Interrupted Magic by Karla Brandenburg (best reads of all time .TXT) 📕

He returned to the footpath, stopped at the next fork in the road. He took one step the wrong direction, then righted himself as he glanced at the chimney decorations. “Too easy,” he said, pointing out the triquetra.

“It does call attention to itself. Although not like a castle.”

He held his palm up. “Hand me your key. I’ll unlock the door for you.”

I reached into my bag and gave him the key. He turned the lock, then scooped me and Ash up to carry us over the threshold.

I laughed. “What was that about?”

“Getting you alone again. It seems we have a few more things to talk about.”

I shot a glance at Kyle’s house. The warm sun and gentle breeze would have taken me to the patio normally, but discretion called for our conversation to take place inside where no one would see us. I let Ash out of her carrier and she again crawled up Ian’s legs until she sat on his shoulders.

“My cat seems to be taken with you.”

He stroked her gently. “She’s letting you know she approves.”

“Or softening you up for an uncomfortable conversation.”

He took my hands. “You didn’t get married. That’s all that counts. You said the spell you want to reverse traveled to Kyle?”

I explained how the grimoire had closed itself before I’d had the chance to finish reading about the hex, and how I’d been called to mix the recipe for Daria.

“And now you want to send it back to Daria.”

“I owe Kyle that much.”

“I disagree, but I understand how you think so. If he hadn’t have been standing there, watching, the spell might have gone on to someone else,” he said.

“I was the only other one there. Do you think it would have jumped to me?”

“It might have.”

I straightened, wondering if my recent failed products were fallout of the magic I had redirected.

I led Ian to my workroom, where he inspected the oils in the cabinet in the corner and fingered the herbs drying from the ceiling. He picked up a jar steeping in the sunlit window and crouched to see the tray of soap curing on the shelf under the work table.

“No one bothers you here?” he asked. “You don’t have curious people looking in the windows?”

“No. Most people are afraid to get too close to the house. It’s that side-eye you get when there’s something different about you and they prefer not to know what it is.”

He eyed the grimoires on their shelves and then found the bottle of the potion I’d made for Daria, with the fenugreek to reverse the effects still in the package beside it.

“Are you sure the potion will work?” he asked.

“The reverse potion? No.” Aside from the dreamwalk, my magic hadn’t worked since I’d made the potion for Daria.

“Because you haven’t used fenugreek before?”

I hesitated, took a breath. “Because my results lately have been unreliable, at best. Will you help me? Kyle said he knows where Daria lives, and considering it worked in proximity the last time, it makes sense that if he drinks the antidote while she’s close by, the spell would return to her.”

Ian’s eyes shone. “This loyalty you feel for him. Is it something I should be concerned about?”

I stared into his eyes, so hypnotizing. “I’m responsible. Once I correct my mistake, he and I have agreed our relationship has reached its expiration date.”

Ian smiled and cradled my cheek in his hand. “I’m happy to hear that, but I can’t help you.”

I took a step back. “Why not?”

“Surely, you know the hazards of intentional spells.”

“That they come with unintended consequences? Trust me, I know, but there’s also the ‘do what you will, but do no harm’ thing. Reversing the spell doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“You interrupted someone else’s magic,” he went on. “I’m not comfortable stepping into an already murky situation, and if you’re suffering as a result of unintended consequences, you may need my intervention to help restore your talents.”

I frowned, disappointed, but unable to fault his logic.

He wrapped his arms around me. “Are you sure you haven’t cast a spell on me?”

I laughed. “I have not.” I’d asked myself that same question about Ian hourly since I’d met him. I didn’t have the luxury of forgetting about Kyle, the way he’d forgotten about me when he’d been enchanted by that woman. I almost wished I could so I didn’t feel so guilty about moving on. “Have you ever known someone who was bewitched?” I asked. “Because I have.”

“My question is rhetorical. I think you know that.”

I did. I met his gaze, studied the handsome face Cassandra didn’t appreciate.

He whispered into my hair. “Be the queen of my castle.”

I closed my eyes, the temptation strong. Could I leave the only real home I’d ever known?

Chapter 21

Lying on my side, I tucked my hands under my head, studying Ian’s face, his straight nose, the hint of stubble on his cheeks. How could Cassandra think his looks were merely average?  He turned his head, his dark eyes returning my scrutiny. He leaned across the pillows and kissed me.

“Don’t you have to go back to Connecticut at some point?” I asked, certain he would leave, like every other person in my life that I’d come to care about.

“I left my job at the lab. I knew the folly needed attention, whether I expected to live there or sell it. Coincidentally, I was offered a job as an environmental consultant in Pratt. The contract is for a year, while I decide how long I plan to stay.”

“Have you decided? How long have you been in Wisconsin?”

“My uncle passed away in June.” He stretched his arms over his head with a strained intake of air. “Two months?” He flipped to his side, meeting my gaze. “And no, I haven’t decided. The folly isn’t your typical fixer-upper, and although it’s quirky, it’s fun. Don’t you think?”

I grinned. “I do, although I expect it would be cold in the winter months.”

“I don’t think Uncle Edgar ever intended to live there