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

how do you know which daughter to cast it on?” I asked.

“I’m not sure it matters if they’re gifted or not. Like preventative medicine.”

A chill raised gooseflesh on my arms. I wasn’t the first daughter born of my generation. Jason’s sister was. “Did you cast it on Jeannine?”

“I did. And then you.”

Beneath the spell itself was a paragraph detailing its uses. One sentence stood out from the rest:

Should the guide be lost to the daughter, this spell ensures she would find her way to her destiny.

Like I’d found my way to Hillendale, to Aunt Nora.

I turned another page. This one bore a drawing of a red pentagram at the top and a skull and crossbones at the bottom with a warning in the middle of the page above another verse—a spell.

Harm cast forward reflects backward threefold.

I shut the book hastily, sending out a cloud of dust.

“Why would it even show a harmful spell?” I asked.

“I guess there could be a need for one at some point in time, that there had been a need.”

The book rose from my hands and returned to the cache in the wall. This time, Nora let it go.

“Now that you’ve been introduced, the book will call to you,” she said.

What an odd way to refer to showing me a book. “Introduced?”

Nora’s eyes shone midnight blue. “The book of spells serves one daughter at a time. I had a dream it was time to present it to you.”

I shivered. “I’ll just leave it right where it is for the time being.”

She leaned toward me. “More doubts?”

I understood my gifts were part of the natural flow of life, like the flowers and herbs I grew in the garden. I’d come to think of my magic as the rain or the sun, an essential element to those within my orbit. “No doubts, but after witnessing the harm another witch can do, I’m understandably wary of doing the wrong thing.”

Nora smiled as her eyes filled with tears. “I’m so very proud of you. I know you’ll take care with the powers you’ve been granted.”

After the mistakes I’d made over the past few months, I wished I could be as confident.

Chapter 4

Despite nursing a cup of coffee, I couldn’t seem to get warm after my encounter with the hidden grimoire. I sat at the dining table looking toward the woods beyond the backyard.

Nora placed a hand on top of mine. “You’re upset.”

“No, unsettled.” I reached for a slice of banana bread and took a bite. “The books in the workroom are one thing. That one is something different.”

“Yes, it is, and in the wrong hands, it could be dangerous. But another thing you know about the books, they’re particular about who they allow to read them.”

Dangerous. I turned toward Nora. “Wasn’t the woman who tried to kill me bound by the same rules? Do no harm?”

“She was, and you saw the results.”

I did. That woman had died. “But she wasn’t afraid to try.”

Nora lifted her coffee cup and stared into it. “No, she wasn’t.” She took a sip. “Greed isn’t limited to money.”

“Greed,” I repeated.

“Or envy? That woman wanted what you had.” Nora inclined toward the table. “She saw her gifts as a way to acquire more.”

“More,” I echoed.

“For some, more is never enough.” The tug inside my head indicated Nora was trying to see what I wasn’t saying. “The nightmares. Are they getting any better?”

She’d witnessed my flashback moments earlier. The memories of the fire were a living part of me. Since the day I’d been locked in the workroom, I avoided closing doors wherever possible. “Some.”

“Let’s talk about something more pleasant. What do you say? Tell me about Kyle. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him kiss you before. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve seen the two of you so much as hold hands.”

Heat rushed to my face. I wasn’t one for public displays of affection, until recently. “I never felt it necessary to stoke the rumor mill. Everyone in town already knew we were dating.”

“What’s changed?”

I laughed. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s about staking my claim. Everyone else holds hands in public, right? Or exchanges a brief kiss?” Or in Nora and her husband’s case, a not-so-brief kiss. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be as demonstrative as she and her husband were. “It isn’t as if we’re doing something obscene.”

Nora tilted her head back and laughed. “No, I’m sure you wouldn’t.”

She rose from the table and headed toward the workroom. “You should consider replacing the cupboard in the corner. You’ll never get the smoky smell out of the wood.”

I followed, coming to a stop beside her. “Not on your life. As the only thing that survived the fire intact, the cupboard seems to want to be there.”

Outside the windows, kids ran down the street in Halloween costumes. I reached for a bowl of candy and headed for the door.

“They won’t knock,” Nora said.

“Why not?”

“They’re afraid. Or respectful. No one would dream of calling us witches to our faces. They might not even consciously think of us that way, but deep down...” She tapped a fist against her chest. “Deep down, they don’t want to take the chance.”

I crossed to the kitchen, to the window that faced the street, and watched the kids go door to door—skipping my house. “Well, that doesn’t seem right.”

Kyle drove into his driveway across the street. I checked the clock—three-forty, right on time after his six-to-three shift today. The kids in costumes swarmed him and he laughed, raising his arms over his head. They trailed him to his front door and waited while he reached inside for a bowl of candy and handed them each a piece. When they left, he waved to me and walked over.

“I’m going to stay home for the trick or treaters,” he said, “but I’ll come over in time for dinner.” He squeezed my hand and nodded to Nora. “See you later.”

“I’m going to head to the rez before it gets too dark,” she said.