by Amy Boyles
I scoffed. “That I’m busy for eternity.”
He chuckled harder before sobering. “Knight doesn’t have the money to pay.”
Flashes of light blinked from the opaque jar. “That’s so strange. His sister was basically suggesting that he’s rich.”
Rufus tipped his head. “When he commissioned me, I asked for a down payment and he didn’t give it. That’s why I told him that the spell had to be done at night. I didn’t believe that he’d brought the money, and I was right.”
“You are a liar,” I teased.
He shrugged before placing the jar back in the bag. “I’m a businessman.”
“One indebted to the wizard mafia.”
He shot me an amused smile. “No one’s perfect.”
As I mentioned earlier, Rufus had pledged his spell-hunting abilities to Sykes Laffoon in order to help me out.
Right. Now you think I’m a bad person, don’t you? You think that I should hand Rufus the memory spell.
Well, that’s not going to happen anytime soon.
Anyway, Rufus took the position with the mafia because my old business partner, Sadie, owed them money and my business was the collateral. Since I didn’t have the cash to pay back what was due, Rufus offered to work off the debt by finding spells for Sykes.
Yeah, I know what you’re going to say—he was a good guy.
So far he was, but we would see.
Rufus latched the satchel and studied me. Heat flamed on my cheeks, and I could feel my heartbeat fluttering at the base of my throat.
He spoke, his voice rippling. The sound was like listening to liquid velvet. “Speaking of nobody being perfect…”
“What is it?”
“You should work on your magic.”
My nervousness disappeared, overtaken with annoyance. “What I do with my magic is none of your business.”
“No, it isn’t, but it will keep you safe.”
I crossed my arms. “And what if I like my magic just the way it is?”
“You like being a bomb filled with static electricity?”
I scowled. “Maybe I do.”
So my power is strange. It’s like he said—my skin gets charged up over time. If someone touches me and I release the pent-up power, then bam! The person winds up getting blown back by my magic.
“You can like being a bomb all you want,” Rufus said. “But it would help that instead of walking up to someone and using your magic, you were able to actually cast it and throw the power at someone. It’s much more efficient.”
“As of a couple of weeks ago, you didn’t even remember how to use your power.”
He shrugged. “It’s coming back to me.”
A chill swept down my back. I took a deep breath. It was okay for Rufus to remember about his magic as long as he didn’t remember how he used to manipulate it—to steal others’ powers.
“And so because your power is coming back, you want to help me? Haven’t you done that enough?”
His words clipped the air. “You don’t owe me anything, if that’s what you mean.”
“I didn’t say that.”
His voice hardened even more. “You shouldn’t think it, because if you do, you’re wrong. Look, I only offered because you helped me when I first arrived, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“And now you’re paying off a debt that I owe.”
His jaw clenched. “I’m not the sort of man who thinks that because I’m doing you a favor, that you owe me something.”
You once were. I shook the thought from my head as soon as it formed.
We stood in the kitchen, scowling at one another. Rufus sighed, dropped his gaze to the floor. He placed his hands on his hips and said quietly, “I was only trying to help you. With more spells floating about in the air here, the witches and wizards in this town will become more powerful. Some of them might become dangerous. It would only behoove you to be able to do more than what you already know. I’m offering my services to assist, simple as that.”
He had a good point, which made me feel like a butthead. “Okay, I’ll gladly accept whatever help you’re offering.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“No, you’re right,” I argued. “I need to learn how to protect myself. If you can help me do that, then so be it.” We started walking toward the front door. “When should we start?”
“Whenever you’d like. We can meet up before everyone shows up for the cleansing tonight.”
“Here?” I said.
He opened the door before I had a chance to and gestured for me to go first. “Or somewhere else. We can practice outside if that makes you feel more comfortable.”
I always felt safest at my house. “How about we do it at my place. Say around six?”
Since he was offering to help, it only seemed fair to feed him.
“Should I bring supper?” he asked, smiling.
“Maybe I’ll cook up a little something.”
Rufus’s brow rose. “Will it be chocolate based? I do actually require more nutrients than sugar.”
Was he flirting? I laughed. “No. It’ll be real food.”
“This I would like to see.”
We headed down the steps and found Harlow playing with the dogs. “Knight said that the spell has to be worked in the evening.”
Rufus raked his fingers through his silky hair. “We’re returning tonight and should have the cleansing done so that the construction crew can start in the morning.”
“I wish we’d had a chance to go over my ideas in the house,” I said.
Harlow plucked Gina from the ground and stroked her head. “We can go over them first thing in the morning.”
“The crew will have started by then,” I pointed out.
“It’ll be okay. I trust you.”
Rufus ran his fingers down my arm. “I’ll see you later.” His gaze shifted to Harlow. “Don’t worry about your home. We’ll have it cleansed and ready to go tonight.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“I should be going, too.” I patted my leg. “Lady, you ready?”
Lady padded up to me, tongue loping from her mouth.
