Page 50 of Love's a Witch
The book opened for me… immediately. Surprise filled me, and a small shiver worked itself down my neck. That was odd, but magick was weird in general, so should I be that shocked?
Nova, nosy sister that she was, leaned over to try to read the page.
“Huh, blank pages.”
“No, it’s not!” I said, rolling my eyes up to Nova. It was plain as day there was writing on the pages.
“Let me see.” I turned the book to Lyra, but she bit her lower lip and shook her head.
“Sorry, Sloane, I don’t see anything either.”
“What part of me telling you that this book is meant for Sloane aren’t you understanding?” Broca asked, as though we were all a few fries short of a Happy Meal.
“What does it say?” Nova nodded at me to look, and I brought it forward, that shiver of unease turning to excitement.
But the words just swam on the page in front of me, written in ancient text unknown to me. Not like I was some history scholar, but I’d at least be able to identify if the words were Celtic or not.
“I can’t read it,” I admitted. “It’s not a language I know.”
“Is it code? Could you copy it down and we all try to figure it out?” Lyra asked, perching on the arm of the couch.
“We’ll need a revealing spell. And likely the coven to help.” Broca shook her head when I went to protest. “This is very old magick, Sloane. I could feel it on the book. You can complain all you want, but your magick won’t reveal what’s in this book without help. We need our coven to ground us, to funnel our magick, and to unlock what’s in this book.”
Shite.When she said it like that…
“Can we at least do the spell with Blue first?” I whined somewhat pathetically. I knew I was only delaying bringing the coven about, but I wasn’t sure I could handle Mandy Meadows’s plastic smile at the moment. My emotions were scrambling to land—a little like Blue, actually—and my heart was still thumping from Knox’s kisses.
“Are you going to admit there’s something here?”
Goddess, what was I supposed to do with that? Nope, not thinking about that right now. Talking to my familiar, though? Sign me up.
“That I can help you with. We can do it right now.” Broca’s eyes warmed.
“Seriously?” My eyes widened.
“Can just any pet become a familiar?” Nova asked. It was a question I hadn’t really considered before.
“No. Familiars are tied to the mystical world. They guide, protect, or offer you their magick throughout your life. Each holds a unique set of powers that works symbiotically with yours.”
“He brings the cheese, and you bring thewhine.” Lyra changed her tone to a whining tone, and Nova snickered.
“I don’t whine.” I protested—notwhined, thankyouverymuch.
“Ladies. The spell?”
“Okay, okay, I’m in. Let’s do this. What do we need?” I made a zipping motion over my lips at my sisters to get them to shut up.
“A drop of blood from you both, some of my crystals, and we’ll cast a simple protection circle. Or square, actually.” Broca looked at us.
“Doesn’t it have to be a circle?” Lyra asked, crossing the room to get Broca’s dish of crystals that had been charging in the moonlight the night before.
“Not necessarily. The intent is to protect. Pentagram. Triangle. Octagon. Nae bother, really. It’s about creating a safe and protective space.” Broca straightened and took the bowl of crystals onto her lap, digging through them and handing several to Lyra. “There, child. Black tourmaline, hematite, and amethyst. Protection and grounding.”
After Lyra laid out the stones around us, Broca looked at Blue.
“Blue, we’ll need a drop of blood from your paw.”
Blue surprised me by rolling over and rising into the air, hovering over Broca, seeming to understand that he couldn’t land in her lap lest he hurt her hip. Broca held up a small ritual knife.
