Charm His Pants Off

by Cate Martin

  This might end up being kind of fun.

  Chapter 7

  Brianna had attempted this sort of protective magic before. She had made me a cloaking spell in the form of an actual cloak that had kept me safe enough for a short trip back to 1928 to talk to Coco, but she hadn't had enough confidence in it to let me use it again.

  I had considered taking that cloak on more than one occasion, using it plus Cynthia's amulet to hide me long enough to slip back in time. Not to meet Edward, because that would be too hard, but just to see him from a distance. To be sure he was all right. The desire had kept me up nights.

  And that whole time Brianna had been tinkering away on a secret project without a word to anyone. Or at least, without a word to me.

  "Did you know about this?" I asked as Sophie, and I followed Brianna down the steps to the cellar.

  "I saw her working on something, but she's always working on something," Sophie said. "When's the last time you were down here?"

  "I'm down here all the time," I said. "Doing and redoing all the steps to rebond with my wand."

  "More like staying away from the cellar to avoid your wand," Sophie said.

  "If it were your wand, you'd know what it feels like when it betrays you," I said.

  "Have you considered that your attitude might be why it won't rebond with you?" Sophie asked. "I'm not trying to be mean. It's an honest question."

  I bit back the retort that wanted to explode out of me and forced myself to really think about the answer.

  "I've been open to it," I said. "It feels like if anything, it's too eager to bond with me again. It really feels like it answers to someone else now."

  "Maybe leave it home this trip, then," Sophie said.

  "I'm still researching that," Brianna said to us as we gathered around her workbench.

  "My wand?" I asked.

  "Yes. The fact that it's not responding correctly to any of the usual methods makes me suspicious too," she said. "There's more wrong than just another witch briefly handling it. But I don't know what else could have happened."

  "Hence the research," I said. "I can help with that. I should help with that."

  "The books are pretty… esoteric," Brianna said. "But in the meantime…" She took a bundle wrapped in dark cloth out of a drawer and set it on the bench, then carefully spread out the corners of the velvet.

  There were two fine gold chains resting on the cloth. One chain was attached to a disc of creamy jade, the other a golden pocket watch, the kind where you could see all of the gears at work inside of it.

  "The jade and the watch were both in Miss Zenobia's jewelry box," Brianna said, speaking softly, almost reverently.

  "She had a jewelry box?" Sophie asked.

  "I'm guessing these objects are part of why Mr. Trevor told me not to touch anything my first day here," I said.

  "They had some latent magic within them, yes," Brianna agreed. "I spent a long time searching for just the right pieces that would take up the spells most readily."

  "There are only two," Sophie said.

  "We only need two," I said, pulling down on my collar so she could see Cynthia's amulet shaped like a silver locket. I rarely took it off.

  "These don't travel through time, but we're both capable of that ourselves," Brianna said, putting the jade disc onto Sophie's palm then putting the watch on its chain around her own neck.

  "I guess the fact that neither of us sensed them here means they work?" Sophie said, watching the disc catch the light as she held it dangling from its chain.

  "Maybe," Brianna said. "I did every test I could think of, but I don't know what a bunch of powerful witches are capable of, or how persistent they are with watching for us. But let's assume very persistent and keep this visit short."

  "We need answers," I said.

  "I agree, but I can't help thinking that the answers might not be there. They might be in 1966."

  "And how do we get to 1966?"

  "I have no idea," Brianna said.

  "If it seems like we've got nothing to work with, we'll head straight back," Sophie said, putting on the necklace. "Let's grab a change of clothes and get going."

  Not that any of us were looking to argue about making haste, especially as the smell of baking chocolate cake was thick in the air as we ran past the kitchen.

  After reaching out and examining the time portal every day for months, actually doing the magic to step through, it felt very strange.

  And yet so right. Like it was something I was supposed to do, a part of me I had neglected for far too long. I had to remind myself that our calling wasn't being time travelers; it was beings guardians of the portal.

