Enchantment (19 page)

Channie resisted the urge to pull the covers over her head and changed the subject.

“Do you mind keeping an eye on the trips while I take a quick shower? They’ll wake up any minute and I don’t dare leave those little monsters unsupervised.”

Josh yawned again and sat up. “Sure, anything in particular I should do if they wake up?”

“No, just don’t let them kill each other or tear the house apart.”

When Channie opened the door after her shower, the aroma of pancakes led her to the kitchen. Josh was standing in the middle of the room — a crocheted pot holder and cast-iron skillet in one hand, a spatula in the other. The triplets were staring at a large pancake clinging to the ceiling.
 

Josh said, “I barely tossed it. There’s no way that thing should have gone that high.”

The smug look on Savvy’s face was all the explanation Channie needed. Most mages weren’t able to cast spells until they were at least eight-years-old. But then again, she’d never heard of a sixteen-year-old mage and an Empty binding themselves with heart-magic either. The power that flowed through Momma’s line was extraordinary. Channie couldn’t help but wonder how much of that was due to the dark magic practiced by her ancestors.
 

When the pancake fell from the ceiling, Josh caught it in the skillet then opened the cabinet under the sink.

Channie put a hand on his shoulder before he could throw it in the trash and said, “We don’t waste food. That one’s Savvy’s.” She pretended not to notice when the little devil slid it onto Zeal’s plate.
 

After breakfast, Channie sat the boys down and said, “Granny and Grandaddy left on a little vacation. They left me in charge so you better behave.” They took the news a lot better than she thought they would.
 

Savvy said, “How long they gonna be gone?”

“I don’t know. But Granny said she’d call us in a few days to check on us.”

Josh’s phone whooped like a tornado alert siren. He rolled his eyes and said, “It’s my mom,” then flipped it open. “Yeah.”
 

“Fine … I’ll be home before noon.”

Josh grimaced and held the phone away from his ear, even the triplets stopped fighting over the syrup to listen to Josh’s momma yell at him.

“I am sick and tired of you running off without so much as leaving a note to let me know where you are—”

“If you were so worried, why didn’t you call last night?”

“If you don’t get your ass home in the next twenty minutes, consider yourself grounded for the next week.”

“Fine!” Josh slammed his phone shut and said, “I gotta go.”

Channie glanced sideways at the trips and said, “Thanks for coming over this morning to fix breakfast for us.”

Josh quirked an eyebrow, but he went along with Channie’s plan to keep his overnight visit a secret. “Anytime. Call me if you need anything.”

Channie ducked her chin as she stacked the breakfast dishes on the table. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? Especially not your momma.”
 

Josh kissed the top of her head and said, “I’m not stupid.”

~***~

Channie spent most of the morning at the park with the trips. It was a warm day so she sat at the new picnic table in the pavilion — the city didn’t waste any time replacing the one Daddy had stolen — and did her homework while the boys played and fought with each other.
 

When her phone started playing “Gotta Be Somebody,” Channie’s heart flip-flopped into her throat.
 

“Hi, Josh.”

“Hey, Channie. I just called to let you know that I can’t call you today.”

“Why?” Her heart stopped mid-flip and slid to the floor.

“Mom’s punishing me and taking my phone after this call.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Me too, I just didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you, but she’s standing here listening to every word I say and timing this call. For every minute we talk, she’s grounding me an extra day … so I guess I’ll see you at school.”

Ten minutes after they hung up, Josh started texting Channie — from Elijah’s phone.
 

She fed the trips peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and supper both, but no one complained. She didn’t give them baths or try to put them to bed on time, but just let them play until they fell asleep on the floor, then carried them to bed.
 

Channie’s phone woke her up a little after midnight. It was just an ordinary ring tone so Channie assumed it was either Momma or Daddy calling from a pay phone to check on her and the boys.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Channie, you awake?”

“Josh? Did your momma give you your phone back?”

“No, I’m still using Elijah’s.”

“That’s awful nice of him.”

