Casting Curses

  “Well, he’s gorgeous, I have to say that much.”

  “You should see it when we go up in the mountains and he turns into his tiger self and goes running. It’s breathtaking to watch. It makes me wish I could do the same. The freedom that he must feel…” She paused, watching him, her eyes warm and loving. “And yet, Maddy, he’s one of the most gentle men that I’ve ever known. When I first met him he was a mess as far as dating was concerned. He wasn’t used to it. He loved his wife so much, and her death hit him incredibly hard.”

  As we waited for Jordan, I couldn’t help but say, “Isn’t it hard to fill the shoes of a saint?”

  She shook her head. “Even though he’ll always love Gracie, I know he loves me. What we have isn’t the same as what they had. We finally figured out that’s the easiest way to look at it. And that works for me. I’m glad that he loved her, and that she made him happy. He doesn’t have lingering resentments.”

  She paused, then asked, “What about Aegis? Does he have any old flames who worry you?”

  I shrugged. “I wonder about the woman he was in love with, the one Apollo cast him out because of. I think I remind him of her. I’m not sure what it is, but ever since we met, we’ve both felt this connection that seems to go into a past life. But we haven’t figured it out yet. So…no. I don’t feel threatened by anyone he’s talked about. Sometimes I do worry that one day, he’ll want to be with one of his own kind.”

  “I think if he wanted to be with a vampire, he would have stayed with Rachel. But you saw how well that worked out.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, just about as well as things worked out between me and Craig.”

  At that moment, Jordan arrived, pulling up into the driveway. As he got out of his car, carrying his bag, I walked over to greet him. Sandy stayed where she was, to keep an eye on Max, who was still having fun up in the trees.

  “As you can see, we’ve had a bit of an incident.”

  “Lovely. I do have a shot I can give him. It should transform him back, but he won’t be able to shift again for a while. It’s the same base as the shot that I’ve prepared for you.” He paused, looking at me for a moment. “Maddy, are you sure you want this? It will mean you can’t perform any magic until it wears off. That could be a couple days, or it could be a week, or even longer, depending on how long it reacts in your system.”

  “Right now, that has to be better than constantly worrying whether I’m going to end up gasping for air. Go ahead.” I held out my arm as he set his bag on a bench and rummaged through it. He brought out a long-needled syringe, holding it up and flicking the side of it with his fingers.

  “This may sting a little bit.”

  “I’m sure I’ve felt worse over the years.” I closed my eyes as he stabbed the syringe into my biceps. As the medicine filtered in, I grimaced. He was right. It did sting, but I handled it just fine. As Jordan pulled the needle out and wiped the area with a cotton ball, I felt an odd wave of dizziness rush over me. I sank down to sit on the bench next to his bag, rubbing my head.

  “Dizzy?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Is that normal?”

  “Very. Oh, one other thing. A positive side effect, you might say. I’m lifting my prohibition on sex. Now that the kundalini channels are effectively closed, you should be safe to scratch any itch you get.”

  “Well, that’s good.” I closed my eyes as the drug seeped through my body. All over, it felt like sensory channels were shutting down, and I felt smaller than before. That was the only way to describe it. I felt like I was less than I had been. Part of myself seemed to vanish in those few moments. I burst into tears, not realizing just how intertwined my magic was to my being.

  “It’s only temporary. Just remember that. I’ve used this before and I’ve seen the same reaction from every single witch I’ve used it on.”

  I sniffled, wiping my nose on my sleeve. “That makes me feel better. It just took me by surprise. I guess we’d better get Max under control. What are you going to do? I’m not sure how to coax a full-grown Bengal tiger down out of a tree.”

  “I thought of that. I brought my tranquilizer gun. I’m going to shoot the medication into him. So I advise you and Sandy to move away, because he’s probably going to come leaping down out of the branches at me. But it works so quickly that everything should be all right by the time he hits the ground.”

  “I hope you’re right, for everybody’s sake.”

  I called Sandy over as Jordan headed toward the tree. He had what looked like a small-gauge shotgun, and he fitted the drug-laced dart into it.

