Heirloom Magic: Every Witch Way

by Megan Berry

  “I’m just waiting to get paid, man,” the demon told them, and Jasper took off down the basement stairs and returned with six gold bars. Harper’s mouth dropped to see the heavy bars exchange hands. The demon stroked the bars like they were a favorite pet and then disappeared into nothingness.

  “You paid all that…for me?” she asked, feeling a little choked up, and Jasper nodded.

  “I would’ve paid more,” he assured her, and Harper smiled.

  “Fergus would’ve taken less,” Keaton added his own two cents with a chuckle. Jasper looked like he was going to retort, so Harper hastened to diffuse the situation.

  “Is he gone?” she asked, and Jasper scented the air before nodding.

  “He is,” he assured her as he threw himself down on the couch. “You need to put up some protection wards in this house. It will keep demons from teleporting themselves inside the walls.”

  “Always carry salt,” Mallory added.

  “And don’t go anywhere without me,” Jasper finished, making Harper look at him with wide eyes.

  “Maybe I should just go back to Chicago—” Harper suggested, but everyone in the room shook their heads.

  “They would just find you. You will be better protected here,” Jasper told her, shaking his head before she had even finished speaking. He had no urge whatsoever to move to Chicago, and with all the interest in Harper’s mixed blood right now, he wouldn’t have much of a choice. She had to be protected; if something happened to her, Jasper wouldn’t be long for this world either.

  “I’ll get round-the-clock protection in place right away,” Mary volunteered, already furiously sending out a text on her Blackberry.

  Harper sagged into the couch, and Jasper gave everyone a look. “I think we can continue this discussion in the morning,” he told them, and Harper was grateful. She had been so fueled by adrenaline these last few hours that she was coming down hard right now.

  “Have you considered that maybe we should call in that witch from New York?” Mary suggested quietly when Jasper walked her to the front door. Jasper raked his hands through his hair. She was talking about the witch that would occasionally assist Liz in the shop when she had too many orders to fill herself. The woman had been friends with Liz for over fifty years, but when demons were involved, it was always difficult to know who you could really trust.

  “I don’t honestly know,” he admitted, and Mary nodded. She knew as well as he did that they had to be careful.

  “I’ll run it by Harper later,” Jasper said to placate her, and Mary beamed.

  “I’m sure she will make the right decision,” Mary said, leaving Jasper with little doubt about what the mayor thought was the right decision.

  Jasper watched her step off the porch and shift into her wolf form before she took off running into the darkness with a howl. He snorted as he shut the door—wolves and their dramatics—her car was still parked in front of the house.

  Keaton and Mallory were just saying goodbye when Jasper came back into the living room. “Some of the pack will be outside,” Keaton murmured to Jasper, and the werewolf actually offered his hand. Jasper hesitated for a moment before he shook it. “Take care of our girl,” the wolf commanded, and Jasper nodded.

  “Like my life depends on it,” he said with a humorless chuckle.

  Jasper joined Harper on the couch. Her head kept drooping and she would nod off before startling awake. Jasper pulled a blanket off the couch and tucked it around her shoulders. “I’m awake,” Harper mumbled sleepily.

  “You don’t have to be,” he told her gently, settling in beside her to keep vigil through the remainder of the night. Harper fought sleep, but eventually, Jasper’s cool, reassuring presence made it impossible.

  Harper woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs, and her stomach growled. She popped one eyeball open to find herself still sprawled on the couch—but the couch was in the middle of the kitchen. “This isn’t where I fell asleep,” she said, sitting up and looking over at Jasper flipping eggs.

  Jasper shot her a crooked grin. “I didn’t want to leave you alone, so I brought you in here,” he told her, and Harper stared down at the couch.

  “The couch too?” she asked, and he nodded.

  “It seemed easier than waking you up,” he shrugged as he spooned some perfectly cooked eggs onto a plate and brought it over to her.

  “Thanks,” Harper told him as she popped some bacon into her mouth. She chewed as she thought about the night before. “What am I going to do?” she asked Jasper as the vampire collapsed gracefully beside her on the couch.

  “I would start with the wards,” he suggested seriously. “Your gran had a bunch of them—every witch does.”

  Harper was about to ask how when Jasper reached between the couch cushions and pulled out the spell book. “Check under W,” he suggested.

  Harper balanced her plate on the edge of the couch and licked the grease from her fingers before she dared to take the ancient book. She flipped to the back and worked her way back from Z.

  “Wards and Protection Spells,” she read out loud as Jasper read over her shoulder. Harper read through them until she got to the very last. It was written in regular pen, not old fashioned ink, and was in her gran’s handwriting. “This one was Gran’s!” she exclaimed excitedly to Jasper as she read over the spell in her head and suddenly she felt great invisible walls slam up all around the house. The house vibrated with magic, and Jasper was flung from the house.

  “Jasper?” Harper called out as she rushed to stare out the broken window. He had landed on the lawn about thirty feet away.

  “I’m alright,” he coughed as he stood up and dusted the dirt and glass from his clothes. “That was one hell of a spell.”

  “I didn’t even realize I was casting it, I just read it,” Harper said helplessly as she rushed to the front door and opened it. Jasper tried to step through but it was like an invisible force field was there, and it threw him back again.

