Bespelled

by Dani Kristoff

  As soon as he opened his mail application, there was a list of messages from Pen. His assistant was thorough, and he’d missed a lot. He checked the time stamps and saw she’d been working that morning to catch up with the disaster his disappearance had caused.

  Yet her tone was mild, not even sarcastic. He blew out a breath and sat back in his chair. Pen put up with a lot from him. He ought to give her a raise. Darn. He opened the payroll system and put it in place straight away. He added a bonus too. That should show her that he didn’t take her for granted.

  * * * *

  His head was slumped on the desk near one arm. He’d fallen asleep on the O’Reilly file. Blurry eyed, he stood up and stretched, and went to peer out to the harbour. Even at this time it was active. The lights of the passenger ship glimmered on the water, the red light atop the harbour bridge winked, even the brightly lit, smiling face of Luna Park across the other shore mocked him.

  He switched on his coffee machine, and inhaled the aroma of the roasted beans while he watched the dark liquid drip into his cup. When he tested it, the ache was still there, and so was the need to cry. What had that woman done to him?

  He punched the wall and then sucked on his bruised knuckles. His anger was directed at himself. How could he have let her get to him? He had managed to avoid heart entanglements before. Soft, that was it. He was getting soft. He recalled his impulsive pay rise and grinned. Definitely soft, but he didn’t mind it so much. It was the ache inside of him, the gnawing empty space where she had been that bothered him more. He took the cup, sipped the hot coffee and shook his head.

  Bewitched, bespelled. What did it matter? It was all over now. She didn’t care about him. She’d made that clear. The look on her face that morning. The way she’d avoided eye contact, physical contact. The stiff way she’d walked out the door. Rejection was written in every line of her posture.

  Back at his desk, he opened another file. Pen would be surprised that he’d caught up, given he’d been out on a sexual binge. Right, like she was going to let him get away with that without comment. Sure. Her emails may have been mild, but in person he was going to cop a roasting.

  With heavy eyes, he called up his notes and wrote the required emails to get some action happening on his top corporate deal. While he thought of it, he sent off Grace Riordon’s proposal to his client. He’d read the proposal in the email Elena had given him at the hotel, and he’d talked to Grace about it. The deal made sense, and the sooner he closed that chapter on his life the better. Thinking of Grace brought up memories of Elena. Stop it.

  * * * *

  ‘Why you low-down creep.’

  Drew grinned at her and snapped the handcuffs over her wrists. She yelped. ‘What are you doing? Take these off right now.’

  ‘Sorry, honey, but now I know you aren’t a cold-hearted bitch. I saw you melt when Royston put his mouth on you. I know what you are made of.’

  Appalled, she gaped at him and then narrowed her eyes. She was right; he had been spying on her. She had to get wards straight away. Never did she think someone would be so low as to set her up and then spy on her. She wanted to throw up. What an invasion of her privacy. ‘You’re totally sick, you know that? I’m never going to melt for you.’ She mimicked retching so he didn’t mistake her meaning. ‘Besides being repulsive, you’re my brother.’

  Drew nodded, but she could tell he still didn’t believe her. He ran his hand up along her thigh. She tried to shake him off but he grasped her flesh, hard. Feelings of nausea grew and she nearly threw up for real. He must have noticed because he removed his hand.

  Her heart thumped. She’d barely recovered from the Jake incident when Drew had snagged her. ‘Listen. Drop me somewhere, please. You have nothing to prove. We can get DNA testing. That should give you the evidence you need.’

  Shaking his head, he took a hard turn, swinging her body into his. ‘No, honey. I don’t need any human lies to add to the others. We’re destined to be together. The coven has been linking us all year. You are the best suited to be my mate, be the mother of my children.

  ‘So you didn’t like me when we went on that date. There were too many distractions there. You have passion inside of you, real sexual feeling. You will be that way with me when we’re alone. I have a place all ready for you. You won’t be leaving until you have my kid inside you.’

  Elena’s head fell back against the headrest. He really had issues. ‘You can’t be serious. You want to rape me? I’m not willing, and that in human law, and ours, is a crime. You’ll be driven out of the coven.’

