A Fistful of Charms th-4

by Ким Харрисон

  Standing on the sill, Jenks let his wings droop. I felt a flash of guilt, then stifled it. Jenks was going whether I was with him or not, and if he was big, he would have a better chance of coming back in one piece. But she was so upset, it was hard not to feel like it was my fault.

  "Okay," I said, the bite of pizza tasteless. "What do we do first for Jenks?"

  Ceri's slight shoulders eased and she gripped her crucifix with what was clearly an unknowing gesture of contentment. "His curse will have to be specially tailored. We should probably set a circle too. This is going to be difficult."

  Six

  The harsh smell of low-grade yarn dye didn't mix well with the luscious scent of leather and silk. Through it ran a dusky incense that soaked into me with each slow breath, keeping my muscles loose and slack. Kisten. My nose tickled, and I pushed the afghan from my face, snuggling deeper into the sound of his heartbeat. I felt him shift, and a sleepy part of me remembered we were in the living room on the couch, lying like spoons. My head was tucked under his chin, and his arm was over my middle, warm and secure.

  "Rachel?" he whispered so softly that it barely stirred my hair.

  "Mmmm?" I mumbled, not wanting to move. In the past eleven months I'd found that a vampire's blood lust varied like tempers, dependent upon stress, temperament, upbringing, and when they had slaked it last. I had gone into living with Ivy as a roommate as a complete idiot. Turns out she had been on the extreme end of the hairy-scary scale at the time, being stressed about Piscary wanting her to make me a toy or kill me, acerbated by her guilt at her desire for blood and trying to abstain from it. Three years of abstinence made for a very anxious vamp. I didn't want to know what Ivy had been before going cold turkey to try to remake herself. All I knew was she was much easier to live with now that she was "taking care of business," though it left her hating herself and feeling she was a failure every time she succumbed.

  I'd found Kisten to be on the other end, with a laid-back temperament to begin with and no issues about satisfying his blood lust. And though I wouldn't feel comfortable napping in the same room with Ivy, I could snuggle up to Kisten, provided he took care of things beforehand. And I didn't do jumping jacks in his sweatshirt, I thought sourly.

  "Rachel, love," he said again, louder, with a hint of pleading. I could feel his muscles tense and his breathing quicken. "I think Ceri is ready for you to kindle Jenks's spell, and as much as I'd love to pull blood from you, it might be better if you did it yourself."

  My eyes flew open and I stared at the bank of Ivy's electronic equipment. "She finished it?" I said, and Kisten grunted when my elbow pushed off his gut when I sat up. My sock feet hit the rug, and my eyes shot to the clock on the TV. It was past noon?

  "I fell asleep!" I said, seeing our pizza-crust-strewn plates on the coffee table. "Kist," I complained, "you weren't supposed to let me fall asleep!"

  He remained reclining on Ivy's gray suede couch, his hair tousled and a content, sleepy look to his eyes. "Sorry," he said around a yawn, not looking sorry at all.

  "Darn it. I was supposed to be helping Ceri." It was bad enough she was doing my spelling for me. To be sleeping when she did it was just rude.

  He lifted one shoulder and let it fall. "She said to let you sleep."

  Giving him an exasperated sigh, I tugged my jeans straight. I hated it when I fell asleep in my clothes. At least I had showered before dinner, thinking it only fair I get rid of the lingering scent of wearing his sweatshirt. "Ceri?" I said, shuffling into the kitchen. For crying out loud, I'd wanted to have Kisten's borrowed van packed and be on the road by now.

  Ceri was sitting with her elbows on Ivy's antique table. Beside her was a pizza box, empty but for a single slice and an untouched container of garlic dipping sauce. Her long, wispy hair was the only movement, floating in the chill breeze from the window. The kitchen was cleaner than I ever managed when I did my spelling: copper bowls stacked neatly in the sink, the grit of salt under my feet from where she had made a circle, and a scattering of ley line magic paraphernalia and earth magic herbs. A demon book was open on the center counter, and the purple candle I burned last Halloween guttered even as I watched.

  The early afternoon sun was a bright swath of light coming in the window. Past the drifting curtains, pixies shrieked and played, shredding the fairy nest in the ash tree with a savage enthusiasm. Jenks was sitting on the table, slumped against Ceri's half-empty cup of tea. "Ceri," I said, reaching to touch her shoulder.

