Page 13 of Enchanting Her Monsters
“So… just imagine it?” I ask.
“Yes, but withintent, with your will and magic.”
“Oh!” I remember the sketch Maxum made. “I have something we wanted you to look at.” I pull the paper out and hand it over. “We’re hoping you can give us an idea of what this is.”
Amira studies it for a while before her eyes snap up to mine. “Where did you get this?” her voice is almost accusatory,threatening. “Where did you see these symbols?”
Instead of answering, I ask, “Why? Is there something wrong?”
“Answer me.”
I can’t refuse her, but I rationalize it won’t hurt me to tell her. She already knows too much. “They were magically embedded in my body. But they’re gone now. They disappeared after I bonded to Arran.”
“Hmm.” She narrows her gaze at me. “Who was your grandmother?”
“Patricia Jones.”
Amira tilts her head and her eyes widen as if something’s clicked into place. “No, not Jones, it’s Rosethorne,” she states confidently and chuckles without humor. “I thought you looked vaguely familiar. I should have recognized you right away, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her face.”
“You knew my grandmother?”
“Not well, but yes.” Amira looks back down at the paper but does not really focus on it. “Patricia disappeared around forty years ago, from what I understand.” Her gaze snaps up to meet mine to gauge my reaction. “She was a member of the ASO.”
“How do you know?” I ask, feeling like an ass that my grandmother was part of the witch-warlock organization whose goal is to destroy supernaturals.
Amira must see my disappointment. “I worked with her a few times. She was a powerful lust witch… not that she didn’t have other talents.”
“Lust witch?”
“They mostly used her as aspy.”
Spylikely means she was used as a seductress that slept with targets to obtain intel.
“Does that mean I’m a lust witch too?” I gasp when I realize I’m probably attracting the guys with my powers. Is it why I write steamy romance?
“Powers are often passed down, but I don’t sense that lust magic is what is strongest inside you.” Her eyes seem to lose focus as she gazes at me, like a scryer would over a crystal ball. “No, there’s other magic in you that’s more prominent, and it doesn’t feel like witch magic. That’s why these unusual sigils and your grandmother’s warning about making mistakes concerns me.”
“So you think I’m part fae?”
“Yes, and perhaps something else. As odd as it would be, I suspect you could have some demon in your family tree.” She hands the paper back to me. “If I had my guess, your grandmother was mixed up in a lot of trouble in all the realms. She had someone from the hell realm working with her, if this mishmash of concealment and containment sigils are any indication. It appears to be long forgotten arcane spell work from all three realms, blended to form its own unique casting. Only the creator of this masterpieceorthe person it was cast upon would have been able to break it.”
“But then, what was the necklace for if I had this binding on me?” I ask.
“A necklace can be torn away. Besides, I believe the pendant’s purpose might have been more to syphon any magic that leaked out of you, if the sigils weren’t maintained over the years.”
“So my grandmother meant to lock away my magic forever?” Sadness fills me as I conclude my abuela kept part of what I am from me. I’ve been living a half-life because of her.
“Don’t assume the worst,” Amira consoles me. “She might have believed she would come back and train you in your powers when you were ready.”
My heartache and betrayal must be written on my face.
With everything that’s happened, my entire being is suddenly exhausted. “I appreciate your help, but I think I need to rest now.”
“Of course. Your magic is coming in. It will take time to adjust in your body. And if it’s as unusual as I sense, then it might be even more challenging to manage at first.”
Amira hands me a slip of parchment paper with the exorcism spell written in Latin on it and I walk toward her front door in a daze.
5
