This Wicked Magic

“Must be from the herbs I use for spellcraft. I don’t pay much attention.”

“It must be difficult for you, if you’re such a powerful witch, to have that power depleted by the demons.”

“It is, but they cannot deplete the greatest of my powers.”

“Which is?”

“Well, it’s been said a witch’s greatest power is not theirs to wield. Rather, it exists in the minds of others.”

“Oh, yes. What someone believes you are capable of may be the power that holds them back, whether or not you possess such power. It is the power of the mind.”

“Belief,” Certainly chimed.

“I agree with that.” She smiled freely, tipping her glass to his in a bright ting.

Paused in the center of the kitchen looking about—for more cleaning work, he presumed—Vika set her glass aside as he reached her. He moved in for a kiss. It was quick and a little off her mouth. A hint of violet liqueur hushed out at her startled gasp. He’d screwed it up, and he pulled back with a wince.

Mouth open, she gave him a stunned once-over. “What was that?”

“It was an awful, botched attempt. A horrible kiss, as far as kisses go. Sorry.”

“Never apologize for a kiss.” She clutched the front of his shirt, pulling him down to her mouth, and kissed him.

More intrigued than startled—although he was still kicking himself for such awkward first contact—Certainly stepped in closer and slipped an arm around behind her slender back. All he’d needed was a test kiss and an acceptance from her. He relaxed now, and Vika’s mouth melded against his. Of course, he should expect nothing less than perfect from her. Perfect looks, perfect life, perfect kiss. And suddenly he wanted to mar that perfection, to imprint it with his own rough and messy darkness.

Hand gliding up against the back of her head, his fingers diving into the soft garnet braid, he deepened the violet and chartreuse kiss, clutching her tighter and teasing her to answer his force if she dared. She didn’t balk. The witch wrapped her sorcery about his intentions and pulled tight, taming his sudden wildness until he moaned into her mouth. Her hair, silken and slick under his exploring fingers, pulled free from the updo and tumbled over his face and neck. It spilled endless streams over him, ensnaring, capturing, tying him up in her delicious net.

The body melded against his was long and lithe, soft and hard, hungry and undulating, pressing against him, daring him, meeting his challenge. He grew hard. He pulled her hips forward, crushing her against his aching want. It had been too long. Until he’d gone to Daemonia, he’d not had a relationship with a woman that lasted longer than a night. He’d never felt the desire to make a lasting connection.

Everything had changed. He wanted—no needed—someone. All his life he’d fended on his own. Family was close but distant. He didn’t even know where his sister, Merrily, was right now, yet he sensed she was safe. He didn’t know the concept of family in any other terms, but he felt something was missing. Life was precious. He wanted to experience romance and love, and to know the feeling someone cared about him and waited for his return, no matter where he should wander.

Vika pulled away and stumbled backward, catching her palms on the counter behind her. Her eyes wide and vibrant, she brushed away strands of hair from her cheek. “Wow.”

“No kidding.” He chuckled. “Mistress of the Unexpected Kiss, you are filled with surprises.”

“You’re pretty spectacular in your own right.” She touched her lips, reddened from their kiss. “I, uh … Wow.”

“I could feel the nail hum in that kiss.”

“I could feel your power, dark yet restrained.”

They exchanged laughter and goofy grins. It was a moment of utter wowness, and all they could do was share some shy glances.

“I’ve never been kissed like that,” Certainly offered. “So brazenly.”

“You haven’t been around much, have you?”

“Much as I’d like to lay claim to a certain macho prowess, I’ve been busy studying magic over the decades.”

“Decades? Seriously? You’re a handsome, virile man, Certainly Jones. Have you been so busy you haven’t taken the time to kiss a woman?”

“Pretty damn close. I get it when I need it.” That had been a vulgar confession. She didn’t seem to mind. “I just …” He touched her lower lip, wanting to remember the shape of it, to imprint its seductive power upon his flesh. “I think you just touched parts of me that haven’t seen light in a long time.”

“Really?” She glanced above their heads. “Even with all this prismatic noise going on?”

“Vika, there are places inside me that will never see the light.”

“That’s awful to say.” A stroke of her fingers along his jaw, and he closed his eyes to focus on the exploring touch, to memorize it. “We’ll get the demons out.”

“You’ve suddenly become my cheerleader for demon expulsion.”

