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

minutes.” She paused, eyeing me sideways. “Did I just blow your mind, Henri?”

“I certainly feel that’s the case.”

Sometimes, she failed to understand how impressive the technological marvels she so casually introduced to the rest of us were. It wasn’t that she failed to realize the implications, because of course she knew what these machines would do to society. How they would move us all. But I think she failed to realize how revolutionary they seemed to everyone around her.

“Going back to your earlier comment—I’m not at all surprised Ellie has latched onto this idea first. If she can duplicate the design here, then she’ll make a mint very quickly. Everyone will want a—what did you call it?”

“A fax machine.”

“Yes, precisely.”

Jamie hummed, a sound that was neither agreement nor disagreement.

“I think, really, she wants it for her own advantage. She wants to send some of her designs over to colleagues, and the idea of doing that in minutes thrills her down to her little toes. I’m probably going to have to pop over and decipher some schematics for her again tonight.”

I tried not to sound selfish as I reminded her, “You promised to show me one of your movies tonight.”

She snapped her fingers. “That was it! I knew I had something planned. Sorry, I knew I should have written that down. I have no memory these days.”

“Neither do I, my dear, no apology necessary.”

It was the strain of back-to-back cases over the past month that had impacted us so. You had to retain so much information while working on a case, details that might make or break it. Eventually the mind grew weary of remembering it all. I’d hoped a day off would help invigorate the brain cells, but alas, my plan had failed.

“Well, I showed you the Avengers movies,” Jamie mused. “What would be good to watch next?”

I’d requested to finally have the inside joke of Clint, Tasha, and Phil’s names explained to me. So, she’d shown me the movie series that featured those characters. It had taken several adjustments of the verbal translation spell, and I’d finally just applied a charm on very thin paper directly over the speakers, which did the job perfectly well. I’d been able to follow the movies without a hitch, except when it came to cultural idioms, which was to be expected. Now, having seen the films, I could understand her choice of names better.

At the reminder, Tasha preened, her tail flicking. “I’m spy cat.”

Clint was just as bad. “Also spy cat.”

“I hate to break this to you, but I think Phil’s the ultimate spy.” I shook my head in amusement. Jamie had pegged them rather quickly. Phil was the quiet, understated one. Tasha was quiet, but in a sneaking, clever way. You’d never see her coming. And Clint was every bit the talkative, personable one who liked to leap off things.

Phil tucked his tail around his paws, trying to look dignified. He was too young for it to stick, but the attempt was cute.

I redirected Jamie’s attention. “What about one of the movies you like the songs from? The one the Felixes are constantly singing, about cats.”

“Ahhh, Aristocats! Yes, an excellent choice. That one’s animated, though, so might be a bit interesting for you.”

I didn’t follow. “Animated?”

“Right. Think of them as cartoon drawings, but there’s motion to them.”

“Oh.” I thought I understood what this meant but had a hard time visualizing it. “Well, I’d still like to see it.”

“You’ll see all the movies, trust me.” Jamie’s grin was in her tone, a naughty sort of glee. “And k-dramas. And anime. And everything else my sister loaded on those two external drives.”

Between all of the cases and such, I hadn’t spent as much time with Jamie and the gifts her family had sent as I would have liked. It left me with questions.

“Have you managed to review it all?”

“Eh, sorta.” She put the pad into her messenger bag. “I’ve scrolled through all the files, at least. They loaded up everything that was on my own computer, plus the movies and music they know I like. And a few other movies and shows they’re pretty sure I will like. My sister’s taste in movies and books is very similar to mine, so odds are, I will. They actually sent my Kindle along with the two others, so I know most of what’s on there. They did download more, though. Things I had marked on my wish list.”

She sounded excited while listing all of this. I knew the lack of familiar entertainment here in Kingston was a sore point for her. Without understanding the cultural references, most of the comedic plays didn’t make sense to her. Velars was still a challenge to read, so leisurely reading was a goal but not something she could do comfortably yet. Having something from home had to be blissful.

In this sense, her courage and tenacity astounded me. I was very much a homebody. I had no illusions about it. If I was ever taken permanently from Kingston and thrust into a land and culture I didn’t know, I’m not sure I would have fared as well as Jamie had. But thrived she had, and with a smile on her face.

I’ve often wondered why I loved her so immediately. I didn’t mean in the romantic sense, as that took longer to grow, but in the platonic meaning of the word. Why I became so quickly attached when, generally speaking, it took time for me to warm up to people. I rarely formed such a deep bond with someone, but I think her courage was one of the reasons for it. How could you meet this woman and come away with anything but admiration?

She perked up suddenly. “Oh, I know! Why don’t we take turns? I love it when you read to me, but what if I pull out a favorite book and read to you some nights?”

“That sounds splendid, my dear.” I was, in truth, very keen on learning more about