Love Charms

by Multiple

  “Going so soon?” Dei Lucrii seemed unconcerned that I was trying to escape.

  I chanted faster. Why did the stupid rhyme have to be so long?

  “Don’t bother, little fly,” the driver said. “We rigged it to only work once. Now that you’ve used it, we’re all going to be here until the spell wears off.”

  But I hadn’t arrived by portal. They hadn’t seen! Martel’s voice was cold. “Your services are no longer required tonight, Facil.”

  I finished the chant, but the bowl wasn’t changing. What if it was just a bowl? I realized the shelf was full of pewter items, plates and cups and candlesticks.

  Dei Lucrii took my arm and led me toward the fire. “You’re safe here. Come sit with us a while.”

  Time to go for broke. As soon as we approached the fire, I threw the pouch of crystals into the flame and careened toward the back wall.

  The chemicals exploded with firecracker booms, pouring smoke into the room.

  I searched the shelf of dishes, and then I saw it, a thin layer of white mist on an ornate platter. I began the chant and dove in.

  Colors spun around me. I knew I didn’t have to fear the dark this time. It was behind me. I saw two circles, my smoky lair and Caleb’s bed. I aimed for Caleb and held my breath.

  When I landed, the first words I heard were “Send that filthy nix back to where she came from!”

  19: Sons and Mothers

  I looked up at Caleb, all cleaned up and just about the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

  But immediately the murderous red face of Genevieve blocked my view.

  Right, the filthy nix bit.

  “Where’s Dad?” I scooted away from them both to sit up and feel less vulnerable. Honestly, after the spirit world, a pissed-off mother was a welcome sight.

  Caleb stood up from his bed to speak, but his mother waved her arm and he fell back again. He pointed at his mouth and shook his head.

  “Lips are sealed?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  Genevieve picked up the portal and stared inside. “I told you to block this, Caleb.”

  She began a chant I couldn’t follow, then flashed her angry eyes back at me. “You have put us at risk. Dei Lucrii knows where you went. He’ll come here even if I close the portal.”

  “I think their own portal is on lockdown,” I said, but she was right. They had been the ones to close it. No doubt they could open it back up again.

  “Ours should have been.” She turned to Caleb. “My own son, lying to me.”

  Genevieve whirled around, black wisps falling from her perfect chignon. “You fail to understand the gravity of the situation. Caleb has to be matched. It’s forbidden to even speak with you, and now you are…HERE!”

  God, I so wanted to play the Golden Enchantress card, but now wasn’t the time. I knew her backstory. She had every reason to be upset. “Just tell me where Dad is, and I’ll be on my way.”

  “I’ll send you right to him.”

  Caleb jumped up, but too late, Mommie Dearest was already chanting and I felt myself being pulled into darkness.

  *

  When I could breathe again, the air was stuffy, warm, and damp. Instead of electric lights, gas torches lined the walls. What was with this world and its fixation on historical gloom?

  As my eyes adjusted, I made out iron bars and dripping stone walls. Suddenly I worried that I was back with Dei Lucrii in the spirit world.

  I jumped to my feet. “Hello?” My voice echoed through the cell. “Anyone there?”

  My face wouldn’t fit between the bars, but I pressed as hard as I could to see out. In front of me was just another wall; to my right and left, more cells.

  Great. No telling where she’d sent me, although if you could just blast someone anywhere, why were there portals at all?

  A wood bench hung on the wall with black chains. I sat on it, wondering when my bread and water would arrive. I pictured Genevieve’s prim little hairdo bobbing above a tray full of grizzle and rat bones, and despite everything, I had to laugh.

  “Only a nix like you would snigger at a time like this.”

  I jumped up. “Hallow?”

  His white head peeked between two iron bars. “They could use a little redecorating down here, don’t you think? Maybe modernize it to oh, say, late medieval?”

  I knelt on the cold floor. “I’m so happy to see you!”

  “The feeling is not mutual. I was sniffing a hot little number named Meriwether when you came dropping in.”

  “Meriwether?”

  “A coal-black ferret with white spots in all the right places. She belongs to Caleb’s sister Meg.”

