Charm His Pants Off

by Cate Martin

  "Because the elaborate pranks would require physics knowledge to pull off," Sophie said.

  "Exactly. It's like that, only with spells. None of the spells were actually electrical, but she's using her knowledge of how electricity works to make these other spells."

  "Like pranks?" I asked, still confused.

  "No, her work was mainly joining together some of the other spells," Brianna said. “Opposites attract, right? She could fuse spells of opposite effects together so smoothly I nearly couldn't tease them apart to dismantle them."

  "How long do you think they were planning this?" I asked. "Months and months, or on the fly?"

  "That I would really love to know," Brianna said, looking back at her notepad. "May doesn't know much about Evanora, except the students have sometimes seen her about town and Miss Zenobia has warned them all never to speak to her and to run from her if necessary."

  "So past Miss Zenobia knows this is a problem but isn't solving it?" I said.

  "Miss Zenobia's job is to protect the time portal in the orchard, not to rid the world of troublesome witches," Brianna said. "And I wouldn't rule out her knowing we're here and leaving it to us to take care of Evanora." She tore off the sheet and stuffed it in her bag then wrote another question on the fresh page.

  "What are you asking now?" Sophie asked.

  "If they've seen any of them around, and when," Brianna said. "We know they've been letting Otto see them. I imagine they're keeping themselves well away from Miss Zenobia. But they might be lingering around, watching the school to see when Miss Zenobia is occupied. Might be worth knowing."

  "No time," Sophie said, getting up from the table as we all heard the distinctive hum of the motor of Otto's car. "Best not leave that out. Let's go."

  "I wish we had narrowed it down more," Brianna said, stuffing her things back into her bag and double-checking she had her wand inside her coat. I touched my own, fighting the urge to flinch at the feel of its shape through the wool. "From what you described, Evanora sounds like she has glamour magic, illusions and that."

  "She also had memory magic, right?" I said. "She made everyone but Nick forget about the wardrobe and the body that she took from the police station."

  "That might not have been her even if that note she left implied it,” Brianna said. "It's highly unlikely she has so much skill in two different disciplines."

  We let the matter drop, running down the stairs to reach the door before Otto could knock. He smiled his usual flirty smile at Sophie, gave Brianna a quick nod of hello, and then looked at me for the briefest of moments before looking away.

  Something was wrong.

  "Otto," I said, stepping closer to catch at the sleeve of his coat.

  "It will be fine," he said. "I'll keep him safe; you have my word."

  "Keep who safe?" Sophie asked. "You said you'd keep Benny out of it."

  "And so I have," Otto said, spinning the ring of keys in his hand as if demonstrating that he was the driver this evening.

  "No," I said. "Otto, no way."

  "Who is it?" Sophie demanded, exasperated.

  But Brianna had already connected the dots. "It's Edward. He's in the car."

  "He saw me leave here earlier and found me at the club," Otto said, putting his hand on mine still gripping his coat and using it to guide me down the front walk to the car. "He knows something is up. There's no getting rid of him now. And really, he's probably safer with you than anywhere else."

  "That's likely true," Brianna said.

  "He's worried about you," Otto said. "He's been watching this place constantly since New Year's Eve. He's missed so much work his job is in jeopardy. And nothing I can say is putting him at ease. He needs to hear it from you."

  "I can't put him at ease either," I said, but Otto just opened the back door and all but shoved me into the seat next to Edward. Brianna squeezed in after me, Sophie taking the front seat next to Otto.

  "Hi," Edward said, adjusting his hat as if he had considered taking it off to greet me then thought better of it.

  "I wanted to keep you out of this," I said. "I worked very hard to keep you out of this."

  "Well, I'm in it," Edward said. Otto pulled out into the sparse traffic with a lurch that threw me against Edward. I might have been a touch too forceful in getting myself back into the middle of the seat.

  "Hey," Edward said gently.

  "Sorry," I grumbled.

