Esther shrugged. “I’m in. What can it hurt?”
Both of them looked at Maggie, who held up her hands in mock defeat. “Okay. I don’t think it will work, but I’m game.”
Pleased that her friends were willing to try her experiment, Rhiannon went over to the large oak cabinet dominating almost one entire wall of the dining area, and pulled open one of the drawers. This was where she kept all her magickal supplies. It only took her a moment to collect what they’d need.
“Let’s go outside. The moon is almost full and will add power to our spell.”
She headed out the back door with her friends tight at her heels. Abigail slipped out with them and raced ahead, down the steps and into the secluded yard.
The long cotton skirt she wore fluttered in the light breeze. The air was crisp, but it wasn’t too cold. The moon hung like an orb in the sky, illuminating the garden. Rhiannon loved this time of year. There was so much magick in the air you could almost touch it. An owl hooted in the distance.
The large yard was one reason she’d bought this house. With mature trees and no close neighbors, it gave her the privacy to practice any rituals or spells she chose. Plus, she enjoyed the feeling of being alone in her garden.
“So what do we do?” Esther was on her right side trying to see what she was carrying. Rhiannon could hear the slightest bit of nervousness in Esther’s voice. Maggie walked silently on her other side.
They reached the center of the garden and she stopped and handed both women a red votive candle. “First, we’ll anoint the red candles with rose oil. Both are representative of passion. Start in the middle of the candle and stroke down to the bottom. When you’re finished, go back to the middle and then stroke the oil up to the top of the candle.”
She handed off the oil and they all began to rub the fragrant scent into the candles. The night was cool but not overly cold. Maybe it was the remnants of the wine keeping her warm. Or perhaps it was the thought of having sex sometime in the near future that heated her blood. “As you do this, think about the kind of man you’d want to have sex with. Be specific without naming a person.”
“Why?” Maggie stopped what she was doing.
“Because you should never try to manipulate anyone with magick. That’s bad and will rebound on you in ways you won’t like. What you want to do is draw someone with the characteristics you want. They’ll only come if they’re willing.”
“Okay.” Maggie went back to her task. Rhiannon noticed Esther was concentrating fiercely on her candle.
Rhiannon focused her attention on the candle in her hand. It warmed as she ran her fingers up and down its length. Her bangles tinkled with each stroke she made, like wind chimes blowing in the breeze. She pushed them high on her arm, wanting to be able to concentrate solely on what she was doing.
Closing her eyes, she thought about the kind of man she wanted. She wanted a man who was honest and loyal, one who had morals without being self-righteous. He’d be strong, with wide shoulders and piercing blue eyes. His fingers would be calloused, but they’d be gentle as they stroked over her body. A shiver skated down her spine. Her breasts felt heavy and a low pulse of desire began to throb deep in her belly.
Her eyes popped open and she sucked in a breath of the cool evening air. The breeze caressed her skin like a phantom lover, teasing and touching her everywhere. In spite of the chill, a bead of sweat rolled down the length of her spine. She shuddered and wrapped her hand around the small votive candle, envisioning all her sexual frustration flowing from her and into the wax.
Thankfully, both of her friends were focusing so hard on their candles, they hadn’t noticed anything amiss. When they were all done, Rhiannon placed her votive candle on the patio stone that sat in the middle of her garden for this very purpose. She motioned to her friends and they did the same. The three red candles now sat in the middle of the stone, the scent of rose perfume surrounding them. “If I was doing a big ritual, I’d cast a circle and do more elaborate preparations, but this is simple candle magick.”
She stepped forward and lit her candle, then handed off the matches to Esther so she could light hers. Esther then passed the matches to Maggie. The flames leapt into the air, diffusing the scent of the rose oil into the air.
Rhiannon stepped up close to the candles and raised her hands in the air. The other two women did the same, and they all touched their fingers together, forming a circle around the burning flames.
