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

“Now that I know you two are together, I’ll let you enjoy some quiet time.”

“You don’t have to go,” he said.

She held up a hand. “I want to.”

With one more wave, Kyle trotted to his house.

“So what do witches do on Halloween?” I asked as I closed the door. “If the trick or treaters don’t stop by?”

“We’ve never been together on Samhain before, have we?” She reached for a couple of wine glasses on the open shelves. “We celebrate the lives of those who have gone before.” She took a bottle from her tote bag and uncorked it, pouring us each a glass of red. She handed one to me and raised hers in a toast. “To your mother, God rest her soul, and the wonderful man she married.”

I clinked my glass to hers and took a sip.

“To my aunt,” she continued. “Your great-aunt, who taught me all I know.”

“God rest her soul,” I finished.

“And to your grandparents, who did the best they could to understand a legacy they didn’t know enough about.”

We touched glasses once more and took a third sip. I remembered my parents with love, even if a memory was all I had left of them.

Nora set her glass on the counter. “To answer your question more thoroughly, the solstices and the equinoxes are what you might call solar holidays. They aren’t restricted to witches, though. The indigenous people and farmers also celebrate them. The cross-quarter days, of which Samhain—Halloween—is one, fall between the solar holidays. The cross-quarter days are considered earth holidays. Samhain is when death is formally honored, until the winter solstice when hope is born again and the days grow longer. Samhain is also when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest. Those who have gone before are most likely to make themselves known today.”

I shivered. “We’re talking pagan holidays again?”

Nora took my hand in hers. “Brynn, celebrating pagan holidays doesn’t make you not a Christian, or whatever religion you choose to practice. The beliefs are complementary. We celebrate the world we’ve been given, the world we live in. We are interconnected parts, whether you believe in creationism or evolution.”

“What do you believe?” I asked.

Her eyes reflected the waning daylight. “I was raised the same way my sister—your mother—was. I believe the same things she did, and the same things she taught to you. We are on this earth to love and support each other, and with or without special gifts, not everyone has gotten the message. In the end, we’re no different from anyone else. Not really. We all should do our part to protect the earth for future generations and to take care of one another.”

Nora set the bottle of wine in my refrigerator. “And now I should be leaving.”

I hugged her close. “Do you really have to go back to the rez?”

“Do I have to? No. But it’s where I belong.” She whirled into her cape. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” She squeezed my hand one more time and left.

Which left me to manage a potentially difficult dinner conversation with Kyle alone.

Chapter 5

Kyle came through the door a few minutes after six. I led him to the candlelit dining table, where I’d set two places and poured two glasses of cab. The chicken rice casserole steamed in the center.

“Romantic,” he said with a teasing note.

“I figured since it’s just you and me...” I ran my fingers through his dark, wavy hair.

He smiled. “You know I like Nora, but I’m not sorry she decided to go home early.”

As tempted as I was to delay dinner in favor of amorous distractions, I took my seat and handed him the spoon to help himself. He sat beside me and dished a portion of the casserole onto my plate before he heaped some on his own.

Kyle told me about his day, how the Hazelton kid had TP’d the house where the high school quarterback lived. A creepy scarecrow in the park remained motionless until someone approached, at which point he stopped passersby to take selfies. I laughed, watching the animation in Kyle’s slate-blue eyes, admiring the scruff sprouting on his jaw. After our difficult break up over the summer, our renewed relationship filled me with hope.

He took the last bite from his plate and chased it with his remaining wine. He exhaled a satisfied sigh and leveled his attention on me. “You okay after what happened today?”

The moment of truth. Nora had expected he’d ask, and I suppose I had, too, as much as I’d hoped he might forget what Jason had said to him. “You mean with my cousin?”

“Not sure I’d be charitable enough to claim him as family after the way he treated you.”

Kyle, my champion. “To be fair, he’s trying to protect his family. He has a baby on the way. I’m told people can go a little overboard when they’re expecting.”

“Way past overboard, Brynn.”

To his credit, Kyle hadn’t batted an eyelash when Jason hurled the insult, but that didn’t mean Kyle didn’t have deep-seated feelings on the subject. “What about you?” I asked. “You caught some of his ire, too.”

Kyle took my hands in his. “I don’t care what names he wants to call you. To me, you’re just Brynn. The other stuff? I don’t suppose that’s a whole lot different than me putting on a uniform when I go to work. Some people respect it, some people don’t. It doesn’t change who we are, and Brynn, you are a good person regardless of what you can or can’t do. I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you otherwise.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “You never know. I might have enchanted you, the way that woman did.”

He shook his head. “Uh-uh. I know the difference. I was the one who was enchanted, remember? I’m fully in charge of my faculties with you. No hocus pocus needed.”

I dropped my gaze and warmth bloomed in my cheeks.

He lowered his voice. “I do have a question, though.”

“What’s that?”

His face screwed up as