  "Amanda, I'm not here to make you uncomfortable or make any awkward speeches," he said. "You made your feelings very clear, and I respect that. But after what I saw at Mina Fox's house and what happened on New Year's Eve, I know that whenever I see you, trouble is coming close behind you, and you can use some allies."

  "I would prefer not to put you into danger," I said.

  "But Otto you're willing to thrust into any fire?" he asked.

  Otto barked out a laugh that stopped when Sophie poked him hard in the ribs.

  "Otto is different," I said.

  "How?" Edward asked. "We grew up the same. We developed the same skills to get by. I can hold my own, same as him."

  I didn't ask him to elaborate. I felt the gun he wore on his hip every time the jostling of the car threw me against him.

  "You chose a different path, buddy," Otto said.

  "And we all know how that worked out," Edward said. "Maybe the other path should've been mine all along."

  "Not if I have anything to say about it," Otto said.

  "Apparently you don't, since he's here now," I said.

  "He's here now, and there's no getting rid of him," Otto said. "In fact, we're all here. If you witches wouldn't mind doing whatever it is you do. I want to hide the car, and it won't do any good if your friends know just where I do it."

  I closed my eyes, expanding my awareness, all too aware that I'd not yet sensed any of them when they didn't want me to.

  "I think it's clear," I said at last.

  "Me too," Sophie agreed.

  Otto checked all of his mirrors. The nearest cars were a block behind us, even farther away in front. He switched off his lights then made a sharp left turn in the middle of the block. I nearly screamed, certain he was driving us all into a brick wall even as he gunned the accelerator. But there was an alley. It was almost too narrow for the car, and he lost the mirror on his passenger side to something protruding from the bricks.

  Then we were in a sort of courtyard between the buildings. The space was still tight, but we could just ease the doors open enough to squeeze out of the car and follow Otto to a stack of garbage cans.

  "Where are we?" I asked, whispering although I wasn't sure why.

  "Center of the hurricane," Otto said, and he and Edward started pulling cans aside until a doorway was exposed. Otto opened it with a swift kick and waved us all inside.

  Without a word between them, Sophie and Brianna both pulled their wands and cast spells to fill the space within with magical light. The silvery glow was too bright at first, but it settled down to a level just strong enough to illuminate what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. The rafters hung with dust-clogged spiderwebs, and the tiles were stained with streaks of leaks past, but the only crates or barrels I saw now were a pile of damaged ones in the far corner.

  "What's the plan?" Edward asked as Sophie and Brianna circled the interior of the building.

  "I don't know if we have one yet," I admitted. Then Sophie and Brianna came back to stand with us nearer the door, wands lowered. "Anything?"

  "No other doors than this one, which was blocked by those cans," Sophie said.

  "I think it's just what it looks like," Brianna said. "A building that time forgot. It certainly doesn't smell like anyone's been in here in years."

  "No, squatters leave a distinctive odor," Otto said. "You'd know if anyone had been in here."

  "How did you find it?" I asked.

  "Careful inspection of a lot of maps," he said. "This is going to work perfectly."

  "For what?" I asked
.

  "For a trap," he said. "You three can set up here, whatever it is you do."

  "There are wards," Brianna said, still looking around. "Protective spells. Defensive ones." Then she looked at Otto, giving him a wide grin. "Magic circles can be very effective for traps."

  "And what are we doing in the meantime?" Edward asked.

  "That's easy, my friend," Otto said, slipping an arm around Edward's shoulders. "You and me, we're bait."

  Chapter 17

  All of those mornings with all of those rituals to maintain the integrity of the time bridge had given the three of us an acute awareness of each other's magic. It was paying off now, when time was short and we didn't want the vulnerability of putting ourselves into a deep state removed from the world around us.

  Not that I was much use. I could pull energy from the world around us, but without my wand I couldn't direct it towards any goal. I could just pass it to Sophie and Brianna as they worked. But I knew that was important too. Whatever happened next, we would be in real trouble if any of us were exhausted before the fight even began.

