Chapter 17

It was a quiet group that sat around Flora's kitchen table after I related what she had told me.

"A dissipation of the soul spell," Maude whispered, shaking her head. "What kind of person could do something like that?"

I was guessing a really, really bad one.

Maude looked over at me. "Did she say anything else?"

I shook my head. Tilda and I had discussed what we would tell the three women on our way over to Flora's house. It was one thing to tell her that Flora was giving up. It was completely another to tell Flora's closest friends. They were already dealing with everything else, I couldn't unload that on them as well. As far as I could tell, the only thing we had going for us was hope.

"We need to hit the library hard," Maude muttered. "There has got to be something in there that can help us in some way."

"You know that's unlikely." Isobel said.

"Why?" I asked. "I would have thought that the best place to find information about this kind of magic would have been in the library."

"The coven library only contains approved grimoires," Isobel informed me.

"What does that mean?"

"Any and all grimoires which contained dark magic were burned."

I couldn't help the frown on my face. "Burned, as in destroyed, with no copies."

Maude nodded.

"Why?" I realized that I was asking that a lot, but I was having trouble understanding the politics behind some of these decisions.

"Over the last few hundred years the Conclave has worked hard to banish all magic that is harmful. Part of that was an order that all grimoires that contained questionable magic practices were destroyed. Flora complied with the Conclave edict."

"Please tell me that the Conclave kept some copies of these books for when situations like this occurred."

From the glum looks on the faces of the four women in front of me, I could see that they hadn't.

Maude put a hand up to stop my obvious tirade about a situation that I clearly knew nothing about.

"The last thousand years have seen great turmoil in the paranormal community. Very bad things happened while various beings tried to gain power, not only over our world, but the normal world as well. We've spent several hundred years trying to ensure that situation never happens again. The final act was the Purge of Spells almost forty years ago. The idea was that if the grimoires were destroyed, nobody could use that kind of magic again."

While a part of me understood what the Conclave had been trying to achieve, the librarian in me was horrified at the destruction of knowledge they were describing.

"So, all the books were destroyed."

The women nodded.

"And now we're in the situation where the only person who could possibly help us is the psychopath who murders people and kills their souls."

"We're hoping there's somebody else that would have that knowledge. I've been talking to some of the older members of the coven to see if they remember anything," Maude said.

"Will they be willing to help if that could bring them consequences with the Conclave?" I asked.

Maude looked pained. "I'm trying to let them know that any help provided will be unlikely to be reported."

Great, that meant not only were we going up against dark magic, we were also battling people's self-interest. Never a good position to be in.

"What do you want me to do?"

"You and Tilda will go to the library with Isobel and Margot."

"No," Isobel said firmly.

Maude glanced up at the ceiling, the frustration rolling off her in waves. "Why not?"

"The library is sacred ground," insisted Isobel. "You cannot be thinking of allowing access to someone from outside the coven. It's bad enough that Tilda is entering before she's ready. An outsider is beyond the pale."

Maude slammed her hands down on the table. "Sadie is Flora's family. We may have known our coven leader for her entire life, but she is choosing to communicate with her niece. We do not have the time to second guess her choice." She drew in a breath. "We also don't have time for petty squabbles. Decisions have to be made or we are going to lose her."

I could tell Isobel wanted to continue the argument, but after a quick look at her sister, she decided to hold her tongue.

"Very well."

"I'll stay with Flora and go through these books to see if there is anything that could help us." Maude sighed. "I'll also try talking to some of the coven members again, see if they're willing to give up any more of their family secrets."

I got up from the table. "I want to see Flora before I go." I strode over to the bedroom before anyone could voice an objection.

The aura that surrounded Flora cast an eerie glow in the room. I stood over her, my hand resting lightly on her arm. Once again, the tendrils from the blue light that surrounded Flora reached out for me. Unlike the first time, their movements seemed jerky until they reached my skin and then they smoothed out.

"What's happening?" I whispered to myself and was surprised when I got an answer.

"She's getting weaker," replied Maude from the doorway, her voice cracking. "She's getting some strength from knowing that you're here. That's why the movements change when they get close to you."

"Maybe I should be the one who stays with her." Despite really wanting to do something active to help Flora, I recognized that sometimes the best thing you can do for someone is to hold their hand and just be there for them.

Maude put her hand on my arm. "The fact that you can communicate with her means any information you see can be sent to her more easily. If you hadn't been able to show her the symbols you saw last night, we would be even further behind than we are now. I know it doesn't seem like it, but the only thing going right for her is you helping us."

I smoothed Flora's gray hair from her brow and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "We're not giving up on you. Don't you dare give up on us."

As I went to walk out of the room, Maude pulled me aside. "The sheriff has been asking about you."

"I figured he would be," I said. "I haven't told him anything."

"We may have a problem there. In his quest to find out what happened to Helen, he could put himself and us in serious danger. We may have no choice but to tell him the truth."

I thought about that. "He needs to know. If he doesn't, then we're just going to keep tripping over each other. I don't think he really believes I'm involved in Helen Napier's death, but I'm a distraction and he's wasting valuable time investigating me." The smile I gave her lacked any real humor. "And if he manages to find our killer, it makes our job just that little bit easier, doesn't it?"

"I'll think about it." Maude glanced at the kitchen. "I don't think Margot and Isobel will agree."

"Do you need them to?" I asked. From the display I'd seen earlier I'd begun to think that Maude was the one in charge.

Maude ran a hand over her face. "Coven rules state that if Flora is incapacitated, the three of us temporarily take up the mantle of leadership. We are equals in this matter. We were lucky Isobel acquiesced so easily. If she hadn't, the outcome could have been very different."

As if this situation wasn't difficult enough, now we had power plays to contend with.