She gestured with a shrug of her shoulders. “Guess I figured out you might be worth the trouble.” She kissed him again and, spreading her fingers through his, entwined both her hands within his near their thighs. “Between fighting for my life with the menace demon earlier and walking beneath this amazing constellation of light, my world view has altered in a way not even magic could manage. I’ve always liked things a certain way, neat and tidy. You disperse disorder, chaos and menace with every footstep you make.”

“It’s not something I can control.”

“I know, you explained that. But, well …” She smiled a blushing smile, and her thick lashes fluttered coyly, like butterfly fringe. “I think I understand now why my sister is always falling for the bad boys.”

CJ’s shoulders straightened proudly. “Are you saying I’m a bad boy? I’m just me. Certainly Jones. Boring ole archivist and occasional adventurer to places no human or paranormal breed should ever venture. Fearful of the dark, and keeper of prismatic light.”

“And the best kiss I’ve had.”

He tilted down his head as if to say “really?”.

“Ever. And that’s saying a lot, trust me.”

“Guess I’m not so rusty as I think.” She strolled past him toward the door, and Certainly’s heartbeat stuttered. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes.” She twisted an end of red hair about her finger. “I feel compelled to leave the night where it stands, kind of wondrous and new. To save some anticipation.”

Really? That’s what women wanted? Anticipation?

“I want to spend some time browsing through my grimoires tonight, see if I can find something to expel demons.” She paused at the door, hand falling onto the knob. “You didn’t expect me to stay?”

“Oh, no. I mean, not unless you wanted to.” At her raised brow, he rushed out another forced refusal. “No. That would be forward. I’m not that kind of guy.” He winced. “I’ve never been that kind of guy.”

He wanted to change that, though, to somehow fit into Vika’s idea of anticipation.

She smiled, and her emerald eyes beamed brighter than the crystals overhead. “See you tomorrow, Certainly. If you happen to feel a stray soul brush up against you, grab it, will you?”

“How do I contain it?”

“With a mirror. You know catoptromancy?”

“Of course.” The practice involved catching souls with a mirror. He should be able to manage that, even with his lesser powers. “Good night, Vika, Purveyor of Anticipation.”

She tilted her head and blew him a kiss.

And he felt it land in the vicinity of his core, there in his center where the demons roiled, anticipating the night. The darkness. Yet something bright and bold had touched their incorporeal carcasses.

And they didn’t like it one bit.

Vika spun beneath the chandelier in her living room, only to crash into her sister. Libby held her back, her eyes wide and a silly smirk tickling her lips. “What is up with you, sister mine?”

“Don’t ask,” Vika rushed out. “You’ll just laugh.”

“I have never seen you dancing in the middle of the room as if you were at a Samhain festival frolicking naked through the coltsfoot. And no music. You are in a good mood. What’s up? Oh, tonight’s Friday. Are you and No-Name Titan headed out to the clubs?”

She and her best friend, Becky Titan, held Fridays as sacred. “You can call her Becky. Just because her dad didn’t give her a name doesn’t mean we can’t make one up. We use Becky most often. And she’s in the States with her father, visiting friends.”

“Then what is it that’s brought the color to your pale, perfect cheeks? The last we spoke you were going to find the soul— Ohmygosh. The derelict?”

“He’s not a derelict, so stop calling him that. His name is Certainly Jones, and he’s the archivist for the Council.”

“A librarian?”

“Not exactly. He catalogs more than books. We went looking for the soul.”

“And found it! No wonder you’re so happy.”

“We didn’t find it, and in fact, one of his demons made a horrible showing and crashed the hearse.”

Libby’s eyes widened.

“Just a broken headlight, which I’ve already had fixed. Sorry, had to dig into the household account, but I promise to concoct a few spells for you to bring along and sell at the next bazaar to make up for the expense. I plan to return to the area tomorrow and spread out the canvass periphery. How can one soul hide? It’s got to want to go somewhere, don’t you think? Oh, no, I wonder if it attached itself to someone else? I may never find it.”

“You’ll find it. You need to be vigilant, and I happen to know you do vigilance well. But that’s still not the reason for the happy dance. You know I will break you down, Vika. It would be wiser to speak now than have me go at you until you talk.”

True. Libby never let anything go if it was a secret or mystery. She had once badgered Vika about an All Hallows’ Eve present for six days. Vika was expert at holding out information. It gave her satisfaction to do so.

“I can’t say.”

“I won’t laugh. Promise. I’ll tell you my news if you tell me yours.”

“You have news?”

Libby pulled a red glass witch ball out of her tote bag. “Got it at the bazaar. Isn’t it gorgeous?”

Vika studied the handblown glass ball. Long glass strands dashed from side to side within the globe. “This is amazing.”