  Still, it felt like being home, if a bit colder than 2019.

  "Do we go in?" Brianna asked.

  "I can look from here," I said.

  "Me too," Sophie said.

  "Good," Brianna said. "It's creepy since we figured out we're overlapping the students of this time when we're in there."

  "You assume no one is standing in the orchard right now but us," Sophie said.

  "I think we can safely assume that," Brianna said. "It's even colder here than back home."

  "Take my hand," I said, peeling off my gloves and extending my hands to the others.

  "What? Why?" Brianna asked.

  "I want to see if you can see what I see," I said. "Save us some time."

  "Oh, right," Brianna said, pulling off her own gloves and stuffing them in her pockets. Sophie did the same. Once they were in contact with me, and all of us had controlled our breathing, I shifted my awareness to the world of threads.

  I knew what the school should look like here. If anything, I had examined it more extensively than I ever had the version in 2019. I had to force myself to make a thorough search for the scribble lines because everything else was so different.

  At last, I blinked myself back into normality, and we all dropped our hands.

  "Did you see?" I asked.

  "It was all glowing," Brianna said. "So brightly, it was like it was pulsing. Does it always look like that?"

  "No," Sophie said before I could answer. "That was recent. I could sense it. It's new."

  "New, and full of power," I said. “It always has a glow, because of all of the protection spells Miss Zenobia has cast over it and everything the students have done. But this is different. That pulsing, and the intense brightness. Someone has been doing a lot of powerful magic here. And I'm pretty sure it was more than one someone."

  "Maybe we're jumping to conclusions," Sophie said. "I didn't sense what we had trapped in the glass sphere anywhere around here."

  "Nor I," I said. "But someone's done something. What else could have changed?"

  "It is a magic school," Sophie said.

  "Not quite," Brianna said. "I mean, it's not Hogwarts. Miss Zenobia took in tons and tons of students who were just normal girls looking to gain a little polish to their education."

  "Charm," Sophie said with a smile.

  "And then there were the exceptional ones," I pointed out.

  "Yes, but even then, those weren't all witches," Brianna said.

  "Weren't they? I thought that's what she meant," I said.

  "Not always," Brianna said. "Miss Zenobia used that in her notes for any girl who had more potential than a life as a wife and mother was going to satisfy."

  "Like Cynthia Thomas," Sophie said, nodding as she put it together. "Meant to be a lawyer."

  "Others became doctors or journalists or even spies in World War I," Brianna said.

  "How do you know all this stuff?" I asked.

  Brianna flushed red. "Sometimes, I need a break from my reading research, so I read some of the other things in the library."

  "Which still sound to me like research," I said. "But I guess they're all in English."

  "Do we know how many were witches, or at least how many witches were here in 1928?" Sophie asked.

  "No," Brianna said. "She was always very careful not t
o name them in her notes. I think she was always afraid of witch hunts. She lived through a few."

  "There must be something somewhere," I said. "Some super-secret journal or something?"

  "She has a lot of hiding places all over the house," Brianna admitted. "Some of the boxes and cupboards have different contents depending on when during the moon phase you open them. Well, the moon and… you know."

  "Not really, but please don't try to explain string theory to me again just now," I said. "I'm still trying to figure out spells that work with tripwires. We can clearly see a spell has been cast here, a big one. But there's no sign of what was in our heads. So does that mean that wasn't the purpose of the spell?"

  "Not necessarily," Brianna said. "Like I said, the spell needed a trigger. But witches as powerful as these cast spells in layers. The bomb, the tripwire, then a ton of wards to keep it all out of our sight."

  "So what can we do?" I asked. We all fell silent as each of us mulled that over. It was me who spoke first again. "I could look for objects outside of time," I said. "Like the wardrobe or the Mina Fox's crystal ball. That would be just the sort of thing you'd use for this purpose, right?"

