Suddenly Spellbound

by Erica Lucke Dean

  Understatement of the century.

  I couldn’t imagine Marion taking much in stride. “She was humiliated? Angry?”

  “Humiliated and angry didn’t even begin to describe her emotional state.” Dad steepled his hands and rested his chin on the point. “The McKies have a rather long and distinguished pedigree in the sorcery world, and as I said, the match between our families had been planned for generations. So when I, uh—”

  “Jilted her?” The fact that he’d left her for my mother hadn’t escaped my notice, but for some reason, a twinge of sympathy for Marion festered in me.

  “I suppose so, yes.” Dad lowered his head and exhaled with an uncomfortable chuckle. “My hasty departure had shamed her in front of the whole clan. And a lack of other available matches forced her to marry an aging clan leader, a widower, and not a warm man at that. Rumors went around for years that he’d killed his first wife for failing to give him a son.”

  I gasped. “How Henry the Eighth of him.”

  Dad let out another tense laugh. “My rash decisions had trapped her in a loveless marriage with a cruel man who’d lost most of his faculties. But over time, Marion managed to align herself with McDougall’s power center. When her husband died while Liam was still a boy, Marion rose up as the clan leader.”

  My brain ached with information overload. Dad’s confession explained why Marion would hold a grudge against him for all these years, but not how Liam—or I—fit into the equation. “Dad, I still don’t get what any of this has to do with me. You broke her heart. That’s awful. But why am I here?”

  My parents shared a strained look, and my stomach dipped. “What?”

  Mom cleared her throat. “I’m sure you’d noticed your father and I waited a while before having you, but what you probably didn’t realize is we tried to have children for years with no luck. The doctors chalked it up to bad timing, but I always felt as if something more sinister was in play. And then your father—”

  Dad took over. “I’d heard through an old acquaintance that Marion struggled with fertility for years. I felt guilty, of course, especially given her husband. But then when she did finally conceive—”

  “We found out we were expecting just a few months later.” Mom jumped back into the conversation with a vengeance. “I swear to you, it was as if Marion had cast a spell to keep us from bearing children until she was able to.”

  “I didn’t believe it at first. She would’ve had to be…” Dad lowered his voice to a faint whisper. “Well, not just a little bit insane. And accepting that would mean we were in far more danger than I’d ever dreamed. Soon after giving birth to Liam, Marion petitioned the clan council to sanction me for having broken our agreement. My sins had come back to haunt me. ”

  “They couldn’t have just fined you? A ‘here’s a few grand and a slap on the wrist’ sort of thing?”

  “Unfortunately, no. Not only had my parents agreed to the arrangement, but I’d signed a contract, something similar to a prenuptial agreement, if you will. But stronger. It involved dark magic.”

  “You ditched out on a magical contract, so Marion wanted you punished. And what? You offered me up in trade?” The conversation was heading in a direction that made me uncomfortable and not just a little pissed off.

  “Oh, no, Ivie!” Mom grabbed my hands and squeezed them between hers. “Your father would never offer you up in trade.”

  “No, mah wee bonnie lass, you were always what, or rather who, Marion wanted. She demanded a betrothal for a betrothal. She wouldn’t rest until my daughter was promised to her son.”

  “If I wasn’t even born yet, how did she know you’d even have a girl?” I darted my eyes back and forth between them.

  My parents shared another uneasy glance, and this time my stomach plummeted.

  Dad leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “The infertility, the sudden pregnancy, all of it was her doing. Her hatred had made her stronger than I could’ve possibly imagined. She wielded dark magic the way your mother wields a credit card.”

  Mom scoffed, but her blush told me he’d been dead on.

  I blew out a breath and sank back into the cushions. “So I’m guessing the council agreed?”

  Dad nodded. “I always figured I’d have years before I had to face up to it. And there was always the possibility you’d be born sine magicae.”

  Sine Magicae?

  Mom must have read the confusion in my face. “A mere mortal, dear.”