  I returned to the bench. “I forgot how unhelpful you were.”

  Hallow leaped next to me. “I’m here, aren’t I? I’ve been tracking you all over the realms. You’ve been a busy nix.”

  “I suppose we’re still in Genevieve’s house?”

  “It’s a timeshare dungeon. Runs under several prominent enchanter homes.”

  “So I guess you aren’t going to tell me how to get out of here?”

  Hallow examined his paw, grimacing at a grimy smudge. “Magic doesn’t work down here, not that you have any.” He peered up at me. “Or have you figured things out yet?”

  “You little wretch!” I lifted him high over my head. “You knew I was a Golden Enchantress all along?”

  “Ah ah ah. Set me down. You aren’t a Golden yet. Training. Coven. Ceremony. Yada yada yada.”

  I put him back on the bench. “So I can’t get out of here.”

  “One of the reasons old dungeons like this are still around is their ability to block magic. Not a feature of modern construction.”

  “So what? I die here?”

  “I’m not supposed to be the hero today. But your dad is around here somewhere. He’s clued in now, right? You guys skulked off into the lair to try the potion. I trust that’s why it blew.”

  I nodded.

  “I’ll go chat him up. He’ll be relieved to know his wife wasn’t cracked for talking to me. Well, any more than expected.”

  “So you’re just going to leave me?”

  “Like I said, your hero will be arriving shortly. I have been cast as the lowly rat furball.” He bowed and scuttled through the bars.

  Great. Alone again. I assumed he meant Caleb would be saving the day. He seemed like the right sort of person for a hero. I leaned my head against the wall. This wannabe enchanter needed a nap.

  Footsteps echoed along the corridor. “Jet? You down here?”

  Caleb! I hurried back to the bars. “Yes!” I stuck my hand out so he could see me.

  The steps broke into a run, and then he was there, grasping my fingers, bringing them to his lips. “I’ve been so damn worried. Did anyone hurt you?”

  “I got into some scrapes, but I’m here.”

  “Did Dei Lucrii find you?”

  “I found him.”

  He pressed my hand against his cheek. “And you got away?”

  “Just to be stuck in another prison.”

  Caleb let go of my hand. “Right. Keys.” Caleb rapped his knuckles against the door of a warped wood cabinet in a pattern that sounded like “Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits.”

  I laughed. “Should I get a piece of bubble gum and a wire hanger?”

  “I know. It’s all so … human.”

  The case popped open, revealing a dozen heavy keys. He pulled out several. “Let’s try all of these.”

  “No spells?” I asked.

  “Hard to keep an enchanter in if that was the case.” He stuck the first one in the padlock. “No go.”

  We tried five keys before we found the one that released the door. It had barely swung open when Caleb pulled me into a tight embrace, his fingers tangling in my hair. “I thought I had lost you.”

  “I’m here.”

  His lips found mine, and we fell back into that heady space, now familiar, where time slowed down and the world began and ended at
the edges of each other’s bodies. He pulled away, his eyes meeting mine. “I dismissed my other matches.”

  “What?” I stepped back. “You can’t do that!” Then I remembered. Actually, he could. Maybe. Could a Golden pick anyone she wanted?

  “If being with you means I’m exiled, then I want to be exiled with you. I don’t believe for a minute that what we feel could be something dark or bad. I don’t buy that our children will be like Dei Lucrii or his father. They just wouldn’t.”

  He pulled me in again before I could argue, but I agreed with him. His instinct was spot on. I remembered Gordon’s rejection just days ago, a lifetime now, because I had been suspended from school. What Caleb was offering was unconditional, like what Dad had done for Mom, no questions asked, accepting that a life together was worth the risk.

  “Do enchanters fall in love?” I asked him. “Or is it all just magically preordained?”

  “My mother does not love my father. So, no. Not always.”

  “They were bound without it?”

  “Sometimes you do what is right for the world, not what is right for yourself.”

  I wrapped my arms around his waist. “Is that how it will be for us?”

  “Hardly. We’re going against the world.”

  “So why are we doing it?”