  Sophie was nodding along eagerly, but Brianna shook her head.

  "No, that would be just what you wouldn't use here," she said.

  "I don't know, Bree. It makes sense," Sophie said.

  "No, it doesn't. Look at this house. How different is it, inside or out, between now and 2019? Most of the furniture is even the same. There would be no need to craft something that was outside of the normal flow of time. If you could use any mundane object at all, and be pretty confident it will still be here in 91 years, why would you bother with some rare magical item that would just draw attention to itself?”

  I sighed. I was pretty sure she was right.

  "So it really can be anything," Sophie said. "It could've been a door we all walked through, or a drawer we opened. Or a book."

  "I think we've done all we can here," Brianna said. "We should get back before we're noticed."

  "Not quite yet," I said. "Let's just walk around the house one time. Maybe whoever did this left a trail of some kind when they left."

  "I don't know," Brianna said.

  "We should be sure," Sophie said.

  "All right," Brianna agreed, but she pulled out her wand before she started walking through the snow.

  I missed my 2019 boots. At least my socks were warm.

  We walked around the side of the house next to what was still a home without occupants in our time, currently the residence of a man who was a curmudgeon but also a bit of a shut-in. If he was watching us from the windows, he didn't bother us at all.

  The traffic on Summit Avenue was busy, it being nearly dinnertime and Valentine's Day dinner at that.

  As we came around the corner of the house to the garden path that ran parallel to Coco's house, I could see the orchard and where we had started from, and I had to admit there was no sign of a trail, magical or otherwise. Bunny tracks marked the snow around the bushes near the back porch, but nothing more sinister than that.

  Then I heard someone call my name.

  "Crap, that's Edward," I said without turning around. "Let's go."

  "He's on the other side of the road," Sophie said, looking behind us. "Lots of traffic. Give him a minute."

  "No, let's just go," I said.

  "You should talk to him at least," Sophie said. "That would be the polite thing to do. Or, dare I say, charming?"

  "Sophie, I don't even know what I would say to him after not seeing him since the New Year's Eve party when his fiancée died," I hissed. "And now it's Valentine's Day, which makes it all so much more awkward."

  "And we're in the middle of an investigation, and possibly in danger," Brianna added.

  "But it's Edward," Sophie said cajolingly.

  "Seriously?" I shot back. "You've been dodging Antoine for months and months, and you're hitting me with this? Antoine, who seemed like the sweetest guy ever and clearly cares about you. Antoine, whom we have no reason to suspect is actually in any danger at all."

  Sophie looked like I had just slapped her. I kind of felt like I had. But I wasn't going to take it back.

  "If they are watching us now, and they see us talking to Edward-" Brianna said.

  "You're right," Sophie said. "You're both right. I'm sorry."

  "Let's just go before he gets across that street," I said.

  We scurried towards the orchard. 1928 boots didn't have anything like the traction of my 2019 boots. Brianna skated along beside me. Sophie turned back only for a moment, gesturing with her wand at the oak tree that stood outside the dining room window.

  There was a hiss and rush of falling snow, and then Edward yelping as it all crashed down on him.

  "Is he all right?" I asked, turning back to see, but Sophie grabbed my arm and pulled me back around.

  "He's fine," she said. "It's powdery snow. He'll dig himself out."

  And then we were back in 2019, and I hadn't even gotten the one thing I had wanted out of 1928: a single glimpse of Edward.

  But I had heard his voice saying my name. Saying my name with genuine excitement. For however brief of a moment, he had been happy to see me.

  As much as I wanted it to be, it wasn't quite enough.

  Chapter 8

  Mr. Trevor's special Valentine's Day dinner was waiting for us when we came in the door and made a welcome distraction to our lack of progress on the investigation. He had done far more than just made lava cakes. There was baked chicken with creamy rice and asparagus drizzled in a buttery lemon sauce that was so filling I feared I'd have no room for dessert.

