Bump (A Witchlight Novel)

by Jaime Munn

  “It’s for you.”

  I raised an eyebrow but took the phone anyway and accepted the call before the annoying voice could belt out another scratchy ‘ring’.

  “Has Sofy changed yet?” Cleo asked. I glanced up at the moon again. It didn’t just look full, it was full.

  “No, but then neither has Boytjie.”

  “Boytjie isn’t controlled by the moon,” Cleo said shortly. I surmised that on principle none of her muscle was. It made a logical and strategic sense to only have werewolves able to transform at will among your henchmen. Not that I would ever call Boytjie or any of Cleo’s other handpicked muscle henchmen. Maybe I should start thinking about them as the security detail least I slip up around Cleo herself.

  My mind jumped back to Sofia and her moon controlled shift.

  “Shit,” I said.

  “Deal with it,” Cleo said shortly. Instead of asking for an explanation she ended the call. I had to admire a person who didn’t want a report first. It didn’t surprise me that Cleo demanded action immediately. The report would come later.

  I handed Boytjie back his phone and gestured for him to follow me as I headed back towards my bedroom.

  The binding spell was strong magic, but stronger magic still was the moon curse that would be coursing through Sofia’s blood. I wondered if the incubus had known and was simply biding its time. I felt a fool for not taking the moon into consideration. I had known Sofia Bragga was a werewolf, but it had been years since I’d dated a werewolf. Back in the day I’d known the phases of the moon like the days of the week.

  “What moon has Sofia got?”

  “Sofy is an odd wolf,” Boytjie told me. I knew what it meant, but he told me anyway. “Sometimes she’s all wolf and sometimes she is still Sofy. It’s almost as bad as a chained or bound wolf.”

  I nodded.

  Sofia could transform into a feral animal or she could remain herself in wolf’s clothing. It wasn’t exactly a welcome thought, but I was going to pray for a feral transformation this moon because it might just dislodge the incubus from inside her.

  I opened the bedroom door. Sofia wasn’t lying on the bed. Boytjie pulled me back. I caught a glimpse of a gray wolf with vivid amber eyes launching itself at what would have been my blind side.

  I couldn’t tell if it was the incubus in charge or Sofia’s wolf. Either way it didn’t really make much of a difference. Boytjie was already tearing his clothes off. Unexpectedly I got to see him completely naked. I didn’t imagine anyone complained. Had we both been straight the sleeping arrangements for the night might then have been decided. Boytjie was all big muscles, all.

  He was a wolf within seconds. Black as night. His eyes as he looked at me, warning me to stay back, were surprisingly blue. So deep and brilliant that I thought they would burn like will-o-the-wisps in the night. F.C. was suddenly at my side, big and dangerous looking.

  “You’re late,” I told him. He gave me a hard look. I could almost hear him misquoting a line from Tolkien. ‘A familiar is never late…’

  I laughed, probably sounding crazy to everyone in the room. I wondered when my life would go back to being what some might consider rather boring and humdrum, but to me was sheer bliss.

  Sofia’s wolf was pacing the bedroom as though contemplating its next move. Boytjie, a much larger wolf, was standing in the doorway with an air of patience that I hadn’t thought the werewolf capable of. I wondered what moon ruled him. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the werewolf had become an amalgam of wolf and man, instinct and reason melding into a cohesive whole that made Boytjie more complete in his wolf form than he would ever be as a man.

  I believed that they called that kind of moon curse a noble wolf. It made me think of Boytjie differently. I forced myself to contemplate how to deal with Sofia. At least sleeping arrangements would now be simpler. I could bind her again, but then Boyjie and I would have to take turns guarding the wolf least she transform back into human and undo the spell all over again.

  I decided to try a cage of air, though it was far more taxing than the binding spell. I summoned my strength and magic, then stole another bright spark of power from a gem inside Asbelia’s broach. That magic was supposed to help me against Grace, I thought bitterly, but I needed it now.