  “Because we can’t not do it.”

  He silenced me with his mouth again, and I knew the places where we were going. He wasted no time pushing my sweater out of the way and connecting his palm to my spine, sending that jolt of electricity through my body. I wound my hands beneath his shirt, returning the favor, and he lurched against me.

  His hands moved behind my thighs and lifted me so that my legs wrapped around him. With a few steps, my back was pressed against the stone wall. I clung to his neck, our mouths locked together.

  He unclasped my bra and pushed it up and out of his way. His hands learned all the curves of me, molding my breasts into his palms.

  I’d never felt so hot for someone, not ever, and I could scarcely stand my lack of control, caught against the wall. I wanted to feel him, learn the length and breadth of him, hear the sounds he made. I pushed up his shirt, kneading the muscles of his back and sides. He was lean and strong, and when my fingers fluttered across his chest, he thrust against me so that I could feel the hardness of him even through my jeans.

  He let my legs fall and bent down, pushing my shirt out of the way so he could look at more of me. “Jet,” he said. “So beautiful.” His mouth was warm and wet, and I was lost, holding his head and the mop of curls. His hands circled my bare waist, and I knew my legs were going to give out. His fingers inched inside the band of my jeans, and I leaned into him. I wanted them off. I wanted his off. I needed to move move move. Just knowing he had turned away the others for me pushed everything over the edge. The rush resounded in my ears like an ocean wave, and when his mouth came back to my lips, I tugged at his jeans, fighting the snap.

  I reached for him, hard in the boxers. We were so close, on the precipice, and I’d never wanted any boy like I wanted him. And despite who he thought I was, he wanted me back, for keeps.

  “Your mom,” I whispered.

  “I put her in a freeze spell.” His breath was hot against my ear.

  He traced a finger along my belly, again flirting with the waist of my jeans. He seemed anxious, but my own hands, yanking on his zipper, made him forget all that, and finally he tugged at my snap.

  “Oh, good grief, there they go.”

  I let go of Caleb in a hurry, jerking my hands from his jeans.

  Hallow and another ferret, Meriwether no doubt, judging from her black-and-white coat, stood at the open door. “Hairless wonders,” Hallow said. “Ick. Sorry you had to see that.”

  Meriwether squeaked with laughter. “We should close the gate and let them be the ones mating in a cage.”

  Caleb dropped my shirt into place. His jaw twitched as he reached to snap his jeans and turned around with more aplomb than I could have mustered. I fumbled with my bra.

  “Meriwether, back to Meg.” He stared down at Hallow. “Why is a free ferret in my house?”

  “I belong to Jet.”

  “Nixes don’t have familiars,” Caleb said.

  Hallow’s eyes widened, but he said nothing. “I’m here to squeal on the matron of the house.”

  Meriwether shoved at him. “Be nice. Caleb, she broke your freeze spell. You kids better skedaddle.”

  “Where’s my dad?” I asked.

  “In another dungeon,” Hallow said. “Too bad he’s nonfunctional as an enchanter, because he got the human wing. A breakout would have been a level-two spell.”

  “He’s still unmarked,” Caleb said. “Mom didn’t know.”

  But I had seen his marking. I frowned but kept this to myself. No need to question the thing that helps us.

  We hurried down the corridor, following the ferrets. Meriwether had ignored Caleb’s order to leave, seemingly ecstatic to be in on the adventure.

  “Just around the corner,” Hallow said, about to pass a set of stairs when a hand reached down and snatched him up by the tail.

  He hissed, dangling, scrabbling with his claws. Genevieve held him away from her body. “This ferret needs a new assignment.” She dropped him in a paper bag.

  “He’s mine,” I said. “Give him to me.”

  Genevieve rolled up the bag. “Not until you are out of my house.” She glared at her son. “I knew you’d let her out.”

  “You can’t keep her here. You’re breaking a dozen enchanter codes!”

  “I had no intention of keeping her. I had to secure my portals! Your freeze spell put the whole family in danger!” She glanced up at his ruffled hair. “Consorting with nixes. Do you want to be exiled?”

