Thoroughly Kissed

by Kristine Grayson

Emma held out a hand. The command usually worked with Darnell—the smaller Darnell, anyway. She wondered if the larger one would listen.

  “You can’t take my magic,” Emma said. “No one can. I have to give it away.”

  He tilted his head back, studying her. “You’re more educated than I thought.”

  “I told you,” Emma said, “I’m in control.”

  His smile was small. “If you were, your magic wouldn’t be running loose on hillsides waiting for anyone to use it.”

  She started. The horse-wishes were here too? How far had that spell spread? “Unless I meant that to happen.”

  “Nonsense,” he said. “No one willingly lets loose that kind of power.”

  “You seem to think someone would give it away,” she said.

  He snapped his fingers and both Michael and Darnell froze in place. They looked like a man and lion statue, gleaming under the lights. “I could kill them both if you don’t give me that magic.”

  His spells were small, Emma had to remind herself. The last time she had summoned ghosts that had destroyed his magic using pointed things. All she needed was something pointed—a knife, a car key—and she’d get Michael and Darnell back.

  “You could,” Emma said, “but that wouldn’t work in the eyes of the Fates. A gift coerced is not a true gift.”

  He cursed. “Who taught you?”

  “Ealhswith,” she said, and it was her turn to smile. She did it slowly, the nastiest smile she could muster. She tried, in her mind, to imitate her evil mentor’s smile as best she could. “Are you sure you want to mess with me?”

  The self-assurance left his face. “Is this some kind of trick? Are you working for the Fates?”

  “I might be.” Her smile got nastier. “Think of it. A multidimensional sting operation.”

  He looked up, then down, then back at her. “I’ll know if you’re lying.”

  “Sure you will,” she said, sarcastically. “Your magic is just that strong.”

  “There are others in this area who know that your magic is loose. They’ll know that I didn’t get it. They’ll come after you.”

  “My magic isn’t loose,” Emma said calmly. “I’m sure you’ll tell them that.”

  “They don’t listen to me.”

  “I’m beginning to understand why,” Emma said. “Now, unfreeze my cat and my mortal.”

  “Are you sure you won’t change your mind?” Feo asked.

  “Feo, I’m within my legal rights to turn you into a toad. I believe I could get at least a century’s worth of toadness out of you before the Fates even protested. Do you want me to do that?”

  He was trembling visibly now. He snapped his fingers. Both Michael and Darnell stopped glistening. Darnell was growling again. His tail started twitching so fast that Emma knew he was going to pounce in a moment. She bet that Feo had forgotten to put his little force field back up.

  “Okay,” Feo said, his voice trembling as much as his hands. “I’m leaving. But you have to promise me that you won’t mess with me again.”

  “I’m not promising anything,” Emma said.

  And then Darnell launched. Michael didn’t even try to grab at him. Darnell was growling like a lion in a nature documentary. He soared at Feo who clapped his hands together, and vanished in a cloud of noxious smoke.

  Darnell leapt through the smoke and landed, coughing, on the cheap coffee table. The table buckled, and then collapsed.

  Darnell lay there for a moment, obviously trying to catch his breath. Then he sighed.

  “I don’t suppose I can convince you both that I did that on purpose,” Darnell said.

  “I know it was on purpose,” Emma said. “You meant to hit Feo. He disappeared. It was his fault.”

  “Of course. Exactly.” Darnell sat up and started licking himself. Then he stopped and glared at her. “If the prey is gone, can I revert to my normal size? Otherwise this bath will take forever.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Emma said.

  “Don’t try the reverse spell,” Darnell said. “Tell me to shut up and clap your hands. That’s how you did it the last time.”

  “I don’t need you telling me how to do spells.”

  “Well, someone has to tell you. No matter how you bluffed that idiot. He must really be one weak-assed magician if he’s stealing powers from others.”

  “If he’s afraid of you,” Emma said.

  Darnell sat even straighter. “I’m extremely intimidating at this size.”

  “Naw,” Emma said. “You’re just a pussycat.”

  Darnell stood up. “Lady, I like you. You feed me. But don’t push me.”

  “Why not?” she said. “If you attack me, Michael will call animal control and they’ll capture you, cage you, and put you down.”

  “Not if I talk to them.”

  “Darnell has a point,” Michael said.

  “Who asked you?” Emma said, not turning to him.

  “You’re the one who mentioned his name,” Darnell said.

  “Shut up,” Emma said.

  “Okay.”

  “I thought you said that would work,” Emma said to Darnell.

  “You didn’t clap your hands. Do I have to do all of this for you?”

  “You haven’t done anything so far.”

  “So far, I’ve been forced into the backseat of a car, I’ve had to listen to gooey love talk. I’ve had to share your attention with that guy—”

  “Hey!” Michael said.

  “—and I got cheated out of several meals. Then I get held prisoner by a piece of prey, who wore too much cologne, thank you very much, and I have to get it off my fur and—”

  “Shut up!” Emma said and clapped her hands. The clap turned into thunder and then a lightning bolt sizzled through the room, illuminating everything, including the dirt on the furniture. Emma felt the energy leave her and go directly toward Darnell. The light surrounded him for a moment—he seemed to grin as if he knew he had manipulated her—and then he shrank down to normal size.

