Chapter 14 King
King
Yes, I felt awful that I hadn’t told Sky anything about the whole Lorewarden gig, but there hadn’t been time last night. First of all, we’d dealt with everything Ego, and I’d left them to have a sleepover and talk over all the things.
Secondly, I’d still been turning it around in my head.
It seemed like ever since Chance moved to Willowhope, one magical thing after another had revealed itself.
Answers I’d been seeking were found, but this?
In no part of my imagination had I ever pictured having to explain The Vault.
And I could. Malcolm told me that, unlike him, I was allowed to share with my family.
He’d never been able—with the exception of his wife before she’d passed on from cancer since there were times he’d had to answer calls at all hours.
Considering what we did, town records and permits and such…
it hadn’t made sense to her for him to rush out of the house in the middle of the night for an emergency.
He’d gotten permission—not that he’d told me from who—and he’d been able to share this remarkable honor with her.
He still hadn’t been able to bring her into The Vault.
Nor would I be allowed. It kind of sucked after all these years of spending time alone in my dreams, seeing things around Willowhope, now that I finally had Sky along for the ride with me, there was something new that I’d be left to do alone.
After Malcolm finished my training, anyway.
Which sucked. With Sky by my side, I’d come to realize how lonely I’d been all these years.
But that wasn’t a today problem. Apparently, my Lorewarden training had begun with all the years of Malcolm watching me, studying me, making sure that I was made of the stuff he thought I was.
He knew who my grandparents were, and he’d witnessed my mother’s pull away from our family heritage firsthand, so I’d had that going for me.
No secrets. But he said my grandparents weren’t what had caused him to choose me, to hire me as a clerk, and keep an eye on me.
He said I’d stood out to him, like my image was in 4D. Whatever that meant.
He’d laughed at my confusion and said that he’d felt the very same way when the Lorewarden before him told him why he’d been chosen.
Unfortunately, their training time had been cut short when the woman before him had died in a tragic car accident.
Malcolm felt like she’d waited too long to start officially working with him anyway.
He’d already been forty years old, and she’d been watching him for twenty years.
He wanted us to have more time together.
He didn’t plan to retire for another ten years, so for at least that time, we’d be working side by side.
Lorewarden and apprentice. Finally, I’d be doing something where someone planned to show me what the hell I was supposed to do.
It would be a nice change from what Sky and I had gotten from my grandparents.
Although Sky had told me he had a lot to share about what he’d learned from Gran yesterday morning. We obviously hadn’t gone into that last night in front of Ego, either. That poor guy had enough on his plate with my grandfather’s ghostly revelation. I blew out a breath.
So on the one hand, it worked out because I wasn’t faced with telling Sky about The Vault—or having to make the decision about what to tell him regarding his family having a Grimoire out there somewhere—but it also sucked since I didn’t know what Gran had told him about that dreadful voice from the Dream-veil.
I’d planned to have her fill me in, but she’d been in bed, snoring softly when I came back from giving Sky and Ego a ride to the manor.
Then she’d been gone this morning when I woke up.
I’d been alarmed until I’d arrived at the B&B to find her, Sky, Chance, Elyse, and surprisingly enough, Ego, all head down, ass up, doing yoga.
We also hadn’t been pulled into the Dream-veil last night, which on the one hand was great for Sky and his sleepover, but sucked for that poor guy who’d been tortured by that faceless voice. I had no doubts that just because we hadn’t been pulled in, he hadn’t still endured a night of suffering.
“Good, you’re here,” Malcolm said as I walked briskly toward my office.
“Sorry, I’m late. I got a little lost in my head this morning.”
He waved me off. “Put your stuff down and follow me.” Obediently, I did as he said, then we went through the same process as the day before, ending up in The Vault. He rubbed his hands together gleefully. “First things first.”
As he scrambled around the room pulling thick tomes off the shelves, I asked, “Do you need help?”
He grunted, holding far more of those huge ass books than it looked like he should be able to carry in one arm, and pointed toward the table. “Go sit.”
Again, I followed his direction and sat on one of two high-backed stools.
Huh. I wondered where he’d pulled these from.
