Hot Magic (9 page)

Tasha looked thoughtful. “And that’s where they learn how to fight demons in groups of three?”

Fight demons? Groups of three? What was Tasha talking about?
 

“Those are advanced skills, not taught until what would be late high school here.” Her mother nodded.

Julie didn’t even know where to start asking questions. “Tasha and I didn’t come into power at puberty. Why not?”

“You’re of mixed heritage. When it didn’t happen, I just assumed you didn’t have the ability.”

“So now that we know I do and we know that I’m not normal,” Julie slanted her mother a look, “we don’t know what to expect for Tasha.”

 
“Right. My advice is that she stay away from men.” Jean turned to Tasha. “There are really some very lovely lesbians, dear. I don’t suppose you’d consider coming out of the closet?”

Tasha turned to Julie. “Grandma’s driving me crazy.”

“Tasha.” Julie gave her daughter a severe look and turned to her mother. “Mom. You’re driving me crazy. Gay people aren’t gay just because it’s convenient for them. You know that.”

“Not all gay people are alike. Sexuality exists on a continuum. Some people are born gay, and some choose the gay lifestyle. It’s not fair to say you can’t be gay just because you don’t have the right genetic make-up. That kind of closed-mindedness isn’t like you, dear.”

“I’m very closed-minded at the moment.” Julie sat down. “In fact, my brain is in lockdown. I officially have information overload. And I haven’t even asked you about demon fighting.” When her mother started to speak, she held up a hand. “Hold that explanation until later. I have to go to work, and I don’t think I can process anything more at the moment anyway.”
 

“Good.” Jean patted her shoulder. “Go to work, and forget all about this.”

Julie straightened. “Mom, life has changed.” She sighed. What an understatement. “I can’t ignore Harrison.”

“Of course you can ignore Harrison. You ignored me through most of your teens. You ignored the fact that your husband would rather sleep next to a dusty hole in the ground than in your bed for most of your marriage. You’re very good at ignoring things.”

Julie tried to stir up self-righteous anger, but her mother was right. She didn’t precisely ignore things, but she focused on what she wanted to think about and didn’t focus on the rest. Julie rubbed her head. “Can you stay for a few days?” Her mother nodded. “We’ll talk at dinner then.”

“I’ll cook,” Jean offered.

“Will you drop me off at my dorm, Mom?” Tasha looked lost, like she didn’t know what she should do next.

“Of course, honey.” Julie put an arm around her shoulders. “Do you want to have dinner with us tonight? We have a lot to discuss.”

Tash nodded. “I’ll meet you at your office at six.” She looked over at Jean. “Grandma, promise you won’t make anything with tofu, okay?”

Jean nodded, not even arguing like she usually would. “You know I love you both with my whole heart. I won’t lose you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Her indomitable mother looked suddenly vulnerable. A strong wave of love pushed aside Julie’s irritation and anger at the dangerous secrets her mother had kept. This woman had lost both her parents in violence and was doing the best she could to keep her child and grandchild safe.
 

Julie reached her at the same time Tasha did. The three of them hugged, forming a triangle of strength and support.

“T
here’s something different about you.” Joe Kradeno, one of her coworkers, stood in her office doorway holding a file folder. “Are you all right?”
 

Julie sighed and rested both elbows on her desk, hands cupping her cheeks. She was tempted to tell him that she’d found a man she resonated with, come into some super powers and discovered that weird beings existed in the world. But she didn’t have time to be evaluated by every psychiatrist in the building. “I’m just tired. Rough night.”
 

“I can smooth things out for you.” His voice lowered to what he probably thought was a sexy drawl.

“The results from the new study look that good?” Julie sat up straight and smiled, despite herself.
 

Joe stepped into the office and frowned at her apparent obliviousness to his flirting. He tossed the folder on the desk in front of her. “We don’t have enough data to run the stats yet. The interviewers are still in the field.”

“What’s this, then?” Julie picked up the folder and opened it. Two tickets fluttered to her desk along with a piece of paper. She picked up the paper. It was an advertisement for a marathon of Jane Austen movies at the local theater. Joe knew how to tempt her.
 

He’d been trying to get her to go out on a date since he’d joined the lab a year ago. He wouldn’t succeed. Short and wiry, with a full head of gray hair, he had the slim build of a distance runner. Aside from the big-mistake-to date-a-colleague thing and the fact that she didn’t want to get involved with anyone at this point in her life, she could never date a man who weighed less than she did.
 

Which might severely limit her options if she ever did decide to date. Then again, she could stretch out on the couch, munching buttered popcorn for a long time before she outweighed Harry.

“Come to the movies with me, Julie.”

Julie brought her focus back to the man watching her. “I don’t date people I work with. I’ve told you that,” she said gently.
 

“I’ll quit.”

She grinned and picked up the tickets and advertisement, putting them back in the folder. “Have fun at the show. And thank you for inviting me.” She held out the folder until he took it.

“I won’t give up, Julie.”

“Which makes me worry about you, Joe. Go find somebody exciting. I’m a middle-aged woman enjoying a quiet life.”

 
“Hey, I like the quiet life, too. After a glass of warm milk, I’m in bed by nine o’clock most nights. Maybe you could join me sometime.”
 

She laughed. “I’m serious. I’ve raised a good kid and crafted a decent career. All I want is to relax during my off time. I’m not looking to start anything new.”

“Want to go for a double mocha latte and see if a spurt of caffeine won’t oil your aging engines?”

You had to give the guy points for persistence. She really was tired, coffee really would help, and going to the cafeteria with a colleague wasn’t even close to a date. But most important of all, Joe was so blessedly normal. No fireworks or violins to distract her. No talk of curses and strange powers.

