“Why would anyone want to do that?”
Saffy looked at Vi, who grinned. “Tell her.”
“I had a little run in with a war mage once,” Saffy shrugged. “He levitated a bunch of weapons at me, and I didn’t have back up at the time, and couldn’t watch them all at once . . .”
“She cast an anti-levitation charm on them,” Vi said, looking proud of her lover. “Making them drop to the ground and stick there like glue. The last she saw of the guy, he was cursing and trying to pry a gun from the pavement, only to have it fire and shoot off his big toe!”
“I don’t know that it shot it off,” Saffy said. But she was grinning, too.
I reminded myself for something like the hundredth time not to piss off a witch.
“Give it a try,” I said.
Saffy obliged. Unlike Vi, she didn’t use magical cargo pants. Her clothing of choice varied, but today was skin tight jeans and an oversized tee that kept slipping off one shoulder. She kept her magic on her wrists, on dozens of thin black cords strung with tiny charms, amulets and jujus.
She took one off, strung with a cute little daisy charm in what looked like bronze, not that it mattered. She picked them up from flea markets and thrift stores, or wherever she found anything interesting. It was the enchantments that she put on them afterward that counted.
She put this one on my inner wrist and activated it with an incantation, her dozen or so other bracelets glinting in the sunlight as her hand moved in graceful, ancient motions.
The daisy heated up after a moment, and then sank into the skin, leaving me with what looked like a tiny tattoo. I waited, not feeling any different, but not being sure if I was supposed to. She looked at me expectantly, her kohl rimmed eyes bright.
And then she frowned.
“Did it work?” I asked.
“Not if the laser beams in your head are anything to go on,” Marco said heavily.
“I thought this would happen,” Vi said, as I got up to check things out in the mirror over the fireplace. “Emotions are tough, and spells that try to control them are hit and miss. This one is usually used to overcome an inconvenient crush—”
“Which is not what I have,” I finished for her. It might have been once, but Mircea and I had been through too much for that. We might not be together anymore, but Horatiu was right. I would probably always love him.
Wasn’t that a bitch?
Saffy tried again, layering the poor daisy with God knew what, but nothing worked. She finally gave up and did a quick glamourie for my eyes, which apparently didn’t need a charm. I peered into the mirror expectantly, because spells, as opposed to the topical variety of glamouries, took a moment.
“I hope this works,” I said worriedly. “The last one didn’t last a day.”
“That’s what you get when you pick up a glamourie in the same aisle as the hair dye,” Vi said cynically.
“I didn’t. It cost me a fortune and was supposed to be guaranteed for two weeks. I’m thinking of asking for my money back.”
“Which was one did you use?” Saffy asked.
“Something called Wild Orchid, from this spa in Chelsea.”
“It’s a good spa,” Rhea said.
“I guess, if they’re carrying the Orchid line.” Saffy looked impressed. “That’s coven made, from fey imports. What’d you pay? Like
eight hundred a pop?”
“Twelve.”
Vi whistled. “You got taken. Although I’m not surprised; places like that always mark everything up.”
“You pay for the privacy,” Saffy said. “Anybody asks, they don’t know you. Still, it should have worked.” She frowned. “Maybe you got a bad batch or something.”
“Or maybe you’re just a better witch,” I said, as I watched my eyes fade back to normal. I gave a sigh of relief, and I wasn’t the only one.