The Hunt of the Grimalkin (Erresuma Book 1) by Dani Swanson (books to read romance TXT) 📗

after being released from the tight hold of the binding. The pages flipped open to the middle of the book. Every page had drawings and writing in Thea’s hand. She glided her fingers down one of the pages. A surge of energy ran through the book and into Thea’s fingers. A green aura surrounded her and the book. Thea lifted her head from the book and looked at Robin who was staring at her in horror. A smile spread across Thea’s face as the green light slowly ran back into the book. “These are my spells.” Thea said as she felt the power surge through her veins.

Her smile turned into a smirk. She liked the feeling that was taking over her body. The power made her feel amazing. Thea spent the night sitting by the fire flipping through her book of drawings and notes; trying to remember anything from her past. She found a spell that used almond and basil water, with arrowroot dust and an apple slice to clear up migraine headaches. She gave the spell to Robin who went into the kitchen to whip up a fresh batch to have on hand for Thea. She placed it into a vile and put it into her pantry to settle. Robin eventually faded off to her bedroom, while Thea continued her studies.

She found a sketch of a fiery flame, with the caption “Flame Tattoo” written under the picture. She looked at her notes she has been collecting throughout her adventure.

“Flame tattoo, huh? Do you know what that means Fig?” She asked through a yawn.

Her cat companion sat and stared at her with sleepy eyes. He gave her a soft meow and started to walk towards the loft; stopping to see if Thea was going to follow him to bed.

“Alright, you win, little man. Let’s go to bed.” The two made their way to the loft.

Thea slept hard through the night and didn’t wake until the early afternoon. Her body was sore from all the training she was doing the day before. When she went down to the main level of the house, she realized that Robin had left. She fixed herself a bite to eat, then settled down on the couch with her book. She noticed there were about a hundred empty vials on the side table in a wooden crate. Thea’s migraine was back. She went to the pantry and took a sip of the concoction that Robin had made last night. Her head felt clear almost instantaneously.

“This stuff is awesome, Fig.” Thea said as she held the bottle up to look at the clear liquid.

Later, as Thea was busy practicing her conjuring of a fireball, Robin came in the door with a basket full of arrowroots. “That spell we did is awesome.” Robin said with a wide smile on her face. “I went out and picked all of this so we can make a bunch of it to sell at the market.”

She dropped her basket on the table and started to tie strings around the roots to hang them from the ceiling beams so the root could be dried.

The three of them ventured out to the garden and picked bunches of basil. Everything was still covered in a light dew from the late night storm. The sun was trying to peek through the clouds. Thea had her face turned up to catch the little bit of sunshine, when she heard a crow cry in the nearby trees. A shiver went down her spine and she looked over at Robin. “Let’s get into the house.” Robin said as she picked up the last of her basil.

“Do you think it was the witch from the market?” Thea asked, as they went inside.

“Well, if it’s the woman you met before, and she is following you, I bet its Lilly Quinn’s cousin, Thalia” Robin said, as she was looking over her shoulder into the trees. The girls followed Fig into the house and latched the door behind them. It felt like it was going to be an indoor day, anyway.

“Why are we going to sell potions at the market?” Thea asked as she was fixing the basil to boil on the stove. “Well you like to eat, right? We need money in order to continue to buy food.” Robin replied.

“When I was at the market, Eleonore, acted terrified of the thought of a witch being there and following me. Won’t they be scared of me if they know I’m a witch?” Thea seemed nervous to ask her that question.

Robin tilted her head back and let out a belly laugh at that question. “Well, when you, and the rest of them, thought you were selling “MEDICINE”, were they scared of you?”

Thea shook her head no in response.

“Well, you were a witch then, they just didn’t know it.” Robin pulled two mortars out of the cupboard. “People are scared of what they are ignorant about. There are always two sides to every person; to every opinion.” Thea sat and nodded her head as she listened to what Robin was saying. “Sometimes it is all how you spin it with people. By calling you a healer and having the town’s people think you are just a girl that lives in the woods and collects herbs to make medicine, rather than the magical community that knows you are a witch, collecting herbs in the woods to make potions.” Robin winked at Thea as she pulled a large sack of almonds out her storage place.

The two girls ground the herbs and nuts in the mortars, as Fig lazily lounged by the fire. They were boiling the almonds and basil to make the waters needed for their potion. It would take a few days for he arrowroot dry out enough to make into a powder. Thea cut up pieces of apple and had them float in each of the bottles