  He didn’t even try to thank her. He just returned to licking his shoulder as if that were the most important thing in life.

  Which, to him, it probably was.

  Michael let out a small sigh. He hadn’t left his post near the love seat. “You think that man is gone?”

  “Yeah,” Emma said.

  “Bonita Sueña? You know what that means?”

  “I was trying for Sleeping Beauty.”

  “You weren’t even close.”

  “I was close,” Emma said.

  “No, you got Beautiful Dreamer.” Then he frowned. “Actually, that would be La Sueña Bonita.”

  “No,” Emma said. “That’s the beautiful dream.”

  “I thought you didn’t speak Spanish.”

  “I didn’t say that. I just don’t think fast in it.”

  “Then why didn’t you use your native tongue?”

  “Because he already had enough clues about who I was,” Emma said. “No need to give him any more.”

  “So that’s why you chose to call him Feo.”

  She smiled. “The Ugly Cowboy didn’t suit him, but Ugly sure did.”

  Michael smiled back at her. His eyes warmed. She went to him and he put his arms around her, holding her close. They rocked together. He felt very, very good.

  After a moment, Michael said, “Is Feo right? Do you think there’re others?”

  She nodded against his shirt. That was probably what she had felt when she had been entering this region. The dark magic.

  “Do you think they’re more powerful?”

  “Than me? I’m sure of it.”

  “Than him.”

  She considered for a moment. “Their powe
rs don’t matter that much since they have to get my permission to take my magic, and it can’t be coerced.”

  “That could be a fine line, though.” Michael rubbed his hand up and down her back. “You might not even know you’re being coerced.”

  “Michael, I’d know.”

  He shook his head. “Magic can work on you, just like the rest of us.”

  “Any spell would be coercion.”

  “The person who spelled you would have to get caught.” He put a finger under her chin and brought her face up to his. “Right?”

  She looked away. “Right.”

  He turned her face back toward his and kissed her. A long, slow, sweet kiss that had passion, but also had a sorrow to it. Then he leaned his forehead against hers. “I think,” he said softly, “we should go.”

  “Go?”

  “Drive to Oregon. Nonstop.”

  “But, Michael.” She gestured toward the bed. “We were going to stay the night.”

  He kissed her again. This kiss was less sweet and a lot more passionate. She slid her hands under his shirt, feeling that firm, strong back of his. His hands were in her hair, easing her closer.

  “Jeez, guys, get a room.”

  Emma and Michael pulled apart. They both looked at Darnell. His golden eyes twinkled.

  “That is the phrase, isn’t it?” he asked. “Get a room?”

  “I thought you lost your voice,” Michael said.

  “Not this time. She got the size, not the voice. I was annoyed at first, but I think this is going to be useful. I can weigh in with my opinion without having to throw myself at windows. And I say, ‘Get a room.’”

  “We have a room,” Emma said.

  Darnell sighed. “You persist in that activity with that—man”—there was enough disgust in Darnell’s voice to freeze all of Lake Mendota—“I will simply have to find a way to stop you.”

  “We could put you in the car,” Michael said.

  “I will scream repeatedly if you do that.”

  “Lock you in the bathroom,” Emma said, beginning to like the idea.

  “I’ll do a play by play of your activity, based on sound effects alone.”

  “Oh for heaven’s sake,” Michael said, letting his arms drop, “I don’t think a bucket of ice water would have been this effective.”

  “Then my work here is done.” Darnell lay back down on the smashed coffee table.

  Emma looked at Michael. “We could still put him in the car.”

  Michael shook his head. “Much as I want you on that bed,” he said, “I think we need to be safe first.”

  Darnell glared at them. “Oh, so now he’s saying that logic controlled his lust.”

  “That’s enough, Darnell,” Emma said.

  “Not really,” Darnell said. “I’ve decided I like having a voice. I could tell you tales of my life all the way to Oregon. Imagine the perspectives I have. The miraculous things I’ve smelled would take half the night, not to mention—”

  “That’s enough!” Emma said.

  “Try the reverse spell,” Michael said.

  “It’s been longer than five minutes.”

  “Try it anyway.”

  “Voice or no voice, I’ll yowl if you decide to continue that cheap Hollywood passion in front of me,” Darnell said.

  Emma started reciting the reverse spell.

  “You can’t quiet me forever. You may take the English away from me, but my brain is my own—meeooow.”

  “You did it!” Michael sounded as pleased as she felt. Apparently neither of them could stomach listening to Darnell for the rest of the trip.

  “Now we can lock him in the bathroom,” Emma said.

  Darnell yowled in protest—or perhaps it was in threat. Emma smiled fondly at him, knowing that this was one case in which she didn’t care if he screamed all night.

  “I don’t think we should,” Michael said softly.

  “Of course we should,” Emma said. “I have a hunch he’ll be a bigger pain if we leave him out here.”

  “No.” Michael kissed her gently. “I want to do this right.”

  “I’m sure you will.” She leaned against him. “In fact, I’m trusting that you will. I believe—”

  “Emma.” His voice was getting softer. She was beginning to realize that his quiet moments were warnings that she might want to heed. She didn’t know what he had to warn her about, though.