  Sophie danced around the perimeter of the space, the toes of her shoes leaving loopy sweeps in the dust of ages that was piled up thicker nearer the walls. I kept my awareness in the physical world, but I still sensed what she was doing. It was like I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck lifting up, particularly when her dance spiraled closer to me. She was cloaking us and protecting us and leaving ribbons of energy that would function like laser lights in a museum vault. She would know if anything crossed them, even if the warehouse were to be plunged back into darkness.

  Brianna in the meantime was focusing on conjuring a magic circle. This was different than the one we had done before when we'd removed the fog from our brains. This time she was standing outside of the space she had defined on the floor with another long crocheted chain of yarn. I watched the tip of her wand as she swished it over and over again, drawing arcane shapes in the air to match the words she was constantly chanting. She worked her way around the circle several times, always adding more and more layers to her spells.

  I didn't like Otto and Edward being our bait, not even when Otto amended his plan from both of them being bait to Otto being bait and Edward being backup.

  But I also couldn't argue that his plan was probably the best we were going to come up with. If any of the three of us went out looking for witches, we'd surely find ourselves dealing with all thirteen, not a single one alone. None of them would risk it.

  But Otto on his own? He could lure one in. A single witch wouldn't fear for her safety, especially if she only intended to follow him, to see where he went. She probably wouldn't even be bothered if she noticed Edward trailing them.

  A single witch, trapped inside our magic circle. Surely we had enough power together, the three of us, to hold just one. To get some answers.

  So Sophie had wrapped Otto in a magical breeze that followed him like an irresistible aroma, sure to catch the attention of anyone sensitive to magic. She tried to make it look like he'd just passed too close to some innocent spell she had been spinning, but we had no idea if that ruse would work.

  But maybe it didn't matter. They were watching Otto to get to us. If they didn't take the bait, though, I wasn't sure what we'd do next.

  They were waiting for something, but what?

  "He's coming," Sophie said, stopping her dance in mid-spin.

  "To the shadows," Brianna said and extinguished the lights with a flick of her wand. She and Sophie disappeared towards the back of the building, but I moved over to the pile of broken barrels and crates, to be closer to the door. I crouched low, one hand on the cold tile of the warehouse floor.

  My other hand inched toward my wand, but I felt a spasm like I'd bumped my funny bone. The wand was still not my friend. I touched Cynthia's amulet instead. At least it was still protecting me.

  There was a loud bang as Otto once more opened the door with a swift kick. Then he strolled into the darkness of the warehouse, hands in pockets and feet shuffling through the dust, whistling as if this was all entirely normal for close to midnight on a Sunday night.

  I saw a shadow in the doorway, an inky shape scarcely outlined against the darkness of the courtyard beyond. I could see no details, just a general sense of a human-shaped figure wearing a voluminous hood. One of the witches.

  Then I felt that strange spasm again tingling up my arm, and I could swear that my wand was trying to jump out of the hidden pocket inside my coat. I slapped my hand on it, but to the touch it was as inert as ever.

  Otto was still whistling and trying to feign like he was looking for something, but since the room was empty it wasn't very convincing.

  The figure in the doorway advanced silently into the room, seeming to bring that deeper darkness with her through the gloom. She was drawing closer to the spot where Brianna had cast her magic circle, but her progress was painfully slow across the floor.

  Then someone else was in the doorway, almost as silent as that ghostly figure. Edward. He slipped inside the warehouse then gently eased the door shut. Then he reached for a metal pole left leaning against the wall near the door and fit one end at about the point where a doorknob should be then wedged the other end in the tiled floor.

  There was a soft hiss and then a click as the pipe locked into place. Softer than a mouse's sneeze, and yet the shadowy figure in the middle of the room stopped and turned back.

  She wasn't in the circle. Not yet.

