Enchantment (24 page)

She still wanted to make love to Josh, but it was different now. She wanted to hold him in her arms and feel his heart beating next to hers. She wanted to comfort him the way he comforted her. She wanted to be as close as two people could be.
 

She rinsed the bloody cleaning rag under the bath tap and wrung it out over the drain.
 

Maybe it wasn’t too late … if she could convince Josh that she’d changed her mind without being under the influence of magic. But the second she got close to him, his shield would turn her into a selfish, sex-crazed whore that didn’t care how much she upset him as long as she got her way.

Channie gave the rag an angry twist then slammed it against the side of the bathtub. It made a loud, but unsatisfying, splat when it hit the porcelain. She turned around and slid to the floor, slumping against the side of the tub.
 

Any attempt at intimacy would unleash the monster inside her as long as she was under this evil curse. Unless …

Channie looked in the cabinet under the sink to be sure she had plenty of sanitary supplies then cast a moon-curse on herself.

Within minutes she was on the floor curled into a ball of agony. She considered using magic to ease the cramps, but was afraid that without the distraction of the pain, she might still be vulnerable to the seductive power of Josh’s shield.
 

“Channie?” Josh knocked on the bathroom door. “Are you okay?”

She crawled to her knees then pushed herself into a sitting position, her back against the side of the bathtub. “Yes. Come on in.”

The door creaked open. Josh held the edges of his robe together with one hand as he knelt on the floor in front of her and filled her with the warmth of his compassion. It felt so good to be close to him without Chastity’s craziness trying to take over. Enchantment soaked up his energy and returned it back to him full of love and passion.
 

Josh reached for her as if he were going to stroke her cheek, but changed his mind and put his hand on his knee. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“I fixed it so I won’t be tempted to … do bad things whenever I’m near you.”

“How?”

Channie’s face felt as if it were on fire. Her reluctance to discuss her monthly cycle with Josh was a little ridiculous after the way she’d begged him for sex. But she couldn’t help it.
 

“I used a moon-curse on myself.”
 

The color drained from his cheeks as he gently placed his hand on the side of Channie’s head. “What’s a moon-curse?”

Back home, women didn’t talk about their monthly cycles in front of men. It was different here. Channie was shocked the first time she’d overheard some boys at school complaining about how bitchy their girlfriends were when they were “on the rag.”
 

“It’s what I’ve been doing to the other girls when they get out of control.”

“You made yourself start your period?”
 

Channie ducked her chin and nodded her head. She’d never explained how the moon-curse worked and Josh had never asked her. But he wasn’t stupid. A single tear slipped out of the corner of her eye.

“Oh, baby, that can’t be good for you.”
 

His heart-felt concern and lack of embarrassment made the situation a little less humiliating.
 

She said, “It’s worth it. Now we can cuddle and fall asleep without worrying about me getting out of control.”

He slipped one arm around her back and the other under her knees then stood up effortlessly, as if she didn’t weigh anything at all, and carried her back into her room. Channie clung to him as he turned back the covers then let her arms slide off his shoulders as he laid her gently on the bed.

Josh pulled the blankets up under her chin and chewed the corner of his lower lip for a few seconds then perched on the edge of her bed.

Channie put a hand on Josh’s back, his muscles were knotted and hard across his shoulder blade. She tried to rub the kinks out, but without success. “Don’t you want to get under the covers?”

“Yeah. But you aren’t the only one with self-control issues.”

Josh got up and smoothed out the blankets. He clutched his robe securely around his body and laid down on top of the covers. He patted his chest and said, “Come here.”

Channie laid her head over his heart and closed her eyes.
 

Josh kissed her cheek … and screamed.

~***~

“Josh! What happened?”

“My mouth.” He touched his lips and grimaced.
 

“What’s wrong with your mouth?”

“It feels like I kissed the inside of an oven. Did I burn you?”

“No, not at all.”

Channie sat up and took Josh’s hand but he jerked it out of her grasp before she could lift it to her lips.
 

