Love Charms (55 page)

17:
Pyrotechnics

Sconces lit the walls. Life-sized
paintings of men and women throughout every age made me think of Scooby-Doo. I
expected the eyes to follow me.

The first room I came to was locked
tight. I slipped from door to door, trying all the knobs. Who kept their whole
house closed up like this?

Right, bad guys.

I'd be approaching the grand staircase
soon, and I didn't like how open it was to the downstairs. A lair seemed more
likely to be underground. I felt for the mushroom in my pocket. Maybe I should
just go straight to the portal and hope for the best.

But on the other side of the stairs, a
door stood slightly ajar. The light from inside was greenish. That looked very
promising.

I took a deep breath and pressed against
the wall, staying as far from the rail as possible. When I was past the
staircase, I still feared going into the room. Anyone could be in there. Dei
Lucrii, his driver, or Martel himself.

Why hadn't I chosen the fairies?

I willed my heart to slow so I could hear
if any sounds came from inside. Voices drifted from downstairs, low and
indistinct. It seemed safe.

I peeked through the door. Glass cabinets
like my mother's lined the walls, lit faintly from luminous vials on the
shelves. So it was a lair, or something like it, and a very likely location of
a portal.

Martel had a lot more supplies than Mom.
Hundreds of bottles gleamed inside cabinets. A long wooden desk spread beneath
a window, the unchanging moon peeking through the trees.

I glanced around for anything pewter. I didn't
think it would be a coincidence that both Mom's and Caleb's were so similar. On
the long slab were a few scattered vials, two pouches, and an open Book of
Shadows.

I had assumed each family had one. The
page was turned to a spell not unlike the one my mother had scrawled in her own
book. At the top were the words "ætýcan áblǽst." My Olde English
was rusty, but I knew the word "blast" when I saw it.

The ingredients were listed below.
"Mother Crystals" was written in calligraphy, but below it, in tiny print,
were the words "potassium picrate."

That was a highly explosive organic
compound used in fireworks. It would make a blast — not a big one by
itself, but when mixed with other chemicals, it was a base for many
pyrotechnics. In fact, one of the pouches on the desk held them, the telltale
green crystals spilling out.

But when I saw the next ingredient on the
list, my forehead beaded with sweat.

Sea foam.

I glanced around the table. Two empty
green bottles, just like the one that held Mom's sea foam, sat to one side.

Oh, God.

Martel had killed my mother. And my
grandmother.

My knees threatened to buckle. I was torn
between escaping and going on a murder spree. What sort of world was this? What
kind of men?

I had to pull myself together. I couldn't
fight them now, but I was a Golden Enchantress. If they wanted me this badly,
then I had to have something powerful, something they couldn't get on their
own.

They would regret ever involving me,
letting me find out who I was, who they were.

I would take the crystals with me in case
I needed something to get away. All by themselves, they were not a powerful
explosive, but when ignited, potassium picrate made enough of a boom to startle
someone. I might be able to detonate it just by throwing or smashing some.

A yellow vial almost fell over as I
turned. I paused, wondering if it might also be useful as I tried to escape. I
opened the stopper and immediately smelled methane. Sea foam. Probably the
undoctored one they'd used to make the explosive version. I stuck it in my
pocket.

I should leave, I knew, get a move on my
escape while I still had some element of surprise. That fairy could report I
had eaten the mushroom, although surely no one would think that I might come
straight into the belly of the whale.

I turned back to the Book of Shadows and
flipped it to the front page. The list of names was much longer than in the one
back home, and strangely enough, in color. Around each ink or charcoal name was
a smudge of red, blue, green, or purple. They sparkled faintly, like the
markings on our foreheads. I wondered if I would see these colors if I looked
at Mom's book again. I bet so, now that I had done the reveal spell.

The last name would be the current owner
of the book. I squinted at it in the low light. Alum Dupree. Never heard of
her, but around her lettering was a smattering of gold. Did this book belong to
another Golden Enchantress? Was it stolen?

I glanced around the room again. Mom had
died seven months ago. This room hadn't been changed since they doctored the
sea foam. It couldn't be Martel's main lair, but maybe it had been set up for a
Golden they had kidnapped. Maybe she had been forced to doctor the sea foam so
they wouldn't be fingered for it.

Time to get out of here, fall back, learn
what I would have to do to take these guys out. I didn't have any foolish
notions of confronting them on my own, not yet. I had no way to fight them, and
so far had survived out of dumb luck and dumber fairies.

