“I’ve found the book,” said Smoke, his voice muffled as he flipped the pages. “The chapters all start with little stories. Love, work, get the job you want, get money, creativity, childbirth. Ah ha. Here we go. Chapter Seventeen. Warning – psychic influence.”
Amber and Karl waited breathlessly while Smoke quickly read the piece.
“Okay,” he said finally, “apparently this girl who was into magic decided that the guy she loved should get involved, too. So she gathered up some power and put a spell on him. Unfortunately, the spell was not properly shaped and his interest in magic became an obsession. He got so involved in magic that he started to ignore her. By the time she tried to use magic to counter her spell his psychic shields were so strong that the spell backfired and she developed a magical aversion.”
“Does the chapter give any other information?” asked Amber, “and is there a reverse story?”
At the same time, Karl jumped up and started prowling the room.
“I was never involved in magic,” he said, waving his hands in the air. “Never. I hate it.”
Amber raised an eyebrow.
“As far as you know you were never involved, Karl. There are so many spells on you that it’s impossible to tell what each individual spell is for. Besides, it’s interesting that you hate magic so much. Maybe she put the hate spell on you.”
Karl ignored her and continued to pace. Amber returned to the phone.
“Smoke. I need to read that book again and a couple of others from the library.”
“So? Are you heading home?”
“No.”
“That book you want isn’t that rare,” Karl slipped her laptop back under her nose. “In fact, we could probably pick it up down the road. See. I did a search. There’s a big bookstore in the mall across the street and this says that they have a copy in stock.”
“Wonderful. We’ll go and get a copy tonight. But I still need some books from the farm library.”
Amber tapped her pen rapidly on the table until Karl took it from her fingers and she smiled an apology.
“Going back isn’t going to help. Neither is sitting still. I think Karl and I should head for …” She found the information package Davie had sent her, opened Gloria’s file, and scrolled down to the woman’s current address, “Albany tomorrow. We have to see a certain bitch witch and explain some matters of ethics to her. Is that okay with you, Karl?”
“Okay? Hell, great, whatever you want.”
“So.” Amber clicked to a hotel reservation page. “I’m going to make reservations at a hotel in Albany and I’ll email Smoke the address. Smoke? What I need you to do is pack up all the books you can find that have psychic influence or something similar in the index or contents and have them shipped overnight to me there.”
“All of them?”
Amber could easily imagine the look on Smoke’s face as he stood in the middle of the library, staring up at shelf upon shelf of books – and grinned.
“Yes. Please.”
“You got it. Keep us updated, kid. Don’t want to lose touch again.”
The phone clicked off.
“Okay, done,” Amber shut her computer and hesitated only a moment before tucking it and her phone into her handbag. She’d already proven that it was unwise to leave anything behind. Who knew if she’d be getting back to this hotel ever? She turned to Karl who was pacing the floor.
“Ready?”
“To hell with that. I was never involved in magic.”
“I’m not saying you were. That was just one story in the book. There were others. I’m just trying to get an idea, a shape of what the witch who cast the spells on you was intending.”
“That isn’t me,” declared Karl, continuing to pace, “I was not obsessed with magic, she was.”
“And that’s useful information. Listen, Karl, all this does is remind me that it’s possible to influence people’s thinking magically. What I’m looking for is ‘style.’ How this witch thinks. If this is one of the books she’s read, an idea she’s used, then I can start looking at how to deconstruct her spells. Right now it’s like I’m trying to find a black piece of paper inside a sealed box that’s buried under the bottom of the ocean. Any clue, any hint helps me.”
“And is that going to help you get the spells off me?” As he paced he flexed his fingers.
Amber watched him, her concern growing. “Maybe. Everything helps, even if it’s wrong. It’s one more thing to cross off the list.”
“And maybe you can take them off without those books? Take another off tonight?”
Amber hesitated. “I don’t know if we’re up for that tonight. We’re both very tired.”
