He gives a final flourish at the end of an object and with an explosion of golden sparks, a rose appears. It’s pink, fully bloomed, and radiant. The stem is long, but thorn-free, with two branches of green leaves near the top that frame the pretty pink petals.
Bastian holds the flower out to me with a gentle smile. “My magic.”
I take the rose and lift it to my nose. The soft petals brush my lips as I inhale deeply. It smells just like a rose and feels like one too.
“Is it real?” I ask.
He nods. “It is, though it was never alive, and cannot become alive. It cannot decay, either, because it is not made from the matter of this plane. It is eternally like this, unless I recall the magic into me.”
“Holy cow!” Drew claps his free hand against his knee.
“Where did it come from?” I ask.
“The magic in me comes from another place. When I draw on it, I’m taking raw energy directly from that place and channeling it through me.”
“Can you make anything?” Renee asks.
“No. Only things that I have a firm grasp on. I have seen, smelled, and touched many roses in my time,” he says, his voice almost solemn. “I’m grateful to retain two of those senses.”
My heart aches for him and I decide right here and now that I’m going to put more plants in the bookshop. More in the apartment, too. Oscar will have a heyday at first, but he’ll learn some manners after going in the timeout crate.
I try to give the flower back, but he covers my hand with his, keeping it closed.
“It’s for you,” he says.
“Thank you. It’s lovely.”
“Not as lovely as you,” he mumbles.
His warm hand lingers on mine, holding it up as I hold his flower. I’m trapped in a tenuous moment in time where it’s just us. A single breath could shatter it, so I don’t breathe, staring up into his clouded eyes. They seem clearer than ever as they lock on me,seeingme.
He sees me.
Renee clears her throat loudly. “Friends. Right.”
“Shush,” I hiss at her as my cheeks burn.
Drew grins as he snaps another celery stick in his pearly teeth.
I hold up the spell book. “Well, we ought to take a look in here and see if we can protect the bookshop from these hunters. At the very least, you need a safe haven, and then we’ll figure out on-the-go protection.”
Bastian nods, dropping his hand away from mine. “Agreed. I would prefer not to be parceled out like a valuable inheritance to naughty children who don’t deserve it.”
I run my finger along the front, and wince as I pierce myself on the needle. A pinprick of crimson wells at the top and I push into it, swelling the bubble.
The book wouldn’t open for me last time no matter what I did, so I look to Bastian for guidance. “Now what?”
“Press your blood onto the cover and say,Aperi, sanguine magi.”
I repeat the phrase as I press my finger over the letter “S.” I gasp as my blood soaks into the cover and disappears. Soft orange light glows along the letters, then spreads to each corner of the book.
“Wicked,” Renee whispers with a maniacal leer as she comes closer.
The light zips along the pages and up the spine before it disappears in a sparkling puff.
“Now it will open,” Bastian says.
I unwind the cord and I know I shouldn’t be shocked, but I am when the cover slides open to reveal something like a library checkout card. I pull out the ripped bit of paper and though it’s writtenin the Roman alphabet, I can’t read it. I can decipher some of its meaning, however. It looks like the book was shared among several witches and warlocks, as two of the same names appear halfway down the list. Besides the names are a few numbers, and beside that, a few symbols I don’t recognize.