  “You had the intent to cast a protection spell, so your magic recognized the spell as soon as you read it…” Jasper snapped his fingers. “I think you need to invite me inside, this spell is obviously designed to keep all magical creatures out.”

  “Please come inside,” Harper invited, and, with a wince, Jasper tried once more. This time he wasn’t thrown away from the door and could actually step over the threshold.

  “This is a great start,” Jasper told her, trailing off when something over her shoulder caught his eye. “Irene,” Jasper called out, and Harper spun to find the crazy woman with the wild, white hair from her gran’s funeral, hobbling up the walk.

  “I tried to give you time,” the old woman muttered as she dragged her stiff legs along. “I can’t take it anymore. I need that elixir!” The woman hobbled up the steps and stopped before Harper, planting her hands on her hips. “I won’t take no for an answer,” she warned them as she tried to push her way into the house.

  “Irene!” Jasper tried to warn, but it was too late. The old woman hit the protection barrier and went flying backwards with a scream. Harper let out a gasp and went running towards the old woman, whose white hair was smoking a little at the ends. “Phone 911!” she called to Jasper, who just stood there watching with his arms crossed, a bemused expression on his face.

  Irene sat up with a cough and her face darkened as she looked at Harper. “What are you trying to do, kill me?” she demanded, shoving her hand at Harper, and Harper hesitantly pulled the old woman to her feet.

  “You’re alright?” Harper asked, stunned and barely able to believe that such an old woman was able to fly twenty feet through the air, hit the ground, and still get up.

  “No thanks to you!” Irene snapped.

  “Irene is a fairy—a very old fairy,” Jasper explained, coming forward.

  “That elixir had better be on the house,” Irene grumbled as Jasper helped her hobble back towards the house.

  “Please come in,” Harper invited, and the old woma
n shuffled through the door with a sour look on her face. Irene followed them into the kitchen and didn’t even bat an eyelash to see the couch in the middle of the wrong room.

  Harper picked up the spell book again, having no idea what she was looking for. “You said this was for arthritis?” she asked, and Irene nodded.

  Harper flipped to the front of the book and began searching, starting with ‘Apples— Poison.’ Harper gulped and kept flipping until she found it near the start of the B section. “Arthritis,” Harper read out loud. There was a small sticky note with Irene’s name written on it and Harper grinned—this might not be so bad after all.

  “I’ll need a cauldron,” she said, trailing her finger along the list of ingredients, and Jasper went to the cupboard and pulled out a small, black cast iron cauldron. Harper read off the ingredients, which disturbingly included eye of newt, and Jasper found them for her and placed them in the pot.

  Harper set the book down and held her hands wide over the top. “Ancient bones, start to ache, start to wither, start to quake. Mend the pain, and all the aches, stop the aging, stop the quakes,” Harper read out loud, letting out a small giggle at the wording. Light spread from her finger tips and the potion began to sizzle. Jasper took a step back, just in case, and Harper wanted to do the same but thought it wouldn’t look very professional. The potion went from black to a brilliant emerald green, and Irene pushed her out of the way, giving the cauldron a sniff.

  “It’s a little more green than usual, but it smells the same,” she said as she reached in the cauldron with a glass and took a long swig.” Harper waited with her breath frozen in her lungs. Irene stood there for several moments and then a huge smile spread over her face. “This is stronger than your gran’s,” she crowed happily as she threw her cane to the ground and started jumping around like a much younger woman.

  Harper beamed, happy that finally something had gone right. “I will bottle the rest up for you,” she told the old fairy as she rummaged around until she found a Tupperware container.

  “Maybe not so fast,” Jasper said suddenly, elbowing Harper in the ribs and making her spill some of the potion. Harper turned around and the smile melted off her face. Irene’s wild, white locks were just as crazy as usual, but they were now a vivid purple.

  “Oh my goodness!” Harper squeaked, slapping her hand across her mouth, and Jasper burst out laughing.

  “What’s the matter girl?” Irene demanded sharply, and Harper was actually afraid to tell the crotchety old woman what she’d done to her. Jasper had no such qualms though and dug a mirror out of the drawer and held it up to her. Irene blinked as she took in her new hairstyle, and Harper braced herself for the fury.

  A weird sound emitted from her throat, and Harper was afraid she’d given the old woman a stroke. The sound came again, like a rusty old hinge squeaking after years of misuse, and Harper realized in surprise that she was actually laughing.

  “I don’t know what you did to me girl, but I’ll wear this purple hair proudly if my old joints can keep feeling like this!” the old woman laughed hysterically as she gathered up the rest of the potion and strolled out, leaving her cane in the middle of the kitchen floor.

  “What just happened?” Harper asked, looking at Jasper in confusion. Jasper laughed uproariously.

  “I think you finally got something right,” he told her, sounding just as surprised as Harper felt. His laughter was contagious, and Harper collapsed on the couch giggling as she thought about crazy Irene and her even crazier purple hair. She was almost mastering her magic. Now she just had to figure out how to deal with the demons that were after her, and this whole being magical thing might not be so bad.

  “We’ll be okay,” Jasper told her, like he could read her mind, and for the first time since she’d heard her gran had passed, Harper started to believe it, just a little.

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