Page 113 of Kick the Candle (Knight Games 2)
Freeing Nightshade from her sheath, I tried to wedge the blade in the seam and pry the vault open. Crack! A bolt of electricity blew me backward. I landed on my ass, sword in hand. "Ow!" I said, rubbing my tailbone. "It's testy."
"The Book of Flesh and Bone is there," Logan said. "And Mom's warning me, we are in grave danger."
Grave Danger
"Grave danger?" I raised eyebrows at Logan and broke into the type of laugh that starts out loud and then peters out when you run out of breath. I had to hug my knees to my chest. Tears formed in the corners of my eyes.
"What's so funny?"
I inhaled loudly. "Oh come on! We are standing on top of the Book of Flesh and Bone. Satan's own wicked grimoire." I grabbed my shaking stomach. "And we're in a house next to a graveyard. Grave danger. Of course we're in grave danger. When am I ever not in grave danger!" The fit of laughter overcame me again. Could. Not. Breathe.
Logan's hands wrapped around my shoulders and shook. "Snap out of it. I don't think my mother meant it as a joke. What should we do?"
I got control of myself and pushed up from the floor, eyeing the symbols on the vault and trying to call on my emerging witchy instincts for direction. "Poe! Get down here," I yelled toward the stairs.
Flapping. The muffled thump of wings against wood. I was sure we'd left the door partially open but it sounded like he was struggling to fit through. A black streak passed by my face and landed on the leather pocket of the pool table. "Eww. The vibe down here is making me molt." He ruffled himself and a few stray black feathers cascaded to the floor. "What's under the stone, Witcherella?"
"Rumor has it, the Book of Flesh and Bone."
"Rumor has it from whom?" Poe fixed Logan with a beady black stare.
Logan stepped back. "The bird talks?"
"This is my familiar. His name is Poe."
"Yes. I am Poe, keeper of this witch, and I say, sir, that it seems a bit coincidental that you should know exactly where the book is."
"I-"
"Poe, he used to live in the attic, as a ghost. Besides, he didn't actually know. It was his dead mother. He's a medium."
Poe flapped and plumped his breast skeptically. "Likely story. Can you see this so called dead mother, Miss Witch? How do we know he's not possessed? Or a nekomata in disguise?"
"I'm not a demon!" Logan said, extending his hands to the sides. "Or a shapeshifter."
I scratched my jaw. "He came through the front door, Poe. He's not supernatural."
"Did you invite him in?"
Oh crap. I had invited him in. And come to think of it, I couldn't see the ghost of his dead mother, and it did seem rather coincidental that he knew just where to look. "Oh my God, Logan, are you a demon or a shifter?"
"No," he insisted as if the mere idea was ridiculous. "No!" he repeated more emphatically.
Poe hopped to my shoulder. "Prove it."
"How exactly am I supposed to prove it?" Logan's outstretched hands balled into fists and came to rest on his hips.
I pulled out my phone and searched my database for a spell to detect supernatural beings. "Stay right there." I ducked into the downstairs bathroom, and filled the empty soap dish with some water. When I returned, Logan looked more than a little put out. I held the dish toward him.
"Tip forward so that I can see your reflection in the water."
He hesitated for a second but indulged me. I placed my free hand on his head and repeated the phrase I'd learned from my spell database. "Ostendil mihil teipsme"
The water glowed cerulean blue then rippled from the inside out as if a teardrop had fallen from his face and landed at the center. When the rings settled, I could see his reflection clearly. It looked just like Logan, with the addition of a blue star glowing in the center of his forehead.
"See! He's one of them," Poe accused, pointing a talon toward Logan.
"Wait up, Poe. The spell said the supernatural would appear as shadows in the water. Logan's reflection is clear, aside from the star.
