The Wailing Woman

31. The Evil Eye

Three towers of magical books sat around me, with old and frail thick spines. Some were written in Latin, some in Dilara's native tongue, and others I could not decipher. There were also about a dozen unlit white candles formed in a circle in the middle of my living room. I have no idea what we will be doing with those but Dilara is currently finishing up spreading salt again around the edges of my apartment.

Meanwhile, I decided to use this opportunity to skim through some of the books. Although I don't understand anything, I picked up one of the Latin books since I knew I would be able to understand some of the words.

"Are you looking for something?" Dilara asked from the door.

I flip to the next page. "No, I just want to see what I'm going to learn."

"Are you sure? Because that's the four books you've read and you keep frowning further each time you flip the next page." I close the book and turn to Dilara.

She stands by the door in her cream color cardigan with sleeves rolled up as she lets the last bit of salt fall on the floor. "Because I don't understand anything," I said back. Dilara walks over toward me and sits on the floor across from me. She gives me a pointed look and takes the hair tie off her wrist as she pulls her wavy brown hair into a ponytail.

"Fine," She says. "Don't tell me anything. Just like you won't tell me who got you that moon hairpin."

My cheeks burn as I feel the weight of the hair barrette on my hair. It's been four days since Grimm gave it to me and it's also been four days since Dilara has been trying to figure out who gave it to me. I've been telling her I bought it myself but she doesn't believe me.

Dilara's eyes glow in mischief. "It was from him, wasn't it? The man dressed in black?" I stay quiet. She shakes her head, "You know, you're not as intimidating as you look. You blush like everyone else when they have a crush on someone."

My body went still. I blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. I don't have a crush.

I ignore her assumption and ask, "You think I'm intimidating?"

"Have you seen your face?" She slaps her hand over her mouth. "Wait, I don't mean that in a bad way. What I meant was you—well, you kind of do look scary because you always look mad like you'll chew someone up if they talk to you the wrong way or breathe the wrong way. But you're pretty too. Pretty scary." She winces and she opens her mouth again but I raise my hand to stop her from talking.

Pretty scary, I like that. I crossed my arms. "Let's move on. Let's just start this lesson."

Dilara nods as she pulls a loose strand from her face behind her ear. She scoots closer. "Yes let's do that but you should know a few things first. Most witches carry talismans, charms, and amulets around them at all times. Salt isn't enough to ward off your enemies. Outside energy and in-home energy can clash, and you need a way to protect yourself from negativity. If you don't, it will hurt your magic when you perform it." 

She pulls a slivered chain from her neck and places it on her palm. "This is the one I carry."

It's a circular glass pendant with colors of deep blue, white, sky blue, and black. Each color rounds the other into the shape of an eye. It looked so familiar. I think I might've seen it among Refugio's jewelry.

"Where I am from, we call it the nazar boncuğu, it translates to—"

It clicked. "Mal de ojo."

We stare at each other, surprised as we understand each other.

Dilara nods, "The evil eye protects you from ill will, jealousy, and any harm a person wishes upon you. Simply wearing it can do a lot but it can do more if you entwine magic. Every witch's charm is different just like their magic, so when you infuse spells onto your charm it is kind of special to you because your attacker doesn't know what kind of spells it holds. But eventually, your charm will break which is fine since they served their purpose. I've broken so many."