“You look like you had a good time, girl.”
“They did,” Harlow replied. “Listen, Clem, I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier.”
I waved her concern away. “No big deal.” But if I had to deal with your cousins daily, I would probably act like that, too.
“It’s just that I had a bad experience once, and my cousins are great, but they can be a bit much.”
You can say that again.
“And,” she continued, “I’m sure you could tell that Knight used to be in the theater. He’s very dramatic.”
“They were fine.”
Trouble filled her eyes. “I just hope they can get along to do the cleansing.”
“I’m sure they will,” I said with a smile.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. The last cleansing they did, someone got hurt.”
“Oh no. Who was it?”
Such a look of anguish filled her eyes that when her gaze met mine, my throat shriveled.
“Me,” she said. “I almost didn’t make it out alive.”
Yippee for me. Something not to look forward to tonight.
Chapter 5
“The first thing you want to do is let go of your inhibitions.”
“I don’t have any inhibitions,” I argued.
Rufus gave me a pointed look. “I beg to differ.”
We had swept the living room furniture to the walls, leaving the very center open for us to work. I stood in the middle of the room while Rufus perched against the door, his arms crossed.
Lady lay on the couch, her eyes sparkling as she watched. I had the feeling she found this extremely amusing. We might need to have a little talk when it was all over.
No, she hadn’t spoken to anyone since earlier in the day, but it still made me nervous that she could talk. Yet I didn’t t
hink finding a reversal spell and yanking the gift away from her was the right answer.
Unfortunately I didn’t know exactly what the right answer was for this particular predicament.
Rufus took the golden mason jar from his satchel and brandished it before me. “I have a theory.”
“I would love to hear it,” I said with bite.
He sighed. “Is this actually something that you want to do—learn to use your magic?”
I stiffened. If I’d known how to use my magic better, maybe I could have stopped Rufus in the past. Maybe I could have prevented what happened to me. I could have hurt him.
Lady cocked a brow at me as if to say, But then you wouldn’t be here, would you? You wouldn’t have the chance you’ve got now, to get to know him, to allow him to redeem himself.
Were some people unredeemable?
I didn’t know the answer, but Rufus had shown growth since I’d known him. But he also suffered from amnesia.
I guess I waited too long to answer him because Rufus repeated his question. “Do you want to learn how to use your magic?”
“Yes.”
“Then would you like to hear my theory?”
I shrugged. “I guess so.”
“You’re not making this easy.”
“How about I’ll try?”
He placed the jar on a table and sauntered over to me, hips swinging. Yes, that man could work his hips like a rock star—all sexy and stuff.
It annoyed me.
Rufus stopped inches from me. I could smell his cologne and feel the heat wafting off his skin. If I touched him, his furnace of a body would sear my flesh.
I thought I might enjoy it.
“How about,” he said, “you do more than try?”
I tipped my chin up to gaze at him. Fire burned in his dark eyes. It made my chest constrict, stopping the breath from entering my lungs.
Words disappeared from my head as if they’d been yanked out by an invisible hand. He continued to study me, and my head fogged, thickening.
“Clementine? Are you all right?”
Nothing a kiss couldn’t solve.
What was wrong with me? I hated Rufus Mayes—hated him.
Didn’t I?
No, maybe I didn’t at all.
“I’m fine,” I finally answered. “Yes, I’ll give this one hundred and ten percent.”
“Great.” He turned and strode back to the wall. Then he unscrewed the cap on the jar. Two spells zoomed out, circling the room.
My gaze darted to Lady. Since she ate one spell, she might eat another. “What are you doing? Isn’t that dangerous?”
He shook his head. “They’ll settle down in a minute. As I was saying, I have a theory. This town had all its spells hidden, and with it, much of the magic of the people. These are actually the real manifestations of an individual’s power, just compartmentalized, as it were.”
“Intriguing,” I said, not sure if I followed.
“It is. The more spells I find and give to witches, the more powerful they’ll actually become. The spells themselves may wind up unlocking their latent magic.”
“Fascinating, but what does this have to do with me?”
Rufus snapped his fingers, and the spells stopped circling and zipped down to hover in front of him. He plucked them each from the air and dropped them back in the jar before capping the lid.
“You, Clementine, have magic already charging within your veins. It manifests as a sort of explosion, but I think that’s only because you don’t actually know what to do with it.”
“Haven’t we already covered this ground?”
He wagged finger at me. “I’m getting to the important bit. I have the feeling that your magic itself is a spell, like these. You only have to figure out how to break it free from the way it’s confined. Once you do that, you can shape the spell into anything you want.”
Ah, so this was why Rufus wanted my power all those years ago. He had already figured this out. Did it mean that he still wanted my power for himself?
I stiffened. “And what sorts of things would you do with it?”
His gaze filled with hesitation. “It’s not my gift, so I don’t have an answer for that. It’s yours to do with as you please. But you live in a magical town and you renovate houses, so the sky is the limit.”