  Her head jerked up. "O di immortals, Gally," she said, clearly not awake. "My apologies! Your curse is ready. I'll have your tea directly."

  Jenks took to the air in a clattering of wings, and my attention shot from him to her. "Ceri?" I repeated, frightened. She called Algaliarept Gally?

  The young woman stiffened, then dropped her head into her hands again. "God help me, Rachel," she said, her words muffled. "For a moment…"

  My hand slipped from her shoulder. She had thought she was back with Al. "I'm sorry," I said, feeling even more guilty. "I fell asleep and Kisten didn't wake me. Are you okay?"

  She turned, a thin smile on her heart-shaped face. Her green eyes were tired and weary. I was sure she hadn't slept since yesterday afternoon, and she looked ready to drop. "I'm fine," she lisped faintly, clearly not.

  Embarrassed, I sat before her. "Jeez, Ceri, I could have done something."

  "I'm fine," she repeated, her eyes on the ribbon of smoke spiraling up from the candle. "Jenks helped me with the plants. He's very knowledgeable."

  Eyebrows rising, I watched Jenks tug his green silk gardening jacket down. "You think I'm going to take a spell without knowing what's in it?" he said.

  "Jenks helped you make it?" I asked.

  She shrugged. "It doesn't matter who makes it, as long as you kindle it." Pale face smiling tiredly, she nodded to the potion and finger stick.

  Moving slowly, I rose and went to Jenks's spell. The crack of the safety seal on the finger stick breaking was loud.

  "Use your Jupiter finger," Ceri advised. "It will add the strength of your will to it."

  It made a difference? I wondered, feeling ill from more than lack of sleep as I pricked my finger for three drops of blood. Kisten stirred in the living room when they went plopping into the spell pot and the scent of burnt amber rose. Jenks's wings blurred to motion, and I held my breath, waiting for something to happen. Nothing. But I had to say the "magic words" first.

  "Done," Ceri said, slumping where she sat.

  My eyes went to Kisten's lanky form when he strode into the kitchen, barefoot and rumpled. "Afternoon, ladies," he said, pulling the pizza box closer and dropping the last stiff slice on a plate. He wasn't the first guy to have a toothbrush at my sink, but he was the only one to have kept it there this long, and I felt good seeing him here in his disheveled, untucked-shirt state, content and comfortable.

  "Coffee?" I asked, and he nodded, clearly not functioning on all levels yet as he dragged the plate from the table and headed into the hall, scratching the bristles on his jawline.

  I jumped when Kisten pounded on Ivy's door and shouted, "Ivy! Get up! Here's your breakfast. Rachel is leaving, and you'd better hurry if you want to see Jenks change."

  So much for coffee, toast, juice, and a flower, I thought, hearing Ivy's voice rise in disgust before Kisten shut her door and cut off her complaints. Ceri looked mystified, and I shook my head to tell her it wasn't worth explaining. I went to clean the coffeemaker, turning the water to a trickle when Kisten thunked my bathroom door shut and my shower started.

  "So, we going to do this, Jenks?" I prompted while I swirled the water around.

  His wings shading to blue, Jenks landed by the shot-glass-sized cup of brew. "I drink it?"

  Ceri nodded. "Once it's in you, Rachel will invoke it. Nothing will happen until then."

  "All of it?" I asked, eyes widening. "It's like, what, a gallon in pixy terms?"

  Jenks shrugged. "I drink that much sugar water for brea
kfast," he said, and my brow furrowed. If he drank like that, we might be stopping every hour anyway.

  My fingers fumbled to unroll the coffee bag, and the dark scent of grounds hit me, thick and comforting. I measured out what I needed into the new filter, then added a smidgen more while I surreptitiously watched Jenks procrastinate. Finally he scuffed his boots on the counter and spooned out a pixy-sized portion with a tiny glass. He downed the dripping cup in one go, making a face when he lowered the cup.

  I flipped the coffeemaker on and leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "What does it taste like?" I asked, remembering the demon spell already in me. I was hoping he didn't say it tasted like my blood.

  "Uh…" Jenks scooped out another cupful. "It tastes like the garden in the fall when people have been burning their leaves."

  Dead ashes? I thought. Gre-e-e-e-eat.

  Chin high, he swallowed it, then turned to me. "For the love of Tink, you aren't going to stand there and watch me, are you?"

