Greg survived. The jerks always do.
Sheriff McCourt charged him with two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder.
Puck fainted when she learned the truth. Mory was there to catch her.
I took the remains of the black mirror to Mrs. Steinberg’s house. My sisters claimed they were busy destroying the fragments of the book and cleaning up the mess in Lenore’s yard. She’d lost several trees in the storm Azathoth had left behind when we’d raced into the woods. It had trapped my sisters for several critical minutes before they were able to chase after me.
But I think the clean-up was an excuse. Jayce hated cleaning. They were just scared of Mrs. Steinberg.
I knocked on the door of her sunshine yellow Victorian. When no one answered, I walked around to the back gate.
“Mrs. Steinberg?”
“Gate’s open.”
I unlatched the high gate and walked inside. The garden bloomed with roses. Jayce had told me she’d seen this last year, but I hadn’t really believed her. “Roses in winter?” I asked.
Setting down a pump-action bug sprayer, she pulled a pair of green-tinted goggles from her eyes. “The lodge bound my magic, they didn’t take it. Not all of it.”
The old lady studied me. “You look good. Have you lost weight?”
I ran my hand down my stomach. “Nope, but thanks.” The book had affected me, altering my self-perception, making me feel fat. And because I’d been acting fat, other people had seen me that way too.
A fat spell seemed a little junior league after what it had done to my sisters. But it had sure done a number on my confidence.
“So, you succeeded?” she asked.
“I think so.” I pulled the mirror fragment from my pocket.
She tsked. “It took me a long time to make that. Almost as long as it took you to make your canvases.”
“I didn’t finish the consecration,” I admitted, and a flush burned my cheeks. Talk about junior league. And so many people could have been hurt. I swallowed. “That’s why things didn’t go as planned.”
She nodded slowly. “You three have a lot to learn. So, Greg Mathias, eh? Why’d he do it? Jealousy?”
“I think to protect what he had. Trevor went to Puck’s new house. She wasn’t home, but Greg was, and Greg shot him in his driveway. He saw Trevor as a threat.”
“That must have made a mess.”
“There was blood. Fortunately, it was a small caliber and the neighbors far away, so no one noticed the shot. Greg took the body up into the hills and dumped it. Then he parked his van over the bloodstain for the next two days and told Puck it had broken down. He kept it on the driveway until he was able to re-gravel it.”
“And then there was that mysterious flash flood that brought the body to you.” She shook her head “There was magic in that flood, you can count on it.”
“But who’s?”
“What’s, I reckon. It must have been the book, or that thing in the book. It was either trying to do you in or it recognized Trevor’s connection to black magic. And speaking of magic, why did Greg kill our Black Lodge friend? I assume it was Greg who did the deed.”
I nodded. We’d sent the newspaper article about the murder to the witchcraft store in San Francisco’s Mission District. I figured they’d have seen the news about who’d killed their man anyway, but my sisters and I had decided it was time to at least look like we were on the offense.
I’d received a mysterious email five days later with only three words: Message received. Respects. We’d interpreted that as meaning the San Francisco Black Lodge was off our backs. For now, at least.
“He’d been following Trevor,” I said. “We know this because he had photos taken at Greg and Puck’s house. I didn’t recognize it right away, but he had a picture of the redwood roots outside. I wonder if he took the photo by accident, startled when he saw Greg kill Trevor?”
“And then he tried to blackmail Greg?”
“How’d you guess?” I asked.
“Obviously, this Castor fellow didn’t go to the police. And people who join Black Lodges aren’t generally of sterling character,” she said dryly.
“No.” I toed the green lawn. It was perfect. Someday, I’d have a magical lawn too. But for now, I was happy to have healthy children and a husband who put up with me. “I’m worried about that lodge. They know who we are. They have photos of us.”
“At least now I can prove that book really was destroyed.”
“You could,” I said, “but we’ve already got Instagram pictures.”
“You what?”
“Jayce’s idea. They’re doing a photo shoot of the wrecked book, and another of them destroying the book.”
The old lady glared. “And putting it on social media? Is she mad?”
“It’s proof. And like I said, Castor’s lodge already knows who we are.”
“And now others will too.” Her mouth pursed. “You were aware there were others out there too?”
“I guessed as much,” I said, meek.
She harrumphed. “Now, you said you found a website for this Black Lodge?”
“An online message board. They’re—”
“I know what they are. I’m not that old.”
“Actually,” I said, “I was wondering…”
“What?”
“Trevor was being harassed by someone online. I wonder if that’s why he ran? If he thought his family was in danger, and so he went to the Black Lodge for protection?”
“If you think a Black Lodge will protect you—”
“I don’t. But I do think Greg was the one making the threats.”
Her mouth pursed. “Could be, could be. He always was a little… obsessive.” She straightened. “Now. How did your daughter get hold of that book?”
I hung my head. “I locked that shed, but… I can unlock doors, and she’s my daughter. If it was calling to her—”
“Oh, it was.”
“She must have used magic. Mrs. Steinberg, I’m in over my head. How can I protect her from herself? There’s so much danger in the world, we’ve dealt with so many threats—”
She stuck out her hand. “Show me.”
