Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Ipoured everyone a second glass of green juice and whispered to Ori, “Gonna go down and grab some stuff. You good for a sec?”
She nodded, and I cocked my head in Ranth’s direction with a clear unspoken signal that said, Don’t let him go anywhere. It was a blessing not to be alone in this—alone with him.
But as I walked to the stairs that led from the kitchen to the basement, Ranth followed me, and by the time I’d gotten the double lock open, he hovered next to me.
“You’re staying here with Ori.” Though those words made me question why I thought I could trust him with Ori.
He shook his head. “I can’t. Now that you’ve released me from the bracelet, I still have to be within a certain space of you. It’s part of the curse.”
“What happens if you are outside it?”
“I expect it would be very painful, like dying.” His lips pressed together, and his jaw twitched.
I paused, considering the new info. “Will you really die?”
His eyes softened. “I don’t know. Perhaps.”
That moment stilled between us. The rise of his amber scent raised the hairs up on my arms as if they were reaching for him.
To get rid of him, I could lock him into something and walk away—but if that would kill him, for real, then he’d have to stay around until I could figure out a humane exit strategy.
It was going to make things even more complicated because people counted on me.
I took promises very seriously, and I couldn’t leave my clients hanging while I sorted out my personal stuff.
What if he was lying? I exchanged glances with Ori. “Fine, you can come down, but don’t touch anything—and I mean anything.”
He nodded but gave me a little smile that dimpled his cheek.
The string of fairy lights that lit the stairs wavered above me as I descended. Ranth’s sandals slapped the stair treads with a steady beat.
At the bottom, I paused, sucking in the scents of beeswax and herbs which mingled with old incense. For a second, it wiped out the scent of him.
My workshop had been Mom’s special place, and after her passing, I’d made it my haven.
Neat shelves of glass bottles, vials, and jars lined the north wall.
On the east side, beside a coppery leather chair, glazed-door bookcases housed my most precious tomes.
Along the south wall, a slab of old-growth redwood jutted out as a workspace.
Rising above the even surface was a natural burl that Mom had chosen for her altar space.
There, I always placed elements of the moon and season.
March’s offerings were aquamarine, cherry blossoms, and spring water.
It would be April soon, the anniversary of her leaving.
I breathed out. The whole basement was double-warded, charmed, and blessed.
The only weakness in its magical insulation was the window allowing natural light for certain spells.
But now I could almost feel the wards recoiling.
I’d allowed an interloper into my sacred space.
I shot Ranth a narrow-eyed, don’t-touch-anything look.
He held his hands up like he got it, but the energy balance was already compromised, and that meant my work might be too. I exhaled some of that negativity.
The oil I was commissioned to make required specific elements for the chosen day. I approached the glass doors, diffusing the spell which kept the books in stasis.
Ori had found a protection spell in a treatise on magic.
It was perfect for the bookcase, but I’d had to make a copy of the text.
Transcribing spells is perilous because the power is actually in the words.
Without the connection to the written symbols, untethered words can be dangerous.
It had taken me weeks of singed hair and energy drains to get it right, but these books were worth protecting from the earthly elements.
The doors opened, releasing the aroma of the magical lock.
“Is that myrrh?” Ranth asked.
“Yeah and fennel. I bind them into the spell to dispel negative energies.”
“It works better with frankincense. They bond together.”
“I know that. I chose not to use frankincense because it changes the effectiveness of the myrrh.” I selected the grimoire that held recipes for love charms. Hugging it to my chest, I pointed Ranth to the leather reading chair the farthest from the altar.
“Sit there and don’t move. That should be close enough so I can do my work. ”
He smirked at me and continued to peruse the bookcases.
Annoyance flared. “Please, will you sit in the corner while I get my shastas together?” I liked to be alone to do spellwork, but apparently, that wasn’t happening. “Ori? You might as well come down too,” I called out.
It was only a couple of seconds before Ori’s Chucks thudded on the stairs.
I turned my back on Ranth and walked over to Ori. Lowering my voice, I whispered, “I need to figure out how to get rid of him. Can I task you with that?”
“You know I can hear every word?” Ranth’s voice crawled through my head.
