Death's Endless Enchanter

by Ruby Loren

  “Hey guys, James is an idiot, am I right?” He said, obviously misunderstanding their argument.

  “Oh, totally. He’s a moron,” Leah said, shifting subjects as smoothly as a snake slithers through grass.

  “Yeah, I’d totally quit working for him, but the pay is pretty sweet,” Rich, the guitarist said.

  January and Leah nodded automatically, both not having bothered to check the money that had gone into their bank accounts.

  “Is that what happened to the last bass player and drummer? They quit?” January asked.

  Rich moved his head from side to side. “Sort of. They just spent too much time around James, I guess, and that was that. They tried to tell him what he was doing wrong and he didn’t want to hear it. Definitely don’t say anything like that to him. He’s not a guy who takes advice well. All we can hope to do is hang on and pray he doesn’t play too many more live gigs, or all of his fans are gonna figure out what a tool he is.”

  January turned her head and found Leah watching her with an expression on her face that January didn’t much like.

  “You know what? I think James should be told all of this to his face. It’s not fair to let him carry on thinking he’s the chosen one, while we slog it out. I’m going to tell him he’s a moron,” Leah said and marched off in the direction of the budding star’s dressing room.

  Rich frowned at January. “Was that serious? She’s kidding, right?” He said, nervously jogging along beside January when she started walking after Leah.

  “You can get yourself kicked out, but I’m staying!” She called after the striding vampire, who shot her a nasty grin.

  “I’m sure I can manage to involve you too,” Leah called back.

  January quickened her pace. “Don’t you dare! I like doing this!”

  Leah flicked her pixie hair back and stuck out her tongue. “Tough luck,” she said, booting open James’ dressing room door and striding in.

  “You are not ruining this,” January said and dove after her, flattening the slighter drummer to the ground. James looked up from the conversation he’d been having with Ollie, as all hell broke out in front of him.

  His face broke into a grin. “Ladies! There’s enough of me to go around.”

  January only just managed to deflect the drumstick that Leah broke and threw with deadly accuracy towards a rather personal area of James. If it had hit him, at least the high notes would no longer be such a challenge.

  “We just wanted to say…” January ducked a punch and glared at Leah. That one had been faster than human speed, and James, Ollie, and Rich, were all watching. “…how much fun we had tonight,” she carried on, trying her best to make her unpredictable magic wrap around Leah, without really knowing what she was doing.

  Leah pushed back with her own magic. January had just enough time to think about how weird it was that no one could see the battle that was taking place, before the ceiling fell down on Leah.

  “Oh, hell!” Ollie yelled, running forwards to help her out from under several ceiling tiles and a whole lot of paint flakes. “This building can’t have been inspected properly. We can sue… Are you okay? I’ll call an ambulance,” he said.

  He kept looking at January, clearly wondering about the fight scene that had taken place, just moments before.

  “Oh, uh, the whole martial arts thing we do… we like to attack each other when we each least expect it. It’s good practice,” January said, remembering Leah’s old excuse.

  It was late. That was the best they were getting.

  Behind all of the fussing men’s backs January couldn’t resist giving Leah a smug smile as she was forced to pretend to be in a sufficiently human level of pain.

  It looked like the band would be staying together after all.

  12

  January frowned up at the sign above the bakery. It was too bad that she wasn’t allowed to change it, but Simon’s branding had to stay in place until the year was up. She knew it was just a name, but she hated the idea that people would still believe he was the mastermind behind the operation.

  She walked into the bakery and stuck her hands on her hips. All in all, the interior wasn’t bad. It just looked a little unfinished. Simon had wanted to make a fast buck, not a pretty place, so the look was… basic. She ran a hand down the bare brick walls and decided they’d make a great place to showcase local artwork. It was hardly an original idea, but it was a great way to decorate the bakery and get the local community on your side.

  She glanced at the clock on the wall and realised she had another ten minutes to spare before the doors opened for the first time. She’d made all of the cakes and tray bakes for the day and had another cake still baking in the oven. It had taken her forever to do. Simon’s misuse of magic had looked far more tempting by the time the cakes were done. I’ll just have to hire someone, she thought, flipping open her laptop.

  Despite Simon’s assurances about his blog, she still didn’t trust him an inch.

  “It looks like I was right not to trust him, too,” January muttered when she read the post that had been published ten minutes ago. She skimmed the article about how the black unicorn had decided to settle down and marry the new wolf in town. The work of fiction would have been annoying, but not too damaging, if it weren’t for the fact it mentioned that the unicorn settled down by running her own bakery. “Damn it, Simon!” She said, feeling her temper rise. She glared at the screen and then… something interesting happened. The site flickered and juddered and the words seemed to melt off the screen. At first, January thought she’d accidentally fried another laptop, but then her screen cleared and she was faced with a message letting her know that the ‘Unicorn… Uncovered!’ blog was down. January smiled for the first time that morning.

  Hopefully, it would be down for good.

  The beeper in the kitchen went off at the same moment the door to the little bakery opened. January smiled in what she hoped was a stress-free way and gestured to the pretty tables she’d set up.