  “Will that hurt Max?” she asked.

  Jordan shook his head. “The dart will probably fall out of his skin as he transforms. It does sting, but it’s probably not going to leave a bruise. At least not a big one.”

  He got near enough that he could aim at Max’s haunches. He leveled the shotgun, holding it steady to his shoulder, and then pulled the trigger. His aim was true, and the dart landed right in the hindquarters of the tiger.

  Max let out a roar and, as Jordan predicted, came charging down out of the tree. Jordan took off running toward his truck, with Max was bounding after him. But not more than five yards from the tree, Max froze in mid-air, then fell to the ground, transforming quickly back into his natural shape. Jordan skidded to a halt.

  “Are you all right?” Sandy asked, reaching Max’s side first. She knelt, stroking his hair out of his eyes.

  As he pushed himself up into a sitting position, he groaned and yanked the dart out of his right butt cheek and tossed it on the ground. I grimaced, thinking that must have hurt like hell, and then as Max began to stand up, I suddenly blushed, realizing Max was fully naked. The wayward thought crossed my mind that Sandy was a lucky, lucky woman.

  “What the hell just happened?” Max shook his head, glancing around at the three of us.

  “Do you remember changing into your tiger form?” Sandy asked.

  Max staggered to his feet, not seeming to realize he was naked as jaybird. “Not really.” He suddenly looked down, and let out a little groan. “That would explain why I’m standing outside in forty-degree weather without any clothes on.” He glanced at me, and let out a choked laugh. “Eyes to yourself, woman.”

  “You haven’t got anything I haven’t seen hundreds of times over. How are you feeling?” I asked, stifling a laugh. But I couldn’t hold it in and ended up belting out a loud guffaw.

  “That’s right, chuckle it up.” He snorted. “How do I feel? Like I got hit by a sledgehammer. What did you do to me?” He turned to Jordan. “The last thing I remember is…I don’t remember.”

  Jordan nodded. “Let’s go inside and get you into some clothing. I’ll explain there.”

  As we headed into the Bewitching Bedlam, it occurred to me that we were very quickly losing our power players. Aegis was down for the count. I couldn’t cast any magic now. And Max wouldn’t be able to turn into his tiger. Pretty soon, we would be left with only our wits, and that was a scary thought.

  MAX TOOK A quick shower and changed clothes as Kelson fixed a pot of tea. I glanced at the time. It was almost three thirty and my brother was scheduled to arrive at around four. It occurred to me that maybe I should rent him a hotel room so he didn’t get hit by the curse as well. I hated not being able to offer him my hospitality, but it might be safer that way.

  As we waited for Max to come down from the guestroom, my phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID. It was Alaysia.

  “Maddy? I figured out what ritual you need to do. It’s daunting, and it’s not going to be easy, but I’m calling you now because we have to do it tomorrow night. Rituals to Ereshkigal must be done on Saturday night—the seventh night. And we need to do it at your house, because that’s where the curse is. I’ll have to come out and set up tomorrow afternoon, if that’s all right with you. Leroy is going to join us as well.”

  “Good. But I have to ask you something. Jordan Farrows gave me a sh
ot that suppresses all my magic. Will I be able to go to the ritual even though I can’t do anything magical?”

  “Oh, you can go through the ritual, all right. I don’t guarantee how you’ll fare without any magic, but it certainly won’t stop you from trying.” She paused, then added, “Really, this is the only solution if you want to break that curse. I know more than you think about it.”

  “Let’s go for it. Why don’t you come over around three tomorrow? That will give you plenty of time to set up. Should we clear the house of everyone else?”

  “Actually, anybody affected by the curse should be there. At least, anybody you can manage to have around.”

  “Henry won’t be able to. And it’s probably a good thing, because if this ritual is to remove curses, it might affect the curse that’s keeping him alive. Besides, I have a feeling the stroke was brought on by something other than the magic.” In fact, I knew it had been. Not everything was magical in origin.

  “All right. I’ll see you then.”

