“You didn’t find what you were looking for, did you?” he asked.
“Afraid not.” Mina leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. “I’m going to check another shelf. I’ll be right back.”
Brody raised one eyebrow at her in disbelief.
“I promise I won’t run off without telling you. After all, I don’t want to walk home.”
Mina walked a few aisles down and peeked through the shelves to spy on Brody. What was he doing here? She couldn’t fathom why he would want to hang out with her, especially in a library. She would have thought he would have gotten bored and gone home already, but to stick with her for two whole days? Leaning against the shelf, Mina felt defeated. She was here to look for a clue, not pine over Brody. She needed a sign, anything to help her family.
Yesterday she had finally convinced her mother to tell her everything she knew about the Grimm family curse and the Story. Supposedly there were signs that would appear to tell her she was the chosen one. Like the appearance of animals. Sara also explained that once she was chosen, the Grimoire would appear, a book of power that was supposed to aid her.
“How do I get the book?” Mina had asked, feeling as if she was already losing precious time in breaking the curse.
“You don’t,” Sara told her. “It will come to you.”
“What do you mean? Didn’t Father have it, and Uncle Jack before him?”
“Your father did, but after his passing, the book disappeared. Its own way of protecting itself, I guess. When the Story chooses the next Grimm member, the book decides if it’s going to help them.”
“What do you mean, it decides?” she’d asked. “Shouldn’t it just automatically help the next family member?”
“Unfortunately, no. The book goes into hiding, and then it chooses whether or not to appear and help. What if the next Grimm descendent wasn’t honest, was greedy and selfish? What if they were evil? The Grimoire would be a terrible weapon in the wrong hands. So it must protect itself, and after you’ve been weighed and tested, then it will make itself known to you.”
“That sucks.” Mina furrowed her brows in thought. “Where did it appear to Dad?” she asked.
“In a library in Nebraska.”
“Okay. So what about our library?”
“Worth a try,” Sara said, shrugging, “I suppose it couldn’t hurt to look for it.”
Mina sat in silence as she thought through her options. “Why is it called a Grimoire, anyway? I thought that was something evil, or a book of spells or something.”
“No, honey, it’s just a record of the tales your family members have lived through. Over time, it has gained powers of its own. If your ancestor’s name was Smith, it would have been called the Smithoire. But, Mina, are you sure you want to do this? We’re talking about very powerful magic.” Sara then spent the next hour trying to talk Mina out of following through on finding the Grimoire.
In the library, her first approach was to open up every book on fairy tales and see if she could find the Grimoire. It looked different according to each person who held it, her mother had told her. So it could be disguised as a children’s book, a magazine, a Bible, anything.
But maybe it wouldn’t appear to Mina, because she hadn’t yet proven herself worthy. Apparently saving Brody Carmichael’s life wasn’t enough. Mina was about to give up when something white caught her eye, and she stood up. Bending down, she tried to see between the shelves and over the books. There it was again, a flash of white. Following it, Mina crept along, keeping herself low to the ground. There! She caught a glimpse of white feathers. What? The feathers surprised her, and she stopped in her tracks, confused. Was this some kind of joke?
After a moment, Mina hurried to catch up to her quarry The way it moved made her realize this wasn’t human but definitely a bird. The animal squawked, confirming her suspicions, and Mina followed the noise down a corridor. Maybe it was a clue and would lead her to the Grimoire. She ducked into another aisle and saw that she’d been chasing a goose, which was now headed toward a back emergency exit. The door was already propped open, and she watched as the bird stepped through it.
Running after the goose, Mina plowed through the emergency exit door and came into a dark back alley. The sun had set, and steam rose from the sewer grates behind the library. Almost instantly the hair rose on Mina’s arms in fear. Something was wrong. Turning, she tried to catch the door back into the library, but it had shut and locked automatically.
Mina strained to get her eyes to focus, but there wasn’t any sign or a single stray feather from the stupid white goose. It had disappeared. More tingling began in Mina’s body, and she recognized it as a warning sign. She was reacting to the power of the Story. Something or someone was here.
Chapter 8