Tripping Magic

2.2

Jack’s U-Stor was on the north side of town behind Jack’s Scrap ‘n Steel. Jack believed in diversifying his portfolio — he also owned Jack’s Suds & Duds laundromat on the west side. I can’t say I blamed him with the way the economy twisted and turned.

Unlike most self-storage places that comprised of individual garage bays in a long shed, Jack’s partitioned an old warehouse into rooms. It made housing various magical items a tad safer with thicker walls of concrete and harder doors to jimmy.

“How are you going to find it?”

Mira wanted to come along and I was glad for the extra set of hands and eyes. I didn’t mind her company either. We sat shivering in my old Bronco and stared at the drab door of the warehouse entrance. For a late spring evening, it was unseasonably cold.

“Locator spell.” I pulled out a palm sized notepad and a fountain pen from my pocket. Onto one sheet of paper, I wrote everything I remembered about the book I saw during The Seeing Eye with Matthew.

Blue-black leather cover with an embossed sun in silver. Wider than tall. Yellowed parchment pages filled with symbology. I tried not to think of how Matthew held it in his slender hands or how he stroked a finger beneath a passage.

Mira leaned close to get a look by resting her head on my shoulder. A tumble of brown curls fell into her face and she pushed them back. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Mira always smelled delectable but never the same. This time she reminded me of an orange pomander with citrus and cloves.

“That’s going to be a bit of a needle in the proverbial haystack, won’t it? How many books on symbology did Matthew own?”

I snorted a laugh. “Too many.”

Tearing the paper loose, I held it in my hand and tossed the rest of the pad on the dash. Mira reached out to fluff the jagged edges from the spiral binding with her fingers.

“May I?”

“Sure.”

She took the page into her hand and pressed it between her palms. Closing her eyes, she mumbled a few words to herself before raising her hands to her mouth. Held so both thumbs touched to her lips, Mira blew a breath into her palms.

She made a copy of the list. My writing glowed in blue across her skin.

“You have your spells and I have mine.” Mira smiled wide. “Mine happened to get me through college.”

“Yours seems a bit more appealing too.” I took the list back and held it between my right thumb and forefinger.

My usual locator spell involved grinding up a list of observable facts about the object into a powder, mixing it with alcohol, and charging the drink while speaking the incantation. The alcohol helped to absolve the fact I was eating a piece of paper but it also dulled my senses. I couldn’t afford to do that in a room full of magic artifacts.

Staring at the page, I imbued the page with a desire to find the grimoire. My focus on the list sent a tendril of power into the paper.

“Invenire librum,” find the book, I said before stuffing the slip into my mouth.

“Goddess above, Alex.” Mira laughed and shook her head.

“What?” I asked around the paper as I chewed. It sucked all moisture out of my mouth. Once mushed to a state I dared swallow, I choked it down. It got stuck somewhere in the middle and I thumped my chest with a fist to clear it.

“I’m glad my forte is illusion. No paper to chew.”

The spell kicked in abruptly, overtaking my senses faster than the alcoholic version ever did. A odd level of focus forced my eyes to stare at the warehouse. Slipping the keys from the ignition, I stepped out of the Bronco and moved towards the door.