“Coffee sounds great.” She stood and walked around her desk. The office was small, and Joe just had to reach out a hand to touch the smudges beneath her eyes.

“Is everything okay, Julie?”

“No. Everything is pretty much shot to hell, Joe.”

When she didn’t elaborate, he draped a supportive arm around her shoulders and guided her out the door. She paused, surprised by the sudden rumble of thunder that reverberated against the windows lining one wall of the hallway. “Wasn’t it sunny out two minutes ago?”

Black clouds covered the sky in an ominous blanket. Lightning lashed out at the ground.
 

“This blew up quickly,” Joe commented, dropping his arm when she stepped away from him. “It’ll probably blow over just as fast.”

The drum of thunder pushed against the glass with an insistent fist. Julie paused, unsettled. “‘You can’t stop a storm, but you can shut a window so it doesn’t get in the house.’”

Joe gave her a strange look. “Is there a window open somewhere?”

Julie shook her head. “No, that’s just something my Mom always used to say whenever it stormed.” She shook her head as if to clear it. “You know Michigan weather. Storms can pop out of nowhere.”

Joe grinned and pushed the button for the elevator that would take them up three flights to the sixth-floor cafeteria. “That reminds me of a study I just read on the effect of weather on mental health. This study didn’t just look at amount of sunlight, but took temperature….”

Julie nodded a couple of times, not really listening. She stared at the rolling clouds outside the windows until the elevator doors closed, blocking her view.

H
arrison stood in her office when she returned. Julie almost dropped her half-empty cup of coffee.

“Hi.” She sounded more breathy than she wanted to. He wore black pants and a white shirt open at the neck. A casual look for him. He stared at her, cold and silent.

“Um, should I kneel or something? Mom says you’re a pretty important guy.”

“I only want to see you kneeling in front of me for one reason.” He didn’t even smile when he said it.

“Funny man.” She stepped into the room and shut the door. No need to fuel office gossip. “You look angry. I take it your chat with Marguerite was not productive?”

His facial muscles became more rigid. “Do not mention that woman’s name.”

“That bad, huh?”

“I need to return to London and meet with the Council.”

“Right now?” She leaned back against her door. She was more tired than she’d thought.

He nodded. “Julie, did your mother explain bonding?”

“No. That didn’t come up. She had a lot of other explaining to do.”

“This is important. The Dancers and Walkers who commit to each other usually get married, just like most humans. A very few, however, choose to enter a relationship that can’t be broken, called a blood bond. It’s a powerful ceremony, twining the couple’s power together through the mixing of their blood.”

“How romantic. Young Triad girls must dream about it.” Yuck.

“I believe some of the sillier girls do.” He looked like he found the whole concept as distasteful as Julie did. “Bascule has determined that our power is aligned in such a way that there is a pull, an attraction, for the energy to bond.”

Julie let out a disbelieving laugh. “Between you and me? Good one.”

“Bascule is rarely wrong.”
 

Julie shook her head. “You’re the great and powerful Balance. I’m a half-breed with no abilities. I don’t think so.”

He gave her one of his brooding looks. “We don’t know what your abilities are yet. You are highly unusual.”

Julie’s hands flew up in the air. “I’m a little tired of everyone inferring that I’m not normal and all this weirdness is my fault. Go away. Go to London. Have a good life. I have work to do.”

Harrison ignored her outburst. “The Council must be informed of this.”

“Are you also going to inform them that you want to have sex with me to break the curse or have you already consulted with them about that?”
 

Harry had no expression on his face. “That plan has changed. Bascule has researched this phenomenon and has confirmed that if we have sex, we could bond without the blood ritual. I can’t take that chance.”

“So the bottom line is you don’t want me anymore. I’m off the hook.” She didn’t know why she was acting all pissy. Bonding with him, with anyone, was nowhere on her list of things to do.

“Balances don’t bond. They belong to the Triad.”

“So, you’re sort of like the Triad’s version of a priest? Married to the entire Triad, not just one person?”

“No, not at all.”

Argh. A thought occurred to her. “If we don’t have sex, you remain under Marguerite’s curse.”

“There is an alternate option.” A muscle in his cheek twitched. “The curse can be broken with the aid of the Council during the next new moon.” His hand went through his hair in the now-familiar gesture. “In the meantime, if this invasion by Marguerite becomes too difficult to bear, I will sleep with Dancer women of lesser power in the hopes of finding one who can break the curse.”

“No!”

“Excuse me?” His gaze focused on her.

“I said ‘Oh!’” She stared down at her feet and willed herself not to stomp over to Harry. She had a strong urge to grab him and divert his attention away from other Dancers. What on earth was wrong with her?
 

She looked out her window, not trusting herself to look at Harry’s face. “Did you come to say good-bye?”
 

“No, I didn’t come to say good-bye.”
 

The cool note in his voice didn’t bother her. She felt too relieved by his words.

“I’ve put you in danger. Marguerite knows I intended to use you to break the spell.” Harry’s tone was brisk. “To protect you, I told her that you don’t have enough power to stop the curse.” Harry gave her a stern look. “If she discovers how powerful you are or the potential for our bond, she’ll seek to neutralize you. It’s important that you don’t use your power until after the new moon on October sixteenth, when the curse is broken.”
 

His grim face convinced her that Marguerite’s idea of neutralizing her wouldn’t be pleasant.
 

“I have to go to London, but I’ll be back soon. I’m leaving Linda as your guard. She’ll contact me if you need me.”

Linda? Julie looked around, half-expecting someone to pop into the office and join them. “I don’t like this, Harry.” Julie sank into the office chair she kept pushed against one of the walls.