  Grimacing, I pushed myself from the counter. "Can I make you some tea?" I asked Ceri, not wanting to look like I was watching but not wanting to leave either. What if he had a reaction or something?

  With a barely perceivable motion, Ceri regained her upright posture, my offer seeming to turn on an entirely new set of behaviors. "Yes, thank you," she said carefully.

  I returned to the sink and filled the kettle, wincing at Jenks's tiny belch and groan. The sound of running water seemed to revive Ceri, and she rose, moving about the kitchen to put things away. "I can do that," I protested, and she watched my eyes go to the clock above the sink. Crap, it was getting late.

  "So can I," she said. "You have a long way to drive, and all I have to do is—" She looked sourly about the kitchen. "I don't have anything to do but sleep. I should be thanking you. It was exhilarating to craft such a complex curse. It's one of my best efforts."

  Her pride was obvious, and after the burner ignited under the kettle, I stood against the counter and watched Jenks belch and recite his ABCs at the same time. Would the man's talents never end? Curiosity finally prompted me to ask, "What was it like, being his familiar?"

  Ceri seemed to grow drowsy as she stood in the sun at the sink and washed her teacup. "He is domineering and cruel," she said softly, head down as she watched her thin hands, "but my origins made me unique. He enjoyed showing me off and so kept me well. Once I became pliant, he often gave me favors and courtesies that most remained ignorant of."

  My thoughts returned to her embarrassment when speaking of Al's favorite appearance of a British nobleman. They had been together for a thousand years, and there were countless cases of captives becoming enamored of their captors. And that nickname… I tried to meet her eyes, but she avoided it.

  "I'll be back," Jenks said, patting his stomach. "This stuff makes you pee like a toad."

  I cringed as he took to the air and flew heavily past Ceri and out the pixy hole in the screen. A glance at the spell pot brought my eyebrows up. It was half gone. Damn, the man could slam it faster than a frat boy.

  "I made anywhere from thirty to fifty curses a day," Ceri said, taking a rag from the sink and wiping the island counter free of salt, "apart from warming his bed and putting food on his table. Every seventh day he would work in the lab with me, expanding my knowledge. This charm…" Eyes distant, she touched the counter beside the remaining brew. "This one we would have spent all day with, going slow so he could explain the complexities of mixing curses. Those days…I almost felt good about myself."

  Clasping my hands about my middle, I felt cold at the hint of wistfulness to her voice. She nearly seemed to regret she wasn't working in a demon sweatshop anymore. Eyes distant, she took the boiling water from the stove and poured it into a small teapot.

  Jenks returned without comment, settling before the brew with his little cup. The hair on the back of my neck pricked, and Ivy came in with a soft scuffing, hands busy tucking her shirt behind her jeans. Not meeting anyone's eyes, she shuffled to the coffeemaker and poured two mugs even as the last drips spilled onto the hot plate to sizzle. I looked up in surprise when she hesitantly set one beside me.

  Kisten's words echoed through my thoughts as I watched her sit at her computer, reading the tension in her shoulders when she jabbed the on button and hit the shortcut to her mail. What he'd said about her leaning on me more than him because I didn't know her past tightened my gut. I looked at her as she sat at the far end of the kitchen, distant but a part of the group. Her perfect face was quiet and still, not a glimmer of her savage past showing. A chill went through me at what might lie beneath it, what might come out if I left her. Just how bad had it been?

  Ivy looked from her monitor, her eyes fastening on me from under her short bangs. My gaze dropped. Good Lord. It was only for a few days.

  "Thanks for the coffee," I said, uncurling my fingers and lacing them about the warm ceramic while I steeled my emotions. I had to go. Nick and Jax needed help. I'd be back.

  She said nothing, her face showing no emotion. A screen of new e-mails came in one after the other, and she began winnowing through them.

  Nervous, I turned to Ceri. "I really appreciate this," I said, thinking of the long drive ahead. "If it wasn't for your help, I wouldn't even try it. I'm just glad it's not a black charm," I added. White or not, using demon magic was not what I wanted to be known for.

  In her spot in the sun, Ceri stiffened. "Um, Rachel?" she said, and my heart seemed to skip a beat. My head slowly lifted and my mouth went dry. Jenks stopped with his cup halfway to his mouth. He met my eyes, his wings going absolutely still.