  I began to weave the cage from magic and air and scowled when I realised it would take a fair bit of time to complete. I didn’t think Sofia’s wolf had the patience that Boytjie’s wolf did. It didn’t take long for her to prove me right. She leapt for Boytjie’s throat , trying to use his size against him. The big black wolf didn’t wait for her to reach him, but moved forward in a sudden blur of speed. Sofia’s gray wolf was instantly on the ground, held there by jaws and paws and the full weight of Boytjie’s body. She snarled and snapped until she realised she was outmatched, then she whimpered. I didn’t like hearing her cry. I didn’t think it mattered to me whether she did it in wolf form or human.

  Boytjie kept her pinned down until I had my cage ready, then I nodded to him. His bright blue eyes had been on me all the while, as though he’d sensed the magic building in the air. He didn’t need to be signalled twice. He suddenly let the gray wolf go and leapt back into the passageway. Before Sofia’s wolf could realise it was free again, I completed the spell. The bars of air turned solid. I breathed a sigh of relief. F.C. shrank back down to large kitty size. The gray wolf tried to jump forward and met the soft, but solid resistance of the cage of air and thumped back down to the floor. She shook her head, confused.

  “Sorry, Sofia. You’re in a time out.”

  I focused and moved the air cage into a corner of the room. The gray wolf struggled not to be forced along with it. I was glad I hadn’t carpeted the entire room, the wolf’s black claws would have shredded it as she fought. The evidence would have been a trail of ruined carpet from the doorway to the far corner wall.

  Boytjie followed the wolf and the cage, sniffed at both before he was satisfied. Then he returned to where he’d abandoned his clothes. He transformed back into a man, crouched on the floor. I turned away to let him dress unwatched.

  “Well that was a bit of excitement,” I said. “I’m going to need a coffee.”

  I headed for the kitchen. A moment later Boytjie joined me. He handed me his phone. I knew that Cleo would be expecting that report now. I wondered why Boytjie didn’t supply it. I sighed and took it. There was only one contact on the main screen. Ironically Boytjie had labelled it Miss Cleo. I guessed that in a way Cleo fit the bill, possibly more than the alleged American psychic. If you wanted to know about what was going to happen, a handful of minutes into the future, she could certainly supply you with an answer.

  I rang the psychic werewolf up expecting her to answer on the first ring. She didn’t disappoint.

  “That’s good,” she said without a hello. “It sounds like you have the situation tied up. It’s a busy night for me. I will see you tomorrow.”

  She ended the call. I stood there feeling stupid. I gave Boytjie back his phone and he grinned at me.

  “Coffee?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I won’t sleep.”

  Oh yes, we still had to figure out the sleeping arrangements. At least I had my bed to myself. Sofia was going to have to be happy with the floor. I wondered if I shouldn’t have made certain that she had something soft to lie on, but it was too late now.

  “Milk?” I counter offered. Boytjie nodded.

  I didn’t have the energy to percolate a cup of coffee so I settled on instant and poured the big werewolf his drink. While the kettle boiled I broached the subject of living in a single bed apartment.

  “I’m not really set up for sleepovers,” I told Boytjie.

  He shrugged. “I can take the couch.”

  I looked doubtfully at my couch and back at Boytjie again. I couldn’t see him fitting much of himself on it at all.

  “I’ll wolf and sleep,” he clarified.

  I still felt doubtful about the proportion
s of body to cushion space, but shrugged. I made coffee and we sat on the balcony watching the stars and the full, bright face of the moon. I thought about Cleo in charge of a pack of werewolves tonight, some of whom would be feral and dangerous animals under the influence of the moon.

  Her pack house might seem more an asylum tonight.

  I could picture her, tall and proud, and surrounded by her muscle, all massive wolves ready to tackle anyone and anything at her command. She was definitely all action hero, but pining for a poor little wolf girl made me entirely certain that even Cleo shed a few tears from time to time.

  It made me consider Sofia.

  “She’s still possessed isn’t she?” I asked Boytjie. “She wouldn’t have attacked a member of her pack otherwise, would she?”

  Boytjie shrugged.

  “The wolf is in a strange place with strange smells. It doesn’t know anything but teeth.”

  I frowned at that. It meant that we still didn’t know if the incubus had been shed in the transformation process. I sighed and finished my coffee.

