I stared at her in speechless horror as the emerald flames burned brighter in her eyes.
“Just one wish, Sydney. Anything you want—I can grant it,” she offered soothingly. “And when my brother comes to claim you, I will drive a bargain that will make your eternity with him far easier to bear.” She gave me a look that approached sympathy. “We are both women. We have both suffered at the hands of men. And I know how hard it’s been not to make your third wish. It’s only a matter of time, I’m afraid, and I fear you won’t receive such a generous offer from another.”
My brain clouded with doubt. Oh Goddess. It was even more hopeless than I’d thought. I was so tired of worrying and wondering when I was finally going to slip up. Maybe she was right; maybe I should take what she was offering now, while it was still on the table.
“I…” I croaked.
The simultaneous sounds of Sunny’s renewed banging and Mickey’s pained groan broke the spell she had begun to weave around me. “Syd, goddamn it! You listen to me! Don’t you dare listen to that demon skank!”
A vexed growl issued from Amalia’s throat and I suddenly noticed something that should have registered long before now. The entire time she had been talking, she had been growing less hazy. There was barely any smoke left to her nearly solid form. My eyes flew wide as I remembered the last step of the spell—I needed to capture her spirit in some type of vessel!
I looked around frantically, dismissing the washer and dryer—way too big, not to mention there was no way that could be good for the laundry. The bottle of detergent on the shelf? I could always buy more. And maybe she’d accidentally drown in it. No—no matter how satisfying a thought that might be, it probably wasn’t a good idea to drown the princess of the death djinns in laundry soap.
Then I caught a faint amber glimmer atop the heap of clothing in my laundry basket. Hannah’s hideous brooch peeked out from the edge of the front pocket in my discarded jeans. Good enough—it was even made of crystal! I made a grab for it and Amalia lunged at me, realizing I’d caught on to my mistake.
I grasped the rough-edged rock just as she made contact with my arm. Her touch was vaguely solid for a moment, but then it evaporated into insubstantiality. Amalia howled with fury and I held the crystal out in front of me, my arms shaking, gripping it with both hands as if it was a sword. There had been no words of incantation with the spell Angelica had given me, only instructions. I prayed that my mere intent to use the crystal as a vessel to capture Amalia would be enough.
We stared at each other in frozen silence, and then the crystal began to glitter with a weird inner light. Amalia’s form grew cloudier, and then her lower body lost substance, became smoke, and drifted toward the brooch. The rest of her quickly followed, her head disappearing last as her disembodied voice wafted past my ears with a faint parting shot of, “You’ll be sorry you didn’t cut a deal with me, you little bitch!”
The crystal grew warm in my hand, trembling violently and emitting a single, bright strobe of light. Then it fell quiet and still. I stared at it in awe, afraid to move, but it remained cool and lifeless against my palm. I looked up to find Mickey struggling to his feet. He winced as he moved, but his eyes held something akin to worship.
“Did you kill her?” His voice was a mixture of hope and fear.
“Uh, I captured her.” I sounded as stunned as I felt.
“Hello! Can you open the freakin’ door now?” Sunny demanded, with what sounded like a kick for good measure.
I grinned. “Are you alright?” I asked Mickey as I reached to pop open the lock.
He nodded. “I am now.” He moved gingerly, but didn’t say a word about my knee shot to his groin.
“Did it work?” Sunny nudged open the door with a pink-tipped toe, holding a butcher knife in one hand and a steaming pot of coffee in the other.
I blinked at her. “What were you planning to do with that?” I asked, my lips twitching in hilarity.
“Stab! Burn! Scald! Whatever!” she exclaimed, looking wildly from me to Mickey. Then her gaze narrowed in on Hannah’s brooch, still clutched in my hand, and her face crumpled in disgust. “I knew that thing was evil from the moment I saw it. Where’s the demon death djinn skank?”
“You mean Princess Amalia? You’re looking at her new home. This is where I trapped her.”
