The Hidden Grimoire Read online

  Kyle took my hands in his. “I don’t care what names he wants to call you. To me, you’re just Brynn. The other stuff? I don’t suppose that’s a whole lot different than me putting on a uniform when I go to work. Some people respect it, some people don’t. It doesn’t change who we are, and Brynn, you are a good person regardless of what you can or can’t do. I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you otherwise.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “You never know. I might have enchanted you, the way that woman did.”

  He shook his head. “Uh-uh. I know the difference. I was the one who was enchanted, remember? I’m fully in charge of my faculties with you. No hocus pocus needed.”

  I dropped my gaze and warmth bloomed in my cheeks.

  He lowered his voice. “I do have a question, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  His face screwed up as if he wasn’t sure how to continue. “Well, Halloween.”

  I laughed. “I asked Nora the same thing.” Most people didn’t want to know the secrets I knew, but Kyle had said he understood. Judging by his question, he wasn’t afraid of the answers. “This is relatively new to me, too. Nora says today is for honoring those who have gone before.” As I spoke, a shadow took shape beside Kyle’s chair. I gasped and jumped to my feet.

  Kyle sprang to my side to shield me while he surveyed the room. “What is it?”

  The specter looked like Kyle’s Aunt Polly who, a little more than three years ago, had come after me with a gun. But it couldn’t be. Polly was currently institutionalized. She and Kyle’s mother, however, were twins—Kyle’s mother who had died when he was a toddler.

  I glanced at him, and then at the shadow of the woman beside him. He couldn’t see her.

  “Brynn?” He took my arms and studied my face.

  I took a trembling breath. “They say at Halloween the veil between life and death is thin. Nora said those who have gone before are able to make themselves known to us today.”

  Gooseflesh rose on Kyle’s bare arms. He pulled away, then brushed his face with his hand. “Trick or treat?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  “So now you’re telling me you see ghosts?”

  How would he react to knowing his mother stood beside him? As it turned out, I didn’t have to tell him. The shadow whispered his name.

  Kyle.

  He screwed his eyes shut, as if unwilling to look.

  The shadow held out her hands, but Kyle kept his eyes closed.

  The voice echoed in my head. “Tell him love doesn’t die. Tell him I’m sorry for all he’s suffered. Tell him I’m proud of him.”

  I nodded, and the shadow returned my nod.

  I refilled Kyle’s wine glass, took his hand and wrapped it around the stem. He opened one eye, his expression wary.

  “Nora and I did this earlier,” I told him. “I thought you might want to, too.” I tapped my glass to his. “To those who have gone before. To your mother.”

  He held my gaze and took a drink.

  I drew a breath to relay the message I’d been given. “Love continues beyond death. Those we love remain with us, even when we can’t see them. I know your mother would be proud of you, and even if she’d survived, I doubt she could have shielded you from the trials you’ve had to go through, but I know she would have tried.”

  He relaxed. “I’m sure your parents would have done the same.” He touched his glass to mine. “To your parents.”

  We both took another drink, and I ventured a glance at the shadow. She folded her hands over her heart and faded away.

  Chapter 6

  When Kyle’s cell phone rang its first alarm, I lay sprawled across him on the bed. I rolled onto my back and rested my forearm across my head as the second alarm sequence increased in volume. Ash arched her back at the foot of the bed and made her way toward the pillows, purring loudly. I scooped her up and cuddled her.

  With the third, and louder, alarm sequence, I added my voice. “Kyle!”

  He bolted upright and glanced around the room to get his bearings. He reached for his phone and turned off the alarm.

  The cat jumped to the floor and walked out of the bedroom. I flapped my hands at Kyle to shoo him out of bed, too.

  “Cruel,” he said, his voice rough. “It’s not even light out yet. And it’s cold.”

  “And Hillendale is waiting for you to protect and serve.”

  He growled and burrowed his face into my neck. “I’d rather protect and serve you.”

  I giggled and hugged him.