  "It's a black charm?" I said, my voice squeaky at the end.

  "Well, it's demon magic…." she said, sounding apologetic. "They're all black." She looked between Jenks and me, mystified. "I thought you knew that."

  Seven

  I took a shaky breath and reached for the counter. It was black? I had taken a black charm? This just keeps getting better and better. Why in hell hadn't she told me?

  "Hell no!" Jenks rose in a flurry of copper-colored sparkles. "Just forget it. Ivy, forget it! I'm not doing this!"

  While Ivy snarled at Jenks that he would or she'd jam him through a keyhole backward, I wobbled to the table and slumped into my chair. Ceri was so odd, seemingly as innocent as Joan of Arc but as accepting of black magic as if she sat at Lucifer's feet and did his nails every other Wednesday. They were all black, and she didn't see anything wrong with them? Come to think of it, Joan of Arc had heard voices in her head telling her to kill people.

  "Rachel…"

  Ceri's hand on my shoulder pulled my head up and I stared. "I, uh," I muttered. "I kinda expected they were black, but you didn't seem to be having any problem making them, so…" I looked at the remainder of Jenks's potion, wondering if he quit now whether he'd be okay.

  "He needs this curse." Ceri gracefully sat so I couldn't see Jenks and Ivy arguing at the far end of the table. "And the smut from one or two is trifling."

  Matalina zipped in through the pixy hole in the screen at one of Jenks's sharp squeaks, bringing the smell of the spring noon with her. Her yellow dress swirled prettily about her ankles when she came to a short stop, her expression inquisitive as she tried to figure out what was going on. I couldn't seem to get enough air. Trifling? Didn't she get it?

  "What if I only use them for good?" I tried. "Will they still stain my soul if I only do good with them?"

  Matalina's wings stopped and she dropped three inches to the table, losing her balance and falling, to bend a wing backward. Ceri exhaled in obvious exasperation. "You're severely breaking the laws of nature with these curses," she lectured, her green eyes narrow, "far more than with earth or line magic on their own. It doesn't matter if they're used for good or bad, the smut on your soul is the same. If you mess with nature's books, you pay a price."

  My eyes flicked past her to Matalina and Jenks. The small pixy woman had found her feet, and she had a hand on Jenks's shoulder as
he hunched over his knees. He was hyperventilating by the look of it, pixy dust shading to red sifting from him to pool and spill onto the floor. It swirled in the draft from the window, and it would have been pretty if I hadn't known that it meant he was severely stressed.

  Ivy's lips were a thin line. I didn't understand why she was arguing with him. I didn't expect him to go through with it if it was a black curse. Damn it, Ceri had been calling them curses all along, and I hadn't been listening.

  "But I don't want my soul to go black," I almost whined. "I just got rid of Al's aura."

  Ceri's delicate features went annoyed, and she stood. "Then get rid of it."

  Jenks's head came up, his eyes looking frightened. "Rachel is not a black witch!" he shouted, and I wondered at his hot loyalty. "She's not going to foster it off on an innocent!"

  "I never said she should," Ceri said, bristling.

  "Ceri," I said hesitantly, listening to Matalina try to soothe her husband. "Isn't there another way to get rid of the reality imbalance than to pass it to someone else?"

  Clearly aware of Jenks ready to fly at her, Ceri calmly went to her brewed tea. "No. Once you make it, the only way to get rid of it is to pass it to someone else. But I'm not suggesting you give it to an innocent. People will accept it voluntarily if you sweeten the deal."

  I didn't like the sound of that. "Why would someone voluntarily take my blackness onto their soul?" I said, and the elf sighed, visibly biting back her annoyance. Tact wasn't in her repertoire, despite her kindness and overflowing goodwill.

  "You attach it to something they want, Rachel," she said. "A spell or task. Information."

  My eyes widened as I figured it out. "Like a demon," I said, and she nodded.

  Oh God. My stomach hurt. The only way to get rid of it would be to trick people into taking it. Like a demon.

  Ceri stood at my sink, the morning sun streaming about her making her look like a princess in jeans and a black and gold sweater. "It's a good option," she said, blowing at her tea to hasten its cooling. "I have too much imbalance to rid myself of it that way, but perhaps if I forayed into the ever-after and rescued people stolen and still in possession of their souls, they might take a hundred years of my imbalance in return for the chance to be free of the ever-after."