  Surely he’d not be able to go through with it. The brother-sister thing would prevent it. That calmed her a little. Unless, of course, Rory wasn’t his father. No, she thought, he was. Drew had tried to kiss her before, and the revulsion had been real and powerful. He had experienced it too, but ignored it.

  Drew glanced at her, his sneer evident. ‘I’m already an outsider. What do I care? I want what’s mine, and you’re mine. I don’t care that you love Royston. You had your fun. But he’s not getting what’s mine.’ His hands gripped the steering wheel and spittle flew out of his mouth. ‘He’s not going to stand beside you in the coven and be the father of your children.’ At a red light, he turned to face her. ‘You proved you had it in you to be hot as hot. You’ll be like that for me. Don’t you worry. I bet you’ll like being tied up. It’ll turn you on.’

  The light changed and he sped up.

  A frustrated groan leaked out of her mouth. ‘You can’t do this. I promise you we are kin. It’s not that I don’t like you. It is something deeper than that.’

  He chuckled and drove into a warehouse, stopping to get out of the car and draw the huge door shut, and plunging the place into darkness. She panicked. Grace, help! She sent a broadcast hail, hoping her cousin was close enough but doubting it. Their range had always been limited, and as far as she knew, Grace was on the other side of the harbour.

  Drew wagged his finger at her when he got back in the car. ‘Naughty, naughty. You should have done that before we came in here. I’ve put a blanking spell on this place. You can’t call for help.’

  At least he didn’t know the true limits of her talents. They were very tiny. ‘Drew, please. Listen to me. Call your father. Talk to him.’

  He nudged the little hatchback deeper into the warehouse and stopped. ‘No.’ He climbed out of the car. He started hauling on a chain that was suspended by a large metal hook attached to a rafter above. Was he going to hang her from that?

  Opening the passenger-side door, he grabbed the chain linking the handcuffs and pulled her out of the car. She ducked her head and stumbled.

  Clinging to his shirt, she clenched her fingers and shook him. ‘Look at the charm around my neck. He made it. You should be able to tell. Please, look.’

  He peeled her hands from his shirt and nudged her back. She still hadn’t found her feet. After steadying her, he slowly undid the buttons on Jake’s jacket, pulling it apart. She shuffled away but he reached for the top of the t-shirt and ripped it, exposing her breasts. His gaze lingered there and then he lifted his hands, tweaking her nipples as he went to lift the charm. He leaned in. ‘Not very good workmanship.’

  As a pacifist by nature, she didn’t want to hurt him. But she seized the opportunity. She drew her hands around to the side and swung hard, hitting him in the side of the head. He was taken by surprise. Although stunned, he recovered quickly, lunging at her and toppling her to the grease-stained concrete floor before she’d run more than five steps.

  Hysteria overwhelmed her. She screamed as she tried to fight him off. Fear and loathing mixed together inside of her. He grabbed her hair and tried to kiss her. His lips pressed against hers, his hips grinding into her and then he paused.

  He lifted his head back, puzzlement apparent in his raised eyebrows and wide, shocked eyes. Then it hit him: the revulsion, the nausea. He leaped off her and staggered a few steps before falling to his knees to vomit into a pile of scrun
ched up newspaper.

  Crying, Elena rolled to her side, trying to regain her feet. The nausea was affecting her too, dulling her senses. She needed to get clear of the building, needed to call for help. She’d send a general call. Someone in the coven must hear; someone had to be near enough.

  Drew was not sane. It had to be that. At least the immediate danger of rape had passed. It would take a very strong warlock to control that familial repulsion. It was an age-old spell that had seeped into all of the folk. It had been cast a long time ago to stop the concentration of bloodlines and the accumulation of too much power, to stop the madness inbreeding caused.

  Even though Drew couldn’t ignore the repulsion of their kinship, he could still hurt her though, tie her up and humiliate her.

  ‘Take me home now, Drew.’

  He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and nodded. ‘I feel so ill.’

  ‘Tell me about it,’ Elena replied. It looked like she had broken through. He didn’t look angry anymore. Instead, he was flushed, and avoided eye contact.

  ‘I didn’t believe in the spell — that it was created, and that it still existed. I thought Dad was trying to let me down easy. He was all for it, you know, before he discovered you were his. He thought a relationship and parenthood would cure me of my tendencies.’

