Like epic levels ofstupidity.
What the hell was I thinking, coming to a supernatural bar, in a different town, with no one to make sure I didn’t get chopped up into pieces or descaled? Ahead of me, Jeanine stopped short of a large ornate wooden door. One flick of her wrist and it flew open. I gulped. The doors opened to reveal a neat and sparse office, nothing like Eva’s cluttered mix of bottle and jars. Hers held a large wooden desk in the center, with two chairs, one behind and one in front of it. Then it had wall-to-ceiling shelves with black, closed-lidded boxes and nolabels.
Jeanine gestured for me to sit, and when I did she simply leaned on the edge of her desk, towering over me rather than taking herseat.
“Alright, pretty thing. What can I do you for?” Her eyes were gleaming as I gathered mythoughts.
“I’m in some trouble. Left an abusive boyfriend in another pack. I’m afraid they will look for me so I need a spell that … makes me invisible?” I didn’t actually know if that was possible. I very well could be wasting my time and my two hundreddollars.
She leaned forward, her lips turning up to sneer. “Anything’s possible with magic,dear.”
She held out her hand and gestured for me to take it, I reluctantly did. The moment we touched, I felt my dragon clench and freeze. Jeanine’s eyes flashed yellow and her mouth popped openslightly.
“You’ve already got a complex spell on you,” she stated in an airy voice. “I know this work.” Then her voice went deadly. “Eva,” she declared withmalice.
I ripped my hand back and held it to my chest. How the hell did she know Eva?Oh God. Leave it to me to pick the one place that had ties to the people I was trying to runfrom.
She waved a hand. “Relax, I’m not going to call her. I despise that woman and will gladly do any spell that will piss her off.” She grinned, showcasing a full set ofteeth.
“Okay,” I said in a nervous squeak. Something about the feeling she gave me when she touched me made me wonder if not all sorcerers were created alike. It made me wonder if maybe this sorcerer dabbled in the dark forces … if there was such athing.
She stood and began to rummage through some of the boxes. “Normally this type of complex spell would cost you, but I’m going to give you a discount because it will enrage mynemesis.”
Shit. I liked Eva. She’d gone out of her way to help me, and now I was unknowingly siding with her sworn enemy? Fail. Fail on so many levels. This rabbit hole was getting deeper and deeper, and now I was afraid I just had to go through with it because I couldn’t crawl out. I just needed to get to the otherside.
“So … how much?” Because she hadn’t stated a priceyet.
She waved her hand. “Five hundred isfine.”
My eyes bugged. Five hundred freaking dollars. That, plus the two hundred, was nearly all of my gas and food money to get me to the Colorado Mountains. But going to the mountains would be useless if I wasfound.
“Okay,” I muttered, and pulled out five hundred, leaving it on the edge of herdesk.
She scurried around the office, grabbing a dash of this and a pinch of that. At one point I saw her throw an unused match into the jar she held. Man, sorcery was weird. I couldn’t wait to be miles from here and on my way to a secluded mountain retreat to live out eternity without any of this bizarrecrap.
“Ready,” she crooned. “I just need a little drop of yourblood.”
My eyes widened and a small whimper escaped mythroat.
Jeanine rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s tragic. Come on…” She waved my hand forward infrustration.
Logan said never to give a sorcerer my blood. Eva had agreed that I should never give a sorcerer my blood—other than her of course. Yet here I was, giving a sorcerer myblood.
Listening and following rules were not my best charactertraits.
Without really thinking it through, I extended my finger, and the gleam in her eyes reminded me of Gollum as he caressed the one ring and called it “my precious.” I was a diehardLord of the Ringsfan who was strongly considering getting a tattoo in Elvish. So, seeing this clear sign of evil on her face should have deterred me, but I just turned my head to the side as she pricked my finger quickly and squeezed it into thejar.
She released my hand and I pulled it back swiftly, bringing my finger up to my mouth to suck it clean. Jeanine’s nostrils were flaring; her eyes had rolled back into herhead.
“Umm, are you oka—” I began, but her throat humming cut meoff.
She was in a full-on trance and I was officially freaked the hell out. The hairs on my arms were sticking up; the curtains on the windows had started moving to an invisiblewind.
Oh shit. What had I done? I was just figuring out whether I should cut my losses and run when the match inside of the cup burst into flame of its own accord, causing me to jump backward with a startledshriek.
Jeanine’s eyes focused again; she stopped her humming chant as the curtains went dead still. She approached me, the flame burning in the cup illuminating her eyes in a ghastly glow. “Blow it out and breathe in the smoke,” sheordered.
“What?” I asked,dumbfounded.