Time for my dramatic exit. Now that I
knew what these men were capable of, I had to get out of the house. My next
move would put me in the hands of the enemy. I might get lucky, or I might not.
I had to give it a try. I popped the last bit of mushroom in my mouth and said,
"Martel's portal."

18: Too
Much Silver

The new room expanded out like a great
hall, high ceilinged, with a grand stone fireplace. Three men stood talking and
watching the flames, but they instantly turned at my arrival.

"Jet found the portal!" the
oldest man exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. Despite his age, he was a
near-duplicate of the younger one, silky blond hair in a ponytail, the same
perfect clothes and regal bearing. I wasn't sure which one might have been on
the carriage. "Were the fairies helpful?"

The younger one applied a winning smile,
and I admit my heart turned a bit. I bet he used that charm on all the nixes
before he knocked them up.

I decided not to answer. Instead, I
subtly surveyed the room.

The shortest man, possibly the driver of
the carriage, stood nearby. "Butterfly is in the net." He slapped his
knee, but the other two men glared at him.

The younger man bowed deeply. "We
must introduce ourselves. I am Dei Lucrii." He laid a hand on the older
man. "And this is my father, Martel."

I recognized the voice now. Dei Lucrii had
definitely been the one on the carriage. I wanted to spit at them, especially
Martel, since Gem had mentioned him by name. But I had to keep searching for
pewter. Nothing on the mantel, not on the side tables.

 Dei Lucrii weaved through the furniture
toward me. "I'm so delighted to meet you a few days early. How is the
potion going?"

What-fucking-ever.

Now I looked around madly. The portal had
to be close. I felt a shelf against my back and whirled around. Yes! It was
right there. I started the chant.

"Going so soon?" Dei Lucrii
seemed unconcerned that I was trying to escape.

I chanted faster. Why did the stupid
rhyme have to be so long?

"Don't bother, little fly," the
driver said. "We rigged it to only work once. Now that you've used it,
we're all going to be here until the spell wears off."

But I hadn't arrived by portal. They
hadn't seen! Martel's voice was cold. "Your services are no longer
required tonight, Facil."

I finished the chant, but the bowl wasn't
changing. What if it was just a bowl? I realized the shelf was full of pewter
items, plates and cups and candlesticks.

Dei Lucrii took my arm and led me toward
the fire. "You're safe here. Come sit with us a while."

Time to go for broke. As soon as we
approached the fire, I threw the pouch of crystals into the flame and careened
toward the back wall.

The chemicals exploded with firecracker
booms, pouring smoke into the room.

I searched the shelf of dishes, and then
I saw it, a thin layer of white mist on an ornate platter. I began the chant
and dove in.

Colors spun around me. I knew I didn't
have to fear the dark this time. It was behind me. I saw two circles, my smoky
lair and Caleb's bed. I aimed for Caleb and held my breath.

When I landed, the first words I heard
were "Send that filthy nix back to where she came from!"

19:
Sons and Mothers

I looked up at Caleb, all cleaned up and
just about the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

But immediately the murderous red face of
Genevieve blocked my view.

Right, the filthy nix bit.

"Where's Dad?" I scooted away
from them both to sit up and feel less vulnerable. Honestly, after the spirit
world, a pissed-off mother was a welcome sight.

Caleb stood up from his bed to speak, but
his mother waved her arm and he fell back again. He pointed at his mouth and shook
his head.

"Lips are sealed?" I asked.

He nodded.

Genevieve picked up the portal and stared
inside. "I told you to block this, Caleb."

She began a chant I couldn't follow, then
flashed her angry eyes back at me. "You have put us at risk. Dei Lucrii knows
where you went. He'll come here even if I close the portal."

"I think their own portal is on
lockdown," I said, but she was right. They had been the ones to close it.
No doubt they could open it back up again.

"Ours should have been." She
turned to Caleb. "My own son, lying to me."

Genevieve whirled around, black wisps
falling from her perfect chignon. "You fail to understand the gravity of
the situation. Caleb has to be matched. It's forbidden to even speak with you,
and now you are...HERE!"

God, I so wanted to play the Golden
Enchantress card, but now wasn't the time. I knew her backstory. She had every
reason to be upset. "Just tell me where Dad is, and I'll be on my
way."

"I'll send you right to him."

Caleb jumped up, but too late, Mommie
Dearest was already chanting and I felt myself being pulled into darkness.

* * *

When I could breathe again, the air was
stuffy, warm, and damp. Instead of electric lights, gas torches lined the
walls. What was with this world and its fixation on historical gloom?

As my eyes adjusted, I made out iron bars
and dripping stone walls. Suddenly I worried that I was back with Dei Lucrii in
the spirit world.

