Page 64 of Grimoires & Glamoury

I had thought there was a bit of a connection there. Or that we’d been building toward one.

But when two weeks passed, I started to feel more than a little miffed by the radio silence. I damn near asked Nadia if she’d heard from Charles, but I managed to restrain myself. It certainly appeared that he and I were back to where we started.

He was uptown in a world of penthouses, sky rises and expensive homes, and of course the formality of his lodge of ceremonialists. While I lived on the south side in an old neighborhood, and was the head Witch of my community, running and owning my independent book shop in Five Points South.

The truth was we were worlds apart, and despite working together for the good of both our communities and the Supernatural community at large, there was no real reason to see each other any longer.

***

I was busy refilling the central display table, restocking the newest releases and best sellers. We’d had a nice flow of traffic that day and I was wearing the same skater dress I had worn when I met with the Olarescus—sans the sweater. The black patterned dress was unabashedly witchy, plus it was cool and comfortable. To cheer myself, I’d worked my hair into a half updo and done my makeup in dark smoky shades. I’d deliberately chosen my witchy outfit and hairstyle in an effort to feel empowered and to stop moping over Charles.

The door to the shop opened with a tinkle of bells and I glanced over to greet whoever had entered. A gorgeous family strolled in together. The male was tall, blonde and poetically handsome and the female stunning, with long copper hair that swung down the back of a deep blue summer dress. Their son was held by his father—a blonde boy, laughing and full of mischief.

“Lorna!” Ruby Prentiss-Dragos rushed to me and gave me a hug in greeting. From over her shoulder, I smiled at Damien and Ruby released me in time for Xander to throw himself into my arms.

“Hi, Lorna!” Xander wrapped his arms tightly around my neck.

“What are you three doing here?” I asked, grinning at the trio.

Ruby raised her eyebrows. “Would you believe we were in the neighborhood?”

I hitched Xander up on my hip. “Welcome to Birmingham. This is a wonderful surprise!”

“Your store is beautiful!” Ruby said, spinning around to take it all in. “I love the deep blue ceiling and all the stars. Oh, and look at that curved wooden staircase to the second floor!” She dashed off to look around.

Damien smiled fondly after his wife even as Dex came out from the back room. Once Ruby returned, I introduced him to the Dragos family, and he smiled and shook hands with Damien. Xander wanted down to go look at the books, and a short time later I found myself firmly steered right out of my own store and going to lunch with the Dragos family.

Obviously there had been news with the situation in the hollow, and lunch was simply a cover. Their coming to see me in person and going out under the guise of a meal was simply the safest and most secure way to pass along the information.

Kathleen cheerfully shooed me right out the door. “Go, go!” she said. “Scram.”

“I’ll be back after lunch,” I told Dex and Kathleen.

“No, you won’t,” Kathleen argued and handed me my purse. “Take the rest of the day off. Dex and I can hold down the fort.”

“Come on Lorna!” Xander demanded, tugging on my hand to get me to come along.

“Sheesh,” I said, even as Xander took my hand and walked with me outside. Nadia followed us all along inconspicuously. Status as a Supernatural bodyguard not withstanding…she’d make a hell of a spy.

For all I knew she already was working as one for her Vampire House. But Nadia’s true “job” was a mystery to be solved another day.

There was a long black car waiting for us all at the curb. I climbed inside with Xander, and he scrambled over into his car seat. Ruby and Damien glided in, then Ruby swiftly buckled her son up and soon we were pulling away from the curb.

“Would it be easier to go to my house?” I asked the couple. For the life of me I couldn’t see the Vampires strolling into a restaurant at lunch time in the touristy part of Five Points South. “We could speak privately there.”

“That would be best,” Damien said.

Ruby nodded. “I’d enjoy seeing your home.”

“Okay.” I nodded in return. “I’ll let Nadia know and shoot her a quick text. Let me give your driver my address,” I said, leaning forward to tap on the glass that separated the passenger part from the driver’s area of the limo.

Damien waved that away. “He already knows the address. I took the liberty of telling him before we arrived to your bookstore.”

“Oh.” I blinked at that.

“Damien doesn’t mean to be high handed,” Ruby began, “he just can’t seem to help himself.”

Damien took his wife’s hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “It’s simply a part of my charm.”