Page 61 of Lunar Diamonds
Everything was falling apart.
“He’s gotta be here somewhere!” a man called from behind us.
Crapping hell. My toes curled tightly in my shoes, my heart about to leap into my throat. “They’re almost here.”
“I’ll leave if it’ll get Ollie to open the door,” Drake said. “Just?—”
The door opened, the hinge slightly squeaky. “Get in.” Ollie held a baseball bat in his right hand. Blood was splattered across his white vest. It didn’t appear to be his judging by the red stains on the bat.
I hurried inside, Drake sticking close. Ollie grunted at him, then slammed the door.
“Thanks,” Drake tried.
He got another grunt for his effort.
The attic was huge, with a pointed ceiling and cobwebs hanging like grim Christmas decorations in every corner. There were floor-to-ceiling shelves smothering the walls, and a huge cauldron at its heart. The shelves were empty, and there wasn’t any sign of a window.
“This is one of the spell rooms,” Ollie said, moving toward the cauldron.
He bent and lifted a floorboard, fishing out a bag of what appeared to be white sage, and a battered blue grimoire.
“This is what you’ll need,” he said, plucking out a loose, yellowed page.
There were three other loose pages—one gold, one silver, one pearly white—tucked into the book. He didn’t do anything with them, putting the book on the floor.
White sage was super expensive and hard to come by nowadays. Part of the High Coven restrictions.
There was another boom, which meant the shadow witches were closing in.
Ollie pressed a button on the floor beside the cauldron. Fire whooshed to life, wrapping around its edges. A vent opened above it, an extractor fan whirring.
“Let’s do this,” he said.
Oh, God. I hurried over to the cauldron, glancing back at Drake. His attention was on the door.
Ollie handed me the piece of paper, my nerves on edge. “This is the spell of protection. I’ve prepared the first part, but you need to do the rest.” He cleared his throat. “The cloaking charms are still working.”
Pearlescent liquid simmered in the cauldron, releasing a woody scent.
“What about the grounding?” I asked, every inch of me sweating.
Casting certain spells came with physical consequences if a witch wasn’t grounded properly. It caused havoc back in the day, especially amongst overzealous witches.
“You’re already tough enough to withstand any kickback,” Ollie answered. “Being sacred means you don’t have to be grounded. You shouldn’t get much more than a headache. Call it a perk of your blood. But you to need to pay the tolls.”
“Up there!” I heard a voice cry.
“Shit,” Drake growled. “How’s it going over there?”
I read the spell.
Protect!
Requires heating the essence of pearl in a cauldron. Grounding requires a circle of sugar. A toll of white sage must be paid.
Once connection is established, clap the magic out while calling the word.
This spell requires a minimum of four witches in order to cast.
