covencraft 02.5 - carnival moon (2 page)

Paris exhaled sharply through his nose. “Have you been doing your magic exercises?”

“Yes.” She sat up a bit straighter, getting ready to defend her choice in spell if necessary.

“Even the meditation and control ones?”

Jade rolled her eyes a bit. “Yes,” she said, able to hear a note of sulking in her tone.

“Let’s do those first and if I can see you’ve been practicing, we’ll move onto illusion magic.”

***

By Thursday, Jade had nearly forgotten she was supposed to be going to a werewolf shindig. She was too wrapped up in her illusion spell failing every time she tried it. Paris had insisted they start with something small and relatively harmless so they worked on trying to change Jade’s hair color.

It turned out that the biggest part of the illusion spell was subtlety, a word Jade technically knew the definition of but wasn’t exactly cozy with. It also turned out that an illusion spell gone wrong tended to make what you were trying to ‘fake’ turn out real.

Hannah, their oldest and wisest Coven member, said the pink tiger-like streaks in Jade’s brunette hair were going to have to grow out. Given the amount of magic Jade had put in them, even if she tried to bottle-dye it back to normal, the magic would cut through and simply turn pink again. Hannah seemed to find the entire thing rather amusing. Instead of trying to hide them or ignore them, Jade decided to wear them proudly, pulling her hair back into a ponytail that well displayed the bright-fuchsia stripes across the sides and crown of her head. Most of the coven, hesitant around her up until now, were a bit more relaxed. Now they had some proof that although more powerful than most of them, Jade still had to learn magic like everyone else - full of awkward and colorful mistakes.

It wasn’t until Jade went to work on Thursday and found a box sitting on her desk at Counter-Magic that she even remembered she had someplace to be that evening. The box was covered in brown packing paper, about three feet wide by two feet deep and maybe half a foot tall.

“What’s this?” she asked, nudging the box with a finger as she took off her coat and put her purse in her filing cabinet.

Josef, her boss at Counter-Magic, came by at her voice. “Paris dropped that off for you. He said you’d know what it was for?”

Jade looked down at the nondescript white box which had her name detailed across the address section, along with the general address of the Covenstead. She suddenly clued in, remembering the weres’ promise of an outfit and picked the box up, shaking it bit. Something rattled on the inside, and she wondered if the weres had sent shoes as well as clothing.

Finding a pair of scissors, Jade sliced along the paper-tape sealed edges and then shook the box a bit to get the lid off. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Despite her words to Paris before, maybe they really would send her a pelt. Or maybe it would be like a Cinderella dress - all poofy and flouncy. Maybe there would be rhinestones and glitter. Or dark velvet. It was a winter carnival after all.

There was a letter tucked inside and Jade pushed it aside in her hurry to take a look at the goods.

She frowned at the dark cotton that stared up at her. Jade carefully lifted out the fabric and frowned harder. It seemed to be a simple pair of black slacks. She poked back into the box and pulled out a soft cotton long-sleeved shirt, also in black.

This was werewolf carnival wear?

There were also some containers in the box, and she examined each one. Unscented soap, unscented deodorant, unscented lotion, unscented shampoo - okay, there was a definite trend here. Jade picked up the envelope she’d originally bypassed and flicked it open with her fingers, pulling out the heavy stationary and reading the typed script.

Please take care to use only the unscented products and to wear the clothing provided. You may wear light makeup if you prefer. Your shoes are your own choice. You will be provided your carnival mask upon your arrival at 7 sharp.  - L

The ‘L’ was hand signed in a cursive manner, the pen stroke heavy on the page. Jade tossed it all back in the box and resolved to go see Paris about it. Was this some kind of weird werewolf joke? Carnival mask? What exactly had she agreed to here?

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Josef as he tossed down a sludge covered… something on her desk. It made a loud ‘thwack,’ oozing as it landed.

“No,” Jade said quickly. “I’m not going back in the sewer.”

“Sorry, Jade. We’ve got another blockage, probably magic in origin, and since you did so well with the last one…” he trailed off, amusement in his eyes.