  He slid his hand in hers and moved his body away from her so that they could see each other’s faces. His had a frown creasing his forehead.

  She had a hunch she wouldn’t like what he had to say.

  “I want our first night to be the best night either one of us has ever had,” he said.

  “I do, too,” she said. “We can do that here.”

  “No,” he said. “We can’t. Here we’ll hurry, knowing that our time is limited. We’ll both be worried that some other evil wizard will interrupt us. Let’s get you to Oregon, and then we’ll take time for us.”

  Her heart twisted. She hadn’t realized how important this moment was to her until now. She stared at him for a long moment, trying to think up an argument. For a moment, she thought of pushing him onto the bed. After a few kisses, he might reconsider.

  But he had a point. A good point.

  “How long do you think it’ll take us to get to Oregon?” she asked softly.

  He shrugged. “Seventeen, eighteen hours, maybe less. Washington and Montana have pretty high speed limits.”

  “We’re tired,” she said.

  “We could take turns sleeping in the car.” He caressed her cheek. “If we wait until we get there, we have an incentive to get there faster.”

  She chuckled. “Yeah, and if we get picked up for speeding, we tell the police officer that we’re trying to get to Oregon to consummate our relationship?”

  “He’ll understand.”

  “He’ll wonder why we’re not stopping under some tree—or at least the next hotel.” Her smile faded. “Michael, I know you’re being practical, but—”

  “Practical is what we need right now, and you know it. Feo, the shadows, they’re just a warning. If what you told me about your wicked stepmother is even half true—”

  “She wasn’t my stepmother.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  Emma nodded.

  “Then there’ve got to be others with powers like hers. We can’t assume they’ll leave us alone. We need to take these warnings seriously. Let’s get you safe, and then let’s worry about us.”

  Emma sighed. “Magic is such a damn inconvenience.”

  “I suspect we’ll change our minds once you know how to use it.”

  “We won’t,” Emma said. “As you pointed out, I’m a bona fide heroine. Trouble follows me.”

  “Trouble’s your job.”

  “Then I’d like to quit.”

  “You’ll change your mind,” Michael said.

  “Don’t bet on it,” Emma muttered, and went to look for Darnell’s cat carrier.

  Chapter 14

  Emma drove the first shift from Billings to Missoula. She stopped for gas in Butte, and Michael woke briefly but he remembered little about it. He had been more tired from the earlier drive than he had thought.

  His sleep was restless and fitful, filled with dreams about white horses, ugly cowboys, and shadows that ate cats. He was a bit surprised to find his dreamself frightened for Darnell, and feeling quite protective of the surly old cat. He hadn’t realized that Darnell had wormed his way into Michael’s affections.

  The sun rose between Butte and Missoula. Michael woke up as they headed through the Rockies, the sunlight pouring into the back of the car as if someone were holding a lamp behind them, tryi
ng to show them the way.

  Emma drove smoothly and surely. It was hard to believe that she hadn’t even heard of a car ten years before.

  He watched her surreptitiously, not letting her know that he was awake. She was so beautiful and her life was so strange. He had struggled hard to be the brave, sensible one. He had wanted nothing more than to make love to her on that bed in that huge hotel room. But he had meant every word that he had said. He wanted to take his time with her. He wanted their moments together to be the best in their lives.

  They had breakfast in a roadside diner in Missoula. They didn’t talk much. Emma was so exhausted that there were smoky rings under her eyes. She didn’t even ask Michael to drive for her. When they went back to the car, he got in the driver’s side, and she tucked herself onto the passenger seat, letting sleep take her immediately.

  The drive over the Bitterroots was one of his favorites and he was glad he was awake for it. In the early morning sunshine, everything looked fresh and new. He cracked the window just a little and let the scent of pine flow in. The mountains had a smell all their own, a smell he loved almost as much as the scent of the sea.

  In Wallace, Idaho—a small town that still bore its mining roots in its downtown—he saw four homeless people on horseback. They were stopped at the side of the road, talking to a fifth man who was swinging his arms wildly. At his feet were sacks filled with money.

  Apparently he had gotten his wish. Had he just figured out then that his horse was a wish? Or did he think the money had dropped from the sky?

  Michael almost thought of stopping to talk with him, and then changed his mind. Let them enjoy their own miracle. Every life deserved at least one.

  Emma was his miracle. He wasn’t sure how she managed to find him, but she had. She had found him, somehow, and her presence had opened him up.

  He hadn’t realized that there was magic in the world. His life had been structured, his goals simple ones. He hadn’t experienced true chaos before, hadn’t realized how flexible he could be, and how much fun it could sometimes be. The phantom meal he ate at Emma’s restaurant was as solid a memory as the meals he had eaten in Paris—and as impossible to reconstruct. How delightful they had all been.

  She had introduced him to other miracles too—the ghostly Sioux on the Little Bighorn Battlefield, Darnell the talking cat, and the little glimpse of medieval Europe. Suddenly the world seemed less restrictive than it had ever seemed before. Not only was there magic, but the magic enhanced his life.