  Caleb pulled me against him. “I accept being exiled with her. Then I can see more of Calindra, too.”

  Genevieve’s face mottled with fury. “Don’t mention that creature’s name!”

  “She’s my sister!”

  “Meg is your sister!”

  “They both are.”

  Genevieve shoved the bag at me. “Take your dirty little ferret and get out. But you’re not taking my son.” She opened a small silk bag.

  “Mom, don’t do that.” Caleb held out his hands.

  “I have to, Caleb.” She blew a fine powder in his face.

  I hung on to his arm. He sneezed once, then twice, then just like the image of Grandma Gem in the forest, he began to dissolve, like a sand castle in a wave.

  “Caleb!” I clutched each part of him as it disappeared until he was just shoes, then nothing.

  I stared up at his mother. “What did you do?”

  “He’ll be fine. By the time we get him back, I’ll have secured the house and consulted my spell book to break whatever enchantment has got him so tied up with you.” She tucked the bag into a pocket. “Meriwether, take this…thing to her father and show them the way out.” She stepped aside. “Your car is still out front. I trust you have keys?”

  Actually, I didn’t.

  Genevieve huffed at my expression. “Then call a cab. It’s not my problem.” She turned to go back up the staircase. “Do not come near Caleb again. If Dei Lucrii wants you, his father will kill my boy to get you. The more you entrance him, however you’re doing it, the more likely it is he will die.”

  She swallowed, and I could see the sorrow behind her eyes. Also, I knew that she was right.

  When she had gone, I opened the bag and let Hallow out. “Beastly woman!” He smoothed his crimped whiskers. “Your father has keys. I left out no detail.”

  I nodded, but I was still stunned by Genevieve’s words. I couldn’t be with Caleb, even as a Golden. Not until I had dealt with Dei Lucrii.

  20: Let It Snow

  Snow continued to fall as we inched along the iced-over streets. All the shops were closed for Christmas. Apparently I’d spent a night in the spirit world while Dad waited in the dungeon.

  “Thi
s has been a day to remember,” he said, stroking Hallow, who slept in his lap like a worn-out kitten. Not from our adventure, certainly, but Meriwether must have shown him her polecat roots.

  “It’s going to take an hour at this rate.” I skidded for the hundredth time, afraid to even try the brakes. We coasted a few feet, then got traction again and continued forward. No one else was on the road.

  “Maybe we should hole up in a hotel,” Dad said. “If we have an open portal, this Dei Lucrii fellow is probably there waiting.”

  Dang it. He was right. “But I need the Book of Shadows. I have to learn all I can to fight this guy.”

  “I’m still lost.” Dad touched his own forehead. “I feel like I should be doing something, but I have no clue.”

  I forgot that since we had attempted the potion, he’d been locked up. He had no idea that I was a Golden, or that Dei Lucrii wanted to make evil little bad-seed grandbabies. We slid again, and I yanked my foot from the gas, waiting out the skid. When we were back on secure road, I said, “So, after I disappeared into the portal, I ended up in some weird dark enchanter world.”

  “You were gone a long time.”

  “I found a message from Grandma Gem.” I stared through the windshield, afraid to look away for even a moment.

  “How extraordinary. What did she say?”

  “That I wasn’t a nix. I had been mismarked. She wanted Mom to fix it, but apparently Mom never got the message.”

  “So what are you, then?” he asked.

  “I’m what she was. A Golden Enchantress. We’re apparently a rare breed, and she wanted to protect me.”

  Dad whistled. “Gem was indeed rare. I never knew anyone so kind. She never had a negative word for anyone.”

  “I remember her, a little.”

  “You two used to work in a garden she tried to keep for Tess. Your mother had a black thumb.”

  “She was probably trying to grow some of the potion herbs.”

  Dad nodded. “You know, there were some strange plants out there.”

  “Is any of it still alive?”

  “Oh, no. Once Gem was gone, it all died, decades ago.”

  “Rats. I need something called Poison Lyceria to remove this nix mark.” I ran the incantation in my head again. Amun alonza. Hidiay exponentia.

  “Not sure if that’s in the lair,” Dad said.