Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“How do you know that?” He was staring at her, smiling now.
She shrugged. “I simply do. It’s been that way my whole life. The problem for me is, I can always tell when something is good, like this cottage. But I can’t always tell when something is straight-up bad.”
“Which I want to help you with,” I told her, taking her hand.
She grabbed mine with both of hers. “Yes. Please.”
“Okay, so first, we need to get you a—”
One of the drawers down toward the end of the long counter jiggled. I looked at Lorne. “Would you get that, please?”
He chuckled softly, walked over to the drawer, and opened it slowly.
“You’re so okay with all the magic, but I don’t sense any on you at all other than Xander’s,” Shelby commented as he returned to the table with something in his hand.
“Yeah, well, you fall in love with a witch, what’re you gonna do? You hafta be okay with the unseen if you wanna stay.”
Her sigh was long as she turned to me. “I want one just like him.”
“I don’t know, I think they broke the mold there, but you might get lucky.”
“A lot of men have said they can handle…me. But when something happens, like I end up having a conversation with their dead relative at Thanksgiving dinner…”
“That must’ve been wild,” Lorne said, grinning at her.
“Oh, you have no idea.” She rolled her eyes for emphasis.
“So they’re okay until things get freaky?”
She nodded.
His shrug was good because it made it seem like that was no big deal. “That’s okay. You’ll find the one who’ll be all, Tell Uncle Jack we’re eating but you can talk to him after dessert. Also, tell him he still owes me fifty bucks.”
Her smile was huge. “I want to find him.”
“You will,” he assured her. “But for now, I think this is for you,” he said, passing me a small peace sign on a leather cord.
Seeing it, I groaned. “Oh no, I’m sorry. This horrible artifact from the sixties was my grandmother’s. She was a big hippie back in the day.”
A rush of cold air hit me hard, chilling my skin.
“Oh, I felt that,” Shelby said, laughing. “You’re in trouble.”
“I felt the cold air go by me too,” Lorne chimed in.
“Ridiculous,” I said with a shiver, passing the necklace to Shelby, who took it and held it in both hands. It shimmered, and her jaw clenched tight.
“Is she okay?” Lorne was concerned, his hand slipping over my wrist.
I nodded. “She’s fine.”
“Thank you so much,” Shelby whispered.
“The orange there is amber, the black is jet. It’s very powerful, and again, I’m sorry it’s not more…elegant, because it’s gonna clash with things if you go to some fancy dinner. And listen, you can take it off if—”
“Oh no,” she said quickly, slipping it over her head, tightening the slip knots so it fell right under her collarbones. “I’m never taking this off.”
“You can shower with the leather. It won’t—I mean, obviously, it’s not actually leather, it’s a cord made from plants, but it’s also…enchanted.”
She covered it with her hand. “I’m really, really thankful.” Tipping her head back, she repeated the words to the cottage. “Thank you so much.”
Warm breeze of lemon and verbena then.
Her eyes were back on me. “So if I’d had this on when I went into the graveyard tonight, then I wouldn’t have been possessed by those spirits.”
“No, you wouldn’t have. You still have all your abilities, you can still feel things, know what’s around you, but they can’t attack you anymore. That charm, it started out as pieces of jet and amber. She created that design, and my grandfather fused them together for her.”
“I like how you said design instead of hippie peace sign again.”
“I’d rather not get admonished a second time.”
She nodded. “Good thinking.”
“Also,” I continued, “I’ll give you some casting herbs you can add to a fire or to a bag or however you want to use them. It will add an extra layer of protection, for you as well as for others in your party.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Let me go get those while Lorne gives you our phone numbers and the address here and his email so you can call us and have us send things to you, like more casting herbs, when needed.”
Before I could get up, she leaned in for a hug, and I wrapped up the little pixie of a woman and squeezed her back tight.
Leaving them to talk, I went to the sunroom, slipped on my wool clogs that lived in that room, got a medium-sized drawstring burlap pouch, and then got down one of the many jars there and filled up the bag.
I had to go outside next, from my sunroom, through my glorious new greenhouse, to the dirt beside the path that was protected from turning to mud under the rosemary and thyme. I grabbed a pinch of Corvus dirt and sprinkled it over the top of the open bag.