Free Lost Magic (The Swift Codex Book 3) by Nicolette Jinks Page B
Authors: Nicolette Jinks
concentrations for me to fix.
Not that I was supposed to be the one doing the fixing, but I soon realized I was the person who had the best knowledge of what to do.
Lilly demonstrated this when she lifted a box and out of it came a loud buzzing. She stood there, her brows pinched together in confusion, then we both placed the noise at the same time.
“Bees!”
Lilly dropped the book she'd been holding and grasped her arm. A red, angry welt formed. She said, “I never saw it.”
Then Leif was stung, and Lilly was stung four more times while we hopped through the shop, trying to see where their hive was. When I closed my eyes and felt the air, I felt their little bodies humming this way and that.
“They're invisible,” I said, stunned. “Can someone make this place cold, like cold enough to see my breath? It'll slow them down.”
Barnes stepped forward and said, “ Frigus locus.”
I watched as frost formed on the surface of the shelves and across the backs of books, spreading through the entire shop at a rapid pace. Shivering, we all watched as the bees became visible by the frost on their bodies. They fell to the ground.
“C ongregabo apes, ” Leif said, holding a box open. The spell gathered all the bees together and shuffled them into the box, where he folded the flaps and added, “ Calor .”
At Lilly's surprised expression, he shrugged. “I know a beekeeper. He'll take them. They'll be a novelty.”
“Succenderetur locus ,” Barnes said, and the frost began to melt then evaporate.
Leif took the bees away, to the relief of everyone who had been stung.
The rest of the day wore on and on. It was one thing after another after another. With Leif gone, our productivity slid, particularly as Lilly had an allergic reaction to invisible bees when she claimed to not have a reaction to normal bees. Her face puffed up and her eyes watered so she couldn't see.
While she was gone giving herself medication, we encountered other troubles. Most memorably, a rag which dripped water at the rate of a leaky sink, and a spell which acted like a cat which was particularly fond of clawing its way up a person's legs and perching on their shoulders.
Barnes was the only other person who could find and take care of the broken item so that its spell stopped bothering us. Despite my promise to Mordon not to take care of any detail work, I found that was what I was doing. Things which would have confused me a few years ago, I had no problem in tracking and tending to. As the coven had been accustomed to thinking of Barnes as being a professional, they were awed to see me in action.
Lilly returned to us in good health except for a slight puffiness about the cheeks and a purple welt at the site of each sting. Much to the relief of everyone, she brought food and had acquired Leif along the way.
“You know this is what I usually did when I was busting bogies,” I said when we stopped for a sandwich lunch. The bread tasted like gummy dough, but I ate it anyway, same as Mordon.
“I thought so. That's what you've told us, anyway. But I never realized how good you were at it,” Leif said. He was sitting on a folding chair he'd conjured up out of thin air, one chair for us each.
“I'm just glad the grotesque had enough sense to leave the sarcophagus alone, that would have been a frightening thing to contain again.”
“What was the worst?” Lilly asked.
“The ghosts,” Barnes said, and I nodded in agreement. Barnes continued, “They aren't yet shades, but if they'd been angered, they could have crossed into that.”
“Shades?”
Barnes started to pass water around. Our stash of water bottles behind the counter hadn't been damaged, but it was whittling down now that it had so many people taking from it. “Some people call them evil, but that isn't right. They're ghosts, and they've been pestered into feeling like they need to
Not that I was supposed to be the one doing the fixing, but I soon realized I was the person who had the best knowledge of what to do.
Lilly demonstrated this when she lifted a box and out of it came a loud buzzing. She stood there, her brows pinched together in confusion, then we both placed the noise at the same time.
“Bees!”
Lilly dropped the book she'd been holding and grasped her arm. A red, angry welt formed. She said, “I never saw it.”
Then Leif was stung, and Lilly was stung four more times while we hopped through the shop, trying to see where their hive was. When I closed my eyes and felt the air, I felt their little bodies humming this way and that.
“They're invisible,” I said, stunned. “Can someone make this place cold, like cold enough to see my breath? It'll slow them down.”
Barnes stepped forward and said, “ Frigus locus.”
I watched as frost formed on the surface of the shelves and across the backs of books, spreading through the entire shop at a rapid pace. Shivering, we all watched as the bees became visible by the frost on their bodies. They fell to the ground.
“C ongregabo apes, ” Leif said, holding a box open. The spell gathered all the bees together and shuffled them into the box, where he folded the flaps and added, “ Calor .”
At Lilly's surprised expression, he shrugged. “I know a beekeeper. He'll take them. They'll be a novelty.”
“Succenderetur locus ,” Barnes said, and the frost began to melt then evaporate.
Leif took the bees away, to the relief of everyone who had been stung.
The rest of the day wore on and on. It was one thing after another after another. With Leif gone, our productivity slid, particularly as Lilly had an allergic reaction to invisible bees when she claimed to not have a reaction to normal bees. Her face puffed up and her eyes watered so she couldn't see.
While she was gone giving herself medication, we encountered other troubles. Most memorably, a rag which dripped water at the rate of a leaky sink, and a spell which acted like a cat which was particularly fond of clawing its way up a person's legs and perching on their shoulders.
Barnes was the only other person who could find and take care of the broken item so that its spell stopped bothering us. Despite my promise to Mordon not to take care of any detail work, I found that was what I was doing. Things which would have confused me a few years ago, I had no problem in tracking and tending to. As the coven had been accustomed to thinking of Barnes as being a professional, they were awed to see me in action.
Lilly returned to us in good health except for a slight puffiness about the cheeks and a purple welt at the site of each sting. Much to the relief of everyone, she brought food and had acquired Leif along the way.
“You know this is what I usually did when I was busting bogies,” I said when we stopped for a sandwich lunch. The bread tasted like gummy dough, but I ate it anyway, same as Mordon.
“I thought so. That's what you've told us, anyway. But I never realized how good you were at it,” Leif said. He was sitting on a folding chair he'd conjured up out of thin air, one chair for us each.
“I'm just glad the grotesque had enough sense to leave the sarcophagus alone, that would have been a frightening thing to contain again.”
“What was the worst?” Lilly asked.
“The ghosts,” Barnes said, and I nodded in agreement. Barnes continued, “They aren't yet shades, but if they'd been angered, they could have crossed into that.”
“Shades?”
Barnes started to pass water around. Our stash of water bottles behind the counter hadn't been damaged, but it was whittling down now that it had so many people taking from it. “Some people call them evil, but that isn't right. They're ghosts, and they've been pestered into feeling like they need to
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