Page 2 of Petty Deadly Gorgeous

“I’m done with this bullshit magic thing you do, Viv.” Glass broke and his voice raised. “I’m the god-damn head of this house.”

The sound of skin slapping skin resonated before I heard my mom fight back. “Now? Jamison? Now you decide to assert yourself? You knew who I was when you fucking married me!”

Suddenly, my bedroom door opened, and Gran slipped in, holding an odd book to her chest. She closed the door and let out a sigh. “Silly fight, really.”

“They always fight about this.” I frowned and turned in my vanity chair. “Dad thinks mom practices witchcraft.”

Gran walked over and sat on my bed and blew out another hard breath. “Magic gets such a bad rap.” Her old hand patted the seat beside her. “Come see what I’ve brought you.”

The air crackled and felt thicker as I moved to sit beside her. She placed the heavy book in my lap and my fingers lightly traced the bumps and lines on the cover. It immediately drew my eyes to it, admiring the soft fleshy color. “What is it?”

She stroked her hand down the back of my head. “Ah, my precious, this book has been a treasured heirloom handed down since the fifteen hundreds.”

Awe filled me as my fingertips flattened and my entire hand caressed the cover. “Is this real leather?” The book felt lighter the longer it sat in my lap and reminded me of a vintage scrapbook. The pages all seemed to be different sizes, making the book bulky.

“Of a sort.” She tilted her head and smiled at me. “Go on, open it up.”

Excitement filled me as I cracked open the cover. The same spark I felt earlier sizzled in the air and crazy as this sounds the book called to me. My eyes scanned the first page, and the writing felt familiar. In my soul I knew I’d seen this before.

The parchment paper inside should’ve looked old, but it didn’t and the writing on the page shifted and moved. I didn’t know what language they had written in it, but now the words were as recognizable as any book I’ve ever read.

Ink stood out deeper in places. Each page had a title, recipe list and instructions, only these were nothing like the recipes I’d seen before. Whatever this would make wasn’t something you’d serve for dinner.

It wasn’t until the third page I realized this wasn’t a cookbook. This book contained spells handed down from generations. Notes were scribbled in the margins, clearly done by different people. And in between some pages, they had tucked extra spells in.

There were drawings and samples of herbs and flowers for reference. Love. Money. Revenge. Each page held secrets on how to craft the perfect spell.

“Has mom seen this?” I whispered softly as I continued reading over each page.

“Of course. It’s a family heirloom.” Gran stood from the bed. “She chose your father over old family traditions.”

“Gee. That worked out great.” I huffed, hearing my dad’s booming voice echoing through the house.

“Put it someplace safe.” She gave me a wink. “Away from prying eyes.”

I closed the book and smiled. “Thank you, Gran. I love it.”

My mother rejected this gift, but I couldn’t wait to read more and learn what my ancestors knew.

“I knew you would, Anna.”

Downstairs, more glass hit the wall and shattered, followed by my mom screaming. “FUCK YOU, JAMISON BISHOP!”

With a shake of her head, gran slipped from my room, and I followed. Her voice spoke in a dangerous, calm tone. “That’s more than enough. Today is Anna’s day, and here the two of you stand fighting like school children. You should be ashamed.”

“Ramona, I told you. This is between me and Vivien.” Dad growled back.

Gran’s fists balled up, and she stomped her foot. “Bljai laidogoro oarliz ourro!” The lights flicked, and I heard my mom scream.

My eyes grew wide and awe filled me. “What was that?”

“Mother! You cannot just do that to him!” Mom spun and stomped her foot in anger at Gran.

“I can. And I did.” Gran turned to me. “That was magic.”

“Anna, spellcasting isn’t not to be toyed with.” Mom’s voice trembled as she spoke and her eyes glanced sideways at my dad. “Mom, please?”

Gran let out a sigh as she turned back to my mom. “Vivien, gather your things. We have a class to attend with Anna. This is her celebration. Your piece of shit husband is just paused. He’ll be fine while we’re gone, then you can continue this silly fight and Anna will spend the night with me.” She shook her arms down and turned to me. “Ready to go, darling?”

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