Page 217 of Blue Moon Mistress

Johnny chuckles, “The second he tells her about you, it’s going to be ten times worse… when she finds out you’re pregnant. Watch out.”

“I take it a different kind of onslaught is coming my way?” I chuckle. After Aphrodite’s dealt with, a future grandmother should be a piece of cake. “What about you?”

He shakes his head. “No calls to be made. I cut ties a while ago. No regrets.”

And then it’s my phone that rings…

“Mother?” I ask when I answer. Because she certainly isn’t calling for Christmas.

“I had a dream.”

“Ah… and what was this dream about?”

“A little girl raised by four fathers to be completely feral.”

“By your definition, or the dictionary’s.”

My father chuckles. I should have known I was on speaker phone.

“Do you have something to tell us, Bagel?”

“We both know mom’s dreams always come true.”

“We know nothing of the sort.” Her words are sharp and for a moment I wonder if she disapproves.

“Yes, you can expect your first grandchild in September, assuming Aphrodite doesn’t kill me on the full moon.”

The jubilant crow from my mother dies in an instant. “What?”

I explain, and the other end of the line is quiet. I imagine they’re sitting there, staring at each other, options flying through their mind.

“The crawl space.” My father says, something tapping on their end of the line. “My grandfather’s collection of hexes, jinxes, and counterspells should be down there.”

“The spells I found in Mrs. Miller’s basement. They were written by Renée.” I know it’s a lot to ask. “Do you think you could ask her if she can think of anything?”

“Not without her assuming we’re accusing her of something. But I’ll do it, anyway.”

“Be careful.” My mother lets out a shuddering breath. “We’ll see what we can find up here.”

“Somehow,” Johnny says as I hang up. “I thought they’d be in a rush to get down here.”

“This isn’t something they can help with by showing up. She’s hauntingme. I have to be the one to stop her.”

Seventeen

Dad’s bookis exactly where he said it would be.

It’s also covered in mold.

“Gross.” Johnny says, wrinkling his nose as I set it on the table on the deck. “Why would he put it down there?”

“You don’t keep things like this inside the house… but you also don’t want to let them get too far away from you.” There are half a dozen others down there that fall into the same category. None quite as bad. “Dad’s side of the family was a little less on the side of love and light.”

“I mean… we can’t all be saints.”

I laugh and look it over one more time… just in case. But there’s no getting around it. “I can’t go through this until it’s cleaned off. Luckily the book is dry and I have a surplus of parchment paper squirreled away.

“Is there a spell for that?” Chase asks as he holds the door open.

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