For What You Are

Jayne’s hair was braided around her head and finished with a small flower. She was wearing a light peach coloured dress that fell in flowing pieces to her knees. Her mask had itched her three hundred years ago, but through much use – it was now comfortably sitting on her face.

“How on earth is that staying on?” Ally asked from her perch on the end of Jayne’s bed.

“Magic,” she responded quickly. “It was actually your great-great-great grandmother who enchanted most of my masks. Half of my collection stay in place without any need for ties.”

“That would be the older half.”

“You think?”

“Anyway,” Ally said, holding her Grimoire open in her hands. “This was mine before I gave up the magic. But before that, it was my mother’s and my grandmother’s and so on. I think it dates back to about 1780.”

Jayne frowned as she rummaged through her jewellery. “I don’t think that will have the spell I need then.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your family has owed me this favour for over six hundred years. I doubt that it would be in a Grimoire that recent.”

Ally looked back at the book with it’s spine that was gradually peeling away. “How could it even still exist,” she asked incredulously. “This one’s already falling apart.”

“Well, maybe Wilhelmina forgot to put a protection spell on it,” Jayne said, naming Ally’s ancestor that the book had first belonged to. “You could put one on it now. Save future expense.”

“Uh…maybe later. Where am I supposed to find it?”

“I don’t know,” Jayne replied, walking across and picking up the wooden heart necklace and slipping it around her neck. It was in that moment that she realised she did actually know, but the knowledge hit her hard and she sort of wished it hadn’t.

“Damn,” she muttered. “Kara has it.”

“Oh,” Ally said about to say she could just ask her. Except at the last minute she remembered that Jayne had no idea that Kara remembered. A war raged on inside her as she tried to determine whether or not she should hide it.

“There’s no way she could remember where she put it,” Jayne murmured to herself as she paced. “I made it so she couldn’t. Damon made it so she couldn’t. Which means we’re going to have to figure this out ourselves.”

“Well, this should be exciting,” Ally said drily, pulling her legs up and crossing them, staring intently across the room at Jayne as she thought aloud.

“I first had a hold of that Grimoire when I went looking for Anya, your ancestor, in Russia. She’d already made the deal and I’d just wanted some assurance in the form of a copy of the spell. Unfortunately, I never found her, but I found her book. I came back to find Kara, she stole the book when she was suicidal and God knows where she hid it. It could be scattered in pieces across Germany for all I know.”

“But at least we have a starting point,” Ally replied, standing up and taking her book. “It’s a good thing I got my passport renewed otherwise we’d be stuck here for a while.”

“Whoa!” Jayne exclaimed. “I didn’t mean we should go and look for it. And definitely not now.”

“Oh yeah. Party right?”

“Yes,” Jayne continued. “And don’t you have university?”

“It can wait,” she said. “I just want this out of the way.”

“Well,” Jayne hesitated. “I have to go to the party, we’re killing Katherine. I guess…we could go tomorrow…”

“To Germany?”

“Yes. But I’m bringing Hailey.”

Ally sighed. “Fine, bring the vampire.”

“Oi, that’s my best friend you’re sighing about.”

“A vampire best friend? A tad redundant don’t you think?”

“Oh, it helps. Especially when you need help with enemies. Vampires and witches are two of the most useful allies you could ever have.”

“Or a slayer?”

“Or a slayer,” Jayne agreed.