She glared up at him. Jade was still the rookie of Counter-Magic. Despite being more powerful than nearly all witches in the coven, she was woefully under-schooled and had to learn magic from the bottom up. A fact that Josef was gleefully taking advantage of.

“I’ve got to go to a ball tonight!” she said, waving the envelope in his face. “An honest to God ball.”

“I’ve heard all about your invite from the weres. Still doesn’t get you out of sewer duty.”

She groaned, slouching back in her chair, her face screwed up in disgust. “Tell me I don’t need the hip-waders this time.”

“Good news,” Josef said and Jade perked up a bit. “We’ve got you a full decontamination suit this time.”

“Awesome,” she deadpanned. It looked like her carnival attire was going to have to wait.

***

Unlike last time Jade was down in the sewers when she’d found Bruce, her familiar, this time the trouble in the pipes turned out to be a mixture of Patti Lachanges spell to help ease her teenaged daughter’s broken heart and Solomon Drake’s spell to keep his mold allergies from flaring up. They were both getting a stern ‘talking to’ from Josef on the proper way to dispose of their spell materials when finished, which did not include flushing them down the toilet or sink. The resulting confluent of their work had led to some kind of spongy, fermenting mixture that Jade had to break up. It took four counter-hexes and a swift kick from her boot before the blockage broke, leaving the pipes running free again.

What it did not do was leave her very much time to get ready for the werewolf carnival. Jade stripped off her decontamination suit at Counter-Magic and grabbed the box the weres delivered, hoping she still had time to talk to Paris about it. She found a post-it note on her monitor in Paris’ pristine writing (tiny little all caps) saying he’d pick her up at her place at six. It was four-thirty now which gave Jade just enough time to race to the bus stop to take the four-forty bus home, grab a shower and get dressed.

In the shower, scrubbing down with the unscented shower gel the weres had provided, Jade supposed it made a sort of sense (no pun intended) that they would prefer unscented material. If they were anything like their wolf animal kin, they probably had sensitive sniffers. Jade wondered if the barrage of perfumes and chemicals on a daily basis was hard on them. She was careful to use all the products they sent, pulling her hair back in its customary ponytail and forgoing hairspray when she noticed none was in the box. She may not know much about werewolves, but she knew how to follow instructions and it was no skin off her nose in this case to do so.

At the bottom of the box she found a simple sports bra and a pair of straightforward underwear - the kind you would wear at the end of the week, when all your pretty underthings were in the laundry. Comfortable, but hardly noteworthy. The black slacks and top they sent were soft. She checked for a label and found none. If Jade had to guess, she would say they were some kind of cotton-silk blend. Maybe rayon? They weren’t linen as they were unwrinkled even after being in the box all day. Everything seemed to fit okay - not great, but not bad. For an outfit picked out by people she hadn’t met and to Jade’s knowledge hadn’t ever seen her, it was all she could have hoped for.

Bruce, her lizard familiar, gave her the once over with his snout when she came downstairs, sniffing up one side of her, across the backs of her knees, and down the other leg. He then pushed up against her leg firmly and ‘whuffed’ in her pant leg - a sharp, hot exhale of breath coming through the fabric and reaching her skin.

“Is that approval or disdain?” Jade asked, reaching down and petting his supple, scaly head. He flicked his long, forked tongue at her, making his customary ‘pffft’ sound and Jade laughed. “I’ll take that as approval.”

A knock at the door had her checking her watch - five-forty-five. Paris was early, as usual. Jade opened the door with a question.

“What about a coat? My note didn’t say anything about a coat. Is that yours?” she pointed to his wool coat.

Paris was dressed similarly to her in black slacks and Jade could just make out a hint of a black top peeking out from underneath his coat. “Your own coat should be fine. You used all the products the weres sent along?”

“Yep.” She slid her arms into her own down jacket. The days were cold now and the nights cooler, the sun setting early and taking its limited warmth with it. “Although, I spent most of the day down in the sewer so here’s hoping I don’t smell like that.”

“I hear you did quite well down there,” Paris replied, leading Jade to his car. He made a motion like he was going to get the car door for her, but she beat him to it, sliding into the passenger seat easily.

“I will be so glad when we get someone newer than me and I’m no longer on Rookie Duty,” Jade said wondering how many more times she’d be sent down into the sewer. Yuck.

