes your wardrobe again. Mrs. Hazelton seems to have gotten the message.”

  Cassandra laughed. “I believe she has. There is photographic evidence she wasn’t always such a prude.”

  Ash nuzzled against my waist before she hopped to the rear counter and to her rug in the corner. She must have decided I was more myself.

  Customers stopped in over the course of the day to buy the special orders I’d mixed, and after the schools let out, several young women shopped Cassandra’s line, some of them wearing clothes they’d purchased previously. I had reason to be optimistic about the new business plan.

  Kyle came in an hour before closing, greeted Cassandra, and escorted me to the back room.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  He handed me a printout. “I got information on LeAnne. Not much to go on, I’m afraid. No criminal record. No social media presence. She went to a community college in Ohio for an associate’s degree in marketing. Her work history puts her at Wisconsin Global Insurance with both Jason and Sharon until Georgia was born. Nothing stands out.”

  “Which leaves us right back where we started.” She’d been so friendly. I had a hard time believing I’d completely misjudged her.

  Chapter 33

  Another night passed without a visit from Georgia. That had to be a good thing, right? She was happy?

  In the morning, after Kyle went across the street to work on his remodeling project, I tended the herbs in the window boxes and made a batch of soap. By the time Nora arrived, it was after ten.

  “Have you checked the book of spells?” she asked before she’d even taken off her coat.

  “I was waiting for you.”

  “No matter. I asked Hannah to join us. I hope you don’t mind, but I want to make sure I’m not missing anything.” She laid a palm against my cheek. “I’m worried about you and those flashbacks.”

  I was worried, too.

  “Is Kyle here?” Nora asked, glancing around as she walked into the house.

  “No, he’s working on his house.”

  “Good.” She went straight to the workroom, settled on a stool and folded her arms. “Shall we take a look in the book?”

  I followed and took the seat beside her. “Can I just say that book still makes me nervous?”

  Her eyes glittered—I hadn’t lost my ability to identify a witch—and she smiled. “Cautious might be a better word, and that’s a good thing,” she said.

  The book appeared on the worktable a moment later. “The last several times I’ve called on it, it’s shown me the same page,” I told Nora. “I don’t know if the book wants to prepare me for an attack or if it’s asking me to cast a spell—one that would reflect back on me.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find out in time.” She closed her eyes and held her hands over the book, I assumed to ask for the spell she wanted. When the pages had finished flipping, she leaned over and read.

  “Do you have lavender?” Nora asked me.

  I hopped off my stool and went to the cupboard. “Oil, or crushed leaves?” I asked.

  “The leaves, I think. And crystals. Do you have quartz? Or an amethyst?”

  “I don’t have any crystals,” I told her.

  “Then it’s a good thing I brought some,” Hannah said, walking into the room. “I hope you don’t mind, I let myself in.”

  “I’m so glad you could come,” Nora said.

  “You’ve found exactly what I would use,” Hannah said. “Not bad for an earth witch.”

  A what? I looked to Nora for clarification.

  “Yes, an earth witch,” Hannah repeated. “And so are you. It’s the element that controls our gifts. You and Nora work with herbs and plants, and I believe you’ve spoken with the dead?”

  Way to lay it all out there.

  “My element is water,” Hannah said. “My connection is with people. I do readings, and I’m a counsellor at the local shelter when I’m not hosting conferences at the castle.” She turned to Nora. “Brynn doesn’t know any of this?”

  “She came to accept her gifts late,” Nora replied.

  “That’s right. She did mention that.” Hannah waved the discussion off. “No time to go into all that now. We’re always learning, aren’t we? Now. Nora tells me she thinks your PTSD seems to be getting worse. True?”

  I nodded.

  “Which is why she called me. I deal with this sort of thing all the time, but after what we’ve already learned about you, we need to take an extra look for outside influences. Have you been calling on the light, the way we talked about?”

  I explained to her about my encounter with Georgia, and how darkness had swirled with the restorative lightness of being. “You also said something about a woman to watch out for. Do you know who it is?”

  “You haven’t run across her yet?” Hannah asked.

  “I don’t know. How will I know?”

  “If I had to guess, I’d say she’s cloaking her true self, so you don’t recognize her.” Hannah reached into a string bag she’d brought and produced a ring with a purple stone. “PTSD usually only becomes worse in people who are older, or people with too much time on their hands who don’t have other things to occupy their thoughts.” She squinted at me as if trying to see inside me, then shook her head. “No, you keep much too busy. It’s entirely possible this woman has hexed you.”

  Great. A reason to use the spell from the hidden grimoire? “Would that be a reason to relieve her of her power?” I asked.

  Hannah’s eyes widened and she took a step back. “Heavens no. That would be a last resort.” She squinted at me again, the sensation much less intrusive. Reading my aura?

  Nora took the lavender from me and shook some into a sachet. She sniffed it, then handed it to me. “For under your pillow at night. If the episodes strike you more frequently, you can wear it around your neck.”

  “You make soap from lavender, don’t you? I’d suggest bathing with it, too.” Hannah surveyed the workroom. “Which brings us to the healing power of the crystals Nora was talking about.” Hannah took my hand and slipped the ring on my finger. “Keep this with you at all times.” She turned to Nora. “Is there a mirror?”

  Nora crossed to the cupboard and retrieved a small round mirror, which she handed to Hannah.

  “Purified water?” Hannah asked.

  Two jugs sat beside the still. Nora selected a jar I would have used for bath salts and filled it with water, then brought it to Hannah. Hannah dropped a clear crystal into the water.

  “Tomorrow morning, at first light,” Hannah told me, “di
p a finger in and draw a counter-clockwise spiral on the mirror, tracing from the outside edge into the center.”

  The pages of the grimoire flipped and Hannah stepped to the work table to see.

  “Yes, exactly,” Hannah said. “The spell is here.”

  I looked over her shoulder and read the verse. No skull and crossbones on this page.

  Wash away all lies,

  Bring to light what seeks to hide.

  Destroy all masks, that none divide.

  “The reckless woman?” I asked. “This will help me see who she is?”

  Hannah’s eyes sparkled the way Nora’s often did. “As long as she crosses your path.”

  Was it wrong to hope she wouldn’t?

  Chapter 34

  I opened my eyes to darkness the following morning. A little bundle of fur snuggled beside me, preventing me from rolling over to check my phone for the time. As if she sensed I was awake, a loud purr rumbled from Ash. She rose to her feet, kneading the blanket. I scooped her with one hand and checked my phone. Six-ten. Sunrise was somewhere close to six-thirty, and Hannah had told me to cast my spell at first light.

  Behind me, Kyle’s eyes were closed, his mouth agape. Holding onto Ash, I slipped out of bed and tip-toed down the stairs to the workroom, where the mirror and the purified water waited for me. The grimoire also put in an appearance, no doubt to help me remember the spell. I set Ash on the table, pointed my phone at the book and activated the flashlight app to confirm the spell was the one I expected. When I confirmed it was for unmasking, I turned off my flashlight to wait until I could see with natural lighting.

  Ash rolled on the worktable, forgoing her breakfast and staying close this morning. Would the spell work? Would it help me recognize who was masking themselves from me? And then what? Confront her?