Page 201 of The Holy Grail
Jules took it to get a closer look. “Crystals,” she corrected Evan. “I should know what this is because of Paige, but I don’t. It’s cool as hell, though.”
“It’s tourmalated quartz.”
“Right. The black stuff is tourmaline.”
“Yes.”
She handed the stone back. “Okay, well, I know where the shop is that Paige goes to get crystals, so we can go there tomorrow, if you want.”
Malcom had been sort of expecting to get some shit thrown at him, but apparently none was coming. “That would be great.” As he settled back in his seat, and Jules startedthe car, he tacked on, “I also need to make a special room in my house for, uh, journaling purposes.”
Evan, from the backseat, clapped a hand on Malcom’s shoulder. “Sounds like we’re going to be busy this weekend.”
And they were.
On Saturday morning, they went to Groovy Crystals and spent almost two hours in it. There were so many things to look at, because crystals were sold in many forms: spheres, towers, points, flames, wands, worry stones, pyramids, hearts, and a multitude of carved figurines. There were also small, tumbled crystals, raw crystals, jewelry, incense, sage bundles, lotions, soaps, salt lamps, tarot cards, books, and even clothing.
From the moment he walked into the store, Malcom felt himself … settle. It was like a blanket of peace enveloped him, and as he wandered from display case to display case, he started to feel like a kid at Christmas, and decided to get whatever appealed to him.
He found a stunning tourmalated quartz sphere the size of a softball, and even though the price tag was north of two hundred dollars, he didn’t hesitate to put it in his little shopping basket. He also found other pieces—most of which he didn’t know the names of until he read the labels on the shelves—and by the time he was done, he had quite a haul. A blue apatite tower, a rose quartz Merkaba star, an amethyst heart, a tiger’s eye pyramid, several worry stones, and three other, smaller spheres of clear quartz, smoky quartz, and howlite.
The lady at the cash register, who also turned out to be the owner of the store, gave him a smile as she started ringing up his purchases. “Were these crystals chosen specifically, or did you intuitively pick them out?”
“What do you mean by ‘intuitively’?”
“Did they call to you?”
He pointed to the tourmalated quartz sphere. “That was specifically chosen, but the rest just called to me.”
“That’s the best way to do it,” she told him.
A few moments later, when Jules and Evan joined him at the register, Jules had a black, leather cord necklace with a mini-point, red pendant in her hand. “I don’t know what this is, but I’m getting it, because I like the color.”
The cashier smiled. “It’s carnelian.”
“Carnelian,” Jules repeated, looking at it from all angles. “Is it a good crystal?”
“Well, it’s for stamina and sexual energy, so you’d have to be the judge of that.”
“Hmm,” Evan murmured, then asked Jules in an aside, “Where did you find that?”
She pointed to a large display with hundreds of crystal pendants of all colors and shapes hanging from black leather cords.
“I’ll be right back,” Evan said with a grin.
Malcom put a hand on Evan’s arm. “Get me one, too.”
“I’ll get us matching ones, so we can wear them with our matching Pink Floyd T-shirts.”
“Oh, Jesus, no, don’t you dare,” Malcom warned, but all Evan did was grin even more and dart away. To Jules, Malcom begged, “Please go make sure he doesn’t do that.”
“I think it would be cute.”
“Jules.”
“Fine,” she agreed with a pat to his cheek. “I’ll do my best.”
At Malcom’s place, all three of them agreed the den adjacent to the formal living room would be perfect for his space. It wasn’t too small, it wasn’t too big, and would fit a comfortable chair nicely.
