Page 103 of Spellbound & Speechless
The pages flip wildly, rifling through, as though it’s looking for something… or maybe it’s showing me something. The thick book opens to a page.
My heart stops.
We’ve all read this book for decades. It’s what taught us magic. Of course, it’s impossible to memorize every page, but…
This one is new. There isn’t a single tea stain, wrinkle, or crease. It’sbrandnew.
The face of the corrupt witch is in the pages of our old family book, even though we never saw her there. It’s the very witch we’ve been fighting.
“Maple!” I call. “Come! Quick!”
She’s back before I can panic, with a wild look in her eye. “What is it? What happened?”
“The grimoire!” I swallow thickly. “It’s trying to tell us something.”
Maple peers over my shoulder, and fresh words appear on the page. I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve watched my mother make entries in the pages herself, but to see the book making a spell…
It’s her. Our mother’s spirit is tampering with the book.
Neither of us says it aloud, but Maple and I must be on the same page. The wind rushes through the room again,and Iknowit’s Mom. Her free spirit. Her caring nature. A hint of her lavender perfume hits my nose.
I close my eyes, blinking back tears.
“How to banish a corrupt witch,” Maple murmurs. “This is new. You didn’t…?”
“No. I didn’t. Of course, I didn’t. I wouldn’t know the first thing about writing a spell like this.”
“Oh, my.”
The spell claims to strip corrupt magic and force the witch to the underworld, back to the demon from whom they gained their powers. It’s precisely what we need. Even Mac doesn’t know how to get rid of the corrupt witches, but…
We do. And now, we can.
“Has the grimoire always done this?” I ask.
“No,” she breathes. “Never. Someone on the other side is looking out for us.”
Chapter 36
Mac
Gettingthe pack to take me in is the simple part. They even agree to watch the tavern and the Hawthorne house when possible. A few of them are neighbors, after all. Wolves are loyal to a pack, despite my mother’s experience with them, and I have to hope they’ll pull through this one time… for me… for Aspen… and the family I’m learning to let in.
My mother was my only family for so long, and I loved her. I still do. She always cared about me fiercely. That’s the only love I’m used to, but Aspen and her family showed me a softer side of love.
Is it bad that I like it, and I want more?
Back at the house, my mother sits in a rocking chair with a book on her lap. It’s the grimoire, I realize. The witches trust her enough to let her protect it.
She’s a part of this family now, too, and I hope she can grow to find the same comfort they bring me.
I sit on the couch next to her and sigh, slumping down.
“It’s been a long few days,” she says, looking at me from the corner of her eye.
The warmth radiates onto me, making my bones grow heavy. “And getting longer.”
“Mackenzie.” She hums to herself and eyes me sharply. “You smell like a wolf.”
