Page 5 of The Last Gargoyle's Christmas Wish
Grady clenched his hand. For some reason, he just liked the protection charms to always be fully charged. If something happened to one of his siblings, or his nephew or niece, and their protection charm hadn’t been in place, he’d never be able to live with himself.
The protection charms his family wore weren’t foolproof against all dangers. For example, they weren’t particularly good against intentional attacks. But they provided pretty good protection from some things, like accidents.
The metallic scent of blood lingered in his nostrils.
“The charms are charged enough,” Ordelia said firmly.
Reluctantly, Grady relented with a nod.
She gave him a gentle smile. “Thank you for bringing the groceries.”
“Of course.” Grady nodded. “I’ll see you soon. Bye, Michael.” He rubbed the boy’s head. “Bye, Ruthie.” He glanced at his niece before turning away.
“Love you, Grady,” Ordelia called out.
“Love you too,” Grady called back.
Out of all his siblings, he was closest to Ordelia. And as pleased as he was that she was happily married, he missed her. Although, their five-bedroom apartment could definitely handle nine siblings better than ten.
He walked the short distance to the Magic Bakery. He’d work a few hours in the bakery before returning to the Christmas markets.
In the back, Grady took out the ingredients to make a hearty nut loaf. Grady’s speciality was bread. Particularly bread meant for those who might work dangerous or risky jobs. Hehad a protection affinity; thus the food he made provided some protection to those who ate it.
Some witches were born with their affinity, some developed it, and some never had an affinity. His protection affinity had developed soon after his parents died.
He lost himself in the motion of kneading the dough in his hands, focusing his attention and his energy. For the first time that day, Grady felt like he could breathe. Even the muscle twitching beneath his eye receded. His mind focused on the task and the intent, not worrying about a million other things that needed his attention.
Protect those who eat this. May they be safe from danger and harm.
This sort of magic didn’t require the same level of energy as the protection charms.
His parents, uncle, and aunt had taught him to bake. Unfortunately, his uncle and aunt were giant dickheads who’d left them in the lurch when they got jobs as fancy servants in rich houses. They’d not even helped him and his siblings when their parents died.
As he kneaded, some of the tension released from his neck and shoulders. Grady wished he could just bake all day.
But that wasn’t his role in the family. He was the eldest, and therefore he was the head of the family. Since the moment his parents died, he’d taken charge and done what needed doing.
After closing the bakery, Grady pressed his hand to the sigil on the door. “Protect our hearth. Protect our home. Protect my kin wherever they roam.” A flare of warmth and his energy flowed.
“Didn’t you already charge that today?” Cas laughed. His wings fluttered, feet hovering above the ground. He carried several crates of baked goods.
Grady nodded and picked up his crates. “Can never be too careful.”
Grady didn’t mind the teasing. Not if the charms protected his siblings even a little bit. He thought of what Ordelia had said, about charging them too often. But he just couldn’t stand not charging them constantly, even if it wasn’t needed.
What if he forgot one day? Or something happened to him that meant he couldn’t charge them as needed?
No. He would keep charging them as he saw fit.
He supposed he could make the charms less complicated. But he didn’t like the thought of that either. A simple charm on the bakery or homes would keep out everyone except those who knew the deactivation incantation.
It would even work at the front door of the bakery. They could activate it at night to keep people out. And then deactivate it in the morning so customers could come in. Then the other doors would just always need someone to know the deactivation incantation to get in.
That sort of straightforward magic would take less energy to create and maintain.
Grady glanced at Cas, his adopted pixie brother. He dressed all in silver, the self-proclaimed Christmas pixie. One night years ago, Cas, an orphan living on the streets, had wandered into the bakery because he saw Christmas decorations in the window. He’d just opened the door and walked in.
A simple charm would not have allowed Cas in. The pixie boy would have remained starving in the snow. He’d have never become part of their family.