  I could feel Brianna and Sophie near me. I didn't even have to go into the world of threads to sense them now. They were waiting the same as I was. Just a few more steps. Their anxiety was like a scream inside my head. I had to tune it out.

  Otto had reached the far wall of the warehouse. He lit a match, holding it high as if to examine the bricked-over doorway before him.

  Still, the shadow didn't move those last few steps. Otto knew she hadn't, because if she had the three of us would've come out of hiding. But she had stopped following him. He had run out of options.

  He turned just as the match burned down. I got a brief glimpse of his face before the light sputtered out. I could hear him digging another out of the box, but I also saw something else.

  The shadow was moving. Not forward, not like we wanted her to. No, she was planting her feet as if preparing to make an attack.

  She was drawing her wand.

  There was a scraping sound as Otto struck the match, but by then I was already halfway across the warehouse, arms out in front of me as I charged at the shadow.

  My feet might have been too loud, slapping on the tile as I ran. But then, I was pretty sure I was also yelling some sort of battle cry. At any rate, the woman heard me coming and lowered the wand she had aimed at Otto, turning back to see me instead.

  It was Evanora. Her eyes widened as she saw me barreling down on her, but she had no time to raise her wand. I struck her square in the middle, lifting her off of the floor and hurling her into Brianna's circle.

  She shrieked, and there was a flash of light as the spells triggered, but I didn't get a good look at it because my own feet were slipping over the dusty tiles. I was going to tumble into the magic circle myself.

  Not a scenario we had prepped for. But there was nothing to catch myself with but the floor.

  Then my coat hiked up, choking me as I was propelled back. Away from the circle. Into Edward's arms.

  "Steady," he said, holding me until I got my feet under me, his eyes never leaving the light show in the middle of the room.

  Evanora was not pleased. She was screaming in anger, but the words she was screaming were spells. She directed them with her wand, but each fizzled and died on impact with Brianna's circle. The light at each impact was blinding, and the air was filling with the smell of ozone. My hair was standing straight on end like the bride of Frankenstein.

  But we were safe.

  Brianna and Sophie came out of the shadows, circling around to join Edward a
nd I. Then Otto too was with us. We all watched as Evanora finally expended the last of her power in a useless display that made not so much as a crack in Brianna's spells.

  "Finished?" I asked. Evanora just seethed. Her hood had fallen back, the cloak hanging crookedly from her shoulders. She must have pushed her power too hard, to judge from the thin trickle of blood running down from one nostril.

  I thought she was going to renew her attacks on the circle, with her fists if that was all she had left, but then she seemed to pull herself together. She took out a handkerchief and pressed it to her nose, then smoothed down her hair and straightened her clothing until she was once more the dazzling moll that could banter with gangsters like an equal.

  "Your plan isn't going to work," she said to us. Then her eyes darted over to Otto. "Mr. Meyer. You're going to be in so much hot water."

  Otto just shrugged.

  "We're going to ask you some questions," Brianna said, taking out her notebook.

  "Spare me," Evanora said, rolling her eyes. "I have nothing to say to the likes of you."

  "We're curious about your magic," Brianna said.

  "That's what you're starting with? My magic? You're not even going to ask me who I work for? But that's my favorite bit." She drew herself into a stance meant to evoke a mobster's heavy and lowered her voice to a hoarse growl. "Who do you work for?"

  "Despite the note you left in our time, I don't think you're the one with time magic," Brianna went on as if Evanora hadn't said anything at all. She glanced up from her notebook and gave Brianna a hard look, like a stern teacher waiting for an answer. Then she looked back down at her book. "No? Didn't think so. I doubt you're the one affecting anyone's memories either. Again, despite your little note."

  "I can make men remember me," Evanora said, letting her cloak slip from her shoulders and giving Otto a smoldering look. Brianna looked at Otto like a scientist checking for observable effects from an experiment, but Otto just shrugged.