Malcolm walked around the other side of the table, placing the books in front of me.
The top one had a symbol on the cover that resembled a snake wrapped tightly around what looked like a crow or raven or something.
Malcolm tapped the image. “House of Crowley.”
So it was a crow then. “Ah, what’s with the snake?”
Marcus grinned wide. “So glad you asked.”
He went to another bookcase and waved me over. This one contained folders, which looked sort of like trapper keepers for kids, all clearly labeled on the sides. “Everything you need to know about animals and other symbolism is right here.”
My eyes widened. “Then why are they so thick?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “This one is one of the best parts of our job. As new Grimoires come in, we scan them for certain things that stand out, like—”
“Wait.” I put my hand on his arm, stopping him. “You’re telling me that we can freely look through a family’s spells and memories and such? Isn’t that, like, sacrilege or something?”
Malcolm’s gleeful excitement fell away, replaced by deep seriousness. “Now you’re beginning to understand. We don’t just hold secrets here, but things are revealed to us in these tomes that must be recorded for others since they don’t have access to the information of other families. Must not.”
“I…I’m not sure I understand.”
Malcolm smiled. “And this is why you’re here. This is why you must be trained. I got lucky. No one’s ever tried to force themselves into these hallowed walls, but…”
“But they could?” When his lips tightened, I pressed, “But who? Who would do that?”
“Some Grimoires end up here because the lines have gone dark. The words have gone illegible.”
I opened my mouth to ask more, but he held up his hand.
“Let’s not go down that road today, Kingston.
That path is one of disappointment and tragedy.
We’ll get there soon enough, but for now”—he pulled the references for crows and snakes—“let me show you how to research within the ancient volumes to know what you must do.”
So like I had since he first hired me—even though this was so different—I took a seat on the stool next to him and learned.
“Hey, King. You have guests,” Jetty called out, walking toward me with the two teenagers I’d invited to join me, trailing him.
“So let me get this straight,” Buck said, staring at the two boys. “The redhead is a believer, but his friend just kind of goes along with it on behalf of his friend.”
Subtly, I nodded my head yes.
Stevie smirked. “This is gonna be fun.”
Trixie—who’d become Stevie and Buck’s partner in crime when I wasn’t paying attention—frowned. “We’re not going to frighten them too badly, are we? They’re just children.”
Buck’s nose wrinkled. “What fun is—”
“Of course not,” Stevie interrupted, reassuring Trixie.
That was odd. Usually Stevie followed Buck’s lead, but I wasn’t going to argue.
I didn’t want the boys traumatized or anything.
However, I wanted Theo to catch glimpses of enough to keep him as interested and attached to the supernatural as I’d been at his age.
A young person could have worse hobbies than searching for ghosts in their spare time.
And since they were technically real, what could it hurt?
Craig, on the other hand, was an enigma.
He came off as kind of standoffish and brash, and definitely didn’t believe in spirits or magic or anything like that, so I didn’t know if he watched RIPP with Theo the way Jetty used to humor me or if he made fun of his friend when no one else was around.
I didn’t know why, but it suddenly felt important to me to make sure Theo’s thoughts and feelings were protected.
He gave me a silly little wave—with a beaming smile and twinkling green eyes—as they reached me. I suddenly had the desire to wrap him in bubble wrap, as well. What the heck was going on with me right now?”
I nodded at them. “Theo. Craig.”
“Hey, Kingston. This is so cool,” Theo said, body vibrating with excited energy. There was more of that golden retriever energy. I bit back a smile.
“Aw,” Trixie cooed. “He’s adorable.”
Jetty’s lips twitched at her comment, but we were both careful, refraining from looking over at our three friendly spirits since Theo and Craig couldn’t see them.
We’d already had plenty of practice with how disconcerting that could be for someone else in the house with poor Ego.
Until Buck and Stevie started haunting him—thereby distracting him—he’d been pretty sure we were all cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs with the way we’d seemingly talked to ourselves and looked off into what he saw as blank space.
Craig lifted up the fishing poles in his hand. “I brought these. The guy who owns the place—”
“Chance,” Jetty, Theo, and I all said at once, making Craig scowl.