“Not really. I’m paying the little twerp five bucks to use his phone and another five to not tell on me.”

Channie had no idea how long they talked before she fell asleep, but the last time she checked her alarm clock, it was after two in the morning.
 

Her phone was open and stuck to her cheek when Momma shook her awake and said, “Rise and shine sleepy-head, you’re gonna be late for school.”

Channie yawned and stretched then forced her eyes open. “When did you get back?”
 

“About an hour ago.” Momma was grinning so wide Channie could see her back teeth.

“Did you and Daddy win any money?”

“You would not believe how much money we won.”

Channie’s mouth was instantly dry. “Did you get enough to pay off Daddy’s debts.”

“Not quite. We’re going to go again next weekend.”

~***~

Channie was about half-way to school when her phone played Josh’s ring-tone.
 

“Hey, you got your phone back.”

“Where are you?” Josh’s voice was slightly higher pitched than normal, tense.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s my shield. The girls are going nuts.”

How could she have forgotten about the aphrodisiacal effect of Josh’s shield? There were a lot more girls at school than there had been at the races. At least she hadn’t super-charged it with her own lust recently.

“Are you safe?”

“For now. I’m in the boy’s bathroom next to the gym.”

“Stay put until I get there.”

Channie didn’t even bother to lock her bike when she got to school. She raced to the gym and cast a moon-curse at the crowd of girls gathered outside the boy’s bathroom. They all clutched their bellies and scampered into the girl’s bathroom. Channie knocked on the door and said, “Josh? Are you in there?”

The door creaked open and Josh peeked his head out. “Are they gone?”

“Yeah, but we better get you somewhere safe and figure out a way to fix this.”

Josh looked both ways like he was getting ready to cross a busy street, then slipped his arm around Channie’s waist and made a mad dash for the south door. They made it outside without incident, but there were too many girls hanging around in the court yard and they honed in on Josh like heat-seeking missiles. Channie cast curse after curse, but the girls kept coming.
 

“Josh, I’m running out of power. Can you give me a little boost?”

He seemed to know exactly what she was hinting at and slid his hand from Channie’s waist to her back-side and gave it a little squeeze.

Chastity’s power-well went from nearly empty to overflowing in an instant. Channie took care of all the girls and still had power left over. If she didn’t dump the excess soon, she was going to light Josh’s shield up with so much energy, she wouldn’t be able to resist him either.
 

The marching band was still practicing on the football field. It was a large group and far enough away that no one in their right mind would believe she’d tasered the entire bunch. But when she released Chastity’s excess energy, every single musician hit a sour note. One of the color guard tripped and fell against the drummer standing next to her. The entire front row, and half of the second, stumbled into each other like falling dominoes.

Josh snickered and said, “Sweet! Did you do that?”

“Actually, I blame you for that one.”

“Me?”
 

“I said a little boost. Grabbing my butt was not a good idea.”

He said, “Sorry,” but the grin on his face proved he wasn’t the least bit remorseful. “You want to go to my house? My mom’s at work.”

“I thought you were grounded.”

“I am, but you’re not.”

“Your momma’s not going to be happy to see me.”

“She doesn’t even get off work till five.”

Channie knew better than to go to a boy’s house without a chaperone, but she trusted Josh. Besides, they had to do something about that shield.
 

~***~

Josh opened the door and said, “Mom and Dad sold our house after the divorce so now we have to live in this crappy little townhouse. But Dad and Liz have a huge place in Boulder.” There was a slight trace of bitterness in his voice. “They even have an indoor pool and hot tub. I’ll take you there sometime.”

Channie didn’t know what he was talking about. The place wasn’t any smaller than the house she was living in and a heck of a lot bigger than the cabin back home. Everything was new and clean. “All your furniture matches.”

Josh looked around as if he’d never seen the place, then glanced sideways at Channie and blushed.
 

If he was feeling sorry for her, Channie was going to turn around right now and go home. She scanned his energy field but all she found was embarrassment and humility. No pity. Good.

