Sebastian couldn’t imagine being knowledgeable enough to just tinker around with spells, creating new ones just to see if he could. He could barely handle the basics, but maybe someday he’d be able to manipulate the ones that mattered to him. It was something to aspire to, that was for sure. “I think Reagan ended up with it. Burned it up after they exorcized the demon,” Bash said with a little frown. It was a story he’d heard second hand and it still gave him the chills to think about. Sometimes he thought he could relate, but he’d been possessed by the spirit of a person, albeit a vengeful one, and he’d often been knocked out when she was controlling him. A demon would have been far worse. Bash slid the ring off his finger and handed it back to Victor. “How does someone learn to handle something like that? I don’t feel like it’s the kind of thing that would be in our grimoire.” Not that he’d know, having never had a peek.
His eyebrows twitched up at the mention of Reagan Kelly -- he knew who she was, of course, but not that the McCarthys had any connection to her. “Sounds like things have been exciting for you this year,” Victor murmured wryly as he took the ring back. He plunked it back into its drawer. “I dunno, it might be, or something like it. It kind of just depends on what kind of experience our family line had, who was writing things down.” He’d never seen the grimoire either, it had been held uselessly in James’ possession for far too long. If he wasn’t going to use it, Victor kind of wanted to liberate it from him. “But me, I learned from a mentor. My parents’ magic never dabbled in demons or curses or anything, but I got lucky enough to find someone in the underground artifacts world to teach me ... here they are, finally!” Victor triumphantly pulled a small bundle wrapped in cloth out of a drawer and carried it over to his desk, motioning for Bash to follow. He set it down and unwrapped the cloth to reveal four or five simple-looking necklaces -- they all just looked like small beach shells on simple chains, but the magic in them made them so much more. “Pick your two favorites.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Bash muttered. It had all been horrifically exciting in the sort of way one never asked for. He couldn’t rightfully say he’d wish it all hadn’t happened, because it got him where he was today, but he’d probably be a little less traumatized if it hadn’t. He liked to think everything happened for a reason, but, God, it had been a rough senior year. He really wished he’d been able to find a mentor, as Victor had, but it seemed like he had one now, which was better than nothing. “These things will keep the Dark Man away?” he asked with a little smile, picking one of the necklaces up. Though it was unassuming in appearance, as soon as he touched it, he could feel the magic radiating from it. It was like someone had packed ten layers of warding into an object that fit in the palm of his hand. As a witch, it was impossible not to feel it. “Damn,” he muttered softly. “That’s cool. How does it work?”
“Untested specifically on him, but yes, these should do the trick,” Victor assured him. “They’re meant to shield you from anything at all that means you harm, that includes when you’re sleeping. ... That doesn’t mean you’re invincible, of course, so don’t go doing anything stupid. But unless a witch who means you harm, or uh, a demon, creature, whatever -- unless they know how to unravel this specific type of magic on the spot, they can’t hurt you as long as you’re wearing it. It refreshes itself every half hour or so, so they have to continually try to break in.” It was like a computer program that kept encrypting itself and generating new passwords or something. Victor knew more about magic than coding. He hadn’t created these talismans, but he had one of his own upstairs. He just hadn’t ever felt threatened enough to wear it all the time. Sebastian had good reason. “So if you have another dream like that, let me know and we’ll do something more, okay?”