  ‘Tendencies?’

  Subdued, he tugged the jacket over her shoulders and did up the buttons without saying a word. He unlocked the cuffs and tossed them aside, and held the car door for her so she could climb in.

  ‘I don’t like the rules much. I have a darkness in me. I know it’s there. I want to explore it. Dad’s been trying to divert my attention. It hasn’t worked.’

  ‘Darkness? I don’t understand what you mean?’ She did up her seatbelt.

  He nodded as he gunned the engine. ‘Probably you don’t. We don’t all agree with this coven’s views of light and happiness, the unnatural limits on our power. We could be a powerful people if we exploited the resources around us.’

  Elena’s skin chilled as they exited the warehouse into the sunlight. ‘You mean black magic, blood magic and death rites?’ Those rites had been forbidden for more than a thousand years, and long abandoned by the folk in general.

  Joining the traffic, he said. ‘Yes, I want to experiment. I want to explore my potential.’

  She hugged herself, feeling cold seep into her heart. It had been a very long time since the coven lost someone to the dark arts.

  Drew frowned. ‘Come on, sis. It’s not that bad. You’re safe with me. I’ll get you home.’

  ‘Please don’t dabble in that stuff. You’ll find a place in the coven. Maybe you could find a human partner if there are no witches here. Or what about another coven?’

  ‘Another coven? Yes, maybe I’ll try that. There is one up north.’ He lapsed into silence for the rest of the journey.

  Elena relaxed, easing back into her seat now that Drew seemed to be acting reasonably.

  It was nearly an hour before she reached her door. ‘Thanks for getting me home. I’m afraid the council were brought into this. One of them will contact you to hear your evidence.”.’

  His dark eyes flashed. ‘Why should I submit to them? I’ve done nothing I’m sorry for.’

  ‘But you have done wrong.’

  Drew slapped his hand on the steering wheel, his eyes narrowed when he turned back to her. ‘You enjoyed it. So did Royston, until you rejected him. I still don’t get why you did that.’

  A surge of anger hit her, and Elena growled at him. ‘You nearly caused a man’s death today. You kidnapped me, and who knows what else. You should face your punishment like a man and then take your place in the coven.’

  ‘Life’s that simple for you, isn’t it? Do as you are told and everything will work out. Well, not for me. There are others who don’t adhere to the rules. I’m going north to find them. So long.’

  With her knees shaking, Elena climbed out of the car. She spotted a neighbour and nodded. She ground her teeth. Drew made her sound like a goodie-two-shoes schoolgirl. What others was he talking about?

  Drew leaned over and shut the passenger door and then sped off, his screeching tyres alerting all her neighbours to her arrival. She turned to her house, hugging Jake’s coat to herself to shore up her dignity. Her life used to be simple. Now, it would never be the same.

  Chapter 16

  The act of entering her house triggered sadness. It was full of memories of Jake. Elena eased out of his jacket, catching her breath when she caught another whiff of his scent. Without glancing into the spare room, she went to the bathroom to take a shower. Dropping her panties, she climbed in and let the water wash over her. She stood there doing nothing, hoping the water would wash it all away. It was nearly ten minutes before she realised it wasn’t going to be that easy, and grabbed her shower gel and started to scrub herself down.

  The moment Elvira arrived, magic rippled across her skin. That woman had presence. So finally the aunt shows up, and all Elena had to show for her efforts was a big disaster.

  She dried off, trying to delay the inevitable. While she wanted to talk to her aunt, it wasn’t going to be easy.

  Slipping on her robe, she stepped out into the living room. Aunt Elvira stood by the sofa, appearing to be checking out the paintwork on the ceiling. She was caressing Fel’s neck absently as the cat draped itself over her arm. Her cat looked at Elena and blinked. She was still pretending to be real. Fel thought, Where is your nice tom? Lost him already? Elena wanted to howl at her in reply.

  The aunt was oblivious to the exchange. Fel always had a way of being a nuisance but not advertising it.

  ‘Hello Aunt.’

  Aunt Elvira smiled, and put Fel down. The cat sauntered off to the spare room, its tail high and cheekily wagging. Elvira gestured to the parting cat. ‘She’s having a mood, I take it? Pretending to be a live cat.’

