Love Charms

by Multiple

  I tapped the pewter bowl. It fogged over, then showed me exactly what I wanted, Caleb, sitting on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands. He’d changed from the party clothes into a pair of Yale sweats. His chain bracelet shone on his wrist.

  “Caleb!” I whispered.

  He didn’t look up.

  I wanted to dive into the bowl, but I didn’t know how to aim. “Caleb!”

  He obviously couldn’t hear me. I sat back in Mom’s chair, watching him. He didn’t move for a long time, then fell back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. His lips moved, but I couldn’t hear his words. Where was the volume on this thing?

  His arm went up, his hand swirling through the air. He was enchanting. I leaned in closer, wishing I could zoom in somehow. A mist formed above him. He waved it toward the window. It seeped through the cracks and disappeared into the night.

  That was odd.

  Now his arm crossed his face. Longing shot through me, heavy and hot. I’d never felt such a pull toward anyone.

  I touched my lips. I didn’t particularly like the idea of magically assisted attraction, but it was so powerful. Everything with Caleb felt so new.

  A movement by the garage door caught my eye. Dad had never actually altered the front, so the metal sections still stood as though this were a functioning garage. It hadn’t been opened in years.

  A cloud was forming, seeping in through the edges of the door. I looked down into the bowl. Caleb was pulling back his covers to slip into bed. The mist thickened, but I wasn’t afraid. This was his enchantment. He’d sent it to me, but not through the portal, through regular air.

  Once the cloud was complete, it drifted toward me. I let it come and breathed it in. I could smell Caleb, woodsy and crisp, a hint of party still caught up in it, exotic food and Christmas candles. I didn’t know I could already recognize his smell.

  He had never looked into his portal. Maybe it was clouded over like mine so often was. Maybe if he saw me, he wouldn’t be able to stay away.

  I breathed and breathed until the vapors dissipated. Calm came over me, and the urgency to see him eased. Caleb became another boy, just a moment, like all the other ones I had dated in the past few years.

  He knew what to do. He’d been trained in handling matches. Clearly he was sending a spell to push me away, maybe to help him pick a proper girl, maybe to help me focus on the spell. Possibly both.

  My heart rebelled against this, even as my practical side told me it was for the best. Still, I braced my hand on my chin and watched until he pulled the cord on the light by his bed and darkness snuffed out the image in the bowl. I had done what he had asked and uncovered the problem with the spell. Mom had found me somehow and told me how to find her mistake, or maybe I had known all along.

  Perhaps I didn’t need Caleb. I didn’t have long to wait. Christmas was in two days, and two days later I would meet Dei Lucrii and present the potion. I’d get it done, with or without the help of an enchanter.

  10: Uncertainty

  I slept fitfully, waking as soon as the winter sun seeped through my Hello Kitty curtains. I dreaded the day, unsure how to move forward now that Caleb hadn’t worked out.

  My hands still smelled of the scent-cloud. Crazy stuff, magic, making me feel so strongly then calming me back down like an emotional sedative. If I’d had a blow-off cloud at Boston College, getting rid of random stalkers would have been much easier.

  My phone buzzed. Unread message. Right, that had come through from Dad when I was making googly eyes at match-boy. I clicked through to read it. “Mavis called. Said to come by.”

  Sweet. If the magic crystals meant Mavis was an enchanter, I didn’t even need Caleb. And I could get some backstory on Mom’s involvement with the Big Bad Dude and why she was making a passion potion to begin with.

  I hopped out of bed, feeling way more optimistic that this would work out.

  It seemed too early to call, so I showered, scrubbing my hands extra hard to get rid of Caleb’s scent. The water streaming down my cheeks felt like tears, a strange sensation for someone who had taken fifty thousand showers, until I realized I was actually crying.

  Just like the visions of my future with Caleb had popped into my head without warning, I now saw a dark future without him, totally weird stuff — a menacing forest, a mob with — what? Torches? Good grief. This wasn’t Beauty and the Beast. Unless Caleb was the beauty.

