Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
A moment later there was an audible pop! behind me. When I opened my eyes and looked around, I saw a huge stack of books towering up to the ceiling behind me.
“Oh my Goddess—that’s going to fall!” I exclaimed as the leaning tower of books swayed from side to side.
“Yes, if we’re not careful. Spirits, please divide those into four stacks,” Goody Albright said aloud. “They’ve very helpful but they can also be mischievous,” she added to me, in an undertone.
As I watched, the tall tower of books was suddenly dismantled. It was like many tiny hands were at work at once because individual books began flying off the top of the pile and then assembling themselves neatly in four different columns. These were shorter and more manageable piles, none taller than my head.
“There, that’s better. Thank you!” Goody Albright called to the invisible spirits. “Now if you could just attend, we have a few more things that need to be moved.” She looked at me. “Go on and visualize something else in your inventory that you want brought here.”
I closed my eyes again and thought of the massive collection of dried herbs and powders that Pop-pop had amassed over the years for use in magical spells. I also pictured their location—the many drawers and cupboards behind the counter of the shop.
“Please bring them all to me,” I told the spirits, speaking out loud this time. “Everything in the drawers and cupboards needs to come. And please put them on the shelves of the shop here,” I added. I figured I could always sort through them later and place them where I wanted if I decided to change things around.
There was the rushing sound and then the pop again and suddenly the empty shelves around us were brimming with magical ingredients.
“Oh my! What a lovely collection!” Goody Albright exclaimed, looking around us. “Giovanni must have spent a lifetime gathering so many magical ingredients!”
“He did,” I said. “For as long as I can remember, he was always looking for new ingredients and herbs and flowers for the practitioners who came to us.”
“Bless him—what a lovely man!” Goody Albright smiled fondly. “Now what else do you need to bring over?”
We spent at least an hour sending the friendly spirits back and forth. I could only imagine what the New Orleans PD must be thinking if they were in the Emporium right now. Evidence must be disappearing before their eyes!
It almost made me laugh…and then I remembered Carlo and the urge to laugh left me abruptly. It was going to take me some time to get over his latest attack, I thought. Even though I knew he was dead, my throat still hurt where he had choked me and the inside of my thigh was probably developing a nasty bruise from his pinch.
Still, it could have been worse—much worse—if Kael hadn’t gotten to me on time.
The thought of the big fallen angel waiting for me back at the cottage made my heart pound faster. I was kind of getting used to the way he called me “Mistress.” And I still remembered being held in his arms when he was protecting me from the bullets. Not to mention the way he had kissed me when he was healing me last night…
With my mind so full of my gargoyle protector, it was a wonder I could concentrate on the spell Goody Albright and I were doing. But I managed somehow and eventually we got it all done.
The shelves around us were stuffed and there were also piles of things on the floors. All the shop’s crystals and mystical stones were lying along the tops of the shelves and the books were still in four neat stacks.
I made the decision not to bring over any of the novelty tourist items—many of which had been ruined in the shoot-out. When we were finished with the spell, I was glad I hadn’t asked for anything from the front of the shop—there was no room for any of it.
“Goddess,” I murmured, looking around. “I guess I didn’t realize how much stuff we’d accumulated over the years. I don’t know what half of this stuff is!”
“A simple identification spell will take care of that,” Goody Albright said, smiling. “But maybe another day? You’ve had so much excitement already and it’s barely even noon. Would you like to relax in your cottage and try to take it easy?”
“That sounds wonderful,” I said gratefully. I was thinking of a hot shower again…and the fallen angel who was waiting for me. I also wanted to make sure Miss Sassy was settling in all right. She had never lived anywhere but the Emporium back in New Orleans. Being someplace new was probably going to be a big adjustment.
“Let’s go out and leave the rest for later, then,” Goody Albright suggested. “We can come back tomorrow and identify and label everything. Then you can open for business.”