Chapter 25
“But if that witch was only angry with Caitriona, why are we still cursed?” Shanna asked. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Sometimes, that’s how the world works,” Gran said. “The innocent can get punished, too.”
***
In the rainy morning, wispy clouds of mist coalesced around the single tower of Gran’s Victorian home, crowned with an ever-watching metal raven.
Even above all the emotions swirling inside her and all the trepidation of the events possibly to come, Shanna was glad to be back home, in a place where she wasn’t forgotten.
The door opened, and Jinx rushed to her, leaping up with his front paws.
“Who’s my best boy, huh?” Shanna energetically petted him behind the ears and down his back as he wagged his tail in circles. One of these days, Jinx was either going to take off, becoming the world’s first flying dog propelled by his tail, or the said tail was going to fall off.
“Honey.” Gran followed and hugged Shanna, disregarding her apron, smudged with flour. “You’re just in time. I made pie!”
“For breakfast?”
“Any time of day is a good time for pie.” With a hand around Shanna’s waist, Gran accompanied her inside. “Why did you come here, though? Why didn’t you go to him?”
Shanna swallowed a lump in her throat and sat on the sofa. Perhaps she should have stopped in San Francisco, but her heart and overexcited mind urged her on. “I think I’m onto something, and I need to resolve it first.”
“Do tell.” Gran sat next to her.
“Do you remember the exact wording of our family curse? Do you have it written down?”
Gran went to fetch the book, and they rifled through it together.
“Here.” Gran pointed to a page. “For every ache you wished away, the memory will lose a day. There will be no help from your art, unless you find forgiveness from the Witch’s Heart.”
“And Caitriona begged for forgiveness from the witch, but it didn’t work,” Shanna said.
“Which is why we came to assume the heart would have to be literal. A heart is the center of the being.”
It all made sense. Many dark rituals involved hearts—usually animal ones, but if one wanted to venture truly deep, human hearts could also be used. Shanna would never do such a thing, and she didn’t blame Caitriona for not trying to kill the witch and use her heart, either.
However …
“You know how I told you the Mercurial Crystal turned out to be a person. Chris,” Shanna said. “The description of the spell makes it sound literal, but only if you don’t look at it from another perspective.”
“What are you getting at?”
“What if the Witch’s Heart isn’t her actual heart, either?”
“But that brings us back to the start,” Gran said. “Having to seek forgiveness. And it didn’t lift Caitriona’s curse.”
“Because the person hinted at by the Witch’s Heart isn’t the witch herself.” Shanna leaned in over the book. “It’s her child. That’s her heart.”
Gran’s jaw slowly dropped, and she nodded. “Seek forgiveness from her child. Or that child’s child, or—”
“The latest descendant becomes the Heart.” Shanna got up, excitedly pacing around the coffee table. “We don’t know what happened to that witch’s line. If we’re still around, they might be as well!”
Gran also stood. “But how are we going to find them? We could try a sensing spell, but it will be awfully imprecise with this little information.”
“I have an idea.” Shanna pulled a small, light laptop out of her travel bag.
“You bought a laptop?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And it survived until now?”
“Well, it has been less than a day,” Shanna said. “Although, you had a point. I think I cursed myself more, rather than it cursing me.” She patted the laptop. “Maybe me and technological devices from this century can still be friends.”
The laptop hummed, as if suddenly overheating.
“At least for one day, hmm?” Shanna said to it.
The laptop calmed down.
“So, what do we do?” Gran asked.
“You know those websites that help you create family trees and find your distant ancestors and people who are still related to you? I’m thinking we could combine a spell with such a website.”
Gran tapped a finger on her chin. “Combining spells and technology. Never done it before.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
Gran grinned, her eyes twinkling in delight. “And what a first time it would be. Even better than the hanky-pank—”
“Gran, please, no.”
“But I never told you the story—”
“I’m certain I don’t need to hear it right now.” Heat rushed to Shanna’s cheeks. “Can we try doing the spell instead?”
“You don’t need to ask me twice.” Gran rubbed her hands. “We’ll start with a basic sensing spell.”
“Our main crystal should be connected to the laptop. I’ll charge it by leaving it on the laptop for an hour.”
“Use the attic, under the window. The energies are great there.”
As the excitement within her built, pleasant tingles spread up her legs, urging her into action. “The vegvisir rune for divination and direction,” Shanna continued.
“I’ll use my paint with eyebright oil for it.”
“And lemon balm.”
“And I think I have some shaving of mandrake left.”
