Page 37 of Enspelled

Time to put a stop to this.

“There was no leg-humping incident. And we don’t have time for this. We need to know what you’ve learned from Layla’s grimoire. Is there a spell in there that could wipe out my pack or turn Briar into a wolf?” I don’t take my eyes from Briar’s bowed back.

A frown creases my brow, because now she’s behaving like a pup who’s done something wrong. As if she’s ashamed. “Briar!” I snap.

She spins around, her eyes wide with alarm.

I point at the chair opposite, and she slinks over to it before dropping into it, head lowered and gaze on the table.

“Nothing,” Sera says. “But that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have her nastier spells tucked away somewhere else. Witches won’t always contribute all their spells to the coven’s grimoire.”

Mara’s words circle in my head. A second grimoire.

“How many grimoires do you witches have?” I snort.

“A family grimoire,” Briar responds before Sera can tell me it’s none of my business. “And one that the coven leader keeps. That’s the one with the most potent spells, since all the green witches in town would have contributed one or more of their spells to the book, going back hundreds of years.”

“But there’s no reason to believe Layla was even the one responsible for killing your pack,” Sera adds. “It could have been Diana.”

“Well, since Diana Calla is dead, it’s not like I can ask her. But I don’t think it was her. She seems like the sort of person who wouldn’t hesitate to rub it in my face if she had,” I say, testing out Mara’s reason.

Sera sighs. “Yeah, that sounds like Diana,” she admits reluctantly. “She would want you to know she’d bested you before she set you on fire.”

“And she had nothing to gain, so all it would’ve done is cause trouble for her, which she didn’t need,” Bodie adds. “Not if her focus was on proving to the other elementals that they were lucky to have her instead of Georgia as coven leader.”

I glance at the cell phone on the table in surprise. “How do you know all that?”

“Sera filled me in last night, right before she fell asleep hugging her grimoire. It was very sweet.”

I feel Briar’s surprise even before she lifts her gaze from the table, her eyes wide. “You spent the night together.”

“We did not spend the night together.” Sera snaps. “I was working, and he spent it distracting me. Anyway, I’m casting up a protection spell now, and I’ll give it to Bodie to give it to you,Briar,in case Georgia turns murderous. I’m going to an emergency coven meeting, so Bodie might as well do something useful.”

I ignore Sera’s pointed mention of giving the spell to Briar and not to us. Guess she hasn’t forgotten or forgiven me for kidnapping Briar. “So Layla Markham has finally shown her face, then?”

“I don’t know. Mom said Vera called the meeting, and I have a feeling it’s going to be about you, Briar, so I should be there.” Again, Sera seems to be speaking more to Briar than to me.

“With Diana dead, Layla could be hiding in case I go after her,” I muse.

Briar parts her lips, but Sera beats her to it. “I doubt it. Layla doesn’t hide from anyone. If she believed she was at risk, she’d gather all the witches and hit you hard.”

I eye Briar.

After a moment, she nods. “That sounds like something Layla would do.”

“But someone in town must have seen you with me, right?” I ask.

Briar nods. “So?”

I level a stare at her. “So, you have one of the strongest powers in town, and if rumors have spread that you wiped out the elemental leader and her two daughters, she might think that you were getting ready to aim that power her way. From what you told me about her denying your aunt a loan, she wasn’t exactly a friend to you.”

Although I can tell Briar wants to argue, I can see that she’s considering it. “I don’t have control of my power. I never have, and everyone in town knows that.”

“But one day you might, right?” Bodie suggests. “And if you did, maybe Layla is wondering whether she could stop you.”

“That doesn’t feel right,” Sera says, with a frown in her voice. “I don’t think she’s hiding.”

I reach for the cell phone to end the call, since I’ve heard about as much as I needed to. Which is nothing that’s going to help us. “Well, I guess we’re all entitled to our opinions, but I’d say she has good reason to hide. We have to go.”

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