Page 9 of Grimoires & Glamoury

It was the Nine of Swords. The artwork of this particular card presented a pale woman, lying down with the back of one hand pressed to her forehead as if she was overwhelmed. Behind her on the castle wall was a window that showed a waning crescent moon in the night sky. The nine swords were displayed almost as if they were barring the window.

“I’ve never seen the Nine of Swords depicted quite like this,” I said to Circe.

“In this deck that card means you’re dealing with a drama queen, or a psychic or emotional vampire—or victim. Take a close look at her throat. She has wounds there.”

“Like from a Vampire.”

“Exactly,” Circe said. “This card can also represent baneful magick being returned to its sender. Times Three.”

I nodded. “Three times three is nine, and nines in the Tarot often represent culmination or an approaching conclusion. Seeing the way the swords are arranged on this card makes me think that the depicted scene is about keeping something dangerous out, and that protection is needed.”

Circe nodded in agreement. “That’s how I interpret this card sometimes. It depends on its placement in a reading. This card dropping out today...well, it definitely is an attention grabber.”

Like an exclamation point added to her words, my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that Montgomery had texted me the address of a local restaurant, not far from my bookstore. He had made reservations for one o’clock.

“Thank you, Circe,” I said, tucking my phone away without responding to his message. “I appreciate the reading.”

“Drop by any time.” She tossed me a wink. “We’re always open.”

Turning on my heel, I made my way back to the bookstore. Yes, I was going to meet the man for lunch. I’d been on the fence about going before the reading, but after listening to Circe’s interpretation of the cards, I had the strongest gut hunch that I truly should attend.

***

It was a short walk from my bookstore to the restaurant that Charles Montgomery had chosen. The rain had stopped and now the sun was making an effort to peep out from the clouds. I used the fifteen minutes it took me to walk over to work on grounding and centering myself.

I wanted to be calm and in control when we met. He didn’t have the element of surprise on his side this time. Thanks to the reading, compliments of Circe, I felt I had a fairly good idea of what to expect.

After giving my name to the hostess at Chez Fonfon, I was escorted to a booth in the far corner of the restaurant. Montgomery was already waiting there, and I’d bet every dollar I had that he’d paid extra to be sat so far away from other paying customers.

I slipped into the opposite side of the booth quickly, before he could rise to his feet. “Mr. Montgomery,” I said in lieu of a friendlier greeting.

“Lorna.” He nodded and picked up a cup of tea. “Thank you for meeting with me.”

Our waiter appeared before I could respond, and I asked for a glass of ice water.

“Looks like the rain is clearing out,” I said, passing time until the waiter returned.

Montgomery inclined his head. “It would appear so.”

The waiter delivered the water and retreated. I considered the young man as he hustled away, figuring Montgomery had probably asked to be left alone.

“Okay,” I said. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

His lips quirked up in a half smile. “Impatient, aren’t you?”

I sent him a level look. “Don’t play games with me, Montgomery. Let’s get down to business.”

“Fine,” he said. “A few days ago, a rare and valuable old text was stolen from my private book collection.”

It was everything I had not to roll my eyes. He drew his phone from his pocket and pulled up a photo of the old book. I looked at it and saw that it appeared to be hand bound with leather. Any print on the cover had long since faded. “Hmm,” I said politely. “With all due respect, this sounds like a situation that should be handled in house—or within your lodge as the case may be.”

He blinked in surprise at my suggestion. Slowly he placed his phone back on the table. It almost seemed as if he were holding back his temper.

“Have you notified the police about the theft?” I asked next.

“No,” he said. “It’s complicated and I cannot afford that sort of attention just now.”

“Meaning you acquired this book through less than ethical means?”