  With a heavy sigh, he pulled away. “I’ll bring home dinner tonight?”

  “Sounds good.”

  He threw back the sheet, giving me a front-row seat to admire his finer attributes as he headed toward the bathroom. He returned a few moments later and sat on the edge of the bed to tug his clothes on. I pulled my knees to my chest, certain I would never grow tired of this man.

  He leaned over to kiss me. “See you when you open the store.” And then he was gone.

  I pulled on my bathrobe and stopped in the bathroom before going downstairs. When I flipped on the light in the workroom, Ash was situated beside the window in a Sphinx-like pose, her ears twitching with whatever was happening outside.

  A grimoire lay open on the worktable, waiting for me. The recipe was for arthritis. I checked the pot of turmeric growing at the end of the table, plenty to get through the winter months. With the rhizomes budding, I’d have more to plant before spring.

  While I blended the recipe, the sun made its appearance. Ash sat up, still as a statue as she watched the wildlife chasing around the yard.

  I put the product into a tin, picked a handful of thyme from one of the window boxes, tied it into a bundle and hung it from a hook on the ceiling to dry. When I returned to the book on the table, the page had turned. Funny how I’d become accustomed to the animated recipe books in such a short time.

  Now, there was another book to worry about, one I wasn’t eager to see again. I glanced over my shoulder, wondering what secrets the hidden grimoire held and what it would call on me to do. Just thinking about the skull and crossbones sent a chill through me. Nora had said she’d only used the book a couple of times over the past twenty-some-odd years. With any luck, it would leave me alone.

  And then what? Would Jason’s daughter inherit the family gift? Would the book call on her? A better question was whether I would be able to teach her what I knew. If my cousin meant to keep me from his daughter, the way my uncle had kept me from Aunt Nora, she might stumble across her gifts the way I did and hurt someone unintentionally.

  Jason’s daughter wasn’t even born yet. I had plenty of time to worry about that. For now, a special order asked to be made.

  By the time I’d finished blending herbs to help with insomnia, the workroom was flooded with natural light. Time to get showered and dressed.

  An hour later, I packed the special orders into my tote bag and opened the covered basket that had become Ash’s transport. She jumped in while I put on my coat, and after I’d checked to make sure everything was turned off and closed, we started for town.

  The well-worn footpaths crunched with frozen mud. The wind shook clumps of hoar frost from barren trees. I descended three wooden steps, taking care not to slip, and came out onto Broadway, the cobbled street that made up the business district.

  The artist statue on the corner of Broadway and North was turned toward the Village Hall today. On the artist’s easel, the painting showed the Williamsburg-like building and an assortment of jack-o-lanterns on the surrounding lawn. Someone had tied a Lone Ranger style Halloween mask over the statue’s eyes.

  People bustled in and out of the bakery across the street. Two men unloading a truck carried supplies into the restaurant. Beyond the florist, which hadn’t opened yet, two older men stood outside the five-and-dime in deep discussion.

  While I unlocked the door to Windfall, I glanced at the bookstore next door to see if Yvonne had opened yet—no lights.
Ash pushed her head through the hinged cover on the basket, followed by her two front paws. I hurried into the gift shop—no, it was a boutique now—and set the basket on the counter. Ash jumped onto the display cases and stretched her paws forward. Her ears quivered with the effort, and then she sat expectantly.

  “Let me take my coat off,” I said. “Then I’ll feed you.”

  She chirruped a half meow, half purr, as if she understood.

  I left my tote on the rear counter and carried my coat to the backroom. Ash trotted along behind me, curling around my legs when I poured food into her bowl. I returned to the front of the store and set my hands on my hips. It would take time for me to get used to the new arrangement.

  In place of the shelves of goods I’d sold on consignment up until a couple of months ago, clothes racks filled the middle of the floor. One corner of the shop held the armoire stocked with essential oils. In another, the table of soaps and bath salts.