She followed Josh into the kitchen. The first thing that caught her attention was the fancy refrigerator. It had an ice and water dispenser in the door. Josh followed her gaze and said, “Are you hungry?”

“No, but I’m a little thirsty.”
 

He dug around inside the refrigerator then handed her a diet Pepsi and shut the door.

The drink Josh had gotten for himself was not sugar-free. She narrowed her eyes and said, “You think I’m getting fat or something?”

“No. Of course not, but most girls I know won’t drink any kind of soda unless it’s diet.”

Channie handed it back to him and said, “I’m not like most girls.”

Josh laughed and said, “Sorry, you can say that again. What would you like to drink?”

“You got Dr. Pepper?”

“Hell no, that stuff’s nasty. It tastes like carbonated prune juice. We’ve got regular Pepsi, root beer, ginger ale, Sprite and Mountain Dew.”

“I’ll take a ginger ale, please.”

 
Josh twisted the top off the glass bottle and stuck a straw in it. “Come on, I’ll give you the tour.”

They wound up in the basement in a dark room with a huge flatscreen television on the wall and sound speakers in every corner. Josh called it an entertainment room and made a point of demonstrating the fact that with the door shut, it was completely soundproof.

Josh flopped into the middle of the sofa and draped his arms over the back. He obviously wanted Channie to sit next to him, but he was practically lying down. She chose a black leather chair across from him and sank four inches into the cushioned seat.

Josh pushed his lower lip out a bit then sat up straight and said, “So, do you have any idea how we can keep the girls at school from attacking me?”

~***~

There was no way Channie could protect Josh by casting a moon-curse on every girl at school that wanted to get her hands on him. Even if she had the energy, they only had one class together. She couldn’t protect him if she wasn’t there.
 

She attached an itching spell to Josh’s shield and used her own lust to create a trigger. Neither of them wanted an accidental bump in the halls or a friendly touch to curse an innocent bystander.

Josh rubbed his arms and said, “I don’t feel any different. You sure this will work?”

“If any girl lays hands on you with less than pure intent, she’ll feel as if a thousand fleas have infested her sorry hide.”
 

“Ha! Itches for bitches. I like it. Call it IFB for short.”
 

Channie rolled her eyes and said, “Are you ready to go back to school?”

Josh pulled his lower lip through his teeth and said, “I’ve got a better idea.” His level of lust increased by two hundred percent.
 

Channie clamped down on Chastity’s energy and said, “That IFB spell affects me too.”
 

Josh made his sad puppy face. “Even through cuddle clothes?”
 

“Afraid so.” Channie had made damn sure that clothing would not interfere with the curse. She didn’t want anyone touching Josh but her, no matter how many layers of clothes were between them. “We’ll have to wait for the spell to fade. It should only last for a few hours. Long enough to protect you until we get home from school.”

“You want to go get something to eat? My mom carpools on Mondays. We can drive the Toyota.”

“Aren’t you supposed to babysit when Elijah gets home from school?”

“Yeah, but we’ll be back way before then.”

 
Josh tried to talk Channie into eating at a fancy restaurant, but she insisted on McDonald’s. “Abby told me that if I ever got the chance, I had to try their fried potatoes. Please? I gotta try ‘em, at least once.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather eat at The Waterloo Ice House or Red Robin’s? They have french fries there too.”

“I’m not dressed up enough for a fancy restaurant.”
 

Josh laughed and shook his head. “Alright, McDonald’s it is. But the one on West Dillon Road is going to be too crowded. We’ll go to the food court at the mall.”

Channie had never been to a mall before. It was even better than Walmart. And a lot less crowded. But the few teenaged girls that were there definitely noticed Josh. It was hard to keep Chastity from cursing the girls, but she wanted to see how well the IFB spell worked on a small crowd.
 

The first girl that touched Josh thought she was having an allergic reaction and used an epi-pen on herself. Her friends were loyal and managed to conquer their lust long enough to whisk her away and that was the end of that.