Witch's Brew - Spellspinners 1 (Spellspinners of Melas County)

by Heidi R. Kling

  She looked beyond gorgeous. Euca leaves spun around her in a slow, seductive circle as a cool Lily-scented breath escaped her lips. Her ivory skirt fluttered around her tiny waist in the breeze. Her skin was so radiant, it was like it was alive. His blood coursed under his own skin as he took in her milky-white legs, her breasts swelling over a tight, old fashioned-looking corset, her deep red lips where a smile danced just below the surface. He could tell she loved the scene she was creating, the control over nature with her magic, the way he was looking at her.

  Her presence was so intense he didn’t know how long he could sustain his cool. All he wanted was to put his arms around the small of her back and press her into him.

  Swallowing, he said, “I brought something of yours.”

  Lily rolled her seemingly violet eyes and purred, “Can I search your pockets for it?”

  “Well, I...” he stammered, raising an eyebrow. “I’ll just give it to you.”

  “No, it’s fine. I can be patient. I did hear it was a virtue.” Lily twirled a lock of flaxen hair around her finger. “Aren’t you getting tired of all this Gleaning talk?”

  That came out of left field.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The thought of fighting a witch. Isn’t it beginning to bore you? All this hyperbole? Listening to our leaders blab about the war between the sexes is like FOX News blaring 24/7.”

  “FOX News?” Lily knew they didn’t watch TV.

  She rolled her eyes impatiently; he guessed the virtue bit had a time limit. “You know the ridiculous station run by conservatives?”

  Blank. But he nodded anyway. “Yeah, sure.” He didn’t want her to think he was a complete recluse.

  “I just mean, how many times can you fight a witch?”

  “I haven’t fought a witch at all, not in the Stones anyway.”

  Not only was she acting bizarre, she was sizing him up, and under her scrutinizing gaze, he felt his eyes darken.

  “Oh yeah, right. Same here. But I’ve heard so much about it, I feel like I’ve already competed ten times over.”

  “Well, I’m not tired of all the talk, honestly,” he said. “I will compete as many times as necessary. I’ll fight until I’ve reached the top.” His chest hammered from the energy radiating from her, which increased as she took a step toward him, a small smile on her full lips.

  “Confident, are we?” Lily’s stare bore deep into his chest. Then her eyes ran down the muscles in his biceps, before finally settling on the black fingernail and the inky tattoo that extended from it up to his shoulder. It only appeared when his body heat rose. He flushed, hoping she didn’t understand that bit.

  “I’ve been training for my first Gleaning since I was a kid,” Logan went on, squirming under her gaze, trying to validate the defensive tone creeping into his voice. “What is all of this about anyway?”

  Her mouth twisted into an almost unattractive shape. Almost. He still wanted to fold her into his arms and kiss it.

  “You’ve never actually faced a witch in the Gleaning, Logan. I’ve never faced a warlock. We have no idea what will truly happen when we’re sparring with magic. Look what happens to us when we’re just…together. If you add…violence to it…I’m just…I’m really worried that one of us might end up hurt. So, I have a proposition for you. Let’s test it out? So we can get an idea where to stop before…things get out of hand.”

  Her eyes flashed.

  “That’s not a bad idea. But I doubt we could recreate the Stones here.”

  “You only doubt it,” she said, taking a step closer, filling the blanks between them, “because you’ve never fought me.”

  When Lily tilted her head back and laughed, the angel breath petals and soft twigs weaved into her hair moved slightly.

  “You’re on, but we need some sort of code to let the other one know when they’ve gone too far.”

  “Oh, I know! How about when one of us is dead on the ground and the other one is two times as powerful as they were before?” she said sarcastically.

  “That’s not funny, Lil. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You don’t stand a chance of hurting me,” Lily said wickedly. “Hey, don’t look so spooked, I’m just having fun. Logan, really.” She stood on her bare toes and kissed him on the neck. “Come on, it will be fun.”

  “Okay. But let me know immediately if…”

  “Shush.” She pressed her fingers against his lips.

