14
The grimoire reclined against my pillow as if it had been given the best seat in the house, and chills tickled my spine like fingers of ice. Its power was a blight upon the air, a foulness I felt down to my toes. It hadn’t been this repellent to me when we were at home, but it was downright repugnant now.
Reflecting on what Asa had told me, about the scent of my magic altering, I had a pretty good idea why.
“Hey,” I called out, unable to wrench my gaze from the book. “Colby, can I see you for a minute?”
Even unplugged from her game, she tended to listen to music in her downtime. She might not hear me.
A crinkling noise filled the hall, and she hung a quick right into my room. “What’s up?”
“Did you bring this with us?” I pointed out my pillow pal. “It’s okay if you did.”
“No way.” Her recoil bumped her into the wall. “I hate that thing.”
“Maybe don’t antagonize it,” I said out of the side of my mouth, “if it followed us here.”
A sentient book of dark magic wasn’t anything we needed to insult or give agency. More agency.
The commotion brought Clay to the door, and he noticed the book right off the bat.
“I thought you left it.” He didn’t come into the room. “Did you have it warded or…?”
“Obviously.” It must have hitchhiked in my suitcase to get past them. “Not cool, man. Not cool.”
Drawn by the commotion, Asa drifted in and mulled over the problem with a pensive expression.
“How did it get here?” Clay came in to help Colby wrestle a giant zip-top bag. “Don’t say magic.”
“It moves around on its own when we’re at home. That’s why I keep it—” I bit my tongue so hard I tasted blood. I had almost mentioned my safe of horrors, which only Colby knew I kept. “I lock it up.”
The slip didn’t go unnoticed by, well, anyone. But the book was the immediate problem.
“We should have sensed it, but none of us did.” Asa pursed his lips. “This grimoire can cloak itself.”
Learning it could stow away on adventures and camouflage itself from our senses?
Big problem. Really big problem. Big with a capital B-I-G.
“That’s not the best news I’ve ever heard.” Clay glared at it. “I don’t trust it appearing just as the zombie army announces it’s their target.”
“Like to like,” Asa murmured. “Objects of power gain a sentience, given enough time. They want to be used. They want to wreak havoc. They seek out masters who will allow them to embrace their full potential.”
A lightning strike of possibility hit me with such force, I staggered back a step, almost tripping.
“What’s wrong?” Asa was there in a blink, cupping my elbow, steadying me. “Did the book hurt you?”
“Colby has been hearing a voice. She says it’s magic, speaking to her.” I wanted to vomit thinking about it. “Our familiar bond is so new, I wasn’t sure if she was mistaking instinct for instruction or if her magic worked in an all-new way. I’m no expert on light magic, not by a long shot, but what if it was the grimoire whispering in her ear?”
Colby recovered the fastest, and the spark of curiosity in her eyes did my stomach no favors.
“The voice was nice, though.” Colby lit on my head. “The book isn’t.”
“That’s how they get you.” Clay frowned at her. “Don’t try to talk to it and find out, okay?”
“I won’t.” She nestled down on my head. “And I’ll let you know if it tries to talk to me.”
“Good girl.” I reached up to scratch her fuzzy head. “Done packing?”