Tipping her head back, Rhiannon stared at the moon, drawing its energy down to her. “Lady Moon in the sky so bright. Lend your power. Lend your might. Bring to us a love that’s true. And one that one day we won’t rue. In this time and in this hour, we three ladies ask this of thee. We ask this done and harm to none, what we have wrought here now is begun.”
A breeze came up suddenly, whipping around them, but not extinguishing the flames. Rhiannon could sense the power building in the center of their circle, spiraling upward and outward. Her fingers tingled and her entire body vibrated. Tension stretched her nerves to the breaking point. The energy shot upward and outward, flinging itself toward the heavens. The breeze subsided and the candles flickered and died. The women slowly lowered their hands back to their sides.
“Did it work?” Maggie glanced nervously around the yard.
“Only time will tell.” Rhiannon didn’t want to tell the women of the huge amount of power she’d felt welling up between them. She nibbled her bottom lip. Maybe it wouldn’t work at all. Maybe it would work too well. She had no idea what had possessed her to ask for a true love instead of a lover. She shook her head. What was done was done. Her magick tended to not work that well anyway, so there was really no need to worry.
Rhiannon bent down to pick up her candle. Beside her, Esther suddenly let out a bloodcurdling shriek and stumbled back, her eyes wide with terror. Rhiannon jumped back, her gaze darting around the garden, trying to find the threat. Maggie was turning in circles trying to figure out what was wrong.
“What is it?” Maggie finally demanded.
Esther plastered her hand across her chest and began to laugh. Abigail calmly brushed up against Esther’s ankle again. This time she meowed. “You scared the life out of me,” Esther scolded as she lifted the slender gray cat and tucked her under her arm. The cat just purred, totally unmoved by the commotion she’d caused. Rhiannon and Maggie both gave a nervous laugh and the tension slowly dissipated.
Rhiannon’s heart was pounding as she berated herself for acting like a schoolgirl. She was supposed to be a witch. Instead, she’d acted like a scared child when Esther had screamed. Her magick had been known to have frightening results. But not this time. Of course, only time would tell what would come of tonight’s spell.
Each of them bent down and picked up their candle before starting back to the house. A chill raced down Rhiannon’s spine and it wasn’t from the cold. A sense of surety enveloped her. They’d released something tonight. Something powerful. She nibbled on her bottom lip, her agitation growing with each step she took.
She rolled her shoulders, trying to shake off the sense of…something impending. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. It wasn’t dread, more like nervous anticipation. She was being silly. There was nothing to worry about.
At best, one or all of them might get a night or two of hot sex. At worst, nothing would happen and they’d all commiserate over it next time they got together. As she opened the back door, she glanced up at the unusually bright moon before they all trooped quietly into the kitchen.
Maggie was the first to break the silence. “Should we keep the candles?” She laid hers on the table.
“Only if you want to.”
“I think I’ll keep mine.” Esther deposited Abigail in her usual spot on the windowsill. She grabbed her purse from the floor and tucked the candle inside.
Rhiannon laid her candle on the counter, ignoring how hard it was to make herself release it. Really, it was just a candle, a symbol of the magick, but cer
tainly not the magick itself. She realized then that she really wanted this spell to work, not just for her, but for her friends as well. A night of hot sex would certainly help work off a lot of stress. It would be good for all of them.
She took a deep breath and then released it slowly. There was nothing more to be done but forget about it and wait. She turned to her friends. “Anyone want coffee or tea and another piece of cheesecake?”
Chapter Two
Rhiannon tugged the blankets and comforter over her head, trying to ignore the ringing coming from her nightstand. When it didn’t subside, she pushed the covers down and squinted at her clock before grabbing her phone. “What?”
Silence greeted her and then her sister’s familiar voice came over the line. “That’s no way to answer your phone.”
She flumped back onto her pillow and yawned. “Do you have any idea what time it is?” She didn’t give Gwen a chance to answer her. “It’s five o’clock in the morning.”
