Hot Magic

by Holli Bertram

  “This is a Council. We have been in extensive talks with your lawyers and representatives, Ms. Dancer. They have presented your side of the events that led you to bargain with a demon and enter into Gehenna. Your mother and daughter have phoned and emailed us daily, as well as started a popular blog on the secure Triad server. We have enough information to render a decision in this case.”

  “I would still like permission to speak.” Her gaze challenged him.

  He nodded. “Granted.”

  Julie gave Bas a brief smile and released his hand. The young man who had put on her handcuffs and tape pulled out a small flat disk and pressed a button. Apparently a junior member served as secretary, and he was responsible for recording the events of the Council.

  Julie cleared her throat again. “I know there has been concern about the ability of the Balance to remain impartial while rendering a judgment on his blood-bonded mate.”

  “That is not the issue before the Council,” Harry broke in.

  “I think it is one of the issues before the Council today.” Julie pushed herself to her feet, aware that the Council members were listening to her carefully. She saw the truth of her words in their eyes. “Harrison Chevalier was bonded to me against his will while he battled the demon Ashakarin. I forced the bond on him so that I could join him in the fight. Ashakarin was vanquished mostly due to the Balance’s courage and stamina. The bond is no longer needed and I intend to dissolve it.”

  Total silence met her announcement. After a moment, Frau Scheller spoke. “You can’t. A blood bond can’t be broken.”

  “I’ve spent much of the time since my arrest reading Words of Wisdom.” Julie turned and looked at Bas. “There is a way, isn’t there?”

  Bas watched her as if fascinated. He slowly nodded. Voices broke out around the table as the Council protested, asked questions and generally made a lot of noise. All except Harrison. He sat still, his gaze never wavering from her face.

  “You didn’t think to mention this, Bas?” Harrison’s voice sounded strange to Julie’s ears. Tight.

  She felt Bas shrug. “I told you to read the book, Harrison. Several times. I can point out the path, but you must walk down it yourself.”

  “The Book of Wisdom has been studied by master scholars.” He folded his hands loosely on the table before him. Julie’s eyes were drawn to that casual grip. “No one has ever spoken of the possibility of breaking a blood-bond.”

  Julie answered. “The passage is rather obscure.” She glanced over her shoulder to frown at Bas. “You need a modern translation of the book. This reads like the King James edition of the Bible.”

  “Because I used some of the same translators. The King James Bible came out in 1611. This edition of Words of Wisdom was completed in 1618.”

  “Can we have the history lesson later?” Harrison’s voice remained calm, almost pleasant.

  “Sorry, but it’s rough reading. More people would have a go at it if he updated the language. Anyway, the passage I’m referring to is in the first section of the book, part of the ancient stories that outline the beginning of the Triad. It says something like “‘And again Yesmi opened her palm. The blood flowed fresh and free, winding a river between them.’”

  “I know that verse,” Harrison broke in. “That’s from the story of Patre and Yesmi, father and mother of all energy wielders. That verse follows the recitation of twelve year separation and represents a renewal of their blood-vows.”

  “I’m impressed.” Bas sounded pleased. “You’re right. The verse has usually been interpreted that way. Scholars teach that Yesmi blood-bonded again with Patre, strengthening and reaffirming the connection between them.”

  Harry didn’t even glance at Bas. “How do you interpret it, Julie?” He didn’t seem to notice he hadn’t called her Ms. Dancer. She glanced at his hands. His knuckles were white.

  “That verse ends the story of Yesmi and Patre. We never hear of them again. I believe when Yesmi opened her palm again, she shared blood with another man. The new blood-bond opened wide a river between Yesmi and Patre, breaking their original bond. If I blood-bond with another, our tie to each other will be broken.”

  She couldn’t look away from Harry. The intensity of his gaze physically tied her to him. “Bas?” Harry rapped out the word.

  “Julie correctly discerned the meaning of that passage,” Bas answered.

  “This is what you want, Julie?” Harrison asked, as if only she could hear him.

  No, you idiot. I want to live with you forever, maybe even have our babies and love you for the rest of my life.