I whirled, surprised to find him still in the corner. “What? How? Supersensitive hearing?”
“I’m in your space. I can wander here, but my being is locked in your perimeter. Anything that happens to you affects me.”
“Flipping foxgloves,” I mumbled.
“I can hear that too. Not sure why foxes would require gloves?”
Ori smothered a chuckle.
Fabulous, that was going to make secret-keeping tough and, well, everything near to impossible. It was going to have to be okay because there wasn’t another choice. I placed the grimoire on the carved wood stand. My books didn’t mind my touch, but the less they were handled the better.
Using ginger and spearmint leaves for protection, I built a clay-based charm in my river stone mortar.
We’d have to experiment to see if they worked against Essifer, but it was a start.
Peony, chrysanthemum, and then some wintergreen to help with the curse aura.
I lit a candle and made an offering to my ancestors for their guidance.
Satisfied the charm had bound, I cleaned my workspace, then scooped the blessed herbs into palm-sized linen bags.
With the garden ruined, harvesting rose petals in the cooling of the afternoon was no longer happening. I could use dried, preserved, or even rose water, but the spell wouldn’t be as strong—and it would be cutting corners. That was not happening. “What time is it?” I asked Ori.
“Two. Why?”
“I need fresh rose petals for my clients’ intention oil. I’ll have to get them from Rose. Her bushes are blessed, and she harvests every night.” I started for the stairs, and Ranth leaped up. Maybe Rose would also have some advice on what to do with my wizard problem.
Ori had been fiddling with one of her friendship bracelets, lost in thought. “I’m not sure what I can do to help you about Ranth. We know gold chain is cursed, and he’s old—we think. But that’s not much to go on.”
“Here, take one of these. Maybe you can interview him?” I handed one of the charmed bags to Ori. We wouldn’t know if they’d work until we tested them, but in theory, it should protect her.
Ranth leaned against the wall. “I’m also curious as to how you can assist. I will try to answer your questions.”
His hair waved around his stubbly chin. I hyperfocused on his lush lips. There wasn’t anything about him that said danger. That in itself was odd. But he was distracting as hellebore.
“We’ll need Wi-Fi,” Ori said, nodding at the stairs.
The serenity of my workshop had seeped into me, and I was reluctant to leave.
I restocked my pouches from the herbarium and placed out the other items I’d need for the spell.
The rose quartz had to be double terminated, and I only had singles.
The natural points at both ends were an essential bridge to enhance energy flow for the oil.
Rose’s metaphysical apothecary, Sage, Flame, & Crystal would have an array of choices, but because of the intimacy of this spell, I’d have to pick them out myself, which meant going to her rather than having her come to us.
Wandering the San Francisco streets with a questionable wizard while being hunted by deadly demon dogs didn’t seem like it would be a good time.
But now that we all had protection charms, maybe we’d be safe for a while.
Ranth trailed after me as I followed Ori up the stairs. I concentrated on a mental list of what I’d need to leave the house as the nearness of him crawled up my back.
Avoiding the windows that looked over the garden, I opened the kitchen herb storage cabinet and pulled down some culinary sage, rosemary, and thyme to refresh my belt pouches and fitted the extras into my go-bag.
If we were going to deal with demons, I’d need the emergency ward kits and extra maca root if I had to go planar.
Maca was great for boosting my natural magical ability to access planes.
I took the premades from the cabinet, along with some holy water-soaked tampons, as Ori opened her laptop.
Ranth had his back against the counter, silently observing.
“Okay, so let’s do simple stuff first. Sorrel, tell me what you know and what exactly happened up to when I arrived.”
I recounted briefly what had happened at Brenda’s, then after arriving home, and Ranth’s appearance.
Ori turned to Ranth. “How do you spell Ack-nim?” Ori asked.
“A-H-K-N-I-M,” Ranth replied, focusing on her.
I strapped on wrist points while he was distracted.
The mushroom leather was molded to the shape of my wrists.
My leather smith friend Serena had made them with magnetic buckles and earth magnets for extra grounding, so I could strap them on fast. I hoped the silver slotted inside the straps would counterbalance the negative energy from the gold bracelet.
Ori’s burgundy lacquered nails clattered on the keys, in between mouse clicks.