Flagrante Ligfyr, I pronounced.

The candles on top of the mantel burst into flame, then sputtered and went out. Ralph, who had been napping behind the Oxford English Dictionary, poked his nose out and wiggled his whiskers at the smoke.

Okay, so my magic was still a bit erratic. What had Liz said – that my energy signature was unusual? Huh. Right now my energy signature felt just fine. I tried an air moving spell.

Ventus Pyff!

A gust swept across the library, stirring the ashes from the unswept fireplace and the dust off the furniture into a small funnel cloud that bounced off the walls and knocked over a lamp. Ralph scurried back behind the OED.

Oblittare astyntan! I shouted, recalling the spell for cancelling spells.

The dust devil collapsed in a heap on top of the couch. Great, I thought, as a coughing fit wracked through my body, I’ve just made things worse in here.

I looked around the room again. A crystal tumbler with an amber ring at the bottom sat on the coffee table. I lifted it and inhaled the peaty aroma of the Scotch Liam favored. On the rim was an impression of his lips. I touched it, recalling the feel of his mouth on mine … but instead of shivering with passion I felt anger. Those hadn’t been his true lips, they’d been an invention to lure me into loving him – and they’d failed.

I marched into the kitchen, picking up a few other stray glasses and dishes along the way, dumped them all in the sink and filled the basin with hot soapy water. I went back into the library and went to work. I picked up the rug, which usually took two people to lift, and hung it over the back porch railing and beat the dust out of it. I shoveled out old ashes from the fireplace. I tossed the couch cushions into the hall and vacuumed the couch frame, tossing pebbles, twigs and bird feathers, which must have fallen from Liam’s pockets, into the trash. I mopped the floor with Murphy’s oil soap, getting down on my hands and knees. I polished the brass lamps and fireplace tools. I took out every single book to dust it, dislodging a disgruntled Ralph from behind the OED. While I was at it I thought I might as well organize the books by subject and label the shelves …

Only when the shadows lengthened across the floor did I stop. Then I stood back and looked at the library. The floors and brass lamps gleamed. The books stood on the shelves like soldiers arrayed for battle. I’d also rearranged the furniture. The room glowed … and it no longer held any trace of Liam. It was only a matter of time, I assured myself, before I’d be able to say the same for myself.