  He reached behind a eucalyptus tree and pulled out his hidden weapons. Two long mushroom-colored shinai. Tossing the Chinese bamboo practice weapon to Lily, he held the second sword with a firm grip.

  “Seriously?” Lily grinned, catching it easily and wrapping her pale hand around the thick white leather end.

  “Seriously.”

  Squeezing the weapon, she looked so kick-ass beautiful, the insecurities of a moment ago vanished from Logan’s mind.

  Before he could answer, Lily leapt toward him, swinging the shinai straight for his chest. He blocked her with an arrogant grin. Spinning around, she twisted the stick in the foggy air like a baton girl in the Melas County parade. Then the dance ended, and holding the end tight with both hands, she swung it, hard, toward his head. He jumped back, ducking in time to avoid a sharp blow to the skull.

  “Easy, Tigerlily. What good would I be to you without a head?”

  He came back at her, Lily easily blocking his sword. Damn, she was good. Bamboo vs. bamboo popping like firecrackers in the clearing, echoing through the thicket. He hoped they alone could hear.

  Finally, she leapt at him, knocking the stick out of his hands.

  He fell back onto the wet grass, surrendering only half-playfully. “Okay, okay…you win.”

  “I didn’t really feel anything. Did you? I mean, other than the thrill of kicking your warlock arse, my magic feels the same.” Leaning over him, she lifted her leg, straddling his stomach with her strong thighs. Peering deep into his eyes, she bit her full lower lip as the energy intensified between them.

  “Well, I feel that,” he said in a low voice.

  “And that?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “They must do something in the ring to make the Gleaning actually work.”

  “I guess so…What are you doing, Lil?”

  “You knew better than to challenge me, Logan,” Lily teased, her breath on his face. “Now what did you say you had for me?” She reached for his pocket.

  “And I’ve certainly learned my lesson…” Logan said, with a wry grin, while on the inside he was hardly able to speak. For a second there, he thought she was actually trying to harm him. And the mix of the seductive behavior and violent sparring left him hardly able to stand it for another second. Still, the rational part of his brain didn’t want her to take her amulet back without his permission. He grabbed her wrist off his hip, and pulled it behind his neck, twining her fingers in his. Then he pulled her face down to his. She kissed him back. Slowly, as if she was savoring him, then harder. Mouth, teeth, tongues clashing. Violent like their dance with the swords. Violent and erotic. This wasn’t at all like the beach, but then again, everything about this night was different. The way she moved against him. Her touch no longer tentative, but driven. Wanting. And the color of her eyes was different. Flecks of gold burst like stardust through the blue.

  Maybe it was just the darkness of the forest?

  She sighed his name, and he brushed sweat-damp hair off her cheek to kiss her back. Who cared if it was different? Her hands were everywhere, intense, needy. Suddenly, her lips left his mouth and she was kissing down his neck, his chest. Tracing his ink with her tongue. He groaned as the cool of her mouth met the heat of his skin.

  Unable to take it, he pulled her back up to meet his lips, cradling the side of her face with his large palm. But her hands continued and her body rocked, pushing into his, stroking and grinding.

  He could barely contain himself. What did she want? As if in answer, she moved his hand to her b
reast, and his instincts took over. As they began to move in rhythm, she abruptly pulled away again, leaving his heart and everything else desperate, throbbing. His ink was crazy vivid, snaking down his arms as Lily stared at him. Then she slowly began sketching on his skin, filling in the spaces of his ink with glowing marks: moons and stars and other classic Spellspinner symbols from the old days. His body ached as she made her way down his chest. Inched south over his tight stomach, toward his…

  “Uh, Lily?” Logan finally gasped. “Not that I mind, but…”

  “I’m thinking about majoring in art,” she said in a teasing voice, running her tongue across her artwork, leaving glitter as its trail.

  Shivers took over his body. He focused on his words. “I just want to make sure this is...That you want to…”

  “With the competition and all…” Lily said, smiling up at him, “I thought it might...relax you.” She moved her tongue lazily back across his abs.