I jumped to my feet. "Hello?"
My voice echoed through the cell. "Anyone there?"

My face wouldn't fit between the bars,
but I pressed as hard as I could to see out. In front of me was just another
wall; to my right and left, more cells.

Great. No telling where she'd sent me,
although if you could just blast someone anywhere, why were there portals at
all?

A wood bench hung on the wall with black
chains. I sat on it, wondering when my bread and water would arrive. I pictured
Genevieve's prim little hairdo bobbing above a tray full of grizzle and rat
bones, and despite everything, I had to laugh.

"Only a nix like you would snigger
at a time like this."

I jumped up. "Hallow?"

His white head peeked between two iron
bars. "They could use a little redecorating down here, don't you think?
Maybe modernize it to oh, say, late medieval?"

I knelt on the cold floor. "I'm so
happy to see you!"

"The feeling is not mutual. I was
sniffing a hot little number named Meriwether when you came dropping in."

"Meriwether?"

"A coal-black ferret with white
spots in all the right places. She belongs to Caleb's sister Meg."

I returned to the bench. "I forgot
how unhelpful you were."

Hallow leaped next to me. "I'm here,
aren't I? I've been tracking you all over the realms. You've been a busy
nix."

"I suppose we're still in
Genevieve's house?"

"It's a timeshare dungeon. Runs
under several prominent enchanter homes."

"So I guess you aren't going to tell
me how to get out of here?"

Hallow examined his paw, grimacing at a
grimy smudge. "Magic doesn't work down here, not that you have any."
He peered up at me. "Or have you figured things out yet?"

"You little wretch!" I lifted
him high over my head. "You knew I was a Golden Enchantress all
along?"

"Ah ah ah. Set me down. You aren't a
Golden yet. Training. Coven. Ceremony. Yada yada yada."

I put him back on the bench. "So I
can't get out of here."

"One of the reasons old dungeons
like this are still around is their ability to block magic. Not a feature of
modern construction."

"So what? I die here?"

"I'm not supposed to be the hero
today. But your dad is around here somewhere. He's clued in now, right? You
guys skulked off into the lair to try the potion. I trust that's why it
blew."

I nodded.

"I'll go chat him up. He'll be
relieved to know his wife wasn't cracked for talking to me. Well, any more than
expected."

"So you're just going to leave
me?"

"Like I said, your hero will be
arriving shortly. I have been cast as the lowly rat furball." He bowed and
scuttled through the bars.

Great. Alone again. I assumed he meant
Caleb would be saving the day. He seemed like the right sort of person for a
hero. I leaned my head against the wall. This wannabe enchanter needed a nap.

Footsteps echoed along the corridor.
"Jet? You down here?"

Caleb! I hurried back to the bars.
"Yes!" I stuck my hand out so he could see me.

The steps broke into a run, and then he
was there, grasping my fingers, bringing them to his lips. "I've been so
damn worried. Did anyone hurt you?"

"I got into some scrapes, but I'm
here."

"Did Dei Lucrii find you?"

"I found him."

He pressed my hand against his cheek.
"And you got away?"

"Just to be stuck in another
prison."

Caleb let go of my hand. "Right.
Keys." Caleb rapped his knuckles against the door of a warped wood cabinet
in a pattern that sounded like "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits."

I laughed. "Should I get a piece of
bubble gum and a wire hanger?"

"I know. It's all so ...
human."

The case popped open, revealing a dozen
heavy keys. He pulled out several. "Let's try all of these."

"No spells?" I asked.

"Hard to keep an enchanter in if
that was the case." He stuck the first one in the padlock. "No
go."

We tried five keys before we found the
one that released the door. It had barely swung open when Caleb pulled me into
a tight embrace, his fingers tangling in my hair. "I thought I had lost
you."

"I'm here."

His lips found mine, and we fell back
into that heady space, now familiar, where time slowed down and the world began
and ended at the edges of each other's bodies. He pulled away, his eyes meeting
mine. "I dismissed my other matches."

"What?" I stepped back.
"You can't do that!" Then I remembered. Actually, he could. Maybe.
Could a Golden pick anyone she wanted?

"If being with you means I'm exiled,
then I want to be exiled with you. I don't believe for a minute that what we
feel could be something dark or bad. I don't buy that our children will be like
Dei Lucrii or his father. They just wouldn't."

He pulled me in again before I could
argue, but I agreed with him. His instinct was spot on. I remembered Gordon's
rejection just days ago, a lifetime now, because I had been suspended from
school. What Caleb was offering was unconditional, like what Dad had done for
Mom, no questions asked, accepting that a life together was worth the risk.