  We called it a night. Boytjie, unselfconscious, started stripping for his change. I quickly headed for my bedroom with a mumbled good night. I wasn’t Livia. Having men undress in front of me was an alien and uncomfortable experience. I partially closed the bedroom door behind me. I looked towards Sofia in her cage of air. The gray wolf was curled up on itself. It didn’t look up at me but I was certain it was aware of my presence.

  F.C. joined me as I climbed into bed. I wondered if my concerns about kittens were all for nought and if F.C. had a taste for boys. Or if werewolf transformations were just that much more interesting than anything on TV.

  I had to admit, watching a werewolf change was entertainment, but the special effects these days were getting pretty darn special. I didn’t think even a werewolf circus could seriously impact on television viewing figures, at least not for long. Maybe F.C. simply felt that he had a lot in common with werewolves.

  He curled up between me and wolf Sofia like a proper gentleman.

  I felt confident turning the light out that my air cage and my familiar would keep me safe through the dark night. It wasn’t that dark though with the full moon streaming down and throwing silvery moon beams against the curtains. The bedroom was a black and white set, a little dim but visible enough. I fell asleep listening to F.C. and Sofia breathing.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  A shiver of magic in the air woke me. At first I thought that perhaps it was Sofia transforming into her human form again. The moon no longer lit my bedroom, so I couldn’t tell if my guess was right. I reached for the bedside lamp, but hesitated at the last minute. There was a faint illumination in the corner where the cage of air bound Sofia in one place. I sensed F.C. then. He wasn’t on the bed beside me, but I felt him somewhere close to Sofia, considering the very same soft half-light.

  I didn’t know how it happened, but suddenly I was seeing through F.C.’s eyes. The room looked far brighter than it had a moment ago. The faint light in the cage of air was practically a beam of dappled sunlight. It drifted above the sleeping werewolf like a diaphanous sheet. It took me a moment to adjust myself to the change in perception before I realised what I was seeing. It was a spirit with a weak spark. There were no silver threads flying from it. It had no connection to the physical world at all. I realised suddenly that the incubus was a ghost haunting me. It made a little more sense of the abilities that it had exhibited.

  The shiver of magic in the air I realised too had been the edges of werewolf magic. Sofia’s wolf was blurring at the edges. Flesh and fur and bone were melting into a new form. It was too late now to prevent the incubus spirit from re-possessing Sofia. All I could do was watch as the change swept through her. Like silk the spirit fell over her pale and human flesh. It sunk into the skin and the spark’s faint light was hidden away again. I reached out with a little spell before either Sofia or the incubus could open their eyes to the dark and lured both into a deep sleep. It was simple now that I knew the true nature of the being holding Sofia’s body hostage. Knowledge is indeed power in the supernatural world.

  I didn’t fall back asleep as quickly. It wasn’t as easy with spells and lore drifting through my head regarding how to go about dealing with the stubborn dead. At least the thoughts were silver lined with the knowledge that I was one step closer to dealing with the vengeful incubus. I didn’t think the spirit was Daudie himself; Daudie would have been angrier. No. That incubus had passed into his ever after and his passing had left his companion spirit alone. Its own spark was too weak to carry it into the ever after for its own happy ending. That was a simple enough fix, though it would claim another precious gem of power from Asbelia’s broach, but I didn’t know if the spirit would be willing. It needed to be. The only way I could think to persuade it to move on was to discover exactly who it had been in life.

  It could well be one of Daudie’s parents, but still the comment it had made to me kept me from committing myself to choosing one of them. I wondered if Daudie’s lair was still intact. I resolved that in the morning when Cleo came that I would be going back to the city in the company of werewolves while I solved a few mysteries that kept my life from getting on with its happily until the ever after.

  In the morning I dismissed the cage of air and had Boytjie help me get a nude Sofia back into my bed after wrapping her in a sheet to protect her modesty. It was a silly move considering that she was a werewolf. They pretty much had no nudity taboos since it was either drop your knickers or spend the change as the wolf in pink panties and never live it down. Boytjie didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything about him helping me in the buff. I wondered how the hospitality of werewolves would go down if I had to spend the night in the city.

