Page 63 of Grimoires & Glamoury

“Circe!” Kate elbowed her cousin firmly in the side. “Don’t be rude.”

“I’m not.” Circe elbowed Kate right back. “It’s sort of cool. I mean, I can count the number of times on one hand I’ve seen a Vampire or even a Lycan in any of our shops since we opened a couple of years ago.”

“Is her presence related to your position as Magistra?” Kate asked me, wisely keeping her voice down.

“Yes, it is,” I said.

Circe exchanged looks with her cousin before returning her focus to me. “And this new development—the security—is a result of your recent trip out of town?”

“Correct.”

Dex gave me a long steady look. “And I get the feeling that we would all be better off—safer—by not asking about or knowing any of the finer details.”

I nodded in agreement. “Exactly.”

Dex ran a supportive hand down my arm. “I trust that you’ll tell us all more, if and when it is safe to do so.”

“Thank you, Dex,” I said.

Kate tucked her hands into the pockets of her dress. “So, it’s probably a good idea to work more protection magick and strengthen the wards around all three of our shops?”

“I’d recommend red verbena, rowan leaves and St. John’s wort for any herbal spells,” I said, keeping direct eye contact with Kate as I spoke.

“Shit.” Circe hissed the word under her breath. “And add in iron while we are at it?”

I nodded. “Y’all can never be too careful.”

Kate and Circe exchanged looks. Then Kate gave me a nod. “I’m going to get to work on that, right now. I’ll also make sachets for each of us to keep on our person, including Taylor, Toni and Kathleen.”

“I’ll come and give you a hand,” Circe said, following her cousin.

I watched as my retail neighbors went back to Kate’s shop. “That conversation went better than I expected,” I whispered to Dex.

“Lorna,” Dex began, “you know that we’ve all got your back.”

“Yes, I do,” I murmured, glancing at the clock on the wall and then spoke in a regular volume. “We open in ten minutes.”

“Then let’s get to work,” he said, loud enough for Kathleen to hear. “It’s the release day for that popular romance author.”

“Right,” I said, remembering. “The spicy one that Kathleen recommended.”

“I’m going to go bring the release day poster up and put it on the door!” She smiled and then hustled to the back room to retrieve it.

“We’ve also got a big list of holds for the title in the back room,” Dex said. “I’ll go and bring them to the front desk. I would imagine the customers will all be in before noon to get them.”

“We’ll be busy then,” I said. “Good.”

True to her word Nadia was very discreet. For the most part the customers paid her little to no attention. I hoped that wasn’t due to any enthrallment from the Vampire. Kathleen was curious about her but was her usual friendly self. The next time Kathleen came over to visit at home, she asked if Nadia was going to join us on the porch for our weekly wine and snacks.

To my surprise Nadia did join us, and Kathleen brought a stack of paranormal romances from her leopard print book bag and passed them along to the Vampire to read.

“Why thank you, Kathleen.” Nadia seemed to be touched at the gesture.

A week had passed and I had still not seen Charles. He had texted me a few days after we returned from the hollow, to check in and assure me that he had indeed destroyed the grimoire, but other than that, there’d been no other communication.

I imagined he was busy with his own life, his daughter, and with his real estate business, as well as running the lodge. It’s not like I expected him to rush over and see me. Yet in a way, I suppose that I had. At least I’d hoped he would. The truth was we’d been pushed together over the stolen grimoire in a sort of wartime intimacy. Only a fool would think there would be more…or anything meaningful afterward.

As much as I hated to admit it, I was afraid I was very much that fool.