  But she didn’t say the words out loud or in his head. She broke free of his gaze and looked instead at the Council members. This was Harry’s life, where he belonged.

  “Yes, Harry. This is what I want.”

  He regarded her silently for a moment, and then jerked his head, once, in a sharp nod of assent.

  “Shit.” Linda cursed loudly, causing several in the room to gasp. “I don’t care if you can do it. You shouldn’t. This is wrong.”

  “We will discuss the details later,” Harry said, as if the matter were now of little importance. He straightened his shoulders and seemed to grow larger, to effortlessly command the attention of everyone in the room. “Sit and hear the judgment of the Council.”

  Julie sat down hard.

  “Julie Dancer, though the blood of demons runs in your veins, so, too, does the blood of Dancers and Walkers. You were born into the Triad through your mother’s line, and are thus bound by Triad laws. The Council has duly taken into consideration the fact that you were raised without knowledge of your heritage and the customs and conventions that bind you. Testimony has been received from your mother, Jean Dancer, your daughter, Natasha Morgen, and from your neighbor Doreen Lessing corroborating this. The Council accepts that you broke our laws out of a mother’s desire to save her child, not with any thought of malice or personal gain.”

  Did that mean she was considered innocent and free to go? She tried to feel excited and happy.

  Harrison continued. “The Council has received additional testimony from the demons known in Gehenna as Abigor and Josephius.”

  Julie sat up straighter, a twinge of anxiety piercing her numbness.

  “This testimony has been disregarded. While demons may be retained as legal council, they are not reliable or truthful witnesses. Therefore, Julie Dancer, I have determined that in this specific instance you will not be held accountable for breaking Triad law. However, you are required to take classes in Triad government and must submit a certificate of completion of said classes to the Council secretary within six months of this date.” Harry met her eyes and she saw a well of dark emotion, quickly shuttered behind his usual enigmatic stare. “An additional concern has been raised regarding your potential as a wild power. The one known as Bascule has pledged responsibility for your training. He vouches for your ability to control yourself in such a manner as to not place the Triad in danger. You are free to go, Ms. Dancer.”

  Julie knew the words signified more than just her freedom from the Council. She stood, silently commanding her shaking legs to hold her, and nodded respectfully to everyone in the room, including Frau Scheller. Then, with the surprised gasps of the Council ringing in her ears, she gathered energy around her and popped out of the room.

  “Julie, you are going to Sexy Cindy’s Halloween party whether you want to or not,” Dorie nagged at her through her closed bedroom door. “It’s not healthy to stay in your room, eating chocolate. No man is worth hardening your arteries and gaining weight over.”

  “How do you know I’m not doing sit-ups or practicing yoga positions in here?” Julie asked around a bite of chocolate, not bothering to lift her head off her pillow.

  “Because a trail of empty Hershey Kisses wrappers leads to your room.”

  Was there no privacy in this world? “I’m over forty. I can eat what I want.”

  “Yes, you can eat anything you want if you d
on’t care if you die early.” Dorie was trying to push her lock open with something. Probably a bent paper clip. When it came to opening anything locked, Dorie could give Charlize Theron in the Italian Job a run for her money.

  Julie sighed and sat up, stuffing several silver wrappers under her pillow. “I won’t die early. I think I might be immortal. Or half-immortal, at any rate.” Jeez, what did that mean? She’d only live half of eternity? You couldn’t really get halfway through something that had no end, so technically, if you were any fraction immortal, you were immortal, period. She frowned. Was that right?

  Dorie succeeded in opening the door and stepped triumphantly through. “All the more reason to be healthy. Can you imagine living that long if you feel like crap?”

  Good point.

  Dorie walked over, pushed aside her rumpled comforter and sat down beside her. “Tasha’s worried about you. To distract her, I sent her out to the backyard to rake leaves. She’s been trying to convince us to do an intervention on you.”

  “You don’t do interventions on depressed people. You give them therapy.”

