Page 67 of Found in Obscurity

Grandma rolled her eyes. “I said I haven’t seen you wearing those gloves the last few times I’ve seen you.”

Lorin looked down at his hands and flexed them against Kit’s fur. The rune symbols were vivid, the nails sharper than ever. All marks of Lorin’s power. He placed his hands on top of the table, on full display. “No sense in hiding them anymore, is there?”

She studied him carefully before asking a question that sucked all the air out of the room. “Are you no happier for them? Truthfully.”

“I…” He bit down on an evasive response, searched his heart, and instead looked deep into her eyes. “They still scare me…but…”

She waited patiently for his answer for the first time, not pushing him for words.

“I haven’t worked everything out, but I can say that every time one appeared, I felt happy. Proud. I’ve never felt that before.”

“I’m glad,” she said, shifting in a way that wasn’t typical of her. She broke his gaze and looked to the side. It was almost nervous. “That you came to that conclusion for yourself after trying. That’s all I ever wanted for you. I know I’m a difficult witch. I pushed you away—”

“I shouldn’t have left like that,” Lorin interrupted her, his chest tight with feeling. Her eyes met his again, across the distance that was smaller now than ever. “Without a word or a note to say where I was. I know we weren’t seeing eye to eye, but you didn’t deserve that.”

“We both made mistakes. I can see that clearly now. All I care about is that you’re happy. Even if that means you’re in the city. I might even have it in me to come visit.”

He knew it took a lot for her to admit that, and it made his eyes sting and his throat tight.

“I missed you,” he said, the emotion so high it had to be spilled into words.

She reached across the table, taking one of his hands in hers, and he knew she’d missed him terribly too. They stayed like that for a moment, as the emotion swelled and crested between them like beautiful ocean waves after a storm. But as she looked down at their hands, her brow began to furrow. She squinted and tilted her head, turning his hand in hers to look closely without a single word.

“What?” he asked when she kept staring.

“Your marks are interesting,” she said, releasing his hand finally and folding her fingers together.

“Interesting,” he repeated. “Interesting how?”

“I know I’ve seen them before somewhere, but I can’t for the life of me place them or remember what they mean.”

“I only tried one or two little spells to see if I could get to the bottom of what’s happening to Kit.” He stretched his fingers and looked at his marks himself. “They appeared after that.”

“What sorts of things did you try?” Her voice was nothing but curious and slightly pleased.

“Just stuff I found in the books from the library and the Magic Shop. Anything that sounded like it would help me reach Kit’s human form to try and figure out what happened.”

“Did it help?”

“I think so.” He bit his lip and looked away as he tried to find a way out of telling her exactly what he’d tried. There didn’t seem to be one. If he wanted to help Kit, he had to be open. He took a deep breath and looked back up into her eyes. “I found a ritual that allowed me to see some of his memories…”

“Boy!” she barked, her voice going loud. “One or two ‘little’ spells? Tell me you didn’t attempt a Seeking ritual without anyone there to supervise!”

She looked enraged. He should have known she’d know which ritual he was talking about the moment he mentioned anything more specific about it.

“I might have…” he mumbled.

“You’re going to send me to an early grave. I swear to all that’s powerful in this world.” She groaned, shaking her head. “You could have called. No. You SHOULD have called, Lorin.”

“You told me to figure it out,” he said, knowing he sounded like a petulant teenager after just apologizing for his actions when he actually was one.

“And now you decide my word is gospel? I did not tell you to put yourself and your familiar in danger with zero support or preparation,” she said, exasperated. “Where did you even find the Seeking ritual?”

“It’s in one of the books I have.” He reached for his bag.

“How? Your mother certainly never owned any books with that inside. The library wouldn’t be giving out books with rituals like those in them to whoever wants them. And I know The Owner dances to the beat of his own drum, but even he knows better than to just hand out information that dangerous to people with zero experience!”

“I found it in the library book,” Lorin said, sifting through the books in his bag.