  I nodded and waited for Dad to continue.

  “As you grew up, I regretted not fighting the council. Signs of your impending magic were everywhere. To say I had second thoughts would be a gross understatement.”

  “And you never told Mom any of this?”

  “Oh, God, no, not until it was clear Marion would be making the trip. I’d hoped you and Liam would…” He shook his head as if to clear the thought. “On the day you were born, the council mandated that you be bound to Liam on your thirteenth birthday. Dread filled me until I couldn’t sleep at night. The only way I knew to prevent it was to block your magic. I put a spell on you when you were young, but with every growth spurt, I would have to refresh it. I hoped the clan would scry for you, and when they didn’t sense your abilities, the mandate would be null and void.”

  “But…?”

  “I had this brilliant idea to cloak myself as well. If I took myself off the radar, they’d have an even harder time searching for you with a locator spell. You can’t scry for a sorcerer when no sorcerer exists.”

  “What happened?”

  Dad leaned back in his chair and laughed. “My simple little cloaking spell had a few side effects I didn’t expect.”

  I widened my eyes and waited.

  “Fleas.” As if the mere mention of them made him itchy, Dad scratched his head.

  I laughed. I remembered the dog well, and then Dad had somehow managed to swap the dog for a cat and ended up as my trusty familiar during the ordeal with my cheating ex. Oh, my God, Matt! “So when I turned Matt into a skunk—”

  “You set off a signal that lit up Scotland.”

  “That’s how they found me?”

  Dad’s lips pressed into a hard line, and he nodded. “I did try to mitigate the damages as much as possible, but as I was a cat, my paws were tied. Jack did the right thing, keeping you moving. That threw the clan off for a while. And of course, they couldn’t find me anywhere on the map, so the possibility of an anomaly must have tripped them up. But once you’d changed me back, there we were, like two glowing lanterns in a church window for all the world to see.

  “The first letter came just weeks before Liam arrived. And when he got here, well, I had to fib just a little when he learned you were already engaged to another man. That wouldn’t have gone over well with Marion. Between that and the trouble with the FBI, I’ve had my hands full.”

  “What little fibs did you tell Liam?”

  He waved me off. “That’s not important anymore. The boy has been unbelievably helpful over the past few weeks. He’s been well trained. I only wish I had his control. And the transporting from place to place, that’s a rare gift, indeed.”

  “So basically, you’re saying you let things go on the way they were because Liam’s been helping you dig yourself out of trouble?”

  “Well… there is that, but if I could have sent him on his merry way, I would have. Discovering his talents was just an added bonus. You must know, I feel horrific guilt for all of this and what it’s meant for you. I should have told you right away. Doing the spell without your knowledge was a bad decision on my part, and I only hope you can forgive me someday, but I’m afraid nothing would have changed. If you don’t agree to the binding with Liam, Marion will retaliate. None of us will be safe. She’ll hold your mother and me responsible. And I’
m afraid Jack will be her first target.”

  My pulse thundered so hard that I felt it in my fingertips, my throat, my hair. My father had jilted Marion and brought all of this down on me in the process. Not that he would have known that would happen when he walked away. But none of that would help me now. I was totally screwed.

  “I don’t know what to think.” I stood and paced over the plush carpet. I sank into the deep pile, but my feet must have been as numb as the rest of me because I felt nothing. “Liam’s… nice. And I do feel something for him, but I also know what I feel isn’t real. It’s the product of that little spell you put on me.”

  Dad, at least, had the decency to blush. “A necessary evil, I’m afraid. I couldn’t have you rejecting him offhand. He would have gone straight to his mother and told her we’d failed to honor another betrothal.”

  My heart skipped as a sudden thought hit me. “Liam’s feelings aren’t just a result of that spell, are they?”

  “You have to understand,” Dad explained. “He was groomed from a young age to accept your betrothal. It would’ve never occurred to him to reject it.”