  “Just a second! Feel free to make yourselves at home,” she said and ran for the kitchen.

  She pulled two salted caramel cakes out of the oven and flipped them out of their sandwich tins. With a deft flick of her wrist, she tossed the dirty tins into the sink on top of the mounting pile of washing up. She strode back towards the front of the shop and stopped.

  One little spell won’t hurt, she thought and reactivated Simon’s washing up spell. The handover had been pretty rushed, so there were still dormant spells all over the place. January thought it probably would have taken Simon a second to remove them all, but she suspected he’d left them to see if she’d be tempted. She shrugged. Automatic washing up wasn’t cheating by much…

  “Hi there, what can I do for you?” She asked when she was back in the shop. She noticed her first pair of customers scanning the counter for the daily gossip paper that Simon had printed.

  “We’re under new management,” she explained, hoping she didn’t sound too terse. She was still exceedingly bemused that people read about her life and found it entertaining. If any of them actually had to live it, she was sure they’d change their minds.

  “Two lattes and two slices of chocolate cake, please,” the slightly disappointed pair ordered and then left. January tilted her head, wondering if they would come back, now that there wasn’t any underhand spell work going on.

  “Hey, can I get a coffee?” She turned around and discovered that another customer had been waiting behind the first pair. She blinked, wondering how she’d missed him.

  He wasn’t exactly easy to ignore.

  He had lightly tanned skin, very dark hair and a pair of amazing gold eyes. January blinked again, realising that the gold of his eyes was actually a sign of too much inbreeding… something that only seemed to happen in the big cat shifter circles.

  “I’ll get your coffee… would you like anything else?” She asked, keeping her voice light and friendly, as the scent of tiger assailed her. Who was
this stranger?

  “Yes, some coffee and walnut cake, please… and I’d also really like to join your pack.”

  January tried not to betray too much surprise, but it was impossible. “Why would you want to do that? I know that big cats don’t like packs. You prefer to be - pardon the expression - lone wolves.” She poured out the coffee, keeping a close eye on the stranger’s reaction.

  He smiled, disarmingly. “I know, but I’m new to the area. I heard about your pack and thought that it sounded like my best bet. You already have big cats, don’t you?” He asked.

  January tilted her head. “There are two jaguars, but one of them is my second. There are no other big cats in the pack.” They’d all left after Luke had lost his grip on power.

  “Well, I’m sure I’ll fit right in then. Three doesn’t always have to be a crowd,” he said, keeping the smile on his face. January was starting to wonder if his face was actually stuck that way.

  She poured his coffee out and kept her silence.

  “I’m Morgan, by the way. Morgan Bracken,” he said, filling the gap. January privately raised an eyebrow at the un-tigerish name but shrugged inwardly. Anything went, these days.

  She turned round fast enough to catch Morgan without a smile on his face and with a spark of something she recognised in his eyes. The smile snapped straight back into place, but it was too late. She’d seen exactly what she’d been expecting to see all along.

  “Well, you obviously already know who I am if you’re here asking to join the pack.” She slid his coffee and cake across the counter, and he fished some money out of his pocket.

  “You can join.” She shrugged. “To be honest, anyone who wants can join the pack, and anyone who wants can leave it. The pack only exists so long as I’m wanted as leader.” She bit her lip, wondering if she’d given away the fact that she knew too much by over sharing.

  Morgan just smiled some more and brushed his dark hair back from his face. January tried not to notice the ridges of muscle that ran along the arm he’d just raised. This tiger was definitely in shape.

  “Great! Thanks for letting me in. I’ll see you next full moon.” He picked up his cake and coffee and paused. “Or, maybe sooner,” he added, making January wonder if she was right after all. The smallest of smirks tugged at Morgan’s lips and January mentally confirmed her first opinion. “Keep the change,” he added with another winning smile and walked out of the shop - but not before throwing her an overly coy backwards glance over his shoulder, just to check that she was still watching him.

  “Oh Per-lease!” She said, as soon as the tiger was long out of earshot. She picked up the bakery phone with a sigh and dialled the number for The Wild Woods Bar. A female voice answered and January had to shove down a stab of jealousy before politely asking to speak to Ryan.

  “Hey,” she said, once Ryan was on the line. “I just had a tiger in here asking to join the pack. He said his name was Morgan Bracken,” she said, filling her voice with implication.

  There was a long pause.

  “I don’t know any tigers by that name,” Ryan said.

  Despite not being seen, January nodded. She’d suspected as much.

  “There are only a small group of them in the UK. They’re pretty rare,” Ryan continued.

  “On a not entirely unrelated topic, Ryan… have you heard from the Official Board of Shifters recently?” She asked and was answered with a growl.

  “No! I stopped my reports as soon as I found out Bella was alive - and yet, they hadn’t bothered to let each of us know the other was still around.”

  “That explains it then,” January said and Ryan rumbled his agreement.

  They had a new pack enforcer. It looked like the Board knew what they were up against, too, if they’d decided to send a tiger. She snorted, quietly. One tiger snitch was probably going to be the least of her worries. All he’d be able to report was that she was actually sticking to shifter rules. The pack was unorthodox, but they were a well-kept secret, and there were never any serious fights.

