Page 35 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

“No. That was once inset in the handle of a dagger.”

“A dagger—this?”

She eyed the piece and then me. “The dagger disappeared millennia ago.”

“Then how do you know that this is from that?”

“I feel the power and it’s been passed down in grimoires, detailed drawings. Witches can’t touch it. No supers can touch it.”

“Why is that?”

“That belonged to the dagger of Lilith.”

Connor barked out a laugh. “You had me going for a minute there. Simone, she’s not being serious. There’s no way you’ve been carrying around a token from the dagger of Lilith in your pocket.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Mostly because it’s impossible. It’s been gone for millennia as she said, and you and I have held it without any ill effects.”

“What kind of ill effects?”

“Excruciating pain. Draining power. Endless suffering after death. You name it, it’s responsible.”

“And how do you know so much about the dagger of Lilith?” I asked him.

“Luc has a book in his office. Sometimes on my down time, I’ll peruse his shelves.”

“Was there a picture?”

He shook his head. “No. It just talked about it.”

“What did it say?” Agatha asked. We both looked to her curiously. “I only know what was passed down in my grimoire. I’m very curious to know if there’s anything more.”

Connor shrugged. “Basically, it said that she and Adam weren’t a well matched couple because he thought a lot of himself, wasn’t real nice, and tried to act all superior. Lilith didn’t go for any of it. They had a couple of kids. The kids dug their mom way more than their dad because of above reasons. They divorced. She got the kids. He got Eve and used his new platform to continuously run down his ex.”

I bristled.

“What he didn’t understand,” Connor continued, “is that a true badass doesn’t need someone around to massage their ego.”

“Aw… honey, is that why you like me to massage yours?”

Agatha laughed while Connor hauled me over onto his lap, pressing a kiss to my temple.

“I like when you massage things, but my ego isn’t one of them.” Woo. The way he said that shot a thrill right through me.

“So it didn’t say anything about the dagger, then?” Agatha asked.

“Just that her daughter got into a heated argument with Adam and he ended up striking her. Lilith flew into a rage, attacking Adam with the dagger. She didn’t kill him.”

“She could have,” Agatha put in. “Lilith was the first witch. She cast a spell using the blood of Adam to protect her daughter and all of her daughter’s descendants from any men. Then she gave the dagger to her daughter.”

“So then how did it disappear?” I asked, totally enthralled by this story.

“Lilith’s daughter was betrayed… by awoman. A woman who’d been coerced or forced into hurting her. No one knows what happened after that.”

“Okay, but how does anyone know that this brooch belonged to that dagger?” I pushed.

“Because Lilith wrote it down in her personal grimoire. She showed it to those she trusted so they would know when they saw it, it would provide protection.”

---