“It’s gonna be worse in the morning,” Karl reminded her bitterly.
Amber nodded slowly and reached for her fan. “That’s for damn sure.”
The next morning Amber shambled into the bathroom. She’d recharged herself, recharged Karl, and then they’d gone back to sleep. Several hours later she’d woken and climbed into the shower to try and shock her brain into functioning status. It hadn’t worked.
Amber emerged from the bathroom running a comb through her thick wet hair. The thought of standing in front of a mirror blow-drying her hair was too depressing. She lifted a handful and let it fall. One quick glance in the mirror was enough to show that the grey strands now extended from root to tip on almost fifty percent of her hair.
Karl was seated on the side of his bed and paused in his note-taking to give her a brief sympathetic smile, brushed his hand over his own now white hair, then continued his phone conversation.
“Did you find it?” he asked whoever was on the other end. “Good. Call him and put in a double order. Tell him you need it within two days. Don’t let him give you a hard time about unscheduled delivery; it’s not like we don’t give him a decent amount of business. And call that agent back. Tell him we would be delighted, and make arrangements for the earliest possible day for the signing. Have Jake make up a sign as soon as we have a date. And get lots of her books on hand for people to buy. I’ll talk to you about an advertising strategy later,” he tapped his pen impatiently on the pad balanced precariously on his knee as he listened. “That’s fine. I’m sure your brother will be a great addition to the team, and it sounds like we do need the help. I’ll leave it to you to orient him. Look around for another person to hire for the coffee shop. I have to say I’m very impressed with you, Bess. If everything continues smoothly, when I get back in a few days, we’ll arrange for you to get a formal promotion to assistant manager and a pay raise with it.”
The excited tone of the answer was audible to Amber from her position at the other side of the room.
“No, thank you, Bessie. I really appreciate all your hard work while I’m dealing with this emergency. I’ll call later for an update.”
Amber raised a delicate inquiring eyebrow. Karl dropped her phone and made a few more notations.
“I’ve got to thank you, too, Amber,” he said, rising from the bed. “That citrine globe of yours has made a big difference. That was our friend Bess. Apparently we have done more business since the globe was installed than at any other time in the store’s life. My staff is almost dying of shock. They’ve never seen the place so busy. We’re actually having to rush order some stock to keep up levels.”
Amber laughed.
“I didn’t know it was possible to sell that much coffee.”
“Not coffee,” said Karl, grinning broadly and grabbing her for a quick hug. “Books. Books! People are actually buying the books again. Not just the net business. That spell you put on the place is working.”
“But it was only a protection.” Amber’s jaw dropped and all the color drained from her face.
“Well, it has become more than that. Bess says that everyone who comes into the store, first of all goes over to the stone and touches it. Then they go buy a book.”
“Oh,” said Amber in a faint, worried tone, and started biting her finge
rnails, “but I didn’t put a sales spell on the globe. That wouldn’t be ethical.”
“No,” said Karl as he took her hand out of her mouth and gave her a gentle shake. “It’s a bookstore. People go in to buy books. The problem was that no one was staying awake long enough to browse. Now they are actually doing what they want to do. Get a book and read it.”
“Oh. So, I guess that’s okay,” Amber continued to worry at her fingernails, “I didn’t actually make them do something they weren’t already going to do.”
Karl leaned closer.
“Now what’s wrong with that?”
“I have to be so careful,” replied Amber quietly. “The rules for magic are so strict about overriding someone’s self-determination. I don’t want to get in trouble with the powers-that-be. They know where to find me.”
She shut her eyes and reviewed the spell in her mind.
“Near as I can remember that spell has a ‘harms none’ tag to it, so it wouldn’t put sales pressure on anyone.”
Karl released her with a snort.
“Don’t worry too much. Obviously someone has been getting away with breaking the rules for a while if the store and I are anything to go by.”
Amber nodded, her face thoughtful even as she rubbed her multi-colored bracelet.
