“The grimoire gave me the potion,” I sputtered.
I closed my eyes, knowing in my heart the spell had transferred to Kyle. He’d tripped on the threshold.
My voice cracked. “Daria apologized.”
Her apology hadn’t been sincere.
I turned to Nora, panic rising. “How do I fix this?”
Nora traced her finger down the page. “You can bounce the spell back to her, assuming it has actually transferred to Kyle.
I raised my eyebrows. She’d seen him trip.
“Yes, well,” she said. “You should call that woman back.”
“She’s gone, and I have no idea how to find her. All I know is her name.”
“It’s a start.”
“What if I can’t find her?” I read over Nora’s shoulder. The page flipped once more.
To discern satisfaction of a spell. Have the affected person hold a stalk of flowering gladiolus. Dip the stem into a pot of henna and incant the spell:
Inscribe that which has been required that I may proceed with honor.
“Can Kyle do that?” I whispered.
“If the spell has transferred, it would seem so.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s already unhappy Daria came to the house. If I tell him I screwed up and transferred a curse to him...” He’d laugh at me. He didn’t believe in the magic. Isn’t that what he’d said last night?
“You need to tell him.” Nora nodded toward the window. “He’s on his way over.”
Chapter 7
Kyle walked into the kitchen, unnaturally pale and cradling his left arm.
“What happened?” I asked.
His voice was strained. “I was installing the ceiling fan in the living room and lost my balance. I think I dislocated my shoulder. I need you to drive me to the emergency room.”
“You go on ahead,” Nora said. “I’m going to see if I can run down those flowers the book called out. You don’t grow gladiolus, do you?”
“No.”
She pushed me toward the door. “I’ll have a bouquet ready when you get back.”
I grabbed my purse and we headed to the garage.
If the spell had transferred to Kyle, it was responsible for his fall. What would happen when he went to Door County, working with all those power tools? I shuddered to think. Maybe the dislocated shoulder was a blessing in disguise. He couldn’t work while he was hurt, could he?
Knowing him, he’d try.
I helped him into the car and drove to the hospital.
“Sorry to intrude on your time with Nora,” he said with more than a little sarcasm.
I shot him a glance, surprised he could still be angry while his face was screwed up with pain.
“Better or worse, sickness and health,” I recited.
“This isn’t what you signed up for.”
“I’m not complaining about my end of the bargain.” I tightened my shoulders, preparing to tell him about Daria’s visit. He’d promised me he was okay with my extra abilities, but lately he’d been dismissing them as the power of suggestion. Regardless, he had to know about the spell that had traveled from Daria to him. “Once the doctor gets you straightened out, there’s something I have to tell you.”
“Might as well tell me now.”
“Let’s wait until you’re at least marginally better. You’re not going to like it.”
Kyle twisted in his seat. “Not sure how much worse this year could get.”
We arrived at the hospital, and Kyle got out of the car. He didn’t wait for me to walk into the emergency room, and was already registering by the time I reached him.
We waited fifteen silent minutes before he was called into an exam room, when he told me I could go home.
“I’m not leaving,” I told him.
“It could be a while. I’ve been through this with the medical part of my police training. They’ll have to do X-rays, which will take a while, and then whatever treatment they decide to do...”
“I’m not leaving.”
He scowled. “Then I guess you might as well keep me company.”
Aside from talking to the doctor, Kyle remained stoically silent while they gave him pain meds. I waited when they took him for X-rays and after they’d popped his shoulder into place, we left the hospital, four hours after we arrived, with Kyle’s arm in a sling.
“Whatever you want to tell me, now is probably a good time while I’m still medicated,” he said on the car ride home. He closed his eyes and leaned back.
Right. Back to my special talents he didn’t believe in, but he had to know. I gave him the Cliff Notes version along with my suspicions his sudden bout of clumsiness was the result of the transferred spell, while voicing my concerns over accidents with power tools.
“I’m sidelined for at least two weeks,” he said, “so no power tools.”
I wasn’t reassured. “We need to find Daria and see about returning the spell to her. If she’d been truly sorry for what had happened, the spell would have been canceled.”
Kyle shifted in the seat. “Wait. Do you know the name of the kid who stole the car? How long ago was this?”
“Six months ago, according to Daria. All I know is the sister’s name is Madeleine.”
“And you want me to do what now?” he asked.
Nerves tickled my spine. “We need to know what will satisfy the spell. If it’s something simple, we can let the spell run its course. If not, we need to find a way to send it back to Daria to ride out.”
“This writing with a flower trick is supposed to tell you what the goal of the magic is?”
I nodded.
“Fine. I’ll play along.” He relaxed into the seat again. “As long as it doesn’t do any more harm, might as well see what happens.”
Did he believe I would intentionally hurt him? Tears welled in my eyes once more. He was humoring me.
Nora was waiting beside the driveway when we got home. She helped Kyle out of the car as she glanced from him to me.
“I told him.”
She sighed. “Well then, we should get right to it. I was going to go to the florist in town, but while I was on the footpaths, I