  I phoned Livia to make sure she was still up for playing shop with me. In her own words, she was going to be there with bells on. I wasn’t one hundred percent certain that she meant it only figuratively. I had a quick shower while F.C. and Boytjie stretched on the balcony. I didn’t insist on Boytjie clothing himself, but was relieved when he pulled on a pair of briefs to at least pretend to have some modesty.

  I dressed casual and clothed Sofia similarly in a pair of jeans and a loose blouse. Sleeping beauty looked smashing. I wished I could be the one waking her with a kiss, but that would have to wait until her party of two had once again become one.

  I made Boytjie scrambled eggs and toast when he wrinkled his nose at my Froot Loops. On an intuitive leap I made some extra for F.C. While the boys ate I had my large bowl of cereal with extra sugar on top. My reserves felt low. The sugar went down and barely seemed to top me up. I made a mental note to pack chocolates for my trip.

  I told Boytjie to take a shower and not to let Cleo leave without me. He grumbled at the first and almost turned white at the second. I guessed that Boytjie didn’t think telling Cleo what to do was a very smart move, but I shrugged. He’d just have to deal with it. Maybe I was getting more comfortable with giving him his marching orders, or maybe I was a terrible substitute mom.

  I left F.C. with Boytjie and walked the long way round to Which Light, first stopping by Coffee-on-Main to pick up two extra large iced coffees. I picked the chocolate frosty coffees with caramel syrup and shelled out for an extra helping of white chocolate syrup on mine despite the raised eyebrows of the woman who helped me. I was used to people raising their eyebrows when it came to just how much sugar was enough sugar in my opinion. I guess it didn’t help that it all went poof in a magical spell and didn’t end up sugar coating my hips. If I completely abstained from casting spells for a year, maybe it would . Then maybe I’d be a woman with dangerous curves instead of passing for a stick figure with hardly any ass. Dream on, I thought. Like abstaining was ever gonna happen. Magic was more addictive than sex. I’d have suggested more addictive than crack cocaine, but I’ve never tried it.

  I started drinking my iced coffee on the way to the store. Livia joined me halfway there with a tap on the
shoulder that had me reeling round to face her with a dagger eye spell on my mental fingertips.

  “Someone woke on the wrong side of the bed,” Livia crowed like someone who had obviously had sex last night. I was annoyed and at the same time pleased that she and Kevin were still a happy couple. “I suppose if you won’t let me set you up with a girlfriend, a sex toy is definitely out of the question?”

  I snorted and handed her the extra coffee. Pointedly I spun on my heels and continued my brisk pace towards Which Light. Livia fell into step without any problems. Sometimes I hated having an athletic, fit best friend.

  “I’m gonna take one or two of those days off you’ve offered me,” I told her to change the subject before Livia started cataloguing the best sex toys that almost matched the real thing. Frankly I doubted any of them would be Sofia. I was a one track mind when it came to sex at the moment, possession complication notwithstanding. “You win a set of keys to the store and an all you can drink coffee buffet.” Thank goodness Coffee-on-Main didn’t deliver, I thought.

  “Goodie,” Livia said. “Perhaps you’ll get some sex.”

  I rolled my eyes. Livia couldn’t see it from her angle, but it still felt good.

  The store looked the picture of peaceful serenity, but I checked the Victorian Angel Lamp. It was shining its light brightly and cleanly. I wondered if I could pass it off as a superstition if I firmly told Livia not to open the store if the creepy lamp had burned out its bulb. Probably not without sounding like a sexually frustrated loon in Livia’s opinion, I thought with a mental sigh.

  I opened up, showing Livia the keys and walked her through the morning set up. She didn’t have any questions. At least none relating to how the store ran. No, her questions were all about sex. I really needed to have some I could flaunt in front of her just to shut her up. Anxiously I watched the clock as I ran through everything Livia needed to know. When I was done a customer came into the store and while Livia went to see if she could sell them on something expensive, I cast a quick magical note in the store window for the supernatural shoppers. The witch is out, come back later. It wasn’t Shakespeare, but it would hopefully keep clients away from the threshold until I got back.