  ‘Is that what you call it — a mood? I didn’t even know she could do that.’

  She returned her gaze to Elvira. Her aunt was a tall and plump, but very attractive. Even without her numerous and powerful talents, she was a formidable woman.

  ‘How is Grace?’

  The older woman smiled, her gaze doting when thinking of her daughter. ‘Grace is doing very well, dear.’ Aunt Elvira approached, and, placing her hands on Elena’s shoulders, gave her a peck on both cheeks.

  ‘We need to talk. Do sit down.’

  Nervousness overcame her all of a sudden. ‘Can I get you something? Wine, coffee?’

  ‘No, dear. I don’t want anything to drink. Sit.’

  Hastily, Elena sat down. One did not argue when Elvira used that tone of voice.

  ‘I’ve spoken to Penderton,’ her aunt said as she strode around the room, bristling with nervous tension. Her fists were clenched and her shoulders tense. This wasn’t a good sign.

  ‘Which one?’

  Aunt Elvira’s eyebrows drew together. She took her time answering. ‘The father.’ There was a slight hesitation before she finished with, ‘Your father, apparently.’

  ‘So he told you. Then you didn’t know, didn’t suspect?’

  Elvira plonked herself down next to her on the sofa. It was then Elena could see that Elvira was just holding it together. Her cheeks were flushed, and there were signs that she’d been crying, something Elena had never seen her do. The news that Penderton was her father had shaken her deeply.

  ‘No. I wasn’t lying to you when I said your father was human.’ Elena passed her a tissue when Elvira’s voice cracked. ‘It’s what we all thought.’ She paused as the tears got the better of her. Elena stroked her back.

  Gaining some control, Elvira turned her reddened eyes Elena’s way. ‘I see that I have wronged you in many ways. Being supposedly half-human, you only had some talent when I found you. I thought that was all you would have, so I didn’t put the effort into developing you.’

  The tears of remorse overcame Elvira’s control. Elena handed her more tiss
ues. Her aunt blew her nose and made eye contact again. ‘I was wrong. Forgive me. Rory made me see that you have potential. We must put effort into developing you. You could do so much more than make health charms.’

  ‘Really?’ Elena’s heart fluttered.

  ‘We’re going to commission tutorials for you to make up for what you have missed. It will require hard work from you.’

  ‘I have talent! Do you mean, like Grace?’

  ‘Yes.’ Elvira smiled through her tears. ‘With work, you’ll grow. We all keep learning, you know. I did not always have the talent that I have now. I wasn’t able to teleport until I was 30. The talent is something that grows within us. Rory said he knew straight away what yours was.’

  ‘Really? But we met only briefly.’

  ‘Yes, you have the power to make people feel good, both in body and in spirit. That makes sense, when you think about the charms you make.’

  A shiver of excitement made her leap out of her seat. ‘I can be more than I am now? That is glorious news. I never thought — ’

  Elvira grasped her hand and squeezed lightly. ‘Now, about this encounter with the lawyer…’

  ‘Wait.’ Elena closed her eyes. ‘Before we go there, what happened with you and Rory? It involves my mother, obviously. Will you tell me?’

  Elvira leaned back and closed her eyes. ‘Perhaps I will take that drink after all. Something stronger than wine, if you have it.’

  Elena went to the kitchen and looked in the cupboards. She had a small bottle of single malt whisky. That ought to do.

  She grabbed some ice and sloshed the golden liquid into the glass. Her hands shook, but booze wasn’t going to help settle her down. Jake Royston had left an indelible mark on her heart, and Drew had scared her. It was natural to feel shaky and hollow.

  Elvira took the glass and swallowed one big mouthful, then another. Elena tucked her legs up underneath her when she took her place on the sofa and waited. Elvira glanced at her and then started to talk, staring into space as her memories unfolded. ‘Not that long ago, pairings were arranged between members of the coven. Rory was to be mine. For me it was no hardship. I’d loved Rory Penderton since I was about 14 years old. Pris was two years older than me and had refused to mate with our parents’ chosen one. Actually, it was more than that. She hated the rules the coven imposed on us. Rebelled at every opportunity.’