| |
Another night passed without a visit from Georgia. That had to be a good thing, right? She was happy?
In the morning, after Kyle went across the street to work on his remodeling project, I tended the herbs in the window boxes and made a batch of soap. By the time Nora arrived, it was after ten.
“Have you checked the book of spells?” she asked before she’d even taken off her coat.
“I was waiting for you.”
“No matter. I asked Hannah to join us. I hope you don’t mind, but I want to make sure I’m not missing anything.” She laid a palm against my cheek. “I’m worried about you and those flashbacks.”
I was worried, too.
“Is Kyle here?” Nora asked, glancing around as she walked into the house.
“No, he’s working on his house.”
“Good.” She went straight to the workroom, settled on a stool and folded her arms. “Shall we take a look in the book?”
I followed and took the seat beside her. “Can I just say that book still makes me nervous?”
Her eyes glittered—I hadn’t lost my ability to identify a witch—and she smiled. “Cautious might be a better word, and that’s a good thing,” she said.
The book appeared on the worktable a moment later. “The last several times I’ve called on it, it’s shown me the same page,” I told Nora. “I don’t know if the book wants to prepare me for an attack or if it’s asking me to cast a spell—one that would reflect back on me.”
“I’m sure you’ll find out in time.” She closed her eyes and held her hands over the book, I assumed to ask for the spell she wanted. When the pages had finished flipping, she leaned over and read.
“Do you have lavender?” Nora asked me.
I hopped off my stool and went to the cupboard. “Oil, or crushed leaves?” I asked.
“The leaves, I think. And crystals. Do you have quartz? Or an amethyst?”
“I don’t have any crystals,” I told her.
“Then it’s a good thing I brought some,” Hannah said, walking into the room. “I hope you don’t mind, I let myself in.”
“I’m so glad you could come,” Nora said.
“You’ve found exactly what I would use,” Hannah said. “Not bad for an earth witch.”
A what? I looked to Nora for clarification.
“Yes, an earth witch,” Hannah repeated. “And so are you. It’s the element that controls our gifts. You and Nora work with herbs and plants, and I believe you’ve spoken with the dead?”
Way to lay it all out there.
“My element is water,” Hannah said. “My connection is with people. I do readings, and I’m a counsellor at the local shelter when I’m not hosting conferences at the castle.” She turned to Nora. “Brynn doesn’t know any of this?”
“She came to accept her gifts late,” Nora replied.
“That’s right. She did mention that.” Hannah waved the discussion off. “No time to go into all that now. We’re always learning, aren’t we? Now. Nora tells me she thinks your PTSD seems to be getting worse. True?”
I nodded.
“Which is why she called me. I deal with this sort of thing all the time, but after what we’ve already learned about you, we need to take an extra look for outside influences. Have you been calling on the light, the way we talked about?”
I explained to her about my encounter with Georgia, and how darkness had swirled with the 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?