“Oops.” Her sister didn’t sound the least bit penitent. Instead, she sounded excited. “It’s only one here on the West Coast.”
“I’m aware of that, Gwen. Is there a point to this call? I have to work in a few hours.” A belated thought occurred to her. “Is everything okay?” She bolted upright in bed, all need to sleep suddenly gone. “Are Mom and Dad all right?” Rhiannon’s heart was racing now as she clutched the phone tight.
“Everyone is perfectly fine.”
She groaned and dropped back down onto the bed, tugging the blankets around her. “Then why are you calling at this ungodly hour?”
“I’ve been thinking about your problem.”
Rhiannon was finding it hard to concentrate. What she needed was coffee, but that was all the way out in the kitchen. She could feel her sister waiting patiently on the other end of the line and knew from experience that the only way to get rid of her was to let her have her say. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “What problem?”
“Really, Rhi,” her sister chided. “The problem with your magick.”
“Oh, that problem.” Squinting at the door, she wondered if she had enough energy to roll out of bed, race to the kitchen and turn on the coffeepot. The timer wasn’t set to go off for another two hours.
“Yes, that problem,” her sister continued, undeterred. “I’ve been doing some reading in Grammy’s library.”
Rhiannon stifled a yawn and snuggled beneath her covers. There was a definite chill in the air this morning.
“You’re not listening.” Her sister’s frustration was palpable.
“It’s hard to listen when I need coffee,” she mumbled.
“This is important.”
Sighing, Rhiannon forced her eyes open again, not that she could see much. It was still dark outside. “Okay, shoot.”
“You need to have sex.”
“What?” Rhiannon sputtered. Okay, so now her sister had her attention.
“There was a book at Grammy’s that talked about magick being caught within a person, not being channeled properly. That’s your problem. The magick is there, you just can’t seem to access it.”
“What does that have to do with sex?” Rhiannon sat up, leaning against her headboard as she scrubbed her hand over her face. She really needed a cup of coffee.
“Don’t you see?” Gwen continued, excitement in her voice. “One of the ways to release the magick is to have sex.”
Rhiannon shook her head in disbelief. “I hate to break it to you, Gwen, but I’m not exactly a virgin.” Not that she was vastly experienced either. She’d had sex with two men—her college boyfriend, Thomas, and her last boyfriend, Jeremy. Both times had been pleasant, even enjoyable at times, but the earth hadn’t exactly moved.
Her sister gave a huff of frustration. “I know that, Rhi, but neither of them were the right man.”
She raised her eyes to the ceiling and prayed for divine intervention, but when nothing happened she knew she had to ask the obvious question. “Okay, who is the right man?”
“I don’t know.”
Rhiannon groaned, pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face against them. “You woke me at five in the morning to tell me I needed to have sex with an unknown man. Great. I’ll run right out and grab the first guy I see and have hot, mind-blowing sex with him.” That brought thoughts of last night rushing back. She still couldn’t believe she’d talked her friends into that impromptu spell in the garden. And she couldn’t even blame the wine, not really. None of them had drunk enough for that.
“Yes.” Gwen was silent for a moment before continuing. “Rhi, you’ve always picked men who were safe. No, that’s not the right word. Men who were weak.”
“What do you mean by that?” Now she was getting annoyed.
“Well, Thomas was just a boy. And Jeremy…”
“What about Jeremy?” Rhiannon stiffened her spine, her entire body beginning to vibrate with anger.
“He wasn’t worthy of you.” Gwen’s quiet answer deflated her anger. “We all knew from the start that he only wanted to use you.”
“And no one felt it necessary to tell me.” Rhiannon had been head over heels for Jeremy, or at least the man he’d pretended to be. She’d thought he was the one. The reality of the man had been much less than the suave façade he’d projected to the world.
“Would you have listened?”
She started to retort that of course she would have, but she stopped before the words left her tongue. Would she have listened to her family? Probably not. She’d been naïve in many ways and desperate for a connection with someone outside her family. She’d wanted to be normal, if there was such a thing. She’d wanted to fit in somewhere, with someone.