  Dorie’s hand was gentle as she smoothed tangled hair away from Julie’s face. “Well, chocolate therapy doesn’t seem to be working. You look horrible.”

  “You also don’t tell depressed people they look horrible. That’s too…depressing.” Besides, who cared if her hair was a mess? She hadn’t brushed it since returning from London two days ago.

  “The good news is that you don’t need a costume to go to Cindy’s party as a haggard, old witch.”

  “That is so funny I forgot to laugh.” Julie fell backward against the bed and covered her face with a pillow. “If you weren’t my best friend, I’d zap you. I want to be alone.” The words were muffled.

  “Too bad, Garbo. You’re going to get into the shower, eat a healthy dinner and then you’re going to the Halloween party with me. Jim’s volunteered to watch the kids while we go.”

  Julie peeked from behind the pillow. “Wow. Sole custody of sugar-saturated kids. He must be really worried about me.”

  “We all are, sweetie. You’ve been through a lot these last weeks.”

  Julie pushed herself to a sitting position and hugged the pillow to her stomach. “He just let me pop out of the courtroom and come back home. He didn’t try to stop me.”

  “Did you want him to?” Dorie asked. “I thought you told him you wanted a divorce or whatever you Triad guys call it.”

  “I did.”

  “So you’re angry because…?”

  “He didn’t care enough to fight for me.” The words hurt as they bubbled out her throat.

  Dorie didn’t seem to appreciate the fact that Julie had just revealed the genesis of her depression.

  “You are a grown woman.” Dorie stood, facing Julie with her hands on her hips. “You know better than to play these kind of I’m leaving you, but I want you to chase me games. If you want the man, tell him. Otherwise, get on with it.”

  “He’s better off without me,” Julie mumbled, resolving to find more empathetic friends.

  “What are you? Miss Low Self-Esteem of Michigan? The man is crazy about you. You’re a unique, powerful, attractive woman who is normally fun to be around. Why is he better off without you?”

  Julie jumped off the bed. “Are you being deliberately obtuse? I’m part demon.” She shouted the words.

  Dorie looked unimpressed. “I’m part German, part Italian. Your point is?”

  “Demons are pure evil.”

  “So are some Germans and Italians. Hitler. Mussolini.” She jutted her chin at a stubborn angle. “Your point is?”

  “I’m older than he is. Maybe he has some kind of mother complex about me.”

  Dorie just shook her head. “Maybe you have some kind of son complex about him.”

  “Oh yuck.” Julie took a step back. “That’s just…yuck.”

  “Precisely.”

  “Dorie.” Julie met her met her friend’s eyes, took a deep breath and tried to explain. “Balances don’t blood bond. I forced this on him. He will lose his job, which is everything to him. He doesn’t want me. “

  “Yeah. Just like you don’t want him.” Dorie didn’t look convinced. “Have you tried contacting him with that mind touch thing bonded people can do?”

  “No. He just got Marguerite of his head. He’s an intensely private person. It didn’t seem polite, since we’ve decided to separate.”

  “Coward.”

  Julie opened her mouth to argue the point, and then decided Dorie was right. “I might resort to begging if I spent any time talking with him.”

  “In order to really separate, you have to find someone else to bond with, right?” Dorie started making her bed while she talked, probably hoping to keep Julie from jumping back in. “Got any candidates?”

  “Mom knows some Dancer families in Chicago. She’s going to introduce me to a couple of men. I’m not looking for passion. Just someone who will leave me alone.”

  “So, let me get this straight. You want to bond with a guy—let him into your head—but keep him out of your pants? Good luck with that one.”

  Tash knocked on the doorjamb and walked into the room. “Mom! You’re up.”

  “Hi, honey.” The relief on Tash’s face increased Julie’s mountain of guilt. She smiled an extra-large, I’m-not-depressed smile at her daughter.

  “You okay?” Tash gave her an odd look.

  “Fine. I’m feeling much more rested.”

  “You should come outside with me for a while and get some fresh air. Maybe if we sit quietly on the deck we’ll see the giant squirrels.

  Julie and Dorie looked at each other. “Giant squirrels?” Julie asked.