“I know but it doesn’t matter what they do. I have to face the consequences of my own actions. So I’ll continue to be careful and to worry.”
She gazed into space for a few moments, then shook off her distraction and turned back to Karl. Amber’s sudden brilliant smile warmed Karl to his toes, and filled his heart with dread at the same time. He was beginning to enjoy her mood shifts and flashes of humor. Hugging her was a pleasure, too. Feeling her soft warm body pressed tight against his when she lifted him out of the car, he’d wanted to hold on. Just hold on to her. A few minutes in her embrace and he’d felt heat in parts of his body that had been asleep for years.
But on the other hand, there was always the threat, the thought, of magic. It was so much a part of her. A normal person, he knew, would call the police if a friend were missing. Amber, it seemed, considered searching for the soul on the Ethereal Planes to be the best technique. Not that he could criticize the outcome. It was just … just … His lungs seemed to tighten, his breathing painful.
Magic.
He couldn’t abide the touch of magic.
“I have an idea,” she said brightly.
“Will I like it?” Suspicion dripped from his voice.
“If it works, the odds are good you won’t even remember.”
Karl mock shuddered.
“Oh. One of those ideas.”
“Charming,” drawled Amber, grabbing an untouched notepad. “What I want you to do is re-write these notes to yourself. Instead of writing Gloria’s name I want you to write ‘the bad witch.’ No. The ‘bad guy.’ Or better yet, ‘the coven member in Albany.’”
“What the heck will that do?” Karl shuffled the note pages and started writing.
“It’s an experiment,” said Amber, “and we don’t have much time because I just said her name. Karl, I have to talk to you about magic related stuff and I can’t have you forgetting anything important. My theory is that it’s the name ‘Gloria’ that causes the memory reset. From what you’ve said, she sounds egotistical enough to have set the spell up that way. If when your memory resets this time you read all the things we’ve worked out, and you don’t think that Gloria is the villainess, then you might just remember everything from then on.”
Karl stared at her blankly for a moment, then leaned forward to place a light kiss on her forehead.
“That is brilliant, Holmes. Let’s give it a try.”
Amber blushed to her toes, surprised at the pleasure she felt at his almost indifferent praise, the touch of his lips. It was just a dry, soft touch. She could not have imagined that her body would respond so passionately; wanting to pull him close and teaching him much better places to kiss and be kissed.
Amber pushed open the hotel room door and held it as the bellboy unloaded the boxes of books from his cart.
“It feels like we’ve traveled all day and are still in the same place,” she sighed, looking at the familiar bland wallpaper.
Karl, searching through his pockets for a tip, only grunted. Amber had driven for most of the way while he slept – again. But she’d woken him two hours before complaining that her arms felt like lead.
They’d switched places and she’d slept the remainder of the trip. It was the sight of her pale face leaning against his shoulder that had prompted him to drive directly to the hotel instead of going to the address of the Albany coven member. Much as he might want to confront another member of the group that was slowly killing him, he couldn’t do it now.
She needed to rest. They both needed to eat. Before they had any contact with the next member of the coven, Karl was determined that he wouldn’t be chased off again by a magic word. He formed his hands into fists and stared at them. He wasn’t strong enough yet to deliver the message he hungered to pass on to the witches who’d attacked him. He noticed the bellboy’s startled look and handed over the crushed bills.
“Thanks,” said Karl, mustering a smile with an effort. “Those books weigh a ton.”
A faint thump came from the bedroom. Karl wandered over and leaned against the door jam. Amber was sprawled face down on one of the beds, fully clothed. Her feet were hanging off the edge. Karl sat beside her, pulled off a shoe, and gently massaged her foot.
“I take it we’re having room service tonight,” he said.
Amber raised one hand an inch and let it fall back onto the comforter. Her voice was muffled by the fabric.
“I’ll pay you a thousand dollars to chew my food.”