“I love you, Rhi,” her sister continued. “But you hold yourself back from others. You turn away from men who might challenge you. That’s part of your problem. You’re afraid and you don’t really believe in yourself. Therefore, you don’t really believe in your magick.”
Rhiannon tried to ignore her sister’s words and the little voice in the back of her head that said Gwen might be right. The sky was beginning to lighten outside her window and she knew she could forget about getting anymore sleep. It was much too early to be psychoanalyzed by her well-meaning sibling. “I don’t know what to say.” And she didn’t. Her sister had given her a lot to think about.
“Don’t say anything. Just consider what I’ve told you.” Gwen cleared her throat. “Maybe I should cast a spell to help you out, bring you the kind of lover you need.”
“No.” Rhiannon threw back the covers and stalked to the window. The hardwood floor was cold against her feet and she curled her toes. Her thin nightgown was little protection against the chill. It was definitely time to break out the flannel.
She could see the patio stone in the dim light, could still feel the power pulsing in the air from last night’s candle spell. For such a simple spell, they’d certainly raised a lot of energy. “Absolutely not.”
“But, Rhi.”
“No, Gwen. I need to think about this. And if there is any spell casting to be done, I’ll do it.”
Her sister paused. “Do you think that’s wise?”
Rhiannon rubbed her forehead, feeling the onset of a headache brewing. Her sister’s doubt in her abilities only made her feel worse. “Wise or not, it’s my decision.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? What the heck does that mean?” Her fingers tightened around the phone as concern filled her. Surely her sister wouldn’t cast a spell without her permission. She almost groaned aloud, swallowing it at the last second. Of course she would. This was Gwen. If she thought it would help Rhiannon, she would do whatever she thought necessary and the heck with the consequences.
“It means that I worry about you and if I can do anything to help, then I will.” She could hear the stubbornness in Gwen’s voice.
“Promise me.” She stalked back to the bed and sat on the edge, the phone gripped tight in her hand. “Don’t do anything.”
“We’ll see.”
“Gwen?” She had to make her promise. Once she’d given her word, she’d never break it.
“I love you, Rhi. I’ll talk to you in a few days.”
The line went dead and Rhiannon was left listening to a dial tone. Sighing, she stabbed the button to end the call and tossed the phone onto the mattress beside her. Burying her face in her hands, she heaved a sigh. She was pretty certain Gwen wouldn’t do anything without her say so.
At least she hoped her sister wouldn’t do anything drastic. The last thing she needed was for Gwen to cast a spell to attract a lover, not after what she, Esther and Maggie had done last night.
“This is crazy,” she muttered. “This is October, not spring. Love shouldn’t be in the air.”
But power was. She knew October was a powerful month with the Samhain holiday only a little more than a week away. There was lots of energy all around her just waiting to be tapped.
“Coffee.” She pushed herself off the bed, knowing she would never get back to sleep now. Not with all the thoughts racing around in her fertile brain. Abigail came out of nowhere, twining her lithe body around Rhiannon’s ankles. Reaching down, she scooped her cat into her arms. Abigail immediately rubbed her head against Rhiannon’s chin and purred.
“Let’s turn the coffeepot on and then I’ll get a shower.” She padded on bare feet toward the kitchen. “This is going to be a long day.”
Rhiannon had no idea just how prophetic her words would be as she stood outside her store two hours later and stared at the graffiti smeared across the front of her building. The decorative haystacks and pumpkins that had sat just outside her door were smashed beyond repair, the remains littering the walkway in front of her shop.
The sun was up, barely, and most of the world was still sleeping or just stirring. She’d decided to come in early to do some inventory and check on the last of her Christmas shipments. She already had most of it ordered, but there were a couple of items she wanted to make sure she had enough of while there was still time to send for more.
A Touch of Magick: Spells, Seduction and Secrets, Book 1 Page 2
