We met eyes and I could have sworn she arched her brow. You need to get into that room if that’s the case.

“But how?”

You’ve just got to try.

Taking my wand from my purse, I took a shaky breath. It was hard to concentrate with all the “what-ifs” running through my mind. Gritting my teeth, I gripped my wand so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

I tried to calm myself as I opened my mind’s eye, to no avail. I could see the barrier over the door more clearly now, almost like a transparent sheet of thick plexiglass sealing off the door completely. A series of spells ran through my mind, including one for dissolving physical material, one for blasting things apart, and one for splitting things open.

Because I didn’t know what would happen to the barrier if it were blasted or split, I opted for the first choice. After several tries, all I’d managed to do was to shave off an inch or so at the top. Cursing under my breath, I plopped down on the basement floor.

“This is taking too long.”

I was coated in sweat, and my breathing was labored. Jade examined me closely.

You need to rest. Take a break from it, try another day.

“Try the dissolving spell? At the rate I’m going, it will take fifty years to get rid of that barrier!”

You’ll just have to come back to it. Don’t try to overdo it. Read your books, maybe you’ll find something more effective.

I wanted to scream that I had been reading my books, and nothing had come of it, but my body was starting to ache.

I managed to get up the stairs and push a chair under the knob of the basement door. I fell into bed and nearly missed my alarm in the morning. Instead of getting straight out of bed as I normally did, I laid there for a while, trying to figure out what I was doing wrong with that barrier on the door.

I realized with a jolt that I’d never fixed the hole in my barrier spell. When I finally got up, I had to rush through my morning routine to have time to fix the hole and get to the shop in time. The fix ended up being simpler than I’d imagined. It was a matter of just mentally filling in the hole while I held my wand.

During breaks between customers, I studied all the books Faith had given me, including the household spells, to no avail.

My mind turned to whoever was messing with the barrier at my house. I was still a rookie witch, but I knew that my barrier was sound. It was much stronger than the initial protections I’d used, so it would take someone seriously powerful to break through it.

Chandra.

I’d never met the woman, but she fit all the criteria perfectly. Powerful, vindictive, persistent. It took a person like that to keep trying to get inside.

But why? That was the other question that plagued me non-stop. What were they after? Whoever it was knew about whatever Grandma had kept in her basement and seemed like they would stop at nothing to get it.

Chandra had been Grandma’s enemy, so she had to be the one trying to break in.

Jade’s frantic yowling broke through my thoughts. I looked up from my spell book, startled. She stood under a window, looking up through the panes. I followed her gaze to see a person standing outside the window. I didn’t see anything except a flurry of dark hair as the person turned and fled.

“Jade, who was that? Did you see them?”

Don’t shout! My cat ears are sensitive.

“Sorry,” I replied in a low murmur.

Go after them!

I could have slapped myself for being so stupid. Rushing to the door, I yanked it open and hurried out, only to see a fancy red Porche screeching out of the parking lot and into the road. My heart pounded in my throat as I watched the car disappear.

Any luck?

I took in a shuddering breath and shook my head. “They got away before I could even get a plate number.”

It took all my willpower not to curl up in a ball and sob. Everything was crashing in around me, making me feel boxed in and terrified. I was the top suspect in a kidnapping, I had an unknown intruder forcing their way into my home, and now someone was spying on me at the shop.

“Did…did you notice anything, Jade? About that person?”

No. I’m sorry. I think we saw her at almost the same moment. She turned away when I looked at her.

“It was a woman?”

I’d bet on it. She had long black hair and didn’t move like a man.

The tears slipped out, despite my best efforts to stop them. Jade crept over next to me and sat at my ankles. I started to sob even more when she put her tiny paw on my foot.

A flash of hot anger swept through me. Though I appreciated Jade’s solidarity, I felt scared and lost. I wanted a human to help me, someone powerful, but I had no one.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I just don’t know what to do.”

Jade gave my foot a little pat with her paw which almost made me laugh. She was trying to be sweet, but the gesture was something no cat would ever do.

You’ve got to keep strengthening your magic. Think of it like cardio training or weightlifting. It takes time and practice to build endurance. When you get inside that door, I have a feeling this whole matter will clear up on its own.

I nodded, taking a cleansing breath to stop the flow of tears. I bent down to Jade’s level and gave her a quick, soft pat on the back.

“Thanks, Jade. I’m glad you’re with me.”

She gave my leg a playful swat. No mushy stuff. Get to work.

I laughed, feeling the knot of tension in my chest ease a little. As I settled myself in front of the spell book again, I thought about the barrier. It acted like some sort of super strong force field. What could disable a force field? Trying to break it or dissolve it hadn’t worked very well.

The spell seemed to work by creating equal but opposite pressure on either side of the door. I wondered what could ease that pressure. My thoughts turned to the weather, about how one cold front could completely disrupt a pattern. What if an expanding barrier could disrupt this barrier?

The thought took hold as I scanned the book for such a spell. I found one possibility in the defensive spells book that involved the creation of a shield that could grow inward or outward according to your needs. In the basic spells book, under the Elemental Spells chapter, I found an incantation for increasing air pressure in one spot.

“Jade, what do you think of these?”

She leapt up onto the counter where I showed her the two spells. After asking me to put the two books side by side, she looked first at one, then the other for what felt like forever.

I think the shield spell probably has more promise because it has specific expansion properties built into it. The air spell would require a lot more concentration.

“Good point. I’m still going to learn them both, but I think you’re right.”

Having a plan took the edge off the frustration I felt. I worked on the spells for the rest of the day until I could cast the shield with hardly a second thought. Making it expand and contract was a little more complicated, but by the time we closed up shop for the day, I had gotten it down.

When we got home, I wanted to rush down to the basement and try the spell, but Jade headed for the kitchen. I couldn’t begrudge her being hungry, as she depended on me for meals, but I still chafed at the delay.