  “Or whatever. The leaves in that old oak tree in Harrison’s yard are shaking like some really big squirrels are up there.”

  Julie dropped her pillow and vaulted over the bed to the bedroom window. “Did you see any shoes? Wingtips?”

  Tash looked at Dorie for help. Dorie just shrugged. “Mom. Squirrels don’t wear wingtips. Nobody wears wingtips any more.”

  Julie sank back against the windowsill. “I don’t see anything.”

  “Mom! Get a grip. Come on downstairs and I’ll get you a cup of tea. Or some anti-psychotic medication. Maybe both.”

  Tash was right. She needed to go downstairs. Julie gave her a quick hug and ran down the steps, past her mother sitting in the living room and out the front door. She didn’t stop until she stood beneath the huge oak, looking up into the canopy of bright yellow leaves. “Harry?” she called breathlessly.

  Silence.

  “Bas?”

  Nothing but the sound of rustling leaves. She squinted, and saw two squirrels, normal sized and shoeless, running along one of the upper branches.

  Julie pivoted and ran for Harry’s side door. She knocked so hard her knuckles hurt. When no one answered, she peered through the glass window in the door, but the house looked dark and deserted. Her chest felt hollow, her whole body felt hollow as she turned and slowly walked home.

  “Where were you off to in such a hurry?” Jean asked as she entered the living room.

  “Mom’s looking for squirrels in wingtips,” Tash said as she and Dorie came down the stairs.

  Jean gave Julie an interested look. “Really? I prefer my squirrels in running shoes.”

  Julie sat down across from her mother. “I want to talk to Harry.”

  Jean smiled. “It’s about time. If you want to talk to him, mind touch with him.”

  “You’re right. That’s the easiest way. I will.”

  Three pairs of eyes looked at her expectantly.

  “When I’m alone.” For some reason, she felt nervous about communicating in such an intimate way with Harry while everyone watched.

  “Do it soon, Julie. James and Robert are popping in from Chicago tonight to meet you. I don’t want you distracted.”

  “Robert and James?”

  “Two brothers from a very nice Dan
cer family. Their mom is in the Gay Grays with me. I told them to come in costume because I knew you’d be over at Cindy Lui’s party.”

  Julie looked at Dorie.

  “You’ll have fun.” Dorie grinned, unrepentant.

  “Just remember,” Jean cautioned, “tonight is a blue moon. The very air seethes with power. Very strange things have been known to happen when a blue moon is in the sky.”

  Julie stood under a maple tree in Cindy Lui’s backyard. Knights, monsters, aliens and ex-presidents bobbed in and out of the shadows caused by the full moon and a string of pumpkin lights attached to Cindy’s deck. Julie tried one more time to reach Harry via mind touch and sighed when she met with a blank wall. So much for the blood-bond giving her special access to Harry. Where the heck was he?

  “You’re so gorgeous I could go ape over you.” The growled compliment came from behind her.

  Julie swung around to see King Kong step from behind the tree.

  “How many times have you used that line tonight?” Julie asked dryly. Impossible to tell if she knew the person under all that hair and plastic.

  The man laughed and reached up to take off his ape head. Twinkling, brown eyes and damp, dark hair were revealed. “I’ve been reserving it for a true beauty. You must be Julie Dancer.”

  Julie gave him a polite half-smile. “Do I know you?”

  “No, but you will. Your mother showed me your picture. I’m James Morris.”

  James, one of the Dancers her mother wanted to set her up with. She looked at the attractive man and stepped backward, almost tripping over her long, white skirt. This felt wrong, like cheating on Harry.

  James’s friendly smile faltered, and she gave herself a mental shake. She and Harry had agreed to separate. She wasn’t doing anything wrong.

  It took an effort of will to stretch her hand out to the man. “Hello. It’s nice to meet you.”

  He reached for her hand and grimaced when he noticed his furry paw. He took off the ape mittens, dropped them to the ground and warmly grasped her hand. “And I’m very, very pleased to meet you.” His voice deepened. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like an angel?”