"Do enchanters fall in love?" I
asked him. "Or is it all just magically preordained?"

"My mother does not love my father.
So, no. Not always."

"They were bound without it?"

"Sometimes you do what is right for
the world, not what is right for yourself."

I wrapped my arms around his waist.
"Is that how it will be for us?"

"Hardly. We're going against the
world."

"So why are we doing it?"

"Because we can't not do it."

He silenced me with his mouth again, and
I knew the places where we were going. He wasted no time pushing my sweater out
of the way and connecting his palm to my spine, sending that jolt of
electricity through my body. I wound my hands beneath his shirt, returning the
favor, and he lurched against me.

His hands moved behind my thighs and
lifted me so that my legs wrapped around him. With a few steps, my back was
pressed against the stone wall. I clung to his neck, our mouths locked
together.

He unclasped my bra and pushed it up and
out of his way. His hands learned all the curves of me, molding my breasts into
his palms.

I'd never felt so hot for someone, not
ever, and I could scarcely stand my lack of control, caught against the wall. I
wanted to feel him, learn the length and breadth of him, hear the sounds he
made. I pushed up his shirt, kneading the muscles of his back and sides. He was
lean and strong, and when my fingers fluttered across his chest, he thrust against
me so that I could feel the hardness of him even through my jeans.

He let my legs fall and bent down,
pushing my shirt out of the way so he could look at more of me.
"Jet," he said. "So beautiful." His mouth was warm and wet,
and I was lost, holding his head and the mop of curls. His hands circled my
bare waist, and I knew my legs were going to give out. His fingers inched
inside the band of my jeans, and I leaned into him. I wanted them off. I wanted
his off. I needed to move move move. Just knowing he had turned away the others
for me pushed everything over the edge. The rush resounded in my ears like an
ocean wave, and when his mouth came back to my lips, I tugged at his jeans,
fighting the snap.

I reached for him, hard in the boxers. We
were so close, on the precipice, and I'd never wanted any boy like I wanted
him. And despite who he thought I was, he wanted me back, for keeps.

"Your mom," I whispered.

"I put her in a freeze spell."
His breath was hot against my ear.

He traced a finger along my belly, again
flirting with the waist of my jeans. He seemed anxious, but my own hands,
yanking on his zipper, made him forget all that, and finally he tugged at my
snap.

"Oh, good grief, there they
go."

I let go of Caleb in a hurry, jerking my
hands from his jeans.

Hallow and another ferret, Meriwether no
doubt, judging from her black-and-white coat, stood at the open door.
"Hairless wonders," Hallow said. "Ick. Sorry you had to see
that."

Meriwether squeaked with laughter.
"We should close the gate and let them be the ones mating in a cage."

Caleb dropped my shirt into place. His
jaw twitched as he reached to snap his jeans and turned around with more aplomb
than I could have mustered. I fumbled with my bra.

"Meriwether, back to Meg." He
stared down at Hallow. "Why is a free ferret in my house?"

"I belong to Jet."

"Nixes don't have familiars,"
Caleb said.

Hallow's eyes widened, but he said
nothing. "I'm here to squeal on the matron of the house."

Meriwether shoved at him. "Be nice.
Caleb, she broke your freeze spell. You kids better skedaddle."

"Where's my dad?" I asked.

"In another dungeon," Hallow
said. "Too bad he's nonfunctional as an enchanter, because he got the
human wing. A breakout would have been a level-two spell."

"He's still unmarked," Caleb
said. "Mom didn't know."

But I had seen his marking. I frowned but
kept this to myself. No need to question the thing that helps us.

We hurried down the corridor, following
the ferrets. Meriwether had ignored Caleb's order to leave, seemingly ecstatic
to be in on the adventure.

"Just around the corner,"
Hallow said, about to pass a set of stairs when a hand reached down and
snatched him up by the tail.

He hissed, dangling, scrabbling with his
claws. Genevieve held him away from her body. "This ferret needs a new assignment."
She dropped him in a paper bag.

"He's mine," I said. "Give
him to me."

Genevieve rolled up the bag. "Not
until you are out of my house." She glared at her son. "I knew you'd
let her out."

"You can't keep her here. You're
breaking a dozen enchanter codes!"

"I had no intention of keeping her.
I had to secure my portals! Your freeze spell put the whole family in
danger!" She glanced up at his ruffled hair. "Consorting with nixes.
Do you want to be exiled?"

Caleb pulled me against him. "I
accept being exiled with her. Then I can see more of Calindra, too."

Genevieve's face mottled with fury.
"Don't mention that creature's name!"

"She's my sister!"