“The strands are supposed to trap souls. I thought to hang it in the garden above the white heliotrope.”

“Perfect. Though, I hope it won’t interfere with the souls that stick to me.”

“Oh, I didn’t consider that. I was thinking to catch a few butterfly souls to use in my spells. I’m so sorry. We can’t put this up.”

“No, do. I’ll let you know if it causes a problem.”

“If you’re sure, then I will. Now tell.” She went dead serious. “Or I’ll have the vines in the garden rise up and meet you next time you go out back.”

“I’d blast them with nightshade. Libby, you know you can’t go up against me when it comes to spellcraft.”

Her sister’s shoulders wilted.

Vika started up the stairs, gliding her fingers along the railing and looking down over the chandelier. It dazzled, but it was as if a speck in the universe compared with CJ’s amazing constellation. She wanted to return to his loft and lie on the floor and lose herself in the terrible beauty of it all.

“I kissed him,” she called down, and then dashed into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

“What?” Libby’s footsteps trampled up the stairs in record time. She pounded on Vika’s door. “The derelict?”

“He’s not— Libby!”

“You kissed him.” On the other side of the door, her sister turned and leaned against it. “Was it good?”

“We both said wow after we kissed,” Vika called through the door.

“Oh, wow. But he’s the complete opposite of everything you find attractive. And he’s so … messy. How did you two manage to get your lips in the vicinity of one another to make a kiss happen?”

“I’m taking a shower now,” Vika called out, and smiled all the way to the bathroom.

Chapter 6

Paging through a few grimoires in search of a spell to help CJ, Vika was worried she wouldn’t find anything for casting out demons. Her grandmother’s magic had been focused on earth spells, and it was the rare spell that dabbled with the dark. Though certainly she would associate demons with the earth and the lower realms.

“What do you think?”

Libby spun into the room, purple crocheted skirt skimming the air. The concoction was tightly knit and hugged her sister’s ample curves in all the right places. It stopped scandalously high upon her thigh with a wave of crocheted ruffles as Libby did a guitar-strumming rock star move.

“Uh.” Vika pushed aside the spellbook and vacillated on the truth or the embroidered truth. “I love the color. It’s perfect with your hair.”

Libby pouted. “What’s wrong? Is it too tight?”

“No, it’s just right. You’ve such nice breasts. I always wonder why I wasn’t gifted that attribute,” she said of her smaller assets.

“Because you got the bright hair.”

“Is this wild red flag of hair I have a better tradeoff than sensuous breasts? Some days I’m not so sure.” Vika twisted the strands of jade mala beads wrapped around her wrist.

“Wow. You rarely feel down on yourself. And after the high you were on last night? What’s up, sis?”

“Nothing. I …” She tugged the natty, cloth-covered grimoire closer. “I’ve spent hours going through grimoires but can’t find anything for expelling demons that hasn’t already been tried.”

“For CJ? You must really like him. Have you tried to comb his hair for him yet? I can’t imagine that mess is something you could stand to look at for more than a few minutes.”

“His hair doesn’t bother me. And it is combed. It’s just long and in need of a trim.” And it usually covered the bruise on his neck, which she hated looking at. A demon mark. Awful thing, that. “He doesn’t have time for a visit to the barbershop because he’s stuck in a literal struggle for survival against the demons inside him.”

“How many?”

“I’m not sure. I’m thinking it’s an infestation. The light keeps the demons back. Most of the time. But it must be a specific kind of light. Prismatic,” she said, remembering with a shudder the terrible constellation that had hovered in CJ’s loft. “Yesterday when the menace demon reared its nasty head, the clouds had come out and it was merely an overcast sky.”

“You have to be careful around him, Vika.”

“I am wary.” Wasn’t she the chick who avoided dark magic? So what had that kiss been about?

That kiss.

After CJ’s initial awkward kiss, she’d been compelled to answer, and he’d quickly gotten over his nervousness, and their contact had stirred her from the tips of her toes to the ends of her eyelashes. A truly wow moment. And as a woman who prided herself in sensuality and knowing exactly what it took to turn her on, it had surprised her in a good way.

“It’s not so much I like the guy—though he is growing on me….”

“It’s that you want to clean him up. I know you, Vika. I can see your fingers twitching to get into the mess of Certainly Jones and sort him out. He’s got a strange, sexy vibe going for him. Nice broad shoulders, darkly handsome. I’m sure there’s more tattoos under those clothes, too, and the goddess knows I do love a man with tattoos.”

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