The Hidden Grimoire by Karla Brandenburg (pride and prejudice read TXT) 📕

that would have guarded me against the fire Narcy set. Speaking of which, I met her sister today.”

Nora set her coffee mug down with a thump. “And?”

“They were foster sisters, and you’re going to love this. She works with Jason, but that’s not all.” I told Nora how the woman had requested a transfer at the cost of her own career to be near Jason.

“Oh, my. Is Jason aware?” Nora asked.

“I don’t know. We’re not exactly on speaking terms.”

“Tread carefully. Did you get any feeling she might have gifts, too?”

I shook my head. “No, she seemed normal, aside from being overly infatuated.” Normal. A relative term, and a stark reminder.

I wasn’t normal.

I closed my eyes and drew a deep breath. I’d come to terms with who I was. “What do you think we should do?” I asked.

“You need to tell Jason. About his daughter. About that woman. He isn’t going to like it, but he probably already knows. Otherwise he wouldn’t have made a special trip to meet us, don’t you think?”

“Confirm his worst fears.”

Nora agreed.

“I don’t have any recourse if he chooses to push us away,” I pointed out. “How am I supposed to convince him I can help? That I’m not a wicked witch?”

Nora’s features relaxed into good humor. “Remind him this isn’t the Wizard of Oz. That you don’t have a criminal record. That if you could, you’d exert your influence, but that isn’t what you want. You want to help. To teach Georgia about her gifts. Where they come from and how to use them.”

Hadn’t I drawn my own Wizard of Oz comparison when I’d first met Nora? I’d come around to the truth, but there were other forces at work. Forces that led me to Hillendale and brought me to Nora. “Maybe I shouldn’t be trying to influence the situation,” I said. “Intentional actions come with unintentional consequences. Let the powers that be guide us.”

“I’d say the powers that be have guided Jason to us. He came for help, even if he doesn’t realize it.” She leaned over the table. “Georgia is visiting you in her sleep. She’s only just discovering her talents. He’ll need to know how to deal with the things she can do.” Nora tsked. “And so young.”

I gripped my coffee mug between my hands and stared into the dark liquid. “Maybe I should consult the grimoire again.”

She studied me several moments, and I sensed the uneasiness coming from her. She was as afraid of it as I was.

The hidden grimoire held the spells from those who had gone before, those who had had to call on the magic. I’d read the spell to repel fire, one that would have been useful before that fateful day with Narcy.

The sensation crept up on me, the inability to breathe, the smoke surrounding me. I cleared my throat as heat washed over me.

“Brynn.”

When I opened my eyes, Nora knelt in front of me, clutching my wrist.

“Where did you go just now?” she asked.

Into the fire. “Bad memories,” I croaked. Memories that reinforced my desire to read the hidden grimoire, to discover ways to protect myself next time. I closed my eyes and called to the grimoire.

As the book came to a rest on the table, Nora sat back on her haunches. “Are you sure you want the book?”

I’d never known Nora to be so uneasy. “That’s what it’s there for, isn’t it? Reference?”

Nora resumed her seat, her eyes glued to the book.

“Show me what I should do,” I said to the book.

“Hello? Anybody home?” Kyle called from the kitchen door.

Nora and I both looked up but when I checked the table again, the grimoire was gone.

Chapter 18

Kyle and Nora and I talked about wedding plans over dinner. Nora announced she would stay the night, ostensibly hoping Kyle would go home. He didn’t leave.

Nora and I retreated to the workroom and Kyle made himself comfortable in front of the television in the living room.

Nora pulled out a tray of soap and spoke quietly. “I always closed the door when I was working.”

I quaked with the memory of the door slamming shut, of being locked inside the workroom while that woman watched the fire burn from outside the windows, waiting for me to die. Was that only six weeks ago? “I’m not closing the door.”

Nora patted my arm. “She’s gone, sweet Brynn. She can’t hurt you anymore.”

I nodded, cleared my throat, and inhaled deeply.

“All things considered, however, I think we should wait to finish the project we discussed earlier until the morning, after Kyle’s gone to work.”

“Tomorrow’s Kyle’s day off,” I told her.

“Well, then. We’ll have to put our heads together tonight.” Nora stamped her brand on the soap bars she’d cut and I wrapped them. “Do you think the little girl will visit you again?”

I shot a glance to the corner of the room, where Georgia had appeared. “I don’t know. I’m hoping she’ll be more settled now that her mother’s home.”

“How do you know her mother’s home?”

“LeAnne texted me.”

Nora stopped and set her hands on the worktable. “And Jason isn’t angry about that?”

I shrugged.

“You should be careful not to cause issues between them,” she said. “He’s already unhappy with you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m aware, especially with Narcy’s sister waiting for her chance at him.”

“And you don’t think the sister has gifts?” Nora asked.

“I didn’t sense any, and I also didn’t realize Narcy was the source of the evil until it was almost too late. Which reminds me, why couldn’t I see that Narcy was a witch right away? I see the glow in your eyes, and in Georgia’s.”

“Like with the telepathy, when you don’t want someone to see, you can put up a block.” Nora let out a loud breath. “I wonder if we should visit Hannah.”

I lined up the next batch of bars to be wrapped. “And who is Hannah?”

“Oh, don’t you remember? You met her at the summer solstice. She was the woman who led the spiral dance.”

I hadn’t