Page 61 of Grimoires & Glamoury

“Hello,” I said.

Seth’s eyes slid directly to the backpack that Charles carried over his shoulder. His only outward acknowledgment of it was a small nod.

“Magistra,” Seth said, gesturing to the second car. “My security will see you home.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Charles said quietly to me, his hand lighting very gently against my back.

I nodded in response and one of the male Vampires stepped forward and picked up my oversized tote bag. Silently I followed the guard to the second car. My seatbelt was barely fastened before we were pulling smoothly away. I watched through my window as Charles and Seth spoke to each other beside the plane, and then I turned away from them, shut my eyes and blew out a long relieved breath.

We were both safe, the grimoire had been secured, and I was back in the city that I loved.

***

In the morning, I staggered out of my bed feeling weak and shaky. Heading into my kitchen I made myself a cup of tea. Although food didn’t sound particularly good, I forced myself to eat something for breakfast anyway.

My nerves felt raw and I was more than a bit jumpy...not to mention clumsier than usual. It was clear that I would need a day to rest, recover and recoup from the trip to the hollow and all the magickal energy I’d spent.

As I sat at the table eating some eggs and toast, I sighed. My body ached, my brain was all fuzzy and I felt extremely disconnected, almost as if the past forty-eight hours had been some sort of dream. At least I was pretty sure it had been only forty-eight hours. Honestly? I’d lost all track of what day of the week it actually was.

The loss of time was an unfortunately common side effect of exposure to Fae magick. It was a glamoury of sorts. So, I wasn’t completely surprised by it…but I did find it aggravating. How in the world did the folks who lived in the hollow deal with that? Did they build up some sort of immunity over time?

After breakfast I called Dex, checked in on the store and found that everything was running well. I told him I was going to take another day for myself, and he suggested I take two. We chatted for a bit about business and once the call was over, I went to go put on my grubbiest clothes. Yanking my hair up in a ponytail, I threw myself into yard work.

Being outdoors in my garden and getting some sunshine would ground and reconnect me to the physical world faster than anything else. By noon I had deadheaded all my flowers and weeded the perennial and vegetable beds. I was sweating but my yard looked terrific. Most importantly, I felt steadier and more like myself again.

I decided to go grab a big greasy cheeseburger from a drive-through for lunch and eat sitting on my shady back patio. After that I’d get cleaned up and relax for the rest of the day. My plan firmly in place, I ran inside and grabbed my purse and car keys.

Fast food bag in hand, and slurping my cola, I hummed to myself as I made my way across the garden. Dropping my purse over the back of one of my patio table chairs, I plopped down, opened the bag and unwrapped the burger. Checking to make sure there were in fact no onions, I put the bun back in place and took a huge bite of my cheeseburger.

Sighing in delight, I rested my back against the chair and plowed through my lunch. The red verbena was setting new blooms in my containers, and while they weren’t blooming right then, they would be soon enough. My foxgloves had also gone through their bloom cycle. As I thought about it, I frowned.

It didn’t make me feel especially secure knowing that two of the flowering plants I specifically grew to ward off the Fae were, at that moment, out of bloom.

“Don’t be paranoid, Lorna,” I said to myself, scooping up some french fries. “You’re a long, long way from the hollow.”

“No need to be paranoid, Magistra.” The voice came from nowhere. It had the fries dropping to the table and me damn-near falling out of my chair only to discover that Nadia—the Vampire who had first come to my bookstore to deliver the summons—was currently sitting across from me in one of my patio chairs and grinning.

“Nadia!” I gasped, patting my heart back into place. “You scared the be-jesus out of me.”

That day she was wearing jeans, a navy-colored long-sleeved shirt, and the same round dark glasses. “It wasn’t my intention to frighten you.” Nadia shrugged. “There is no reason to worry. Until they apprehend Sawyer Weston, I have been assigned to keep an eye on you.”

I did a double take. “Excuse me?”

Nadia pushed her sunglasses up on top of her brown hair. When she focused her eyes on me, I saw they were a clover-green color. “It was decided last night, that both you and Mr. Montgomery would have ‘round the clock security. It’s the least we can do...after everything you have done for the Supernatural communities here in Birmingham as well as Hemlock Hollow.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Vampire and I stared at each other for a long moment. Me with a surprised frown and her with a knowing smile.

“How long have you been here?” I finally asked, reaching for my cola.

“Since last night,” Nadia said, helping herself to one of my fries.

The cola paused on route to my mouth. “Dare I ask where you were that whole time?”

“Hanging by my toes like a bat from the rafters in your attic,” she said blandly.