  I opened my eyes, focusing on the white tiles and my assorted bottles. The headband was in the other room, so the vision wasn’t its fault. Somehow, just having worn it seemed to have made some permanent change in me. Nix or not, I could feel things. Or maybe I was just paying attention now, like a fortune-teller who discovers she can actually make accurate predictions.

  When I shut off the water, a rattle from my bedroom made me sigh. Mom’s token was commanding my attention again. No telling what it might do this time.

  I shrugged on a terry robe and crossed into my room. The silver circlet looked anxious, vibrating on the dresser. I pressed my hands on it to make it lie still. With my wet hair, it might very well electrocute me or something. I lifted my hand. The headband started shaking again.

  Fine. I picked it up.

  It hummed against my scalp. “What are you DOING up there?” I asked. It went still.

  I hadn’t had time to unpack, so I snatched a sweater and jeans from a suitcase. Hopefully Mavis was up by now. I had to get back to work. Christmas Eve had arrived, and I would be meeting with Dei Lucrii in three days.

  Dad had left the phone number for Mavis in the message. I highlighted it, copied it to the dialer, and waited through the rings. I hoped neither of the hellspawn answered.

  “Hello?” The voice was a whisper, like cattails in a breeze. Mavis, no doubt.

  “Hi! This is Jet. Tess was my mother.”

  “Oh, poor little Jet. You came to see me?”

  I hated pity, but never mind. I needed her. “Yes, should I come over?”

  “I have some of your mother’s things.”

  Perfect. I gripped the phone. “I’ll come for them.” Might as well go for broke. “If I brought a spell, could you tell me how to pronounce the words?”

  The silence was so complete, I thought the call had dropped. “Mavis?”

  “Jet, you can’t talk about these things.” Her voice was tight.

  “Why not? You know and I know about the enchanters.”

  Mavis was breathing heavily. “You’re a nix. I can’t help you.” The line clicked, and I had to pull the phone away at the ear-crunching busy signal.

  Bollocks. I should have gone over there before talking about the spell. Why did I have to be a freaking nix? And why was that so dang bad?

  The house was freakishly silent. I hadn’t talked to Dad about his work schedule, assuming he’d be off Christmas Eve. I passed his bedroom door, listening. No sounds.

  The living room was empty, and the kitchen. He’d left a note on the table.

  Half day today, Sweetpea. See you at noon.

  The microwave display read nine o’clock. Three hours to figure out how to get my car back and return to work on the potion. I should make Caleb drive it over. Then walk back in the snow. Teach him to send me a blow-off cloud.

  The lair was silent and cold. Hallow slept in his bed, a tight ball of white fur. I wanted to wake him up and enlist his help, but instead I bumped the bowl, making the fog cross the surface. Once again, Caleb’s room replaced the silver surface. I began to wonder if he was the only channel.

  His bed was empty. Fine. I’d get back to the potion. Now that I knew Mom’s tears were the problem, I would just mix it up. Maybe I was a nix, but I could still give it the ol’ college try.

  I grimaced at the thought of my actual college try. Calculus, F. Chemistry, D–.

  I’d have to do better than try.

  The Book of Shadows was still turned to my dream page. I flipped it back until I got to the latest version of the passion-potion spell. Beneath
the ingredients was the incantation. Since I hadn’t mixed it yet, I figured I had nothing to lose by reading the foreign words. If everyone was right, saying them aloud wouldn’t do anything anyway.

  I ran my finger along the lines. The first part was easy.

  Powers to the east, rise to the chant.

  Powers to the west, grant the spell I encant.

  Then came the gibberish.

  Edel aye benevel arun

  Constalent aye mal

  Nothing happened, of course, but I had to admit the words felt powerful as I said them. I almost expected a gust of wind or a crack of lightning.

  Instead, the pewter bowl began to rock and turn. The silver became a flash of light, and Caleb shot out like a cannonball.

  I’d barely realized it was him when he gripped my arms. “What are you doing?” he yelled, mere inches from my face.

  “Take it down a notch,” I told him. I tried to back away, but he had me in a vise. “And no magical matchmaking. That’s so yesterday.”