  I hung up, breathing deeply. “Tomorrow night, Alaysia and Leroy are coming over. Sandy, you and Max need to be here. Aegis needs to be here as well. She’s managed to figure out a ritual that should break the curse.”

  As Max entered the kitchen, the doorbell rang. Reeling from everything that it happened, I headed to answer. As I opened the door, a tall lanky man stood there, wavy brown hair down to his butt. As I stared into his eyes, I saw my mother’s reflection staring back at me. It was Gregory, my brother.

  Chapter 12

  GREGORY OAKSTONE MIGHT be my half-brother, but I could see my mother in his eyes. At first, he seemed at a loss for words as he stared at me. And then, it was as if the gulf between us vanished. He set down his suitcase and his backpack, and held out his hands. I took them, squeezing them tight.

  “I’m not sure what to say,” I said. “I’m not used to situations like this. Please come in.” Even as I spoke, I realized I was nervous, wondering what he would think of me and of the house, and of Aegis.

  But as Gregory crossed through the doorway, he broke into a wide smile, an almost goofy grin. “What the hell am I doing?” he asked, grabbing me into a bear hug. “You’re my sister. I still can’t believe I have a sister!”

  “I know,” I said, a wave of joy sweeping over me. “When Zara told me about you, it felt so surreal. I’ve had a half-brother my entire life and never known. Come in. Please, come into the kitchen. I’m afraid you’ve caught us at a very difficult time.”

  We entered the kitchen, me dragging him by the hand. “Look who’s here! This is Gregory Oakstone. He’s my half-brother. Greg—may I call you Greg?”

  He nodded. “That’s fine with me.”

  “I want you to meet my best friend Sandy, her fiancé Max, and Jordan—who happens to be one of the best doctors around.” I motioned over to Kelson. “And this is Kelson. She’s my manager for the Bewitching Bedlam.”

  There was a flurry of greetings as they all said hello, and I noticed Greg looking at the remains of the sandwiches on the table. “Are you hungry?”

  “Actually, I am rather peckish. The food on the plane wasn’t exactly filling.”

  “I’ll make you a couple sandwiches if you like. Roast beef all right?” Kelson asked. “And would you like some coffee, or a latte, or tea?”

  “Tea would be fine. Black, with lemon if you have it. And roast beef sounds delicious.” He sat back, and I could see his shoulders relax.

  “Was it a rough trip?”

  “It wasn’t exactly a pleasurable jaunt. There was a lot of turbulence, and the airplane seats are getting tighter and tighter. I swear, the next chance I get to learn how to open a portal, I’m taking it. You know we could make a fortune if we set up portals between various cities, though I suppose the Society Magicka wouldn’t care for that.”

  I laughed. “I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t appreciate us price-gouging humans for easy travel, and neither would the airplane companies or airlines. I’m so glad you’re here. How long can you stay?”

  “I have to leave Sunday morning to catch my flight. I wish I could stay longer, but I have a business meeting back east.”

  “What do you do?” Sandy asked.

  “Well, by magical practice I’m a bard. I parlayed that into my business. I run a small recording studio in London, and I’m also the manager for several groups. I’m over here to make a deal for one of them to record their demo album.”

  I stared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding. My boyfriend is in an indie band. They were with a recording company, but the rep kept coming on to the bass player and wouldn’t leave him alone. The owner of the company didn’t want to hear it—he said that it wasn’t sexual harassment if it was a woman bothering a man.”

  Gregory arched his eyebrows. “That’s not good. What kind of music do they play?”

  “Celtic industrial goth, I suppose you’d say. They update a lot of the old folk songs and write their own as well. They’re most like Corvus Corvax or Faun.”

  “I’ll have to hear them play when I get a chance.” He paused as Kelson set his sandwiches and tea down in front of him. “That looks really good.”

  “We better get going,” Sandy said. “We haven’t been home in a couple days and we need to see what’s going on there. We’ll be back tomorrow evening for the ritual. Let us know if there’s anything you need, Maddy. And please be careful. Even though Jordan shut down your magic, I still think you’re in danger.”

  Gregory glanced at me, a questioning look in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.