  The bell over the door announced the arrival of my business partner, Cassandra Larsen. She wore torn jeans, an oversized T-shirt and athletic shoes. Her ice-blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail, but her makeup wasn’t as bold as she normally wore, even though her dark brown eyes didn’t need accenting.

  “I didn’t think you were coming in until noon,” I said.

  The cold had made her cheeks bright red against her pale complexion. “I have bad news.”

  Chapter 7

  Tears welled in Cassandra’s eyes and her voice cracked. “My grandmother passed away last night. I’m going to need a couple of days off.”

  I rushed around the counter and hugged Cassandra. Her grandmother had had a catastrophic stroke a couple of months ago, so the news wasn’t unexpected. “I’m so sorry. Take all the time you need.”

  “I hate to leave you in a lurch like this.” Cassandra drew a breath. “Some business partner I am. We’re just getting started and I have to bail on you.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I told her.

  “There’s something else I needed to tell you,” Cassandra said. “A woman was in here yesterday. She mentioned her sister had told her about Windfall, and she was under the impression it was, as she put it, an apothecary shop. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but I did tell her we’d recently changed our business plan. She asked me if the shop was under new management, or if the same bitch ran it.”

  I took a step back, the words hitting me like a slap in the face. “And you told her...?”

  “I went with new management, which isn’t a total lie.” Cassandra lowered her voice. “She gave me the willies. Didn’t the woman who started the fire at your house have a sister?”

  I nodded, flashing on the image of the beautiful witch who’d locked me in my workroom. I cleared my throat, more from habit than necessity, the way I had for the past month after being hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

  Nora’s voice echoed from our encounter yesterday. Be here. Now. I opened my mouth to breathe, my muscles tense. My voice came from far away. “If it was her sister, I hope what you told her will keep her from coming back.”

  “I don’t mind telling you I’m glad you and Kyle made up. At least this way I know someone’s watching out for you in case things get ugly again,” Cassandra said. “We’ve all been through more than our fair share this year.”

  I took a cleansing breath. “Don’t you worry about me. Go be with your family. Let me know what the arrangements will be, and please tell your parents I’m sorry for your loss.”

  She hugged me once more and left. Stuck at the store, I was in a fishbowl if that woman’s sister came back, but my gifts had matured considerably over the summer. I understood my place in the world, and I’d learned to control the skills I had. I’d know if another witch walked into my shop.

  As quiet as a whisper, Nora’s voice echoed in my head. Are you safe?

  I smiled, considering how often I’d asked her the same question this year, and replied, All is well. At least I hoped it was.

  Behind the counter, I stopped to pet Ash’s silky fur. If anything was amiss, she had proven a reliable alarm. My touch turned up the volume on her purr, but she remained curled in a ball on her rug.

  Why would Narcy’s sister—okay, I knew that woman’s name—come to town looking for me? And if Narcy had been a witch, like me, wouldn’t the family trait present once in a generation, the way it did in my family? Her sister couldn’t be a witch, could she?

  I hadn’t done anything to provoke what Narcy had done to me. She had no reason to want me dead other than to prove she could take what I had away from me. If the woman Cassandra had met was Narcy’s sister looking to cause trouble, I hoped Cassandra had been able to discourage her from coming back.

  Time to stop borrowing trouble. I had work to do.

  For the moment, my botanicals were well-stocked. The bath salts always sold, but the other oils and fragrances tended to move more slowly in the winter months.

  My mind wandered to what Jason had told me. If his wife had visited the shop, why hadn’t she introduced herself? Was she Narcy’s sister? No, I couldn’t fathom such a coincidence. I’d have to pay more attention to customers I didn’t recognize. If Jason’s wife was carrying a daughter who would be born with talents, she might appreciate someone who was willing to help. As for Jason, even after the accusations he’d hurled at me, I was inclined to believe Nora’s take that he was trying to protect his family.