  He let go of me and snatched at his hair. No robe today, or sweats, or freshly pressed khakis. Just jeans and a rugby shirt that made him look athletically collegiate. I hated that our attraction had been magical fakery. And that he’d ended it.

  “Don’t do any enchantments,” he said. “It’s forbidden.”

  I turned away and flipped through the book. “Whatever. You all say I’m powerless, so what does it matter?”

  Caleb slammed the cover closed. “You are exposing yourself. Do you not know how dangerous it can be as a nix?”

  I wanted to slug him. “Of course I don’t. I don’t know anything!”

  He closed his eyes, his hands in fists. I had no idea why he was so upset. I’d gone my whole life this way, and I couldn’t see how today was any different from the past two decades.

  After a couple deep breaths, he looked at me again. “A nix is a danger. If an enchanter has a child with a nix, a Dark Enchanter is born.”

  “And that’s bad.”

  “It’s very bad!” Caleb paced in a circle, shoving his hands in his jean pockets. “A nix is always trained to recognize enchanters to avoid getting caught by one.”

  “Someone like you.” Ha. Had him there.

  He halted. “Exactly.” He looked stricken.

  “What?”

  “If you and I were to —” Caleb halted.

  “Get busy?”

  He nodded. “Maybe someone’s trying to put a spell on us. Someone with an agenda.” He snapped his fingers. “That’s got to be it. It explains why we’ve been so attracted. Someone wants us to create a Dark Enchanter.”

  “Um, it’s not like we’re jumping into bed.”

  Caleb smacked the table. “Mother warned me about these things. It makes so much sense now!”

  I sank into my chair. “Nothing makes sense to me.”

  Caleb smiled. “Now that we know, we can easily resist. I can go back to my regular matches.”

  I waved my hand at him. “Of course, by all means, sow your enchanted oats.”

  Caleb frowned. “I don’t mean to upset you.”

  Yeah, whatever. “It’s fine. You’re not my type anyway.” And neither was Gordon, or any of the others. I didn’t know what made a match for me.

  Caleb walked in a tight circle, really wound up. “You don’t understand. I can’t be with you. It’s not just forbidden, but what could happen between us might ruin everything.”

  “Yes, I get it. Me plus you equals evil incarnate.” I shifted the bottle of newborn tears. “It doesn’t matter. Even if I WERE to jump you, no wee evil ones would result. I’m on the Pill.”

  Caleb leaned against the desk by my chair. My pulse jumped, and the familiar buzz filled my belly again. “Human birth control has no effect on enchanters,” he said.

  “It’s served me well.” I stared at him, daring him to judge me.

  He winced. “It works on humans, of course. But enchanted conceptions are not regulated by human medicine. It’s entirely different.”

  “Okay, fine. I don’t know where magic babies come from. Like you said, someone tried to put us together. It didn’t work. Your forget-me cloud did its job.”

  “What?”

  I couldn’t look at him, so he lifted my chin so our matching eyes met.

  “Your little spell last night. I saw you send it. Well, it got here, and it worked. I’m over you.”

  His gaze never broke from mine, and where his hand touched me, I felt fire. I was completely lying now. The attraction coursed through me again, strong as ever.

  “It was a soothing spell,” he said. “You had been working all night. I thought you needed sleep.”

  “You watched me?”

  “For hours.” He let go of my chin. “I was worried.”

  Now, my whole body ached for him. I needed to touch him, like I had before, but I gripped the armrests of my chair instead. If he was right, we were just acting under a spell. We had to resist. I changed the subject. “I figured out what Mom did wrong.”

  “Really?”

  “It was basic chemistry. The sea foam built up methane in the bottle. It would have been okay, but she was crying.”

  He nodded. “The tears created the gas. I get it. Jet, I’m sorry.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know why she was crying.”

  “She wasn’t a crier?”

  “No, she was. But why would she cry while she made the potion? I mean, she had to know the danger.”