  “This is crazy.” I dropped into my seat again. “Straight-up insane. You know that, right?”

  Dad shrugged. “Old traditions die hard.”

  Old traditions needed to die. Hard.

  “So I have no say in this? I marry Liam, or everyone I love suffers?”

  My mother used the sleeve of her blouse to dab at her eyes.

  “It’s incredibly unfair.” Dad gripped my shoulders and looked me dead in the eyes. “And for that, I am immeasurably sorry.”

  Nora arrived at nine, giving my parents the perfect excuse to escape before the shock wore off and I went all ninja witch on them. Not a bad idea. In fact, it sounded better and better with every passing minute, especially after Nora scolded me for wrinkling my dress. My ugly emerald-green wedding dress.

  She shot me a look that would’ve had big strong Callum’s balls climbing back inside his body. I didn’t even have balls, and I shuddered. “This wasn’t wrinkled when I left ya here with it.”

  “You told me to take a nap.” Which, of course, I didn’t. But she didn’t need to know that.

  “Not on your dress!” She huffed, grumbling as she scooped up the dress as if it were her child. “This’ll have to be sent down to the laundry to be steamed, unless you’d care to use a little magic to fix it. Oh, wait. The block. I forgot.”

  I laughed. “Trust me. You wouldn’t want my help anyway, unless you’d like to see that dress turn into a potted plant or something. In case you hadn’t heard, I’m not exactly known for my control.” So I lied. I’d gotten much better at the simple spells, but even if I was able, I’d refuse to lift a glowing blue finger to help the McDougalls drag me to the altar. I held on to the hope that something would make us late, and the entire hotel would turn into a shoe box at the stroke of midnight. A girl could wish, anyway.

  “No. That would never do.” Nora muttered to herself as she stomped to the door. “You’d better get in the shower. And unless you want to be embarrassed later, I suggest you shave.”

  My lips fell open, but not a sound came out. Would my humiliation never end? I’d become the poster child for living with the sins of the father.

  The girl who’d been so sweet to me not two hours earlier slammed the door behind her as she went out.

  I cranked on the hot water and stepped under the scalding spray, wondering how my life had spun so completely out of control. If only I’d let Matt kick me out all those months ago instead of turning him into a woodland creature… or if I’d left Dad in his kitty-cat form. Maybe the clan wouldn’t have found me. I knew my thoughts were bordering on selfish, but didn’t I deserve a little happiness in my life?

  I’d only finished shaving one leg when Nora pranced back in with a perfectly pressed gown. “That was fast.” Too fast.

  A scarlet stain spread over her cheeks. “I ran into Duffy in the lobby. He was kind enough to wave his wand over it.”

  The images her comment brought to mind made me blush. “I hope you were being metaphorical.”

  “Of course.” She giggled, and I had to squash the image of any member of Marion’s guard whipping out his wand and rubbing it all over my dress. “Did you need any help in there? You’re gonna use every drop of hot water in the hotel if you don’t hurry.”

  I made a few more passes over my shins before rinsing off and wrapping myself in one of the hotel’s luxurious bath towels. “What time is it?”

  Nora’s impish face lit up. “Time for hair and makeup.”

  Over an hour later, my hair was curled within an inch of its life, making me wish I still had the pixie cut from my pre-sorceress days. And Nora must have learned how to apply makeup from the cast of La Cage aux Folle because I looked a little like my dad in drag.

  “You don’t think I’m wearing a little too much…” I waved my hand around my entire face.

  “Mascara?” Nora studied my false eyelashes like an entomologist with a new species.

  “No. Well, yes. But what I really mean is, I don’t normally wear this much makeup. I’m pretty sure Liam won’t even recognize me.”

  “You look beautiful.” The vacant look in her eyes told me she had no idea what I meant. Then the clouds cleared, and she whipped her head toward the sitting room.