I drew away, putting my hand behind my back. She wanted to check my spider bite again? That seemed a little personal.
“You’ve got a phone on you,” she said, “don’t you?”
I blinked. “Right. I can’t get into the website anymore, but I’ve got a screen shot of their logo.” I pulled it up on my phone and showed her the image. “I think it’s a sigil.”
She muttered a word and waved her hand. The sigil broke apart, formed letters, rearranged themselves.
I gaped. “How—?”
“Shush. I’m not finished.” Her snowy brows drew together. “Ah.”
She handed me the phone.
I stared at the script on the screen. It read: BROTHERHOOD.
“Brotherhood?” I asked. “Do you know them?”
“The Brotherhood. That does it. You girls need training. Real training.”
“I know. The more I know, the better I can teach and protect my children. Will you train us?” I asked, hopeful. I’d made so many mistakes—with the book, with Emmie. It was sheer luck my errors hadn’t ended in disaster. And then I remembered those two glowing figures in the hospital.
Maybe it hadn’t been all luck.
“No, I can’t train you,” she said. “I’m bound, remember?”
My heart sank. “Then—”
She smiled. “I’m bringing in a ringer.”
“What sort of ringer?” I asked, wary.
“The dangerous kind. You’ll like her. She has children too. Magical children.”
“Her? She’s a witch like us?” Could she help us? Were we finally going to level up our powers?
Wait. Dangerous?
Her laugh was low. “You’ll see. Oh yes, you’ll see…”
Note from Kirsten
The black book that caused trouble all year has finally been destroyed, and Karin has caught a killer (though she tried to be good and let the sheriff do it). My research on possessed objects indicates that submersion in salt or water will generally do the trick (but not always). Burning the object is believed to unleash whatever awful power is inside it, so the Bonheim sisters made a big mistake trying that. The general consensus is that the ritual required will depend on what exactly is “wrong” with the object – is it cursed, possessed, or something worse?
The ritual the Bonheims finally use is loosely based on a ritual from Solomnic magick, or Goetia. (The Bible’s King Solomon is considered by many to be the ancient expert on controlling demons).
What’s up next for the witches? They’ve got the Black Lodge to back off for now, but it’s still out there. And I’ve been dropping Easter Eggs in earlier books, so some of you may have already guessed who Mrs. Steinberg’s ringer is…
Yes, Riga Hayworth is coming to Doyle in a crossover mystery with Karin, Jayce, and Lenore. And yes, Brigitte is coming too. Guess who’ll cause the most trouble?
If you’re not familiar with Riga, you can get started with The Alchemical Detective, book 1 in the Riga Hayworth paranormal mystery series.
<<<<>>>>
Karin empowered her aunt’s scissors for ritual use. When magical practitioners buy or are gifted with talismans or charms or other magical objects, they’ll “make them theirs” before using them. Here’s one way to do that:
First, ask the object if it wants to be consecrated. If you get the go-ahead (a voice in your head, a symbolic nudge), then clean the object during a waning moon cycle with the intention of clearing all energetic attachments to it as well.
Then, during a waxing moon cycle, cast a protective magic circle, hold the object and say:
Here do I hold a [name of object]. In the name of the light, I hereby imbue it as a magical [object/talisman/whatever it is] for the highest and greatest good of all. I now consecrate this [name of object] as a tool of liminal magic, as a connection between the unseen and physical worlds, and it shall do no harm. Behold, a [name of object] is born.
You will need:
Black paper (preferably thick);
A silver or gold Sharpie (or something with similarly glittery ink);
A candle.
First, think about if this spell is to get rid of something or to bring something to you. If you’re trying to get rid of something (e.g. excess weight, bad habits, etc.), then this should be done during a waning moon. If you’re trying to bring something to you (e.g. abundance), then it should be performed during a waxing moon.
Formulate an intention for yourself, something you want to happen, and write it down in the present tense, as if it had already happened. For example, “I am a successful baker in the greatest good for me and everyone else.” It’s important to use that last line, “in the greatest good for me and everyone else,” so this manifestation stays positive.
Now look at what you’ve written and cross out all the vowels. For example:
“I am a successful baker in the greatest good for me and everyone else.”
Now, remove all the repeated letters:
“m scssfl bkr n th grtst gd fr m nd vryn ls.”
So in this example, we’re left with…
“m scfl bkr n th g d v.”
Now, experiment with using these letters to draw a single abstract image. You can use print or cursive—whatever feels right to you. When you have a design you like, go to a dark, quiet place. Light a candle and set your intention to create this sigil. Meditate on your original intention, “I am a successful baker in the greatest good for me and everyone else.” Using your metallic ink pen, draw your sigil on the black paper.
Set the paper down near the candle, so the light catches the glow of the ink. Relax your gaze and stare at the sigil until it seems to lift off the paper. Blow out your candle.
Put the sigil away and don’t think about it. Let it go, and let the magic happen. When the manifestation comes through, destroy the sigil. It’s done its job.