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

“It is.” I paused, trying to phrase this right. “I’m not sure why people keep inquiring.”

“People either decide to marry or part ways after six months,” Seaton pointed out reasonably. “The two of you seem content to go at your own pace.”

“Ah. I’m in no rush, truth be told. We barely get any private time to ourselves, anyway. I feel more like I’ve courted her two weeks instead of six months.” Although his observation was worrying. “Do you think Jamie’s also wondering about this?”

“Jamie’s never been one to wait. If she wants something, she’ll go after it.”

I nodded, as he was most certainly correct. And she needed that personality in order to thrive in a world not her own. If she felt a lack in our relationship, she’d let me know.

“I’m glad we’ve found a way to put her back in touch with her family, at least. She’s been far happier.” Seaton waved at the electronics. “Even if they’ve handed us this headache.”

Yes, back to that. I turned my mind to the problem at hand. “Something about Earthian products makes them impervious to magic. I have no idea what.”

“Or perhaps it’s because our spells can’t recognize these objects?” Seaton mused as he sat back into the chair. “Think about it. The spells have directions in them, and they’re told to attach to such-and-such. But telling a spell to attach to a device from another world doesn’t work. The spell doesn’t know what that means. It’s not been developed with that purpose in mind.”

Excellent point. “I’ve tried altering the spells to ‘attach to what I’m touching,’ but that had no effect, either.”

“Ah, so you did try simplifying the spells.”

“I did. For all the good it did.”

“Hmm.” He pondered some more.

I sipped at my tea, waiting for inspiration to strike. It had failed to do so on many consecutive nights now, so it was about due, in my opinion.

“You said the box with a translation charm inside worked for the audio…” Seaton said in a tone that clearly indicated he was thinking aloud. “Have you tried making a glass screen that goes over the device and attaching a translation spell onto it?”

I stared at him without blinking for several seconds. Would that work?

He stared back, dark eyebrow quirked. “You didn’t think of it?”

“I didn’t,” I admitted slowly. “Jamie navigates the devices with her fingers, you see. She’s constantly touching the screens.”

“Ah. So, it won’t work, then. Confound it.”

An idea started to take hazy shape in my mind. “Wait. Wait, don’t dismiss that so hastily. I think you’re onto something. Have you ever seen that setup where a large magnifying glass is attached to a spring-loaded arm? One that can be moved about so a reader can easily read the fine print on a page?”

Seaton sat up sharply, setting the tea down. “Yes. Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Something like that here?”

“It won’t be the most eloquent solution, but wouldn’t that work? At least until we can come up with something else.”

He sprang up, a man on a mission. “We need glass. What glass do you have?”

“For this, we can rob a picture frame.” I was very intent on seeing for myself if this would work.

I sprang up as well, going for an older picture displayed on a bookshelf, one of me in my childhood. My mother had insisted on putting it there, and I only looked at it when it needed dusting. A noble sacrifice for the cause, I think. Besides, it was the perfect size to cover the Kindle. I dismantled it without even a twinge of sentimentality and carried it back to Seaton.

While I was gone, he’d grabbed four short glasses from the kitchen—a handy way for us to prop the glass up. I barely had it resting on top of all four glasses when Seaton had his wand out and a spell rattling off his lips.

“See what is, reflect what the viewer needs, translate all that is viewed through this pane.”

I powered on the device with a touch of a button, waiting anxiously for it to boot up. It did so—and for once, the loading screen looked different. It was no longer in English, but in Velars.

I hissed in excitement, clenching my hands on my knees. “Yes! Alright, that’s a good first step.”

“How does it look when there’s a book pulled up?”

An excellent question. I had to bend a little awkwardly to get a hand under the glass, but I managed. I used a finger to pull a book up at random and started reading it aloud with no issue.

“The Thin Man, chapter one. ‘I was leaning against a bar in a speakeasy on Fifty-Second Street, waiting for Nora to finish her Christmas…’ Is that how you say that word?”

“Who cares!” Seaton laughed in delight. “It worked, and that’s what I care about. Alright, so putting something over the device works. This method is entirely slapdash, however. Surely we can craft something better.”

I had a different take on this. “My dear chap, neither of us are craftsmen. Why don’t we take this to Ellie Warner, have her craft something? She’ll do a far better job than we could.”

He pointed a finger at me, delighted. “Excellent point. And she’s probably the most motivated of us all.”

“Arguably, yes.” Jamie might be her equal at this point in time. Although for different reasons. “And I think if nothing else, giving this solution to Warner will save both women quite a few headaches.”

Seaton was back to smirking at me. “I think you have a different motivation.”

I refused to rise to the bait. The man was enjoying ribbing me entirely too much. I reached for the pad lying nearby and wrote a quick message to Jamie.

We have a solution. The Kindle can be both read and operated.

The response was nearly immediate.

I will love you forever if you bring that solution to me right now. Ellie’s whining is something else.

I chuckled and teased back, Only forever?

Get over here, you brat.

“We apparently have our