  Logan didn’t know what to say. He wanted this. Wanted her. But something was off here. Her energy was different than the other times he’d been with her. He didn’t want their first time to be so...staged?

  “Hey, Lily, wait a sec.”

  But she didn’t stop. He felt her lips on his torso, her tongue near his hipbone. He felt a tug on his waistband, her lips moving lower and lower.

  “Lil?” Logan said more forcefully. When she wouldn’t stop the direction she was taking, kissing a trail down his torso, he flipped her over. She gasped in delight, urging him to explore her body like she had his. His right fingers tangled in her skirt as his left hand pressed the small of her back firmly to him. He felt her heartbeat under his palm as he slid the thin strap of her dress off her shoulder. He stroked the smooth skin over her sharp bone, and after, his lips traced the same path. She grabbed at him. Impatient. Almost clawing. When she grabbed at his waistband, he arched above her heaving chest. Peered into her eyes, trying to blink away the urge to devour her and focus for a second.

  Something wasn’t right.

  Lily

  Some moments are like bruises.

  Dark and deep and so malformed that even once the color fades back to normal, when the blood flattens and the bump erodes and you begin to recognize the skin as yours again, you remember the moment it happened. That unexpected pain. And you do your best to avoid it forevermore.

  Logan was in the clearing.

  Touching her. Kissing her.

  His hands all over her body. Hers all over his.

  Logan was in the clearing with an enchanted version of me.

  Logan

  A flash of annoyance spread across her otherwise perfect face. He moved a piece of her hair out of her eyes. “Lil? What’s wrong? You’re acting so weird.”

  As soon as he said it, her amulet slid from his pocket pulsing between them. Quickly, she snatched it into her palm.

  “Careful!” he said.

  Expecting her to be burned, because they were on land and not in the sea, he was surprised to see her simply examining it, unscathed. The kaleidoscope of lights shimmering from the stone circled the thicket; but there was no physical reaction to her touch.

  He sat all the way up.

  “What’s wrong now?” she asked, even more irritated than before.

  “The amulet didn’t react to you.”

  She ducked her eyes as she fastened the amulet around her neck, avoiding his gaze. “React to me?” Her smile seemed forced. “Maybe it doesn’t like me. But I know someone who does. So...” She reached out and squeezed his thigh. “Where were we?”

  Swiping her fingers off his leg, he grabbed her face in his hands, tipped her chin up, and peered into her flashing eyes. “What’s going on, Lily? What did they do to you?”

  Lily

  I felt like I’d been slammed in the stomach by a fireball so strong, it should’ve killed me. Yet in this instant, was so decidedly cruel, it left me alive to burn.

  “Nothing. It’s just me, of course,” this fake me pouted, purred, her voice like poisoned honey. “Lily.”

  Logan’s eyes narrowed. “Hell if it is.” He ripped my amulet from her neck and examined it. “How did you get this? Where is Lily?”

  Logan knew!

  Logan knew she wasn’t me.

  I screamed his name, but my voice reverberated against whatever was protecting this shape-shifter. My own cadence slammed my ears, echoing in the thicket like the totem creature’s desperate cries.

  “Logan!! I’m here!!”

  Lo-gan—I-I’m h-h-here. My ears burned from the shrill crescendo.

  I moved forward. I’d rip her away from him if I had to.

  I pushed, but the force field shoved me back. I stumbled onto dry leaves.

  Who would do this? Who would re-create a version of me to seduce Logan like this? I could’ve convinced him to reveal his mark without the enchantment. If he was the Roghnaithe and I was his match, the mark would be mine to see.

  Who had thought a replica of me could do the same? And who amongst us could, or would, channel such advanced magic, such extreme magic, for such a deceitful purpose?

  Angry tears burned down my cheeks in glowing streaks. I swiped them away and the spell stuck to my fingers like phosphorescent honey.

  My hands spread out before me were still enchanted.

  It dawned on me that right now I had more power than I’d ever had before.

  “Logan!” I screamed.

  This time I pushed against the magic shield with all of my strength.

  Logan

  The whole night she’d been acting weird, her lips a pouty blend of aggressive petulance. Her lips lined with blood red lipstick—so unlike his Lily.