  I stood, giving Sandy a hug as she passed by. “I promise I’ll be careful. If I need you, I’ll call. See you tomorrow—why don’t you come around three o’clock? That’s when Alaysia will be here.” I waved as she and Max headed out the back door, then turned to Gregory. “As I said, there’s a lot going on right now, and you walked into a hornets’ nest.”

  “Why don’t you tell me about it while I eat?”

  I stared at him for a moment, then smiled. “Wow. I actually have a big brother to talk to.” And so, I began to tell him everything that had gone on over the past week.

  WHEN I FINISHED, Gregory still hadn’t said anything. He had listened avidly, though, a couple of times spilling a drop of mustard on his shirt because he was so intent on what I was telling him.

  “I wish I could help somehow,” he said finally. “I’m a bard. I weave my magic through my music and song. But unlike you, I don’t have any control over elemental magic, nor am I a shadow witch. My parents—my adoptive parents—knew I was a bard from birth. Apparently, Zara told them. Unfortunately, bards are like the country cousins of the witch world. I don’t know if you knew that or not, but we don’t have as much primal power as you do. We’re mostly good for charming people out of their money, which is why most bards tend to be entertainers.”

  I actually hadn’t known that about bards. Tom had been a witch who happened to be an excellent singer, rather than a bard. Other than that, I really hadn’t had much to do with them.

  “I wasn’t holding out hope that you could do anything. This is been an extremely taxing situation and I just want it done and over with. Anyway, what do you think? Do you want to stay somewhere else? The last thing I want to do is see this curse come down on your head as well.”

  He laughed. “I could use a little excitement in my life. You have to understand something about me. I’ve led an extremely sheltered life. Oh, it’s been good. My adoptive parents are wonderful and I never wanted for anything growing up. I wasn’t spoiled, but I led a pretty privileged childhood. Even into my adulthood they have always supported my choices. They even supported me coming to meet you. So if you’re wondering if they know about this, if they know about you, the answer is yes. In fact, they want to meet you.”

  I blinked. I hadn’t expected that at all. “That’s nice of them. What are their names? Do you have any brothers or sisters? I mean, besides me.”


  I suddenly found myself hoping he didn’t, and then immediately felt bad. It wasn’t that I wanted him to be lonely, but I realized that I had missed having a family all these years. Until the very end, my mother—Zara—and I had always been at odds, and I hadn’t seen my father in decades. In fact, after what Zara told me before she died, I wasn’t sure I wanted to see him again. He wasn’t a bad man, but he hadn’t been supportive to my mother, and that’s why she had become so hostile to everybody over the years.

  “My mother’s name is Missy Oakstone, and Father’s name is Drake. They’re both earth witches. I do have one little brother. He was adopted too. His name is Rica and he works with air magic. His parents were killed in a plane crash on the way home from a conference in Germany. And by little, I do mean little. He was only two when he came to live with us, in 1954.”

  “What does he do? Or has he chosen a path in life yet?”

  “He decided to study aviation. He was in the plane crash, you see, and survived. Only a handful of passengers made it through, and while he doesn’t remember the actual crash, he has an almost morbid fascination with planes. He’s researching airplane safety.” Gregory shrugged. “I guess even if you don’t remember a trauma, it can still affect your life. He works for BAE Systems, in Farnborough.”

  “Well, I hope he’s happy. Now tell me more about yourself. You’ve been very circumspect in your emails. Now that you’re here, I want to know all about you.” I stood up, motioning for him to follow me. “Leave your suitcase here and come on in the parlor. Unless you’re tired and want to rest for a little first. I’m sorry, I totally forgot you’re just in off of an international flight.”

  He yawned and stretched. “Actually, I am fairly beat. If I could just take a hot bath, then we can talk. It would relax my muscles. Those narrow airplane seats don’t help my back.”

  “In that case, grab your suitcase and follow me. If you want to stay here, then we’ll get you settled right in. Just be careful, okay? The spirit that’s running around has no qualms about hurting people. I’ve got a protection spell from a Dirt Witch, but I don’t know how much it will protect us.”