They danced around each other as they exchanged ideas until Jinx joined, too, wagging his tail and barking in excitement.
“Yes, you can help,” Shanna said, hugging him. “We’ll find the Witch’s Heart.”
“And be done in time for pie,” Gran said.
For their spell, they used a room below the attic, where Gran kept all her witchcraft stuff. Like a cup of tea gaining coloring over time and proudly wearing it as a show of use and usefulness, a permanent herbal scent lingered in the room as if it always stood ready for another ritual.
Every move, every gesture, every whispered word was exciting for Shanna, as if this was her first time casting a spell, but without the nerves of messing it up.
It was joy and zeal, but it was also peace, from doing something she knew, something she loved.
It’s been way too long since she and Gran had crafted a spell together.
“You’ve improved.”
Shanna opened one eye and looked at Gran, standing on the other side of the circle. “You’re disturbing the spell.”
“Pish-posh. The spell knows exactly what we’re doing. As do you. I can sense it.”
“I did have a lot of practice recently.”
“Mmm, but it’s not just that. I can feel your energy. Your charge. You’re blooming, and I think I know—”
“Whispers of the past, hear us,” Shanna chanted, hoping to drive Gran away from more relationship hinting.
They’d been going at it for about an hour when the laptop pinged. Like two starved dogs being offered a plate of food, Shanna and Gran both charged for it, Shanna getting to the desk first. “It found her! We did it!”
The genealogy website showed a profile of an older woman. No picture, but the data was there.
“Frances Kerby,” Gran read. “She lives in Sacramento.”
“That’s not too far,” Shanna said. For once, has she been lucky?
“Another sensing spell should help you narrow down the location when you get there,” Gran said.
“You’re not coming?”
“Ah, no. This is matter for a young witch, not these old bones …”
“Gran, you’re more flexible than I am.”
“All right, all right, I admit,” Gran said in a mock-grumpy tone. “I wanted to have the pie to myself. But you and Jinx should go. Quickly.”
“You’re really rushing me out without a single piece of pie, huh?”
Gran turned Shanna to face her, cupping her face. “You know you have to go. You’ve no time to lose.”
Shanna averted her eyes. “Gran …”
“What are you so afraid of?”
Shanna traced the silvery dust kicked up from the floor, swirling in the sun. “That he’s forgotten me already. That it never could’ve worked in the first place. That if I go now, I’ll only make it worse for myself.”
“So you’d let all my hard work go to waste, huh?”
She looked back at Gran. “What do you mean?”
Gran pursed her lips. “You didn’t think those pre-ritual conditions needing to be fulfilled were real, did you?”
“Wh-what?”
“You having to go on a date? And the ‘basic instinct’ one?”
“I thought them odd, but then, I’ve seen stranger requirements.” Shanna gasped. “You lied to me?”
“Of course I did! I saw you liked him, and he wasn’t oblivious to your charms, either, despite his constant grumbling about wanting to have the bond broken. So I did a little magic of the other kind.”
“You told me to go on a date …”
“I thought you’d ask him, not some random other guy! So when that didn’t work, I had to get more specific.”
Shanna covered her mouth. “Gran, that’s disgusting!”
“It’s a normal, natural thing. How do you think you came to be?”
“I’m not talking about—you forced us together!”
“I didn’t force anything.” Gran lifted her chin and folded her hands in front of her. “I only gave a little nudge. The rest came from you two.”
The bit of sickness at Gran’s actions passed.
Perhaps it wasn’t the most moral thing to do, but Shanna had to admit it was more of a nudge than a forceful command.
No spell was needed to make that night in Ross happen.
Or the days afterward, or the night at the lodge in Milford Sound.
For however short a time, she and Simon were meant to share that journey. Be a part of each other.
“And, without any intention of sounding dirty,” Gran said. “I still feel him in you. In here.” She laid her hand over Shanna’s heart. “So go while he still keeps you in his heart, as well.”
Shanna closed her eyes, took Gran’s hand, and kissed her wrinkly fingers. “Thank you.”
“And don’t worry.” Gran winked. “I’ll pack you some pie for the road.”
***
Simon milled about outside the convention center hosting the weekend’s tech conference, Chris by his side. Night had fallen, and clouds disguised any stars that could otherwise penetrate the city mist.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to rat him out?” Chris leaned on a fence by the car park. “Like, really, really sure?”
“With absolute certainty,” Simon said.
“Because if I don’t do it now, I won’t do it ever. If cops come stirring shit up at the shelter, I’ll be clueless. Zip.” She drew a hand over her mouth.