  “Who… was that cleared… no one informed me.” Bits and pieces of a conversation between Callum and another man filtered through the door. I could tell Callum was agitated. “No one sees Miss McKie without permission from Chief McDougall!”

  Someone wanted to get into my room in a big way, and I could only think of one person who’d stand up to a half-naked sorcerer to see me.

  I bolted across the room, dragging Nora behind me as she tried to keep me from tripping on the train of my skirt. We almost wiped out twice on the way to the door. I would’ve never expected Nora to be so athletic.

  I practically ripped the door from the hinges. “Callum, what’s going—” My eyes practically popped out of my head, and I choked on my tongue, unable to make more than a few guttural sounds as I stood face to face with Jack and his older, more broody brother, Jon, wearing Clan McKie traditional kilts with matching blue-and-green plaid sashes… and nothing else.

  Chapter 22

  Willing my legs to hold on just a little bit longer before giving out, I eyed Jack, drinking him in from head to toe and paying special attention to his exposed chest. Even with his hair sticking up in all directions and bags under his blue eyes, he looked amazing—tired, but amazing. I resisted the urge to tackle him to the floor and bit back a groan. The ever-present tingle that materialized whenever we were near each other prickled over my skin as an entire colony of butterflies set off from their hiding places to flutter around my stomach.

  This is so not the time to fall apart, Ivie!

  While Jon argued—in a far better Scottish accent than mine—that my dad had sent them to escort me on his behalf, Jack returned my perusal with a barely contained snicker. The urge to glare at Nora and scream, “I told you so!” took a backseat to Callum’s icy glare. The gears in my brain spun like a hamster on a wheel. If I didn’t come up with something fast, we’d all be toast. Finally, an idea came to me. “Oh, good. You’re here!”

  Callum whipped around as Nora tripped over her shoes to get a better look at Jon. I couldn’t blame her. If I hadn’t already fallen for Jack, Jon’s devil-may-care attitude and swagger might have sucked me in like a tractor beam. And I had to admit, he looked good, even if he did need a haircut. His dark hair curled up where it grazed his neck. As if he’d heard my thoughts, Jon shot me a wink, and I sent up a quick prayer that Nora didn’t recognize the Amazing Jonathon Blake from his TMZ appearances.

  “Dad said he’d be sending a few of his favorite clansmen to
escort me to the ballroom. I hope that’s not a problem, Callum.” I flashed him a toothy grin and batted my twenty-pound eyelashes in his direction. With the smile frozen on my face and my eyes twitching, he probably thought I was having a seizure.

  “Why didn’t I know about this?” Nora narrowed her eyes, giving both Jon and Jack another once-over before turning her attention back to me.

  “Come on, Nora. You’re so big on tradition, I figured you’d already know that, in America, it’s customary for the bride’s family to walk her down the aisle. Since we aren’t having a traditional American ceremony, my dad wanted to at least give me that much.” It wasn’t hard to bring out the tears under the circumstances. Just seeing Jack’s face fall when I said “bride” was enough to bring them back to the surface.

  Nora lowered her eyes to the floor, but I caught her peeking under her lashes at Jon more than once. “Yes, of course. That makes perfect sense.”

  Callum crossed his massive arms and huffed. The vein in his forehead pulsed as if sending out Morse code, and I wondered if sorcerers could stroke out. “Nobody cleared this with me.”

  “There she is!”

  We all turned in unison as if we’d synchronized the motion.

  In what had to be the most constricting Herve Leger dress she owned, Chloe alternated between power-walking and jogging down the hall toward us. The lilac strapless bandage dress wrapped her body like a tourniquet from chest to mid-thigh. I had no idea how she took a breath in that thing, let alone walked.

  Chloe stopped directly in front of Callum, her Lucite platform heels bringing her almost to his shoulder. “Well, hello, handsome.” She bit her lip and reached out to grab his arm, giving it a squeeze.

  Callum turned so red he was almost purple, and a violent cough ripped out of me as I tried to keep from laughing.