2. When books attack #2
I’m a cursebreaker. I’m supposed to help people like him. Instead, the last time I saw Riordan Lobo, he was walking away from my cell with the same curse he’s apparently carried for years.
So, yes. I worry even though I wish I wouldn’t. And until Serena gives me another assignment—or Riordan comes back and gives me a chance to finish what I started—I have the time.
I didn’t do this on purpose, but hell if I don’t need something to distract me…
Ash studies me for a moment before his expression softens. “Okay.”
I perk up. “Really?”
He nods. “I’ve been thinking about reorganizing the library, make it easier for patrons to find certain sections. Garnet was against that, but now that I’m head librarian… give me a couple of days to figure out how to approach this. We’ll close up until then, but if you want to help—”
“I insist on it,” I say firmly. “And no magic.”
I promise.
I meant it. No magic. As if single-handedly destroying Moonburrow Library wasn’t a big enough wake-up call that I need to give up on my secret hope that I’ll one day be more than just a cursebreaker, the look on Ash’s face when he woke up and saw what I’d done…
that was it. It’s not worth the damage if I can’t control my magic.
And since I’ve never been able to, I decide that I’ll finally stop torturing myself by watching my spells backfire.
And that’s when I let myself in through the back entrance of Do You Believe In Magic only to find Honey sitting on a freshly cleaned counter, a worn leather book in her lap, and Gus curled up inside of the spare mixing bowl he uses as a bed when he decides to take a nap.
Her head pops up as I close the door behind me, poised to explain why I’m now a volunteer librarian.
I wonder how fast word will spread. Soon, I bet.
Before I left the library, I helped Ash out by creating a ‘CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE’ sign that I taped to the door before scurrying to my car.
I’m sure Ash has already told Roxy, but if the raccoon shifter got in touch with Honey, you’d never tell from the way she greets me as I walk into the kitchen.
Usually, by this time of day, Honey and Gus are already gone.
The bakery closes once she sells out of most of her daily bakes, and since Honey is up and at work with the sun, it’s usually a long day for her by the time she’s going home.
That she’s still here, ostensibly waiting for me…
yeah. I don’t know if it has to do with the library or not, but something’s on her mind.
Especially since Honey has the kind of expression on her face that instantly has me on alert.
She’s too innocent. Throw in her pretty pink t-shirt and the way she habitually wears her long blonde hair in a pair of loose braids, and you want to believe that butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.
I’ve only known Honey for a couple of months, but that’s long enough to learn that genuine innocence and trying to look innocent are two completely different things where she’s concerned.
The first comes naturally to her. The second usually means that she did something Max told her not to do, Roxy convinced her something was a good idea when it wasn’t, or she’s been experimenting with one of the spells her grandmother left behind.
The battered leather book sitting open across her thighs is a pretty big clue as to what happened this time.
I know why my magic backfires. When it comes to Honey and Grandma Jean’s charmed recipes, she tends to perform the spells perfectly, but underestimates what’s going to happen.
Like how she baked something called Can’t Resist Cupcakes and it turned out they were truth bombs covered in icing.
The spells are too powerful for a quarter-witch, and definitely something I don’t want to mess with.
I nod at Honey. When Gus stirs, poking his head up and out of the mixing bowl, I give him a finger wave. Then I try to turn toward the doorway to the stairs that leads up to the apartment Honey is letting me rent from her before she can rope me into whatever she’s doing—
“Pen! I’m so glad you’re home.”
I pause, halfway across the kitchen. “Hey, Honey.”
“I was waiting for you.”
I was afraid of that.
Honey beams at me. “Are you busy?”
Considering I escaped the library without even a single book, not really. I could prune the handful of potted herbs I’ve been growing upstairs or possibly watch something on television, but when I see the way she’s looking at me with so much hope… “Not at all. Is there something I can do for you?”
That’s me. Helpful Penelope.
“Actually, yes.” She pats the open page with the flat of her hand. “I need a witch’s perspective. I thought about checking in with the coven, but Max has been dealing with Delilah lately, and I thought I’d see if you might be willing to help before I bothered her.”
I always am. Even if it wasn’t Honey—who’s done enough for me that I’ll never be able to repay her—I’d find it hard to refuse. “Of course.”
“Okay. So. About two weeks ago, Roxy and me tried one of my Grandma Jean’s spells.
” Instead of patting the page she was reading, she jabs it with her nail.
“‘Finder’s Seekers’ Fudge Cake’. You eat a slice and it’s supposed to help you find what you’re searching for the most. Only problem is that it didn’t work.
I even made Max try some, but nothing happened. ”
I don’t have to ask what they’re searching for.
For one thing, it’s definitely a who. For another, I do believe I’ve learned enough about Honey in the last two months to guess who she was trying to find with that spell.
The sheriff wants to bring Olivia to justice but not as much as he wants to see his older brother back home.
Honey confirms it in her next breath. “Max misses Riordan. We all do.”
As though deciding he should pipe up, Gus makes a soft chittering sound before adjusting his position. The tin star-shaped deputy badge hanging off of his collar knocks into the metal bowl as he hooks his tiny pink claws on the edge so that he can see out at us.
He looks at Honey who spares a hand to stroke his back. “I know, buddy. You miss your friend just as much as the rest of us.”
Gus nods, and my heart breaks for the wild opossum.
Honey told me that, shortly after Max and Honey became mates, Gus formed a fast bond with Max’s brother.
He would hang out with Riordan at his cabin on pack land or down at the sheriff station some days so that Honey and Max could have some privacy.
After Riordan left, it was the newly christened Deputy Gus—who got the badge and the title after he went after Olivia as she was attempting to curse Roxy—who took his disappearance harder than anyone expected.
Well, except for me, I guess…
“But my mate… he really needs his brother back. Not that he’ll admit it,” Honey adds.
“You know Max. He keeps saying Riordan is a grown male and he can take care of himself, and if he needs anything, he knows how to get in touch with us. Which is true, all of it. But he’s not just his brother or his chief deputy.
He’s the Beta to Max’s Alpha. The pack needs him, too. ”
I know.
I’ve watched Max over the last couple of months.
He’s the sheriff of Moonburrow, Alpha of the Moonshadow Pack, and, with Riordan gone, he’s been doing his own job while covering most of his brother’s responsibilities as chief deputy and Beta.
Not having that position weakens the structure of the pack, and that’s nothing compared to how worried he must be that something is wrong with his cursed older brother.
He must’ve been desperate if he tried one of Grandma Jean’s spells to get him back. But if it didn’t work…
“Maybe he’s too far away,” I offer.
“That’s what Max said.”
“Or the spell needs a stronger witch,” I muse out loud.
Honey’s shifter eyes brighten. “That’s what I said.”
Oh, Goddess. I walked right into that one, didn’t I?