at the symbol trying to decipher the meaning. Encased all in a large, unbroken circle, there were several other symbols running through it. At times, I thought it looked like a name and that frightened me more than anything else.
The defensive spell I had placed over the basement was a dangerous thing. It attacked with lethal force anyone who entered the basement that wasn’t me. It was also a fickle thing, not liking to be turned off as I learned when I let my friend Sofie descend into my private domain. While it hadn’t attacked her, the spell hadn’t gone into magical sleep mode, which was more than a little unnerving.
It was never a good thing when a spell stopped obeying you. In fact, spells weren’t supposed to have a mind of their own, but something was different about this one. I’d used this protective spell for several years and I was beginning to wonder if storing all these magical items near the spell was starting to have a negative impact. It was time to consult Gideon for a new protective spell.
When the last of the magical energies in the room finally settled down, I breathed a small sigh of relief. At least the spell wasn’t going to kill us when Serah came down into the basement. I was just hoping the woman wouldn’t try to kill me. Walking back over to stand at the bottom of the stairs, I called up to her.
Her footsteps creaked across the wood floor until she appeared at the top of the stairs with a questioning look on her face. “That didn’t take long. Finished hiding your stash from the big bad TAPSS investigator?”
“Get your ass down here,” I muttered.
As she slowly descended the stairs, I walked over to the high table that was pushed against one of the walls. Its surface was cluttered with random bits of junk that I had collected for use in random spells and potions. A series of crystals hung from ribbons and leather strings along the wall just above the table, while a stack of hardbound journals was piled in the corner. It was a mess, but it was my mess and I knew where everything was. Grabbing my wand out of the carved wooden box, I quickly shoved it up my sleeve. My hope was to ease Serah into this to keep her panic down to a minimum, and wands were panic-inducing things. I scooped up a battered box of wooden kitchen matches and a baby-food jar filled with sea salt, and then paused as my brain ran in circles, trying to figure out anything else that might help give this spell some kick.
“Gage?” Serah’s tremulous voice rose up in the silent air. For the first time all evening, she sounded unsure and more than a little afraid. While the room housed cabinets that looked like they contained your typical potion ingredients, the padlocks on the front of each made you second-guess it. The black symbol dominating the far wall also didn’t help. Even if you didn’t understand magic, the thing held a sinister air as if it was a gateway to something evil. It didn’t take an expert in magic to know that she was treading on dangerous ground.
I smiled broadly at her when I turned around to find her standing on the dirt floor near the foot of the stairs. “Almost ready,” I said, trying to sound reassuring as I shoved the jar of salt into my pocket.
“What is all this?”
“You remember Rule Number Three?” I asked as I stepped over to the cabinet nearest her. Turning my body so that I blocked her view of what I was doing, I picked up the padlock and ran my thumb across the back while pushing a tiny burst of magic through the mechanism. A chunk echoed through the room as the lock popped open.
“Something about letting you explain,” she said, still sounding as if she was about to bolt for the door.
“Yep. Here, hold this,” I said, slapping the box of matches into her free hand before I turned my attention back to the cabinet. I squatted down where several plastic jugs were lined up along the bottom shelf with dates scrawled across them in black marker. Grabbing the fullest one, I stood and closed the cabinet doors with my foot.
“What’s that?” she asked, eyeing the jug suspiciously.
“Water.”
“Isn’t starting a fire in the basement a little dangerous, even with water on hand?”
“We’re not starting a fire,”