  “We still need to check,” Ryan cut in. “Can you give me an idea of what he looks like? I’ll do some asking around and find out who Morgan really is,” he said.

  January gave him her best description, only leaving out the part about how good his arm muscles had looked.

  “I suppose now we wait and see,” she said, not actually feeling too worried.

  Ryan huffed. “I still think this is probably trouble,” he said.

  January pouted. Trust Ryan to bring some doom and gloom to her otherwise promising day.

  13

  “Have you found anything out yet?” January asked as soon as she walked in through Tor Bennet’s door. Recently, their sessions had jumped from mastering basic magic, to advanced magic, and then incredibly advanced magic, using her enchanter’s abilities. It had been funny watching Tor turn purple in the face when he’d tried to remember difficult incantations in order to make something happen, like summoning and controlling fire. All January had to do was think about it and push her magic into that shape.

  As far as magic went, her strengths lay in summoning, or creating and then - conversely - destroying. She supposed she should have guessed that her magic would be a reflection of her life. How many cakes had she created and how many lives had she destroyed?

  But learning magic wasn’t the only reason for January to visit her magical mentor. She was still hoping he’d find her a way out of being an enchanter, and who knew? Maybe a way out of the complicated life she’d found herself living.

  “No, nothing new has come to light.” Tor sighed at January’s question. “You know it’s not as simple as ‘Googling’ the answer. Anything that’s worth anything in magic is hidden away in a book somewhere, often gathering dust.” He drew his caterpillar eyebrows together. “From what you’ve told me about ‘The Clan’, they’re the only people who would know if there is anything to be done about your situation.” He led the way to the sitting room.

  January rolled her eyes behind his back. “Too bad I lost my membership card…”

  Now the eyebrows rearranged themselves into a frown. “I am trying everything I can. Having said that, I do advise you to consider your situation carefully. From a magical point of view, you’re a marvel! To the best of my knowledge, nothing like you has ever existed before. It would be a shame to throw all that away. At least before more has been found out about the whys and wherefores…” He raised an eyebrow. “Are you no longer curious?” He asked.

  January harrumphed. She still wanted to know how she’d become a unicorn and how she’d managed to wind up with so much magic. It definitely hadn’t been anything to do with family genes. But then, for the chance of a normal life, she’d be willing to let a lot of sleeping dogs lie.

  “Anyway, for now, let’s work on our charms.” Now it was January’s turn to raise an eyebrow. Tor looked more put out than ever. “Charms! Working nature to your advantage. Although, you could definitely do with adding some of the other kind of charm, too.”

  January grinned as he took an orchid from the windowsill in the living room and placed it on the low table at the centre of the room.

  It was time for some magic.

  January frowned and pulled another wiry root out of her hair. Until today, she’d had no idea of the damage one orchid could do. To be fair, the orchid in question had been ten feet tall. She’d been battling it with a cactus that had probably been close to weighing a ton. She suspected that Tor was currently wishing he’d swapped their plants around.

  “Good evening, Harry Potter, how was Hogwarts?” Gregory opened the door of her house, just as January reached for her keys.

  For a really old vampire, he’s surprisingly up-to-date with modern culture, January reflected and briefly imagined him reading the novels or watching the films.

  It felt so wrong.

  “What are you doing inside my house?” She pushed passed him and walked in, fearing the worst.

  “It�
��s my house, you just rent it. I was being a good landlord and checking up on a few things…” Gregory practically skipped along behind her, which only added to January’s suspicions.

  “You’re meant to give notice,” she repeated for what felt like the hundredth time.

  She stepped out into the open plan living room and kitchen and ground to a halt. “Hey, Joe,” she said. Her worst fear was confirmed.

  “So, what’s the plan tonight, hmm? You guys doing something fun? Could we maybe go out and grab a bite?” Gregory flashed his fangs. January rounded on him. It was so typical of Gregory to do this in front of a man who was leading a pack she’d only just made an alliance with and had only just started dating.

  “You’re not invited and you know I would un-invite you from this house, if I could.”Her expression cleared as she remembered the anti-vamp dust she’d purchased online what felt like an age ago. Her wards were still down after King Bob’s attack, but she could do much better than that anti-vamp dust now, couldn’t she? Her eyes fell on a bunch of flowers that had been abandoned on the kitchen counter, presumably by Joe, who must have been let in by Gregory. They’ll do, she thought and started to work.

  “I’m just coming around to raise something with you and the dog,” Gregory said. January heard a growl start in Joe’s throat. “I heard on the grapevine that you’re still trying to weasel out of being an enchanter. I want to know what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  January’s eyebrows shot up and she almost lost her focus on the length of living twine, which was quietly winding its way around Gregory’s left ankle.

  “Simon?” She enquired.

  Gregory tried to look innocent.

  January bit her lip. She would have to have words with Tor. There was no way he could have, or would have, filled Simon in since their meeting earlier in the evening. It was far more likely that snooping Simon must have figured out a way to bug the place. She shook her head. “It’s none of your business what I do!”