Grimoires and Where to Find Them by Raconteur, Honor (ebook reader for laptop .txt) 📕

a dazzling smile. “Oh, that is good news. Then, can we tell people about the theft as we go through the faire?”

“Please do,” Jamie encouraged with a wave of the hand. “Tell absolutely everyone. No sense in keeping this quiet. But if the press gets wind of this, send them to me. I’ll handle them.”

I had little more to add at this point, as those were the basics. I put a hand on Jamie’s arm, drawing her attention to me.

“My dear, there is one other thing I’d like to do. I wish to contact acquaintances of mine and see who else has books from the Reaper’s Set. If the thief is a collector, then he’ll want to lay hands on the rest of the volumes. I’d like to verify, too, if the set has pieces of spells throughout, or if it’s more contained.”

“You think other books have possibly already been stolen?”

“I have no idea, and that’s rather the issue. We need to know. If nothing else, it will help spread word of what’s happened here and put people more on their guard.”

Jamie allowed this with a shrug. “It’s a good idea. Go for it. Gerring, why don’t you go with Foster and Niamh, as you’ve got more training at this sort of thing than they do. We’ll start at the north entrance, you start from the south, and we’ll meet in the middle. You’ve got your pad on you?”

“Yes, and charged,” Gerring promised, patting a bulge in his pocket.

“Good. Clint, Tasha, either of you want to go with them?”

Tasha hopped onto the table and crossed over to Gerring. “I’ll go. Look for sniffies.”

“Good girl, do that.”

We split up at that point, and this time I took more care with my own purchase, keeping it firmly tucked under my arm so a thief couldn’t take it out of my hands. Jamie linked arms with me on the other side, and we traced our way back to the main entrance so we could start this search fresh.

As we walked, Jamie asked, “Which do you think this is? A collector, a thief hoping to sell it to a collector, or a magician who wants the grimoire and can’t pay for it?”

“The first, but I could be wrong.” I waved a hand to the faire in general. “It’s mostly the box that makes me think this wasn’t a magician. Any magician worth their salt would know to take the it along. Especially with a grimoire like this one, it would be almost suicidally dangerous to leave its protective box behind.”

“A magician would know better,” she murmured. “Hence why you’re not really worried about the book’s spells being used. Because you don’t think a magician took it.”

“Not really, no. There was no notice the grimoire would be here, after all. How would a magician know to come here to steal it?”

“How would a collector know to come here to get it?” she countered.

My nose scrunched up in frustration. “Indeed. Or was this a crime of opportunity?”

“It could well be. I mean, we know basically nothing at this point.”

The cat riding on her shoulder let out a happy purr before announcing, “Grandma!”

I choked. My mother was here?

“There’s my cute boy,” Ophelia cooed as she appeared out of the crowd, my father on her heels. She reached out with both hands, and Clint promptly went into them, purring and nuzzling her cheek. She nuzzled right back, a bright smile on her face.

My father ignored them and greeted us, a question on his face. “I didn’t expect you two here.”

“We were on a date,” Jamie explained with a shrug.

“Were?”

“A grimoire was stolen and the theft was reported to us.” I sighed, vexed that our date had been cut short. I’d have to find another day to spend with her properly. “We’re now canvassing the area to see if any other thefts have occurred. I take it you’re both here to shop?”

“It’s such a glorious day,” my mother explained, still cradling Clint and giving him scratches around the chin. The Felix was in heaven, clearly loving the attention. “I wanted to be out and about. And your father vetoed my first suggestion.”

Sotto voce, he informed me, “She wanted to go house shopping.”

I shot my mother a flat, unamused look. She had been far too exuberant about Jamie and I courting. To the point of being nonsensical. She kept making noises about either apartment being too small for us when we got married. About how it would be better if we had a house. Never mind that our relationship was nowhere near that level of intimacy yet. Jamie and I had only been courting for a few months. My mother was truly putting the cart before the horse.

As usual, she ignored me. “How dreadful, that there’s been a grimoire stolen. Some of those are so expensive. I remember some of the books you bought when you were a student, Henri, and they were so pricey.”

“Yes, this one is practically priceless, as it’s the only one of its kind.” The contents of the book were gruesome, but no one could argue its value. “At any rate, we’re trying to determine if anything else was stolen today.”

“If you’re working, you can’t stop to chat,” she said with complete understanding. “But do come to dinner tonight, tell us how things progress. I’m invested now.”

I gave Jamie a quick askance glance and got a nod in return. “We’ll be there.”

Jamie lifted the bag in her arm and asked, “Can we trouble you to take our purchases with you? I don’t want to haul mine about for hours, and Henri’s paranoid about his being snatched.”

I couldn’t exactly argue that point. I rather was.

Rupert held out a hand for mine. “What did you find?”

“You remember the book of botany Grandpapa had? The rare, hand-illustrated one?”

“Oh, yes, you were fascinated with it even as a child. And mad when we sold it.” His eyes flashed down to the bag in his hand. “You found another one?”

“I did,