  I straightened the racks of Cassandra’s designer clothing and pondered wearing her more urban designs—the sharp angles and bright colors—to help move her stock. Nora had her own style, with her flowy throwback clothing. My style—or lack thereof—had always been simple. Jeans and blouses or tunics.

  Wearing Cassandra’s clothes would make me feel inauthentic, at best. While Windfall didn’t do a booming business, we’d made enough to pay the bills thus far. I’d leave it to Cassandra to model her line.

  A few orders had filtered in on the website, but I was in no danger of being overwhelmed with work. A message waited in the special request portal.

  Over the summer, my sister bought perfume from you called Lily-Pepper. She gave it to me for my birthday. I do love the smell and was hoping for a refill.

  My heart skipped a beat. The only person who’d requested perfume all summer had been Narcy. I’d blended Lily-Pepper to discourage her from hitting on Kyle, and it had backfired. Either that, or Narcy had worked magic of her own. If I responded to the woman who’d written, I opened the door for more trouble, and yet I’d always faced trouble head-on.

  I stared at the reply screen several moments while I composed my thoughts, and then typed a response.

  Thank you for your interest in our products. The fragrance you mentioned is not a regular stock item. Please let us know if there’s something else we can help you with.

  There. That was straightforward enough.

  Even though I’d only made the aphrodisiac antidote once, the formula was ingrained in my memory. Narcy had gone right for it when I’d put it on the sales table, as if she knew exactly what she was looking for. The perfume had called for thistle, which didn’t have a pleasant aroma on its own, and black pepper. The unusual combination mixed with lily of the valley created a unique fragrance, one which had made Kyle sneeze when that woman had opened it for him to smell.

  My computer chimed as a new message arrived in the website portal, a reply from the same customer.

  My sister said it was a custom blend. Is that something you can make for me?

  I closed the top of my laptop, half expecting the woman to appear in front of me.

  Chapter 8

  Business was slow, not unusual for this time of year. My special-order customers visited and people browsed Cassandra’s clothing line. Some bought soaps and bath salts. Every time the bell over the door announced a customer, I jumped, wondering if that woman’s sister would ambush me.

  None of my customers asked for Lily-Pepper.

  When Kyle
came in toward the end of the day, I told him about the messages on the website portal. “What should I do?” I asked.

  “Considering it’s only one customer, I wouldn’t respond to her messages,” he said.

  “I already did.”

  “Then tell her you can’t help her. It might be an innocent inquiry, but don’t take any chances.” He wrapped his arms around me. “And considering Cassandra won’t be here for the next couple of days, I could hang around. I’m not working tomorrow.”

  “You have projects at the house to finish,” I said. “You don’t have to babysit me.”

  “Bodyguarding. Not babysitting. I can have the Sheriff’s Office look into the sister Narcy was visiting in Winnsboro. Not my jurisdiction, but Deputy Becker might be willing to check.”

  I sighed. “I’m not sure that’s necessary. The chance Narcy’s sister is like her are pretty slim.”

  He studied me a moment, as if trying to decide what ‘like her’ meant, and must have chosen not to ask. “She still might want revenge.” He raised his gaze toward the ceiling. “What is with people who want to take their anger out on you? You didn’t do anything.”

  The story of my life, starting with my aunt Theresa. “I’m an easy target.”

  “Not anymore. Come on. It’s time to close up shop. I’ll walk you home.” He crossed to the door and turned the lock, then set the sign to closed. In my shop.

  A frisson of irritation crept across my skin. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” The temptation to turn the sign to open, just so I could be the one to close the shop was strong, but it didn’t serve any purpose other than to assert myself. The shop was closed.

  “As long as I’m around, I intend to do my part to protect you. I don’t want to lose you, Brynn.”

  Okay, sometimes I appreciated when he got all macho man. His posturing might be irritating, but I wasn’t in this alone.

  I secured the cash register and tended to the rest of my regular closing routine. “C’mon, Ash.” The cat rose from her rug, arched her back in a trembly stretch, and jumped into her basket for the walk home.