  Caleb pulled me up from the chair and held me so close I could feel his heart beating against my chest. Mine was faster than his, thumping to a different rhythm, but as his hands weaved into my still-damp hair, I slowed down until gradually we got in sync, until every breath, every pulse, happened together.

  “I didn’t know you’d think my spell was bad,” he whispered.

  “I’m sorry I’m so clueless.”

  “You just haven’t been trained.” He pulled away and touched my forehead. “You probably don’t even know your mark is red and mine is green.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Your sign.”

  “You see something on my head?”

  He touched his own temple. “Mine is here.”

  “I don’t see it.”

  “The reveal spell is the very first thing we learn as enchanters. Moms usually sing it as a lullaby, so by the time we need to use it, we know it by heart.”

  “Mom never told me anything.”

  Caleb smoothed my hair away from my face and sang the words in a low baritone.

  Sleep within the gentle night as watchful starlight shines

  Wake up in the morning, as the day reveals the signs

  Smile upon the faces of all the ones you see

  A few for fear, hold gold ones dear, and let the nixes be.

  “I do know that song,” I said. “Mom sang it.”

  “It’s one of only three spells a nix can perform.” Caleb squeezed my shoulders. “It’s important for you to recognize enchanters so you can avoid getting tricked by one.”

  “So, if I sing it, I will recognize who you are?”

  He nodded.

  I took a deep breath, feeling sort of silly, but I sang it.

  Caleb’s face shimmered as I finished. My headband buzzed against my hair. He watched me, waiting, and then I saw it. A marking on his forehead, sparkling in green. A beautifully calligraphed letter “E” inside a circle.

  I touched it but felt only skin.

  “See it now?”

  “I can!” I laughed. “I did a spell!”

  He hugged me tightly. “Of course you did. Even as a nix, you have a birthright.”

  I relaxed against him. His holding me felt so right, but how could it be? I pulled away. “Why are you here? Why are you helping me if I’m such a danger? Let the nixes be!”

  Caleb broke away. “I have a sister.”

  “Yes, I saw the picture.”

  “No, not just her. Another one.
”

  I gripped his hand. “Okay.”

  “Her name is Calindra. She’s a nix.”

  My chest tightened. “How did that happen?”

  Caleb squeezed my fingers. “My father had an affair with an enchantress outside our bloodlines. Of course, he was already matched to my mother, so when they…” He searched for the words. “When they got together, only a nix could result.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “She and her mother were exiled.”

  “Where did they go?”

  “Not far. They live about thirty miles away, in a small town where no enchanters live.”

  “Have you met her?”

  Caleb smiled. “I see her often.” He glanced at the portal. “It’s completely against the rules, but she’s amazing, smart, and funny.”

  “Is that why you’re helping me?”

  He let go of my hand. “I have a soft spot for nixes. I don’t think it’s fair.”

  This was a lot to take in. “So two enchanters can make a nix, then?”

  “Only two enchanters can make a nix.”

  “That’s not possible.” My brain began to buzz, even without the help of Mom’s token.

  “No, that’s the way it works. Only two enchanters of different bloodlines can create a nix.”

  I backed away from him. “No, my dad is human. Only my mom was an enchanter.”

  Caleb shook his head. “No, your dad has to be an enchanter of a different bloodline.”

  “But he’s not.”

  “He has to be.”

  My breathing came hard and fast, and I doubled over. “I’m telling you — he’s not. He would have told me.”

  Caleb bent down with me, clutching my shoulders. “Maybe he doesn’t know, somehow. Are you okay?”

  I wanted to scream that NO, I was NOT okay, but I sucked in air instead.

  Caleb pushed me back in the chair and knelt in front of me. “We’ll sort this out.”

  “How? How can I sort this out?” Hysteria began to bubble up. “I’m a nix, and the spell won’t work. My dad is magical and doesn’t know. My mom is dead, and her friends won’t help me. I’m an outcast, a loser, I’ve never had a boyfriend for longer than five minutes, and I have to make this potion!”

  Caleb pulled me close. “Hey, we’ll do this. We’ll figure this out.”