  But when he brought out homemade whipped cream and fresh raspberries, I decided I could make the room. I slid my fork into the side of my lava cake and watched the chocolate ooze over the raspberries.

  "This is perfection, Mr. Trevor," Sophie said with her mouth full.

  "Really?" Mr. Trevor said with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't think I could top a surprise visit from an old friend bearing beignets."

  "Those were good too," I said.

  "It's going to be salads for a week after this," Sophie said glumly, then took another bite. "So worth it, though."

  "We'll handle the dishes, Mr. Trevor," I said. "We have some things to go over; it will help to keep our hands busy."

  "If you're sure," he said, and when we all insisted he said good night and headed up the back stairs.

  "Antoine would have liked this," Sophie said, pushing a raspberry through the last streak of chocolate on her plate. "He has a weakness for rich foods."

  "You could've asked him to stay," Brianna said.

  "No," Sophie said. "Not until I understand why I feel like I can't, anyway."

  Brianna looked confused.

  "Sophie has a compulsion," I said. "It might be part of the spell we haven't figured out yet or something else. But she feels like he has to stay away."

  "It feels magical?" Brianna asked.

  Sophie shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sensing anything, but it's just such a strong feeling."

  "Maybe if we figure out more about the spell that smothered our memories, we'll figure out that too," I said.

  "Maybe," Sophie said, still pushing that same raspberry around her plate. Then she set down her fork without eating it. "I'm sorry I was teasing you before. I shouldn't do that."

  "I know you're not trying to be mean or anything," I said.

  "I do it a lot," Sophie said. "And I think it has something to do with being here without Antoine, and that's really messed up. It's not like it even makes me feel better or anything. I promise I won't do it again."

  "I appreciate that," I said. "Things with Edward are complicated enough, you know? It's not like I can explain to him why I disappeared for months and why I just ran away from him. And even if we take care of this situation with Evanora and her coven, I don't see any way to have a real relationship across time."

  "Cyn
thia did it," Brianna said. "Her entire life, she kept that up."

  "She didn't have kids though," I said. "Can you imagine how impossible it would be to have kids in that situation?"

  "Do you want kids?" Sophie asked.

  "I don't know. I don't want to rule it out, though."

  "Our duty is to guard the time portal, but that doesn't mean you have to guard it from this end," Sophie said.

  "I think it would be weird to try to live there, in that version of the school where all the students are not quite there," I said. "I think it would drive me crazy."

  "There might be other options," Sophie said.

  "We should really focus on the Evanora situation first," I said.

  "Of course," Sophie said. "I'm just saying, at some point, we're going to have to figure out a work/life balance, or we'll all go crazy."

  "I have a balance," Brianna said as she got up and started gathering plates to carry into the kitchen.

  "You think you do?" Sophie asked. "From the outside, it looks like you're all piled on the work side."

  "Maybe what I think of as my life looks like work to you because it's not the sort of thing you enjoy, but I assure you I feel perfectly balanced," Brianna said.

  I wanted to argue, but then I had to admit to myself that Brianna always seemed content. I don't know when she ever slept, but it never seemed to bother her.

  "But don't you get lonely?" Sophie asked.

  Brianna shrugged. "I was never really a dating person. It always felt like such a contrived activity. Most people don't enjoy the things I enjoy, and it's hard to discuss the really interesting things with them. I do love my cats, though."

  "Not enough to give them names," Sophie teased.

  "They don't need names to tell me who they are," Brianna said, taking her stack of plates into the kitchen. Sophie and I followed, she with the last of the chicken and rice and I with the other serving dishes.

  "Well, names are helpful to the rest of us," Sophie said.

  "Then it's a good thing you two named them," Brianna said. Then she turned on the sink, and the running water quieted our conversation as we put the leftovers into storage containers and cleaned up the dishes, table, counters, and stovetop before finally shutting off the water and drying our hands.