Grimoires and Where to Find Them by Raconteur, Honor (best affordable ebook reader .TXT) 📗

into the chair, Phil moving from my shoulder to my lap and sprawling out as if he owned real estate on my thighs.

Leor took the chair next to me, crossing his legs comfortably. He noticed that Phil’s nose kept twitching, the little Felix scenting him and looking confused.

“Do I smell of magic, little friend?”

Phil nodded uncertainly. “But not like Henri.”

“No, indeed. I’m half-Baku, you see. Do you know what that is?”

“Dream-eater,” Phil answered, his confusion clearing immediately.

“Indeed. Being only a half-Baku, I don’t need or feel the compulsion to eat dreams, you see, but I do like the taste of them. And I sometimes have friends and family who visit me to eat a nightmare, which I’m happy to do. Do you have a nightmare you want eaten?”

Phil shook his head, golden eyes blinking slowly in that way he did when he was thinking hard. “No. Thank you.”

“The offer’s open if you change your mind later.” Leor gave me a smug grin. “I don’t need to ask you. I can tell you’ve only had good dreams recently.”

“Guilty,” I admitted without qualm. “I’ve started courting Jamie.”

“Oh, are you? I knew you were hesitant to do so, but I’m quite glad you did, Henri. I take it things are going well?”

“Astonishingly so. I’m almost embarrassed for hesitating, in fact.”

Leor looked as pleased as if he were the one dating. “I always felt if you just found the right person, things would go well for you. Out of all my friends, you’re the most thoughtful, after all. You must introduce me to her at some point. From what you’ve said before, she has an amazing vault of information.”

“She does. One of the more intelligent women in my acquaintance, and you know how smart some of my colleagues are. I think she’ll keep you on your toes. I’ll try to arrange a dinner.”

It pleased me that he was interested in meeting Jamie. And I did feel it healthy for him to step out of the house at least once this month.

“Yes, do so. I’ll make time for it.” Leor clapped his pudgy hands together. “Now. Let’s get to the topic that brought you to me. I’m sure you’re busy, what with investigating crimes. You said this is about the Reaper’s Set?”

Henri nodded. “I was at a book faire yesterday, and there was a theft of a grimoire, a volume from the Reaper’s Set.”

Leor let out a low whistle, his bushy eyebrows winging up into his hairline. “No! I just had mine stolen, too!”

I blinked, then immediately whipped out my notebook. “Leor, you should have led with that!”

“Well, I thought that was what your note was about,” Leor responded acerbically. “You just said in your note you wanted to know more about the Reaper’s Set, and I’ve got one—or had one. What else was I to think?”

“Alright, well, you now know I’m investigating the theft. When did it happen?”

Leor looked a bit sheepish as he admitted, “I really can’t tell you when the theft occurred. I just noticed it missing two weeks ago, is all.”

Considering the state of this house, it was something of a miracle he’d noticed at all. Leor was not what one would call organized.

“Can you guess at all when? Night? Day? Why do you not have a ward up?”

“Back of the house is being renovated,” Leor explained. “I’ve some water damage because of bad flashing; it’s affecting the mortar in the brick. I had to take the ward down until construction is finished.”

“Ah. Poor timing. Unless the thief targeted you specifically because your ward was down. But not even a temporary ward?”

“Well, I have one around my bedroom. Now. Because being robbed was very unsettling.”

“I bet it was.” It was so like Leor to absentmindedly deal with the situation after the fact. “Were you referencing it? Is that why you noticed its absence?”

“Yes, in fact. The volume I had—oh, it was volume seven—dealt mainly in magical theory. Fascinating, truly fascinating. I only understood about half of it, to tell the truth. Sometimes, when I like to break my brain, I’ll try to read it straight through. At any rate, I’d gone looking for it, to reference something I’d remembered, only to come up empty. I tore the house apart, in fact, for three whole days. I was convinced I’d mislaid it.”

Leor sighed, shoulders slumping.

I looked around the room, noting that it was indeed dusted and tidy, even the stacks on the floor neatly arranged.

“So, you actually organized your house in an effort to find it?”

“I did, and—you must admit—the state of the house is an improvement.”

I shrugged in acknowledgement. “No room for disagreement there. But still no book.”

“No. And I found later, the back door’s lock was broken. The mechanism had been harmed in such a way that it was impossible to mistake it as anything but a burglary. I’ve replaced the lock, but I still have the old one if you want to take a look.”

“I certainly will. How many people knew you had this volume?”

Leor sat back, propping a foot up on the ottoman nearby.

“I think several people knew. It wasn’t precisely a secret, and I had colleagues over sometimes to help me decipher parts of it. Most of the handwriting in the grimoire is very neat and precise, but the handwritten notes in the margins weren’t usually in the same style.”

“I see.” I jotted that all down, now more alarmed than I had been before. “You said your volume dealt more with magical theory. I was told by the broker that most of the set dealt with death or destruction in some manner.”

Leor grunted agreement, although his expression was sour.

“Half the set, to be precise. The other half was brilliant, in my opinion. A bit dark in topic, but really. People will always find a way to twist things to their own ends.”

“I can’t say I disagree. Jamie likes to say people will always find a more creative way to murder.”

“She’s unfortunately right.”

Leor’s gaze shifted to a particular