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

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, “dip 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?

I stroked Ash, until I could distinguish the shapes outside the window as something other than dark outlines. A family of raccoons ambled into the woods—signs the sun was putting in its appearance. My heart hammered. With my history of casting spells, I hesitated, worried about what might go wrong, and yet the grimoire guided me to do so. While tracing the spiral on the mirror, I recited the verse, then closed my eyes and drew a calming breath.

The sense of someone behind me was so strong, I nearly fell off my stool when I turned around. Kyle stood in the workroom doorway, pale in the early morning light.

“I was worried you’d had another nightmare,” he said.

How much had he seen? “No.”

He approached slowly and I waited for the rebuke, the condemnation that came from seeing the real me in action. Instead, he pulled me to my feet and kissed me.

His voice was deep and gravelly from sleep, or desire, or both. “Do you know how sexy you look right now?” He brushed my hair off my face, his gaze fixed on mine. “The way the light catches your eyes should frighten me, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make me want you—right here, right now.”

A giggle erupted. Not quite a condemnation, but also not the response I’d expected after he’d witnessed me casting a spell.

Fifteen minutes later we moved to the sofa in the living room where we snuggled beneath an afghan to keep warm.

“You don’t know who you’re up against?” Kyle asked.

“No, not yet.”

“Then how do you know they’re against you?”

I twisted to look into his face. “The question was how to help Georgia, but when I went looking for the answer, Hannah told me to guard against a reckless woman.”

“Hannah being this friend of Nora’s?”

I nodded. “And none of this is freaking you out?”

“I think it’s kinda cool.”

I rolled my eyes. “Great. You love me because I’m a freak.”

“No, I love you because you have a good heart. You care about people. You’re strong and brave and...”

I held up a hand to stop him. “Enough, already.”

He laughed. “You asked.”

“Which brings about another thing that has me