Chapter 40
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They made it to Whitefish on the next day. Hank looked at Andrew suspiciously all the while. But, he didn’t say anything. Then, they were told to come back immediately. The Grimoire being too dangerous to remain in their possession.

Adam Hawk was once more waiting for them in Andrew and Erin’s apartment. However, this time, the stack of papers they needed to sign was practically a mountain. All three groaned.

“Yes, well, you three did three things. For getting the Grimoire, you are given another five thousand each. And then, there is the wendigo. Seventeen thousand for a two-week trip. You are the envy of the agency,” Daphne grinned, and she began to sign the papers that had her name on them. Andrew wavered.

“Agent Hawk, there is something I need to tell you,” Andrew made sure to use the convincing spell, the strongest one in the Grimoire, before saying this.

“Yes, agent Jackson? Oh, and congratulations on taking custody of Mary Peters by yourself,” Andrew nodded.

“This is not the first time I have seen a Grimoire,” said Andrew. “There was this other time, when we were getting new wares at the antique shop.”

That got the attention of the other three occupants of the room.

“And you kept it for yourself until now because?” Asked the wendigo, brows furrowed.

“Because I had no idea what it was, before. I thought that I have eaten something bad and got hallucinations,” said Andrew. “I can do magic. Watch.”

He grabbed the potted plant that looked half-dead that had come with the apartment and poured magic in it. It became vibrant in seconds. Hawk stared at the plant, then at Andrew, then back at the plant.

“Is this the first time you have tried this?” Andrew nodded.

“I thought that it was all a dream, you see. All the spells, the rituals, the weather manipulations. The book was bound in leather too, but that one was not a human’s, I think. Or, at least, I hadn’t wanted to believe it had been, at the time,” Andrew finished and then scanned agent Hawk’s mind. The man seemed to believe him.

“And how did you activate it?” Asked the wendigo.

“I cut myself on the edges accidentally,” said Andrew, and Hawk became thoughtful.

“This complicates matters. Andrew Jackson, you are now classified as a wixen. A form of long-lived non-human who can, if not destroyed, survive on his magic for centuries,” Andrew hadn’t expected that. He had expected something like a wizard or a mage. What in the world was a wixen?

Daphne clapped her hands and looked between Erin and Andrew.

“This is so romantic, guys. Now, you can be together forever,” she got stars in her eyes and both men looked at her, not understanding. “Vampires could live for centuries, wixen could live for centuries. Put two and two together, already!”

“Normally, wixen are taken straight to the labs before they can turn into hags or abominations,” said agent Hawk, and that was like a bucket of cold water to Andrew. “But you are an agent. And that provides some protection. Agent Jackson, you are to come to the building where you had your training tomorrow. To have tests ran on you.”

“He is not going to disappear, will he?” Asked Erin, voice wavering. “Wixen are not rare, are they?”

“Not everyone can be a wixen without changing and, normally, the change is quick upon absorbing a Grimoire. For agent Jackson to still look human, he must have always leaned towards being wixen. He had just needed a Grimoire,” Daphne let out a wolf whistle, and she began signing her papers again, making sure to put the date at each spot after the signature.

“Agent Jackson, where is the Grimoire you absorbed?” Asked agent Hawk, and Andrew looked down at his hands.

“I spilled some water on it and the pages got all soggy. So, I paid for it and threw it away. I have no idea how it got in the antique store. It was there when I started working,” agent Hawk nodded, writing something on his laptop.

“Water, as it turns out, is one of the few things that can destroy a Grimoire. There is no sense in searching for it. It is harmless, now,” Andrew nodded. Glad that he had gotten away with all of this.

The ginger went to his stack of papers and picked up a pen. An hour later, the three were done, and agent Hawk collected the papers in his briefcase and walked out of the apartment.

“Andy, I am going to ask you something and if you lie to me, I will start calling you jail bait again,” said Daphne, leveling Andrew with a look. Andrew turned to look at her and waited.

“There is no different Grimoire, is there? You just lied and used some spell to convince Adam that you hadn’t,” Erin too looked pointedly at Andrew, and the ginger remembered that Erin could read minds, too. Andrew let out a sigh.

“Hank said I’ll end up in prison for this. To record all the spells all day long. I don’t want to go to prison. And, I know I should have controlled myself, but I just couldn’t take that book off my mind. I could hear it calling to me,” Andrew looked down at his hands and then, he saw one take a hold of his right one.

“Andy, we will keep your secret. But, if they place us before someone who can read minds, you might be toast,” said Erin. Daphne’s hand wrapped around Andrew’s left one.

“But there is a spell for that, surely. So, fabricate memories or something and give us false ones. It would be better that way,” Andrew nodded and concentrated. Now that he had consent to enter their minds, he found that it was far easier than entering Hawk’s. Back then, he had to be careful not to be noticed. Now, there was no need to be cautious. 

He manufactured the memories as good as he could and gripped the hands he was holding tighter. He could count on those two. One loved him and the other was his friend. Yes, they could keep this a secret.

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