Sunny lowered the butcher knife and her eyes became thoughtful. “You know, I think that brooch could start to grow on me after all.” She dropped the knife on the kitchen counter with a clatter as she made her way back out to the living room, still grasping the coffee pot. “It’s too early for alcohol. I need more coffee,” she muttered.
I smiled wanly at Mickey. “Why don’t you come sit down and tell us how this happened.”
“Are you a witch or something?” he whispered uncertainly as we followed Sunny toward the welcoming comfort of the couches.
I chuckled. “Why do people keep asking me that?” A pang shot through me at the reminder of Sparrow’s favorite taunt, and I sobered.
“No, Mickey,” I sighed. “I’m just a regular person like you, who got caught up in some crazy shit. How did Amalia manage to possess you anyway? From what I’ve heard, you had to invite her in.” I collapsed onto the couch next to Sunny, who was refilling her mug, and left Mickey the loveseat.
“It must have been that Ouija board,” he said with a grimace. “It was Kelly’s grandmother’s. She said we couldn’t use it, so Kelly would sneak into her room to get it. It wasn’t like those board game ones you buy at the store—it was carved out of real wood and the symbols were so faded you could barely see them. I think the pointer thing was made out of bone. It looked really gnarly and old.”
I exchanged an interested glance with Sunny.
“So what did you guys do?” Sunny probed. “Ask it questions? Invite the spirits to speak through you? How many times did you use it before you got possessed?”
Mickey shrugged. “I don’t know—we used it a few times. We asked it questions, just screwing around really. It didn’t move, so I guess we started taking turns spelling out stuff to mess with each other. Kelly and Derrick both knew my parents were riding me hard about my grades and the way I dress. I asked how I could get my parents to leave me alone.”
Mickey frowned and rubbed his temple, as if he was trying to remember. “At first, nothing happened. Then I think Kelly made the pointer spell ‘TURN 18’.” He smiled faintly. “But then…I don’t know, it just started going crazy. It was moving real fast and jerky all over the place, and it finally spelled ‘I CAN HELP’. I thought it was Derrick fucking with me, so I played along. It said ‘INVITE ME IN’, and Derrick and Kelly were staring at me, waiting to see what I’d do, like it was a dare or something. So I pointed to ‘YES’.”
He shrugged again and shook his head. “Nothing happened. I mean, I kinda got the chills, and it felt real spooky and silent all of a sudden, but nothing happened.” Mickey looked down at his jeans and began rubbing his fists against the tops of his legs.
“Until that night—when I got home and went to bed. I had this crazy dream that there was someone in the room with me.” He gave us a troubled look. “Some kind of presence, weighing down on me until I couldn’t breathe. I’ve never been that scared before. I woke up, but I was too afraid to move. It felt like it was still there, pressing down on me. It was dark, but the room seemed kind of smoky and wrong, and I tried to yell, but I couldn’t make a sound.”
He shivered. “That’s all I remember. When I woke up the next morning—she was there, inside me. After that, sometimes it was me, but sometimes it was her, making me do stuff.” He groaned. “She totally wrecked my life.”
I gave him a sympathetic look. “She was the reason you stopped hanging out with your friends?”
Mickey nodded, his face falling into disgust. “That was her way of getting my parents to leave me alone. She thought it was funny, making me take out all my piercings and dye my hair and dress up like a Prep.” His fingers mov
ed over his nose and eyebrows and he scowled. “Some of those were new, too. Now I’m gonna have to get them redone.” He dropped his head into his hands and made a sound of utter revulsion. “She even had me ogling dudes!”
Sunny sniggered softly.
“And she must have been the reason you started talking to me.” I was almost afraid to ask what she’d told him. Although he seemed grateful for my aid in curing his possession, he was still my boss’ son.
He spread the fingers he was hiding behind to peer up at me. “She wanted to trick you into making a wish real bad.” His voice was muffled by his palms, and he dropped his hands, still looking miserable. “She’d been spying on people who knew you, trying to get info about you, and I guess she figured I’d be a good ‘in’ since you work for my parents. She was totally pissed that her plan wasn’t working, too.
