Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
The makeshift shelves had sagged over lifetimes of moisture and weight. Piles and piles of books lay haphazardly scattered over the scarred surfaces. Most were useless. Others had been completely destroyed by mold and moisture.
But those were not what I was looking for. “Be careful in here,” I told Ethan. “Especially against the walls.”
Ethan nodded, his watchful gaze taking in everything.
I walked toward the back and moved a heavy table out of the way. Ethan came over to help, easily lifting his side. Behind the table was a dusty brick wall.
I went to my knees and dug my fingers into one of the smaller bricks on the right-hand side. Magic pulsed against my palms, dark and insidious. Ethan crouched beside me.
“Need help?”
I shook my head. “You shouldn’t touch any of the stones. I’m not sure what kind of spells she might have woven in.”
“Then should you be touching them?”
“I wish I was back in my kitchen making brownies. Salted caramel brownies. Or maybe taking a nap.”
Ethan laughed. “Are you willing to share those brownies?”
“Depends.” I looked up from my task. “Are we friends or are you going to get all weird and growly again?”
Ethan pretended to think about it. “I guess it depends on whether you share those brownies.”
We smiled at each other just as the brick loosened enough to fall out of its place in the wall. And then I remembered why I was there, and my smile slipped.
Right. Ethan was attached. More than attached. The woman he loved waited for him back at the Keep.
I cleared my throat and looked down, focusing my attention on the next brick. Working in silence, I opened a hole large enough to reach my hand in.
But when my fingers touched cool stone and nothing else, my heart sank.
“Shit,” I breathed.
“Nothing?” Ethan asked.
I went to my belly. “Hand me my flashlight.”
Ethan obliged, and as I swept the light through the space, only emptiness greeted me.
I should have known it wouldn’t be here. Mom had always been several steps ahead.
“What are you looking for?”
“Mom had an old Book of Shadows. I hoped she’d forgotten about it.”
“Your mother is a witch?”
Ah. Yes. He’d forgotten.
“She is.”
I went to my knees and didn’t bother to put the bricks back. She’d know I was here if she came back.
Ethan rose and held a hand out to help me up. When I was back on my feet, I gave the room a final look through, tapping the stone where I thought she may have hidden something.
But there was nothing to be found.
Disappointment welled inside me. “Ready to go?”
“You sure you’ve seen everything?”
I nodded. “The place is tiny. I’ve looked everywhere she might have put something.”
But Ethan was frowning at me. “When’s the last time you were here?”
I tried to count back in my head and couldn’t. “America didn’t exist back then.”
Ethan blinked. “Alrighty then. Well, you’ve changed since then, right?”
Boy had I. Where was he going with this? “Of course.”
“Then assume your mother has too.”
My lips twisted. “She hasn’t changed in all the most important ways.”
“Maybe not. But time makes people more clever, doesn’t it?”
“Sometimes,” I agreed, making Ethan smile. “Alright, then. Let’s scrub this place from head to toe.”
We looked for hours to no avail. By the end, we were both filthy and annoyed. I stood with my hands on my hips, giving the place one final look over before turning to Ethan. “I think we’ve looked everywhere.”
I glanced down at my pants and grimaced. “We might need to get a smallpox vaccine.”
Ethan grinned. “Who knows? Maybe one of us is carrying the cure for cancer in some of this mold we’re wearing.”
I sighed. “Thanks for coming with me and looking for something you’d never seen before. Appreciate the company.”
Ethan dipped his head. “I didn’t believe you last night, but when I got home and really thought about it, something told me you wouldn’t lie to me.”
“Oh?” My heart warmed, even as I resisted the urge to throw myself at him.
“I don’t know why I’ve forgotten you, Moira, but I promise you it wasn’t on purpose.”
My heart was breaking. “I know, Ethan. I am difficult to forget.”
He rolled his eyes. “And so humble.”
I held out one of my grubby hands. “Come on. Let’s get home.”
We walked outside, hand in hand. I began to hold the image of home in my mind, and just as we began to shimmer from existence, I glanced up to see my mother perched in a tree smiling. In her hands, she held a silver Book of Shadows.
Right before I disappeared, she held the book up and winked.