by Viola Grace
“I remember you mentioning it.”
“Apparently, it is in the parking lot.”
She wagged her brows at him. “Care to join me?”
“Like you could stop me.”
She took his hand and stepped off the porch, ending up at the front gates. She opened the door and stepped out to see the XIA SUV with its payload of a trailer with an animal strapped to it.
She walked up to the huge, scaly lizard. “Aw, baby. What did they do to you?”
He looked at her with sad eyes and settled his head down. She touched his side, and her mind did what it had been doing lately; it dissected the spell.
Laughter spilled out of her. “He is harmless. Get him into Ritual Space, and I will be able to get him back to his original state.”
The XIA officers didn’t question her, didn’t interrogate her; they simply unhitched the trailer and pulled it by hand through the wide section of gate that she opened.
It was weird to wield such power simply by owning a piece of land.
She closed the door behind the officers, leaving the man-door open.
She walked up to the creature that had the misfortune to be enchanted at the moment of Neadra’s death. The men casting the spell had used a number of phallic elements, and one joker had decided to toss in Viagra. Instead of using a snake, one of the other improvisers had used his pet iguana, and the enlargement chant had taken up residence in the nearest walking animal.
The result was a very large lizard.
With a deep breath, she drained the magic from him. Herbs appeared on the trailer, smoke, a bit of inexplicable beef jerky and finally the pill that had twisted everything to the side.
The iguana looked at her with panic, and she scooped it up. “Hey, scooter. You are okay.”
She turned to the XIA agents, and they all had phones in their hands, recording her actions.
“Does one of you guys know anyone who needs an iguana?”
They looked to each other and shook their heads. She wrinkled her nose. “Ask around. He isn’t going to survive the winters here.”
They looked a little less amused by that.
She held him as they removed the trailer and the incriminating ingredients.
Hyl looked at the lizard. “What are you going to name him?”
“Adolphus.”
“Serious name.”
She chuckled and headed back to the house. “You have no idea. She’s a girl.”
Adolphus looked at him primly and flicked her tongue.
“Wonderful. I am outnumbered.”
She grinned. “Better you than me. This was a lizard with a destiny, and now, she needs to plan for what happens next. I think I can help her with that.”
Hyl smiled at her as he put his arm around her and they transported to the house, walking across the porch.
“Adolphus has taken well to sudden transports.”
“She is a lizard of many talents. I am sure that a second destiny is just around the corner for her.”
Hyl whispered in her ear. “You would know.”
Adolphus gave her a look of complete agreement. Apparently, she would know.
Author’s Note
I have decided to release Ritual Space on Jan 30th because it is my sister’s birthday.
Six years ago, my sister and I discussed the basic plotline of this story for sixteen hours on a road trip. Since that day, she has asked me every six months if I had written the story yet.
When I created the Obscure Magic series, I knew that Ritual Space would fit right in.
The next book will either be Defying Eternity also known as Leonora Wicks’s story, or Binding Magic, Minerva’s story.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
About the Author
Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.
An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.