I felt like I had a devil sitting on one shoulder and an angel on the other.
The angel said, See? He doesn’t want the power for himself. You’re worrying about nothing.
The devil answered, Don’t trust him.
I was in bad shape, y’all.
This was a new theory to me—I am a spell. Or, my magic was a spell that could be shaped and formed. I studied Rufus’s expression to see if any trickery lay in his eyes. But the honesty that stared back at me made me ashamed that I questioned him at all.
“So…what do I do? How do I shape this spell?”
He paced. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Perhaps you can start by taking the charged magic and manifesting it into something.”
“Like what? An orb?”
He shook his head. “No, nothing like that. I was thinking more along the lines of something that could ward off an attack.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He rubbed his jaw. “An apparition, perhaps. Something that is frightful to others but helpful to you.”
I’d never considered using my power in that way before. “It’s not much different than what I do now,” I replied, tossing the idea in my head. “You’re saying find the physical manifestation of a protector.”
He snapped his fingers. “Exactly. Find what that is to you and turn it into a spell that helps you.”
Okay, I was all-in. I’d never even heard of any magic like that, and it amazed me, what Rufus had thought up. Truly he was a wizard like none I’d ever met—challenging and creative.
“What do I need to do?” I asked.
“First, close your eyes. When you open them, you will be afraid, and that’s when I want you to throw out your power.”
I frowned and a wormy line formed between my brows. “What do you mean, I’ll be afraid.”
“You will know fear, but to know fear is the only way to succeed in this.” He said in a soothing voice, “Do you trust me?”
It was the hardest question I’d ever been asked. My instinct was to say no, I did not. But my gut said something else.
“Yes,” I murmured.
“The fear will not last long. Use it to create. You can do this, Clem. You’re very powerful.”
I exhaled a deep breath. If I was so powerful, how come I felt so weak?
“When you’re ready,” Rufus said, “close your eyes. When you open them, you’ll know fear. Use your magic.”
How hard could this be? How bad could it be? I’d faced off against fear before and won. It could be done again.
After a few seconds I did as he asked, closing my eyes. I focused on my breathing, using it to center me and sharpen my focus.
There was no telling what I would see when I opened my eyes, and I knew that the longer I waited to move forward, the more built up the fear would be.
So I let my eyes pop open.
It was dark and cold. I could hear water dripping as it hit a stone floor. I shivered as a finger slid under my chin.
I will have your power.
Rufus stood before me. Not the one I knew now, but the one from years ago. His face was paler, his eyes dark and full of ice.
I will have what should be mine, he said.
Then I felt it—the cold suction of my magic being yanked from me, pulled away. I felt a scream begin in the back of my throat. Through all the agony, through the ripping as my power was being torn from me, I felt my throat open.
But nothing came out.
Poor little Clementine, he said. No one can hear you scream.
He moved around me, his eyes dancing with enjoyment. He liked seeing me in agony. He liked watching me be afraid.
>
The present and the past collided, and even though I knew the man standing before me was a vision, a mirage, part of me believed that John/Rufus was mocking me, striding in front of me, and that he knew the truth. That he wanted to watch me writhe with anguish and pain.
Rip!
That is your power, he mused. Soon, it will all be mine.
Then the realization that I would die here overtook me.
That was when the fear struck. It wormed its way into my head, telling me that I would never survive, that I had been abandoned, tricked by Rufus. The words sharpened, telling me that he had done exactly what I always knew he would—lied and used me.
You will die here, he said.
The words drummed in my head over and over.
No, I screamed back, I can’t die here.
It hurt to breathe. It hurt to think. What was I supposed to do? I had to cut through the pain that threatened to beat me down, that wanted me to wallow in fear.
Fear. That was it.
From deep within me, I pulled out my anger, my frustration, my will to survive.
I stared at Rufus, who looked exactly like he had the day he’d chained me up.
Then I threw out my magic.
The power flew from my body, taking my breath with it. A golden spear was launched through the air. It pierced Rufus and shattered him like a mirror.
Suddenly I looked up and saw that I was back in my house. Lady watched me, her tail flapping against the couch cushions.
My breath returned, and I collapsed to my feet, sinking onto the floor.
From beside me, Rufus clapped. “Bravo.” His hands wrapped around me.
I pushed him away and staggered back. The vision and the present collided again. I couldn’t get the snaky sound of his voice from my head. You will die here.
I gasped for air, and he sank to his knees. “Clem, it’s over. Whatever you saw. It wasn’t real.”
I pushed the heel of my hands into my eyes and gulped down several large mouthfuls of air. It wasn’t real, I reminded myself. It wasn’t real. That Rufus isn’t here. This one, the one everyone calls John, is.
He gently touched my shoulder. “Clem?”
Then the dam of stone that had wrapped itself around my heart broke. I flung my arms around Rufus and shoved back the tears that threatened to come.