  “Hell if it is,” he said. He pushed her off him, and stood up. Adrenaline coursed through him as he backed away. “I’m going to ask you one more time, who are you?”

  Before the girl could answer, a shrill scratching noise, like knives on a mirror, crackled through the air. Then it burst, exploding all around them like shattered glass.

  Ducking, he shielded his face, expecting razors of ice to rain down on them. What was this? Some sort of freak storm? But then he heard a pained gasp, a voice he recognized. Outside the thicket, palms outstretched as if her hands were pressing against an invisible oversized snow globe, a figure stood, staring, tears running down her perfect face.

  Logan’s eyes focused in the darkness outside the thicket.

  His own heart shattered like the broken spell when he realized who it was standing there. Watching him.

  Eyes like half-moons, the color of the sea.

  “Lily—how?”

  Her eyes mirrored his own emotions. Heartbreak. Anger. Devastation.

  Rage.

  “I don’t understand,” he said.

  As his eyes darted from one Lily to the other, his throat tightened.

  What had she done?

  What had he done?

  His eyes hardened onto the girl across from him.

  “If that’s Lily, then who the hell are you?”

  THE END

  Enjoyed Witch's Brew - Spellspinners 1? Want to find out what happens next? Click here to buy the next book in the series, The Gleaning - Spellspinners 2!

  Acknowledgements

  So many people have encouraged and supported this series, if I forget you this go round, I’m sorry, and I’m glad I have many more to get it right! Many thanks to my agent, Sara Crowe, who asked me, “What do you think about witches...” and then supported this exciting venture into new publishing territory. Lisa Rutherford for discovering, and then pitching me her wildly creative concept over chocolate and coffee. Your unbridled enthusiasm for Lily and Logan’s story made my decision to join you a simple one. Much gratitude to the whole team at Coliloquy: Lisa, Waynn, Jen, and everyone at the Mix Agency—you’ve been such a pleasure to work with. To my fabulous editor, Emily Schultz, for luring the right twists and turns from my Spellspinnners. I’d also like to thank Sarah Rees Brennan for forever-ago su
ggesting, “You should write fantasy!” My Deb friends Saundra Mitchell, Aprilynne Pike, Carrie Ryan, Jackson Pearce, and Sarah Cross for excellent advice. To Lenka Vodicka, Debbie Duncan & Tessa Gratton for early drafts, to my #YATW girls Martha Flynn, Ingrid Paulson, Whitney Miller for loving the series and inviting me into their SF Writers Cover, err Group, and to Jon Skovron for sage advice and unwavering support in all things Orchid. To my Twitter friends, Sea readers and FB pals for unbridled enthusiasm; the baristas at Ze French Café for fancy foam lattes and magical ambiance; and my mother, Deborah Courtright, for always believing in me and my stories. Lastly, to my husband Daryn for Wusu films, the most awesome blue dragon sword and for encouraging the road less traveled. Most importantly, I thank our children, son Ethan—the best storyteller around and my favorite beta reader—and our enigmatic daughter Amelia: you two are the true magic in my world.

  About Coliloquy

  Coliloquy is a digital publisher of active fiction, specializing in reader engagement and serial storytelling. We leverage advances in technology to create groundbreaking new forms of electronic books. Our titles are available on Kindle, Fire, NOOK, and other Android-based devices. Coliloquy is based in Palo Alto, CA with offices in San Francisco, CA.

  About the Author

  Heidi R. Kling earned her MFA in Writing for Children from the New School, and is the author of multiple-award nominated novel Sea (Putnam/2010). She’s published short stories and essays to anthologies Truth & Dare ConstableRobinson (UK) and RPTeens (U.S.), The Visitor’s Guide to Mystic Falls (Smart Pop), and The First Time. She lives with her family in Palo Alto, CA, near the real Black Mountain and coastal towns much like Melas County. She hasn’t spotted a warlock in real life. Yet.

  Copyright

  © 2012 by HEIDI R. KLING/COLILOQUY

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.