“When she wasn’t bitching about that, she was bitching about her brother and her dad—dude, she really hates them. She sure seemed to be having a good time taking it out on me, though.” He hid his face again. “She made me do stuff I’d never do. Ugh. I still can’t believe she had me checking out other guys.”
Sunny grinned. “Aw, don’t be so upset, kid. Just think how cool your friends will think it is when you tell them you were actually possessed.”
Mickey blinked at her in disbelief. “You really think they’ll listen?”
Sunny flapped her hand at him. “Sure—it’s a great story, even if they don’t believe it. Just pick yourself up some black hair dye, put on your shabbiest clothes, stick some metal back in your face, and go find ‘em. You might have to grovel a little, but I bet they’ll take you back.”
Mickey sat up straighter and gazed at Sunny hopefully.
I chuckled. “She’s right. Just don’t let them talk you into using that Ouija board again,” I cautioned.
“Hell no, Kelly’s not gettin’ me anywhere near that thing,” he agreed.
“Good. So everything’s okay, right?” I asked, wanting to be sure. “You feel like you’re back to normal now?”
He shifted himself delicately as he sat. “Pretty much.”
I bit my lip. “Yeah. Sorry about the knee to the groin.”
Mickey shrugged and Sunny raised her eyebrows at us in question, having been on the other side of the door during that part of the excitement.
“And just, uh, one more thing,” I said. “I would appreciate it if your parents didn’t find out about this.”
The look on Mickey’s face was comical. “Are you kidding me?”
His expression of disbelief made me breathe easier as I added, “Including the fact that I happen to be living five minutes away from their store.”
“Dude, I barely even talk to them unless I have to. As far as I’m concerned, I was never here.” His gaze seemed to request my agreement.
I smiled and nodded. “Good deal.” I should have known he’d be just as keen as I was to keep the whole episode from them.
“Uh, I guess I’ll be going, then,” he said in a tentative voice.
I nodded, unable to think of a reason to keep him any longer. “Yeah. Let me know if you have any weird side effects or anything. I might know someone who can help.” I stood and walked him to the door
“Okay.” His eyes darted around as we stood in the foyer waiting for the elevator. Finally they settled on me and he said, “Thanks Sydney, really. I don’t know what I would have done if…” he trailed off, embarrassed.
I smiled and reached up to hug him. He stiffened, and then sort of hugged me back. “It’s okay, Mickey.”
I released him and he stepped into the elevator. “Just be more careful with the occult stuff. And remember, other things will start to get easier soon too.” I grinned. “After all, you’re almost eighteen.”
The doors slid shut on his answering smile.
A reckless energy bounded through me, almost as if I was on a magical high. I was surprised at how easy the spell casting thing had turned out to be. And it felt good to take action, instead of waiting for the Seelie Police to come up with something.
I suddenly knew what I wanted to do next. I slipped into the laundry room and felt inside the pocket of my dirty jeans until my fingers found the slip of paper Lauringer had given me.
“Whatchya doin’?” asked Sunny as she passed behind me on her way to return the coffee pot to its base on the kitchen counter.
I jumped guiltily. I was pretty sure Sunny would think calling the Hell Ride was a bad idea. “Thought I’d throw this load in the wash,” I answered, starting to do just that.
She moved into the doorway and propped herself against the frame as she watched me. “Whatchya planning on doing with the demon skank brooch?”
I laughed. “Not sure yet. Maybe I’ll wear it to dinner. Nothing like a little demon skank to jazz up an outfit.”
“Or maybe she’s worth enough to someone that you could trade her for the cancellation of your contract.”
I slowed my transfer of clothes into the washer and looked up at Sunny’s calculating expression. “Ya’ think?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. Apparently she’s royal family. It’s worth a try.”
“You really are a genius,” I said with a grin. “And I couldn’t have captured her without you. I especially liked the way you kept Mickey drinking with those long pauses in the interview. And getting him to come in here at the last second—that was inspired.”
