The Book of Magic

Antonia bakes a Chocolate Tipsy Cake for the Reverend, but includes only a little rum. It’s tasty but not very pretty. Thinking of Ariel, Antonia asks the Reverend about love. He says you can’t control love, and Jet will end the curse. Antonia thinks his memory is faulty, but the Reverend adds that he dreams about Jet, who forgave him for ruining her life.

Next, Antonia visits Gideon, as she does every day. She tells his mother to go get some coffee and take a walk. She returns to the apartment she rented to be close to Gideon and cries. His EEG reveals that he reacts mentally to his favorite music, which is a good sign. Antonia sees his hand moving as if trying to turn a key in a lock. He can’t answer; he’s trapped in a labyrinth made of hedges with black leaves and feels like he’s walking through water in his mind. Antonia continues to encourage him to speak. He groans, and she holds his hand. He squeezes back for a moment.

Antonia meets Ariel for lunch. They talk about Gideon while Antonia thinks about her dream: Near the water where the woman drowned is a piece of paper with red ink. Antonia retrieves it but is hurt by stinging nettles and puts her hands in the water. Crows fly above her. In the present moment, the butter on the table melts, a sign of love. Ariel calls Antonia her date when ordering water for her. Antonia kisses Ariel like a drowning woman.

Kylie takes a train and a bus to Thornfield. It’s a picturesque and magical village. She stops in Marian and Jason’s Teahouse and asks Marian Dodd if she knows Thomas Lockland. Marian thinks about Tom breaking her daughter, Mary’s, heart and asks why Kylie is looking for him. Kylie says their families were connected in the past. Marian tells Kylie Tom’s address and wishes her good luck, but when Kylie is outside, Marian makes the sign of the fox with her index and pinkie fingers raised to ward off left-handed magic.

Kylie walks toward 23 High Street. On the way, she calls Gideon’s hospital room. Antonia answers. At Kylie’s request, Antonia puts the phone up to Gideon so that Kylie can hear him breathe. Kylie cries black tears, promises to get him out of his coma, asks him to wait until she returns, and then hangs up. She hides The Book of the Raven in her backpack before arriving at Tom’s house. Tom is an amateur at magic, except for poisons, and is dedicated to revenge for the family curse. The village wanted his family to leave town, and he wants to harm everyone for this.

Kylie asks Tom for help to break a curse, explaining that Gideon is in a coma. Tom makes her tea with a microdose of mushrooms that will cause her to tell the truth. She doesn’t tell him about the book yet, but does say that her family is from the village and asks him to teach her. He asks her to put her hands on the table, and together they make it levitate. When Kylie removes a hand, the table falls. She says she’ll do anything to break the curse. Tom cuts his arm, and so does Kylie. She confesses that her ancestors are Maria and Hannah Owens. They’re connected through Rebecca, a distant cousin. He says he can help her if she trusts him.

Tom and Kylie go to the Three Hedges pub. When Kylie goes to the bathroom, a waitress named Jesse follows her in and warns her to stay away from “Bad Tom” and his black magic. Kylie replies that the town has mistreated his family. Jesse says they were thieves. Kylie leaves and tells Tom about Jesse. He curses and declares his hate for the town. People around them make comments about Tom being a terrible person. When they leave, Jesse again tries to warn Kylie.

Tom walks with Kylie through the fens (wetlands). She steps into a puddle in the dark, and Tom pulls her out. Kylie internally fears monsters that live in water and says aloud that she doesn’t like it. Tom guesses correctly that her family taught her to stay away from water and would warn her to stay away from him. When he gets closer, Kylie reminds him that she’s in love with someone else. He claims that his family is unfamiliar with love and secretly puts an amulet in her pocket to bind her to him. He also secretly puts a poppet with a Need You spell under a pillow in the room where she’s staying in his house.

Kylie tries to read The Book of the Raven in the bedroom but still can’t get the pages apart, so she goes down to where Tom is reading on the couch and asks for his help. He says he’ll help her and thinks she’s showing him the book he’s been looking for.

Vincent goes for a walk while Sally, Gillian, and Granny sleep. He misses Dodger, who is staying with Agnes. By the morning, he finds The Invisible Library, but it’s locked, so he waits on a bench in Hyde Park, watching the door for someone to come and unlock it. Only William’s death taught Vincent to be patient.

David Ward sees Vincent surveilling the library door. David heard Vincent’s hit song when he worked at the British Museum, before he was recruited by the Invisible Library. Vincent sang about being gay, and David was in the closet. David stayed in his marriage for his daughter, Eve. When she became ill, he sought out a practitioner of the Dark Art. David had to kill someone to save his daughter, and he poisoned a man. Eve recovered, but she discovered David’s secret life as a gay man. Eve went with her mother, who immediately left David after learning his secret. Eve and her boyfriend died in a motorcycle accident because the man David poisoned recovered.

In the present moment, David approaches Vincent, asking if he returned from the dead. Vincent admits he faked his death so that he could hide. David jokes that he thought Vincent had “[t]he Knowledge” of necromancy. David tried a spell to revive his dead daughter, but instead vomited up her possessions. Vincent shows David a picture of Kylie, and David says he knows where she is.

The previous night, Franny pointed out Ian’s love for Sally and said they could be lucky enough to end up together if Ian is certain and willing. He was unable to speak at dinner, and Franny says he’s in recovery. He thinks about how he’s recovering from distancing himself from people and how he usually talks a lot. In the morning, Ian wakes up early and goes for a run, ending up at the Invisible Library. Sally follows him in a taxi. He opens the library door, to which he has a key, for her. She admits that she’s a librarian, but doesn’t like that this library is devoted to magic. She says magic ruins people, and he says he outgrew that belief. Sally says his tattoos reveal that magic is his salvation and that he’s willing to practice left-handed magic. He suggests that they separate if she dislikes him, and she apologizes. Ian assures Sally that they’ll find Kylie.

Ian and Sally find Vincent in the reading room. He updates them about Kylie visiting the library and where David sent her. Ian says Thornfield is his hometown as well. He thinks about how much he dislikes Bad Tom and suspects that he stole the Red Skin (Rauoskinna). After getting out of prison, Ian tried to help the much-younger Tom, but Tom just cursed at Ian. Tom often camped at the ruins of Lockland Manor and poisoned people who came near.

In the present, David gives Vincent his private number and asks for updates about Kylie. Sally’s neglected magical powers are returning, and she can see into Ian’s past. The last time he saw his mother, she read his palms and said that something surprising was coming. Ian suggests that they get Gillian and Franny, and then head directly to the train to Essex.