“Sorry, but I’m not that kind of boy,” Karl reached for the other foot. “I’ll let you sleep for an hour and then we eat. Deal?”
“Deal,” came the barely audible reply.
Karl grinned and went back to the sitting room, closing the door behind him. Amber had insisted on a suite tonight, wanting room to scatter books and notes around. Karl found himself agreeing with the idea, but it chewed his pride just a little that she was paying. Yesterday’s hotel stay was on her as well. When he offered to pay half tonight she’d just smiled and made that ridiculous remark about money not being important. He was determined to pay his share. His life was the one they were saving. Okay, she’d caught some of the black threads from that web, but she’d had a way of gaining strength from the outside; he’d been suffering for years. And if she left … he knew he would die. His store was where the whole thing had started. The rest of the trip was on him.
In the meantime, there were books to study. They’d been too tired to read the ones she’d bought last night and now they had the ones Smoke had sent to add to the pile. He drew his keys across the tape and broke open the first of the boxes. He lifted out the topmost book and scanned the title.
“Magic and the art …” was all he read before fire lanced through his eyes. The book thudded to the floor as Karl pressed his palms against his forehead and stumbled to a chair. As soon as the book left his hands the pain began to ebb. Karl opened his eyes cautiously, blinking in the dim light. The pain stayed distant, but hovered warningly within his skull. He leaned forward and took hold of another book. He didn’t even complete the first word of the title before the pain returned, increased. Nausea rolled in his stomach and he sank back in the chair. A soft sound of complaint passed through his teeth and he dug his fingers into the arms of the chair. The muscles of his jaws locked and ached.
He’d triggered another spell!
In the store he’d assigned the other associates the responsibility for unpacking the New Age junk. Just passing through that section of the store was enough to give him a small headache. Now he knew there was a reason. Another fucking spell! The coven was keeping him from reading anything that might free him.
“To hell with them all.”
> Karl slowly flexed his fingers and forced his rigid muscles to relax. His head throbbed with each beat of his heart. He reached down and grabbed the fallen book. His body spasmed, bowing up in the chair. Grimly he clung to the book as the pain intensified. Each nerve burned. His cramped muscles screamed for oxygen, yet still he held on. The cover bent and soft cardboard tore under the pressure of his fingers. Tremors grew to violent jerking and the mangled book flew from his hands across the room, slamming against the wall. Once it was out of his hand the shaking subsided and Karl slid to the floor.
His heart was still thundering in his chest when he levered himself to his knees. He crawled the two steps to the open box and reached in again. Bracing himself against the pain he pulled out the next book. To his surprise he held the familiar green and black cover of a ‘Nitwits’ book. He blinked and turned it over to read the title.
“The Nitwit’s Guide to All Things Magickal?” Karl snorted. “Yeah. Sure. Right. Smoke must have put this one in as a joke.”
He flipped through the pages randomly, then dropped it on a side table. He reached for the next book. As before spears of fire stabbed into his brain and his vision blurred. He held onto the book for as long as he could. Holding it to his chest. Rolling so that the book was pinned between his body and the floor. Yet again the book flew from him. Breathing heavily Karl repeated the process two more times before climbing slowly back into the chair, rubbing his aching head.
When the pain ebbed he picked up the rejected Nitwits book. There was no stab, no pain from this one. Probably because it wouldn’t help. It was not as if witches would put their deepest secrets and most profound knowledge in that type of book. But maybe he might pick up something. Some hint. There might be some basics buried in it under some of the simplistic fluff.
Chapter Thirteen
“I thought you were going to wake me?” complained Amber, pushing her hair out of her eyes.
Pen in hand Karl looked up from his position, sprawled between two chairs reading a book liberally covered in sticky notes. He glanced at the wall clock. It was well past ten o’clock. If they were lucky room service would send them up something more than sandwiches and coffee.
First Destroy All Giant Monsters (The World Wide Witches Research Association) Page 28