We'll have to magic it out of him. The words echo in Nathan's mind, unsettling him deeply. It's a bad idea, a terrible idea. It's also, unfortunately, the only idea that will get them anywhere.
He doesn't know anything about magic. Jamie's YouTube channel may deal with everything occult and magical, but even she has never had real magic at her disposal. This can go right, but it can also go wrong in a thousand different ways. Nathan thinks about flames licking at his curtains and a melted puddle of Rolex on his kitchen table and the way the words he doesn't understand rolled off his tongue so easily, and the book's cover, shit, the book's cover is red as blood, and is that a coincidence? Is that a coincidence?
He hopes it is.
He spends some time digging through his pockets, gathering a few dollars for a donation. Then, he lights a candle, trying to ignore his shaking hands. Nathan considers himself a steady guy, not someone to shy away from whatever needs to be done, but this doesn't compare to anything he's done before. He hears Jamie turning book pages and wants to ask how she feels about this, but he doesn't. Perhaps he's afraid of what she'll answer.
"There are some crazy spells in this thing," Jamie mutters. "I guess this one's for healing severe illnesses, and this one's for sinking ships... Lots of different stuff."
"I'm not planning on sinking ships anytime soon." Nathan turns to face her. Jamie's been clever enough to stand with her back to the few church-goers, obscuring the book from their sight. "We need something to make a man talk."
"Be patient. There must be something helpful here, with how many spells grimoires usually have. The Picatrix had a spell for leveling cities."
Nathan blinks. "What does Pikachu have to do with magic books?"
"Picatrix," Jamie corrects, giving him an are you doing this on purpose? kind of look. "It's another grim– magic book. But not like this one. This one has spells that actually work. I tried pretty hard, but the spell I mentioned didn't level any cities in the end."
"I'm sorry, but what were you trying to level cities for?"
Jamie rolls her eyes. "A video, of course."
Nathan stares her down for a long time.
"Don't look at me like that," she scoffs, offended. "I'm not completely dumb. I tried it in some ghost town in Texas. There was nothing but dust there, anyway."
That's better, if only a little. Nathan will accept it. "Let's... Let's just continue looking for a spell, okay?"
He doesn't want Jamie to take note of his unsteady hands, so he stuffs them in his pockets. Not that she's paying much attention to him; she keeps turning pages, studying each one, analyzing illustrations and skimming foreign words. By the time a triumphant smirk appears on her face, she's halfway through the tome.
"I think I found something here," she announces, index finger travelling to a word unlike any term Nathan knows. "Don't ask if it's the precise definition, 'cause I don't know, but I'm pretty sure this means something like mind control."
Mind control.
"...You can't read Icelandic, can you, Jamie?"
"English, yes, Spanish, yes, and I can read a slight bit of Latin. But Icelandic? No."
"Then how, pray tell, are you out here recognizing a word for mind control?"
She gives him another one of her signature smiles. "I got interested in Icelandic after yesterday morning. Figured I'd try a Duolingo course."
YOU ARE READING
#WitchcraftWednesday | ✔
Fantasi~Wattys 2024 shortlister!~ ~ONC 4th place winner!~ ~ONC Ambassador Pick~ There's always that one thing you just can't be bothered to care about. For drug dealer Nathan Devereaux, it's the grimoire he found, complete with working magic and all. Okay...
