She nodded.
“Okay, so that’s where the specialties come in. Basically, Keys reverse engineer spell work, so depending on their area of expertise and what kind of magic they’re dealing with, they’re further divided into either Static or Agile Keys.”
Her frown deepened. “What’s the difference?”
Too many to count. But for this conversation, he didn’t want to get into a dissertation, so he did his best to keep it simple. “Do you know how hexes work?”
Her frown disappeared under exasperation. “That’s like a Magic 101 question, Grayson.” When he raised his brow in a silent taunt, she heaved a sigh then said, as if reciting a text, “Hexes, also known as curses, are created from active and dormant casts.”
Following her subtle teasing cue, he feigned a professorial tone. “And casts are…?”
She gave him a bratty look but continued to play along. “Elemental energies powered by the caster’s intent.”
Enjoying himself, he grinned and pressed a quick kiss against her pouty lips. “A-plus work, Ms. Alcmene.” He pulled back, ignoring her rolling eyes and flushed cheeks. “When a mage casts a spell, that hex, or curse, will take on markers unique to the individual mage.”
“Like a fingerprint?”
“Not quite to that detail level. More along the lines of a power signature,” he said as she resettled her head back on his shoulder. “Say a water mage decides to cast a curse but doesn’t want it tracked back to them. The base thread of the rune powering the hex is influenced by their intent, which will in some way touch on the particular elemental magic of the water mage and hold a pattern unique to the way the magic is crafted. Then they’ll continue to shape that cast, or rune, by weaving in other magic—like Elemental or Mystic-tied powers—to bury the fact that the initial thread is linked to water. Keys not only have to identify if a hex exists—they also have to determine if it’s active or latent, and even further, they have to figure out how to unravel it without setting it off or destroying it, which means singling out the pattern and base element. And Keys don’t just defuse curses—they also do cleanup once a curse has been set off.”
“So Keys are the magical equivalent of the bomb squad.”
He’d never thought of it quite like that. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Which brings us back to the question: What’s the difference between Agile and Static Keys?”
He shifted to wrap an arm around her shoulders and bring her in close until the loose top knot of her hair brushed against his jaw. The scent of her shampoo, chased by a subtle hint of jasmine, filled his nostrils. “Agile Keys work with curses built from an active cast base. If we keep with the bomb squad metaphor, that means Agile Keys work with complex, ready-to-blow bombs set for specific targets.”
“Like cursing an ex with a case of horrific acne.”
“Exactly like that. Static Keys work with latent curses, which are a secondary level of spell work that not only uses dormant casts as their base structure but also require specific conditions to work successfully.”
She rested her hand on his abdomen, the heat of her touch no match for his T-shirt. “So instead of acne, that kind of hex would be like every time your ex opens his mouth to lie, the truth comes out, but only when hitting on other women?”
“Yep.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Those sound way more dangerous than active curses.”
“Either type can be dangerous, just in different ways.”
She pushed up until she was facing him. “And which type of Key are you?”
He searched her expression—for what, he wasn’t sure. “I’m both.”
She blinked. “You’re a Dual Key?” When he nodded, she let out a quiet “Wow” then resettled against him. “No wonder you’re in such high demand.”
“There’s no shortage of work—that’s for sure.”
“I’m guessing Miles’s situation was more the cleanup type than the disable type.”
“Yeah. Unfortunately, the rune’s initial intention was poorly constructed, so when the intended magic tried to ‘set things back to normal,’ it matched the base materials in their furniture and belongings to core materials like the wood framing of the condo or the metal pipes in the walls. I got their stuff back to its normal state, but they’ve got a good three or four hours of cleaning to do, and then quite a few holes to patch and paint, if they want to salvage their security deposit.”
“Even with you undoing the hex?”
He made a noncommittal noise as he continued to play with her hair.
She tilted her head back, a little smirk playing around her mouth. “Wait, is this your way of teaching Miles a lesson?”
“Maybe.” When she shook her head and went back to her previous position, he added, “Hey, I didn’t charge him my normal rate.” Or any rate, actually, since there was no way the kid would be able to afford it. “And hopefully, next time, they won’t use a knockoff hex.”
