Page 54 of Witchlore
“Fun dungarees, by the way.”
His finger is playfully tracing the flower pattern on my knee. It’s very distracting but, somehow, I know I don’t want him to stop.
“Thanks, I painted them myself. I was bored last summer.” I’m trying not to follow the shape of his fingers with my mind and keep up a conversation, but it’s like trying to pat my head and rub my stomach at once. I can barely get my words out.
“That’s clever. You look cute in them.”
When he pulls his fingers away there’s a confusing sensation inside me, part regret and part relief. I wonder if I should shuffle slightly so my knee is no longer touching his but I realize I’m pleasantly content. My mouth tastes like tequila and lime and my body is warm with the press of a handsome man against it. I realize that if I turned my head at this moment, we would practically be nose to nose. This thought produces a thrill of absolute terror and I cough, looking away.
“So, shall we talk about the Black Shuck?”
If Bastian notices my inelegant attempt to deflect his flattery,he doesn’t show it. He reaches into his satchel and pulls out a heavy, musty-smelling book.
“Look what I got,” Bastian says, dropping it onto the table.Exorcisms and Conjuring Spirits and Demons: Volume One.
“Where’sVolume Two?” I demand. “This seems like the kind of thing where you read both volumes.”
“Don’t worry, this has everything we need.” He flicks to a page he has bookmarked, a grand double-page spread with a woodcut print of Manchester cathedral, tall, spiky, and gothic, and then, prowling around its edges, a black dog with long fangs, dripping with a dark liquid. Bulging, violent eyes.The Black Shuck.
“We have to summon it using a conjuring circle and trap it.” Bastian flips forward to a page with a ragged drawing of a circle made of salt and blood on it. “It’s not permanent—”
“Obviously,” I mutter into my drink, and Bastian smirks.
“But I think I can hold it in place long enough for us to get what we need. Then we release the spell, it goes back to its dimension, and no one’s the wiser. Pretty standard.”
“Pretty standard?” I stare at him in amazement. “Done this before, have you?”
A month ago, I would have scoffed if he said yes, but since then I have watched him deter a boggart with a preposterous spell. If he says yes, I won’t be surprised.
“Sadly, no, this will be my first time.” He grins.
“And what if we get caught summoning a hellhound in the city center?”
“I honestly don’t know about the legality of performing a hellhound summoning on sacred ground,” Bastian says cheerfully. “But we won’t get caught.”
I nibble my lip anxiously. It tastes like salt. I look down at thecircle of blood and try to imagine the power needed to contain this hellish creature from another dimension. I can’t do it.
“You’re sure it will work?” I try not to sound plaintive but I know I do.
“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it will.” Bastian places a hand briefly on top of mine and I resist the urge to turn my palm upward and grab his fingertips, taking comfort from him just like I did in the face of the boggart. “Look, we’re not going in unprepared. We’re going to read and do research. I’m going to do the spell but you’re going to understand it, too. We’re a team, right?”
I take a deep breath and try to focus on remembering Bastian standing above me, blasting the boggart away with his magic. If I’ve seen him do that and he managed to magically resuscitate me on the beach, do I have any reason to doubt him facing the Black Shuck? Unbidden, Elizabeth’s face in her last moments comes back to me. The fear, yes, but also the confusion. She never expected to fail.That’s not going to happen this time,I reassure myself. I try to believe it.
“Right.” I nod, giving myself a little shake. “So when will we do it?”
“The new moon is best for hellhounds.”
“Okay. Pretend I’m a bad witch who doesn’t follow the moon cycle and tell me when that is.”
“Tuesday the twenty-fifth of October.” He chuckles. “If it goes well and we get the hair, then we can do the ritual on Samhain.”
“Got it.” I try to look and sound more confident than I feel.
Bastian must notice because he says, “You could bring some vegan Babybels to make yourself feel better.”
I laugh and my anxiety dissipates slightly, the tension in my shoulders dropping.
“Yeah, well, maybe I will.” I nudge his shoulder playfully. “Tell me about the spell.”
