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Did it intend to hurt me and couldn’t get past the car’s wards? If this keeps up, someone is going to get killed.
He was stuck while the fire department extinguished the blaze and cleared the road. To his relief, the cop taking statements wasn’t the same one from Vic’s accident. That would have raised questions Simon didn’t know how to answer.
“Hey boss, is something wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Pete asked when Simon arrived at the store, and smirked a little at the reference.
“Did you see anything about that palm tree that caught on fire?”
“Yeah, wait, was that you?” Pete echoed.
“I didn’t do it, but I think the fire salamander was either trying to warn me or attack,” Simon replied as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “I’m okay, just jangled. Let me know what the news people make of it. I’m going to dig for more information.”
He thought about calling Vic but figured he would wait since he wasn’t hurt.
Despite being rattled by the attack, the more Simon thought about it, the more he was certain it was meant to cause harm. He needed to follow up on what he had found at the hotel. First, he sent the photographs to Cassidy before digging into his own resources.
He found an online site that showed similar amulets, a common design that was protective but not rare or especially powerful. One of his lore books had a drawing of a dagger that closely resembled the one they found at the hotel. “This ceremonial knife represents cutting the tie between a malignant spirit and a physical location,” the book said. “It is unlikely to sever the haunting by itself, but combined with other banishment spells and wards, it can help to remove negative ghosts.”
Simon made a note of the finding and searched his resources for anything about the grimoire.
Several lore books had cautionary entries, although none of them gave much detailed information to support their warnings. “A powerful compendium risky to any but seasoned witches. Handle with care,” one warned. “Strong gray magic, easily used to harm rather than help. May not be worth the risk,” another said.
He remembered his promise to call Cassidy, and he took a moment to do that while he nursed a fresh cup of coffee.
“Simon, what’s going on? I saw the photographs you sent,” she told him.
Simon gave her the recap as she listened.
“Wow. That’s a lot,” Cassidy said. “I’ll see what we can find out about fire salamanders and let you know. Please tell me that you’ve already put those items in protective wards.”
“Done, Gabriella has them,” he assured her.
“Who have you told about them?”
“The hotel owner and Gabriella were with me when I found them, and his two workmen might have seen them,” Simon told her. “I expected to mention them to Vic. I emailed you, that’s it.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Good. Keep the number of people who know about them very small. In the wrong hands, both items are very dangerous.”
“I got that impression from what I found searching my lore books,” Simon said.
“You found the book in a hidden room and the dagger inside a cornerstone?” Cassidy verified.
“Yes. We did a general cleanse right then, and I’m sure Gabriella plans to do a deeper spiritual cleaning later.”
“That’s important.”
“If the magic was being used to contain a dangerous spirit, why would they have used evil artifacts?” Simon wanted to get at the heart of the question that had bothered him since finding the pieces.
“You said the hotel spirit is more amoral than outright evil?”
“That’s what we believe. It wants to be left alone to feed, as much and whenever it wants, and takes action against anyone who limits that,” Simon clarified.
“That’s not far off from the nature of the book and the knife,” Cassidy told him. “They have the potential to be used for great harm. But they can also limit the danger posed by items like you’ve described, because their contents are morally neutral.”
“Okay, I can see that.” Simon processed the information. “But your initial warning sounded more ominous.”
“I made calls to Sorren and Donnelly before I called you,” Cassidy replied. “They both immediately saw the potential for harm and fewer uses for good. There’s never a shortage of people with bad intent who are looking for any advantage. Having them find out about the book and the dagger poses a danger to you and to everyone else if they’re stolen.”
“Right now, they’re with Gabriella. I trust her implicitly, and I also need her help to cleanse the space. She’ll need to know the details about what to do next.”