“Yeah, well,” she answered with an embellished flip of her dark curls, “I guess I should have known better than to doubt you—faerie girl.” She winked and turned away. “I’ll leave you to your laundry. I’ve got a class to plan…you know, other than my ‘trends and modern society’ one.”
I smirked at her retreating back as I finished stuffing my clothes into the washer. As soon as I turned it on and added the soap, I headed for the pantry. Jasper came running at the whir of the electric can opener and was soon purring in contentment over a full dish of tuna, allowing me to stroke his back as he ate. Apparently I had been absolved for his tail plucking.
“Oh, and by the way—don’t think I’ve forgotten about sashimi and sake,” Sunny called from the living room.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I answered.
Jasper finished licking his dish and head-butted me happily. “If only all my trespasses were so easily forgiven,” I whispered with a sad smile.
Chapter 17 – Lessons Relearned
Unfortunately, I couldn’t just perform an exorcism and call it a day. I was still on call for work and sales figures needed to be entered into the computer. My abandoned paper stack lay piled on the dining room table like a disapproving reminder. My eyes glazed over at the mere thought and my brain drifted back toward the far more exciting topic of spell casting.
Actually, come to think of it, Mickey’s exorcism wasn’t my first spell. Back in my own Ouija board days I remembered tinkering with the odd spell here and there.
Two in particular came to mind. I’d performed a pretty cool spell to make the cat I had before Jasper my familiar. I never knew if it worked, but we’d always been particularly close.
And then there was the spell I’d performed when my first love broke up with me. I burned a candle down in increments every night, as I visualized our astrological colors intertwining and repeated an incantation to bring him back to me. And he had come back to me—with stories of how I’d appeared to him in his dreams with those same colors swirling around me.
Of course, not too long after that, I caught the bastard cheating on me and we broke up for good. I should have been more careful what I wished for then too.
I sighed as I finished making an extra large mug of tea, then planted myself in front of my laptop and buckled down into work mode. Sunny was doing the same, sitting on the couch with her laptop and coffee, working on the syllabus for her medieval literature class.
Jasper, with his belly full of tuna, had settled in for an afternoon nap. He was curled up on his favorite sunlit chair b
y the sliding glass doors.
I was just getting into my data entry stride when the phone rang. I stifled a groan at the interruption. It was Hannah. And mid-week calls from her usually meant guilt-inducing D.J.D. money questions that I couldn’t answer.
“Hi Hannah! How are you?” I asked with forced cheer.
“Oh, Sydney! Bon, bon, mon ami! Life is good, yes?”
I chuckled at her contagious enthusiasm. “I suppose it is, Hannah. What can I do for you?”
“I am so sorry to bother you,” she said, her tone sincere, “but it is time for the annual business renewal, and I have forgotten to give it to you in your papers on Monday. I would save it for next week, but the deadline is Tuesday, you understand? Could you possibly come by this afternoon and pick it up? You know how hopeless I am with paperwork!”
I let out a breath of relief that she hadn’t asked me about the growing balance D.J.D. owed her. It wasn’t as if I could do anything about it, but I knew she could use the money. Her meager sales figures revealed how painfully slow summer business had been.
“Of course, Hannah—no problem. I’ll be by before you close.”
“Merci beaucoup, Sydney—you are the best! Also—I wanted to let you know I received a call from your Jeremy yesterday. He said he wanted to drop off some of your things but could not remember your apartment number and could not get hold of you. I told him you were in the tenth floor penthouse at the hotel, which seemed to confuse him. I hope I did not make a problem for you.”
I had a flashback to sixth grade and the time I told my mom I was going to my friend’s house, when I was really riding my bike to go meet a boy. I neglected to warn my friend and she showed up at my house looking for me.
Never use someone as an alibi without telling them so they can cover for you.
“No. It wasn’t a problem, Hannah,” I lied.
A Risky Proposition Page 27
