Grimoires and Where to Find Them Raconteur, Honor (read along books TXT) 📖

I shook my head. “I said before that grimoires themselves are crafted by magic and often include magical elements or ink. If they’re not properly handled and warded, they can bleed into their environment. I’ve seen the magical backlash from a text not warded, and it wasn’t pretty.”

Jamie winced. “Ouch. How bad is this situation?”

“It entirely depends on the grimoire. Some grimoires are more like instructional texts, with very little magic in them—primers, if you will. Others are filled with charms and are so magically saturated they can’t be out of a box for more than a few hours without affecting their environment. That’s why most grimoires also have a sealing hex on the signature page to help contain the magic.

“I won’t know how bad this is until we find out which grimoire is loose and I have a better understanding of what’s involved. Best case scenario, nothing will happen. Worst case scenario, it makes everyone within a certain radius very ill and threatens the structure of its surroundings.”

She winced again, this time more deeply. “That sounds like my definition of a bad day. Yeah, let’s nip it in the bud if we can.”

My book was handed to me, and I carefully tucked it under my arm before following the vendor through the narrow aisle between the tables to the row behind him. As we came up on the other side of the tent, a vendor turned to see who approached. He was a short man, a bit portly around the middle, but with an amiable enough face. Although he was frowning at the moment, clearly upset.

“Charles,” our guide started eagerly. “This is Detective Edwards—you know, the Shinigami Detective—and her partner, Doctor Davenforth. They said they’ll take your case.”

We hadn’t actually said that.

The vendor lit up with hope. “Oh, thank you, thank you both. I’m quite worried about it. The thief left behind the box it was in.”

I winced. Oh, great magic, really?

Jamie pulled out her notebook from her purse and grimly said, “You’d best start from the beginning.”

I got the details from the upset vendor and let Henri talk him through the particulars. As I took the information down, it occurred to me this might be a good training case.

Gibson and Queen Regina had asked me recently to start training some of the kingsmen in criminal investigation procedures. I’d heartily agreed it was a good idea, and two newbie kingsmen had joined the ranks this past year. One of them we’d worked with on the gold robbery case—the young werefox, Foster. Foster was a good guy, and he really liked working a case. He’d already volunteered himself for the training, and I was happy to take him.

The other one was even newer, a Woodland Elf by the name of Niamh. She’d been recruited by Gibson not only for her tracking ability—there wasn’t a thing in the world a Woodland Elf couldn’t track, apparently—but because of her fighting prowess. Her archery skills could apparently put anyone to shame. I had already dubbed her the female Legolas. Regina was very keen on adding more women into the kingsmen ranks, and no one could argue that Niamh didn’t have the ability to do the job.

I had only met her once, for like ten minutes. I didn’t have much of an impression of her except she was polite and gorgeous.

This was the first case I’d seen that had a touch of magic but might be simple enough to use as a training model. I hesitated to say “easy case” because Murphy was listening and would screw with me just for the principle of it.

I tapped Henri on the shoulder and murmured into his ear, “I want to use this as one of my training cases.”

Henri gave me a quick glance, dark eyes blinking once in surprise. Then he cottoned on. “Ah. An excellent idea, my dear. Do call Gibson, see if you can get approval. I’ll press on here.”

“Okay.” I stepped away, letting Phil and Tasha guard my purchases, although Clint tagged along as I walked out of the tent and away from the door. I found a semi-private spot to make a call via the pad.

Gibson picked up quickly, sounding a touch out of breath. “Jamie. Something burning?”

“Not yet. Trying to keep it that way. Just stumbled into a case I think might be good to use for training.”

“That right? Details?”

“I’m at the Kingston Fairegrounds, where a large book faire is going on. A grimoire was stolen off a vendor’s table without the protective box it was in.”

Gibson groaned, sounding like he was swearing mentally.

“You know, that was pretty much Henri’s reaction? Anyway, they’ve tried reporting it to a local cop, but apparently there was a serious miscommunication, as the cop didn’t take it seriously and wouldn’t report it. Henri’s all hot and bothered, and he’s adamant about tracking this thing down. It’s a simple enough theft, but we have no clues to really go off.”

“Which is why you think it’ll be good training.”

“Yeah. Because that’s always the sticking point on cases—having enough evidence and clues to lead you to the right overall picture. I’ll call in Gerring next”—he was a detective now, but I’d kept him as a partner to give him more experience, and he’d need to join us—“but I thought Foster and Niamh might be good additions.”

“I think it’s a great idea. I’ll authorize it and send them over.”

“Thanks, Gibs.”

“And at some point, have dinner with me. I haven’t seen you in a month at least. I want to hear about how things are going with Henri.”

“Things are still going great with him. In fact, I kinda feel silly for waiting this long to try dating, to be honest.”

“You should, but I also understand it. You were going through so much, adapting to this world, I don’t think you had the mental space for a romance until recently.”

I snorted. He was spot on. It was more than wrapping my head around being on a different planet so