Paris laughed softly as he got in and started driving. “They do like to put the rookies through their paces. But it’s good work. I hear you’re learning quickly and doing well.”

Jade preened a bit under the praise, feeling proud of herself. She liked learning, and she thought she was doing really well, too. But it was still nice to hear Paris say it.

Earlier in the week, Paris had let Jade know the Wolf Moon ball would be held at the Pack Estate. Technically, their host would be the Alpha, a woman named Lucia, but Jade and Paris would be considered guests of the entire pack, around thirty wolves and fifteen human members. The humans were part of the pack through birth, marriage or close ties. Jade was still a little fuzzy on what that meant. Paris had indicated that sometimes, humans who had done a service for the pack or perhaps were close friends with someone in the pack, could be considered pack by association. Paris and Jade would be the only non-pack members in attendance. To Paris’ knowledge, no one from any of the neighboring covens had attended a wolf ball in many years, not since Paris’ mother attended one when Paris was very young.

Paris had given Jade a crash course on werewolf etiquette. Jade was to monitor her stance and posture, focusing on keeping aggression out of her body language. Jade wasn’t quite sure what that entailed other than she couldn’t go in there with her chest puffed out and her hands on her hips. Paris assured her that simply her intent at staying calm and focused would keep the aggression out of her scent and aura.  The weres were very sensitive to magic, and Jade was not to use any at all while at the estate, unless explicitly asked by the Alpha - apparently it was sometimes customary for a witch to perform some magic for the wolves. Jade got the feeling it was like going to a party and showing off that you were double jointed in your thumb, or that you could do a handstand and walk on your hands - fun, but only if you were invited to do so, otherwise you were just being an asshole and showing off.

The strangest thing, the thing she was most worried about, was The Scenting. Every time Paris mentioned it, Jade could hear the capitals. The Scenting. When Jade and Paris first arrived, they would be invited in to see the Alpha and perhaps another higher ranking pack member; Jade and Paris would then be scented - the pack members taking in and cataloguing their scent as well as marking them as guests of the pack for the evening.

“But no one’s going to bad-touch me right?” Jade asked, unable to stop herself as they pulled up to the large estate house. It was in an affluent neighborhood where all the houses were set back from the street, each having their own long personal driveway. They’d had to be buzzed through a security gate and Jade had felt her nerves rising as they rolled slowly up the graveled way, Paris bringing the car to a stop in front of a large set of double doors.

Paris gave no indication that he’d already answered the same question from Jade a few times, answering it as calmly and clearly as he had the other times she’d asked. “No. It will at most involve your neck, perhaps your shoulders and a little bit under your ear. The weres are quite aware that the rest of society isn’t as used to or comfortable with casual touching as they are. However, by submitting to The Scenting you’re indicating your willingness to accept their culture and customs.”

Jade nodded a bit, fiddling in her purse for her lip-gloss and putting a little on. She’d taken care to keep her makeup to a minimum - only foundation, a little mascara and some gloss. No makeup had not been an option. She didn’t even go for groceries without her war paint; she certainly wasn’t going to meet werewolves without it.

She ran her hands over her pants, smoothing away imaginary wrinkles. As soon as Paris reached for his door handle, Jade reached for hers, getting out of the car at the same time as him. Paris knocked on the front door of the estate with confidence, and Jade was about to ask how many times he’d been there when the door opened.

It revealed a young man, perhaps in his early or mid-twenties. His hair was in that messy-on-purpose spike-y style that younger men seemed to be wearing these days. It looked good on him though. He had large brown eyes and Jade would have killed him for his eyelashes if she thought she could get away with it. It wasn’t fair when men got eyelashes like that. His face broke out in a smile when he saw them.

“It’s good to see you, Paris,” he said, tipping his head once in greeting before turning to Jade. “You must be Jade. I could feel your magic coming up the driveway.”

“Oh, sorry,” Jade blurted out. “I’m not using any, I swear.”

His smile got a little wider. “Nah, I meant I could feel the sense of ‘you.’ It’s been pretty cool since the Coven’s magic has been reset. Way better than before. I hear we have you to thank for it.”