“I need to see if I have the same reaction.”

He said, “I hate hurting you,” but offered her his hand.
 

The instant her lips brushed his skin, a white-hot pain seared her mouth. She jerked her head back and screamed. It felt as if she’d pressed a glowing coal against her lips. When she recovered enough to speak, Channie said, “I must not be strong enough to make your shield a hundred percent effective.”

“Why don’t you recharge your batteries and then try again?”
 

“What if I make your shield too strong? It’s hard enough resisting you as it is.” Channie wished she could talk to Aunt Wisdom. She’d know what to do.

Josh took both her hands in his. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I say we try again.”
 

Aunt Wisdom wasn’t the only source of knowledge. Channie wasn’t supposed to touch Momma’s books, much less use them, until she was eighteen, but she was already more powerful than Momma and Daddy combined. It was stupid not to take advantage of such a valuable resource just because of some silly rule. “Alright, but I want to do a little research first.”
 

~***~

Channie said, “Come on,” then took Josh’s hand in hers and led him down the hall into Momma and Daddy’s room.
 

“What are we doing in here?”

“Momma keeps her spell books in that trunk under the
 
window.”

The trunk was covered with an array of Momma’s medicinal plants. Channie didn’t detect any magic, but it wasn’t like Momma to leave her things unprotected. Channie didn’t think Momma would ask the neighbors to keep an eye on the house, but just in case, she lit a candle instead of switching on the overhead light. “Wait here while I make sure it’s safe.”

Channie stroked the velvety leaf of a lemon balm plant with her index finger.

Nothing happened.
 

She put one, then two hands on the red clay pot. A tingle of magic warmed her palms. She needed those books, so she ignored the warning and lifted the plant.

Josh stepped around Channie and yanked a rosemary bush off the trunk before she had a chance to warn him. He groaned and said, “Whoa, this thing’s heavy! Where do you want me to put it?”
 

The pot of lemon balm grew warmer. Channie set it back on the trunk, but she couldn’t let go. Her hands were stuck. She strained and jerked but she might as well try to pull her hands off her own arms for all the good it did. She picked up the pot and moved away from the trunk.

Josh said, “What the hell?” And shook the rosemary bush, releasing a shower of needle-like leaves that drifted into his hair and stuck to the plush fabric of his robe. “What’s going on?”

“It’s a curse.” Channie kept her voice calm, even though her heart was pounding.

“I can’t let go.” Josh gave the plant another shake.
 

“It’ll be okay. Don’t panic.” She and Josh would just have to wait for the spell to wear off. Channie had almost convinced herself that it wasn’t a problem … when the plants began to glow. And hum. Not good.

“Channie?”

There was no time to explain. “Turn your head away from the plants. Protect your face.”

“But—”

“NOW!”

Josh did as he was told — a split-second before both plants exploded.

~***~

The first thing Channie noticed was the musty smell of potting soil, smoldering greenery and burnt onions. She wrinkled her nose and a sharp stinging pain shot across her forehead, just above her left eyebrow. She lifted her hand to her face and found the jagged edge of a pottery shard stuck to a flap of skin.
 

Momma’s spell wasn’t just a benign alarm meant to alert her if someone messed with her plants. It was a weapon.
 

Channie cast a pain-away spell on herself and pressed a finger on either side of the cut to hold the loose skin in place. She relaxed her squinted eyes, but kept them closed, took a deep breath to gather her courage and removed the shard. She didn’t feel any pain, but the tugging sensation made her queasy.

She pressed her lips together, breathing through her nose until the nausea faded, then opened her eyes. The room was dark. Was she blind? She could still see the fuzzy outline of Momma and Daddy’s bed, their dressing table, and the lacy pattern of the plants on top of Momma’s trunk.
 

She blinked her eyes and her vision improved. The silvery-blue light of the moon sharpened edges and gave things weight, form and dimension. Channie wasn’t blind. The candle had gone out, that was all. But if that shard had struck just a few inches lower she would have lost her eye. What if one of the boys had triggered the curse instead of her and Josh?
 

