Page 10 of Enspelled

I hesitate.

I can’t drive with it in my hands, in my lap, or even by my feet, so I’m going to have to either hand it over or toss it into the back seat.

He got you out of there, Sera. Just let him hold the thing for the five minutes it’s going to take you to get back to town.

After another moment of hesitation, I pass the grimoire over and start up my car. “You’re just holding it for now,” I tell him. “It’s temporary.”

He nods. “Temporary.”

* * *

My eyes narrow on Bodie, who not only point-blank refused to get out of my car, but he clung so tightly to Layla’s grimoire that I knew getting it off him would take a nasty spell I wasn’t prepared to cast to get it back.

Or I could have, but in an enclosed space like my car, that would just be asking for trouble.

He wanders around my bedroom as if he doesn’t have a care in the world, the grimoire still clasped in his hands. “Nice room.”

It’s not. What it is, is a little girl’s room that might be okay for a ten or even twelve-year-old, but for a twenty-one-year-old, it’s too pink. Far too pink.

“Theonlyreason you’re here is because I don’t have time to waste arguing with you.”

He glances over his shoulder at me. “And because I know the cell phone number to reach your friend.”

I grind my teeth. More hair falls into my face, and I blow it out of the way. “That too.”

The cell phone he gave to Briar and Keane is going to come in handy, because while I can cast a location spell to track Briar down when I need to speak to her, it’s not as fast as calling.

“So, what’s the plan?” Bodie wanders over to the window and brushes aside the curtain to peer outside at the darkening sky. “Are we casting a spell, or—”

“No, you’re going to sit quietly while I go through the grimoire and see if there’s a spell that can remove the souls from Briar. And move away from the window. My mom could be home at any minute, and the last thing we need is for her to find you in my bedroom.”

His smile turns cheeky, but to my relief, he moves away from the window. “Because I’m a guy?”

I cross over to him and hold out my hands. “Because you’re a wolf. Now hand it over.”

He studies me in silence, making no move to give me the book.

“I could make you,” I threaten.

And just like any time I’ve threatened to curse him, turn him into a mouse, or blow him up, that same playful smile lights his eyes, lending him a boyish look. “I’m sure you could.”

Is he…flirtingwith me?

I shake my head. No. He’s just playing around with me. Has to be. “Briar needs me. We don’t have time to waste.”

The smile fades, and he hands the book over. “I can help.”

I cross over to my bed, and once I’ve kicked off my sneakers, I sit cross-legged with the grimoire in my lap. “You won’t know what you’re looking for. And you’re a wolf.”

He doesn’t hesitate to make himself comfortable on the bed, stretching out his denim-clad legs, which nearly hang off the edge.

I lift my head long enough to glare at his boots.

After a moment, he kicks them off and they thud to the floor. “Tell me what to look for, and I’ll find it. You said something about a flower before. White asphodel.”

My eyes narrow. “Is there anything you didn’t hear?”

“Nope. I think I caught it all. Your friend seemed strangely defensive of Keane.”

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