Josh!
If that little pot of lemon balm had knocked her on her butt, what had the rosemary bush done to him?

“Josh? Where are you? Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer.
 

Dizzy and sick with anxiety, Channie crawled across the floor to Momma’s nightstand and lit another candle.

Josh was slumped against the northeast wall, covered in blood.

The room tilted on its axis. Channie stifled a scream and stumbled across the floor. She fell to her knees in front of Josh and grabbed his hands. It took her a moment to calm down enough to realize that he was still breathing and several minutes after that to gather enough magic to scan his body for injuries.

He still had the concussion from smacking his head on the bathtub, but she couldn’t find anything else wrong with him. Where had all the blood come from?

She touched the scarlet blooms splattered across Josh’s throat then brought her fingertips to her nose and sniffed. All she smelled was her own blood, mixed with potting soil and aromatic herbs.
 

Channie wiped her hands on her jeans then touched Josh’s throat again. His skin was soft, dry and warm. Not wet. Not sticky. Not bloody … Stained.
 

She pushed the sleeves of her sweatshirt up past her elbows. It looked like she’d dunked both arms into a vat of cochineal dye.

Momma must have put one hell of a red-handed spell on her plants. Channie trailed her fingers over the solid, crimson stain from Josh’s collarbone to his navel where it disappeared under his belted robe. She was too worried about him to feel any lust, but she couldn’t help admiring the satiny feel of his skin stretched across the chiseled muscles of his chest and belly.
 

Josh groaned and opened his eyes. Channie jerked her hand away from his belly but not fast enough. His eyes widened as his lips parted into a soft “O.” His cheeks turned almost as red as the stains on his body. He scrambled to his feet, turned his back and tugged the loose robe up over his exposed shoulders and tightened the belt.

“Josh … I was only trying to see what caused the stains.
 
I wasn’t trying to … do anything inappropriate.”

Her fingers tingled with the tactile memory of his bare skin. Chastity’s magic poured into Josh’s shield, turning Channie’s words into a lie.
 

Josh shrugged and said, “Whatever.”

Righteous indignation filled Channie with rage. The power building inside Chastity’s power-well felt different — more dangerous and violent than before. Channie felt as if she were going to burst into flames. Or explode.
 

She jumped to her feet, whirled away from Josh, crossed her fisted hands over her chest then flung them straight out in front of her. Pulsing waves of magic shot out of her crimson palms and shattered every single pot, as well as the window behind them, in a single blast.
 

Channie’s arms fell to her sides. Stunned, her jaw dropped as she sank to the floor. What the hell just happened?
 

When the plants exploded, shrapnel from flying pottery shards must have broken the window.

It made sense, but for some reason, Channie didn’t believe her own logic. She stood up, gathered her magic again and aimed a narrow, focused beam at the rusted lock on the trunk with a single finger. And blew the entire lid off. So much for the theory of studying for decades to use magic on a molecular level. She didn’t even know what alloys the lock was made of, much less the atomic structure of each metal.

“Holy cow. Remind me never to piss you off.”
 

Josh meant it as a joke, but Channie didn’t laugh. Her curse wasn’t just an inconvenience anymore. It was a deadly weapon.

“That was freaking amazing!”

“Amazing? I’ll tell you what’s amazing. The fact that you’re still standing is amazing. If I hadn’t been able to redirect my power, I would have killed you!”

Channie pressed her middle fingers into her temples and said, “Go take a shower. You look like a chainsaw victim in a horror movie.”
Or the victim of a teen-aged mage that can’t control her own magic.

She felt a little guilty for misleading Josh. The whole purpose of the spell was to catch a thief red-handed. He could scrub until his skin was raw, but that wouldn’t get rid of the stains. Channie was sending Josh to the shower to keep him away from the trunk and safe from any more booby traps, not to get him clean. She needed to look inside the trunk, but she didn’t want Josh anywhere near it when she did.