Saved by the Spell. House of Magic 2. Page 5

  “I’d love that.”

  He leaned down to briefly kiss me. His lips were soft and warm, and tasted slightly of the wine he’d had with lunch. My bones turned to liquid.

  “I’ll call you.”

  “You’d better or I’ll put a hex on you,” I said, breathless, and he burst out laughing.

  I waited for him to disappear around a bend in the street before hurrying to the car that had waited the whole time. Ashley had switched seats with Amber so she wouldn’t have to drive, and she snatched the food container from my hands.

  “I’m starving.” She began to wolf down the food—pun intended—and I climbed into the back seat.

  Amber gave me a stern look from behind the wheel. “Why didn’t you leave when I told you to?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Because I didn’t want to. He’s utterly charming and there was nothing to worry about.”

  “But that was Jack Palmer,” Giselle said in a patient tone.

  “I know.” I’d told them his name myself.

  “Jack is one of the best mages of his generation. And even though he hasn’t made his intentions public, he’s likely to challenge Archibald for the leadership of our order.”

  Colour drained from my face and the wonderful food threatened to push up. “What do you mean?”

  “That I figured out the motivation for your spell. If he wants to challenge Archibald, it will suit him perfectly to unsettle him first.”

  I stared at them in dismay, and Giselle gave me a commiserating look.

  “I think it definitely was Jack who put the spell on you.”

  Chapter Six

  “We’ll have to speak with Archibald,” Amber stated, turning the car towards Belgravia, about two miles from Soho.

  “What difference does it make?” I pleaded, suddenly embarrassed to face my boss. “If Jack wants me to unsettle Kane, shouldn’t I stay away?”

  But they were adamant.

  I was fighting tears the whole drive. I refused to believe Jack would have deliberately put a spell on me. He couldn’t have kissed me like that if he had. There had to be another explanation.

  “Maybe someone else who wants to challenge Kane is only using him,” I tried, but a wall of silence made me retreat to my corner of the car.

  They’d see I was right.

  Kane lived in the Mews behind Eaton Court, an immensely popular location in an insanely expensive part of Central London, south of Hyde Park. Aristocrats used to keep their horses and grooms in the Mews between the Georgian terraces where they’d lived. They formed rows of flat two-storey terraces on both sides of a gated courtyard, with garages below and the living quarters above.

  I was dragging my feet as we made our way to his front door. I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t want Kane to learn that I’d—possibly—been foolish. “Maybe he’s at the gallery.”

  It wasn’t open on Sundays, but he often spent time there at odd hours. But his Jag was parked sideways in front of his two-bay garage, banishing that hope.

  “What if he has a lady friend there?” I suggested hastily when Amber reached to ring the doorbell. “He wouldn’t want me to witness it.”

  She shot me an amused glare as she pressed the buzzer. “He’s a grown man and gets to take whoever he wants to bed. We don’t need to know or care.”

  “I’d like to know…” Ashley muttered, and I kind of agreed with her.

  The thought distracted me, and before I realised it, Kane was answering the door.

  He didn’t look like a man who’d just climbed out of bed, although the jogging bottoms and T-shirt were exactly the kind of clothes you pulled hastily on when the doorbell rang. And his hair was messier than normal.

  I stared at him with my mouth open. I could count with fingers of one hand how often I’d seen him in clothes other than a suit—not including the one time I’d seen him almost naked, which … wow. I’d been absolutely convinced he dressed formally even at home.

  His brows shot up when he saw the four of us. “This is a pleasant surprise,” he said politely. “Emphasis on surprise.”

  “We need to talk,” Giselle informed him. “We think we know who put the spell on Phoebe and why.”

  Wordlessly, he stepped aside to let us in.

  We climbed the stairs to an open living room and kitchen; the bedroom and the bathroom were behind the kitchen. The space was beautifully furnished in mid-century modern, with books and art everywhere.

  I spotted the hideous lamp Kane had acquired for the auction. It fit the room amazingly well, and didn’t even look so ugly here.

  “You bought the lamp,” I noted aloud to buy time. He smiled, pleased.

  “We reached an agreement with the owner about the price.”

  He waved a hand at a seating group, a sofa and three armchairs upholstered in off-white around a low coffee table. I had bad memories of the table, as I’d found him bound to it by a demon.

  His memories were probably worse.

  I sank heavily on the sofa with Giselle next to me. “I think you should tell him,” she said to me.

  I looked at Kane, who sat as far away from me as possible, fighting to keep his composure—and I burst out crying.

  I surprised everyone, including myself. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d cried like this. Not even my breakup with Troy had made me anything but furious.

  I buried my face in my hands and Giselle wrapped a consoling arm around me. Kane shot up. “I’ll go make tea.”

  “I’ll help,” Ashley declared, getting up too. She was followed by Amber.

  “Me too.”

  I’d stopped crying by the time the three of them set the tea tray on the table in front of me. I wiped my eyes into a handkerchief Kane gave me—a proper muslin one—and pulled myself together. Giselle gave me a cup of tea.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, taking a sip. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  “It has been a stressful week, what with the spell making your life difficult,” Kane consoled me, but I shook my head.

  “It’s more that I was given a glimpse of what my life could be without it, and then it turned out to be a lie.”

  He leaned forwards in his armchair, only to pull hastily back. “Just tell me.”

  I heaved a deep sigh. “Yesterday, at the engagement party, I met the most charming man.”

  The scene kept playing in my head, vividly. Nothing in my memory of it indicated that Jack hadn’t been in earnest. Kane’s jaw worked, as if he wanted to say something, but he nodded, so I continued:

  “He was interested in me too. And he wasn’t repulsed by me. The spell didn’t work on him.”

  His eyes sharpened. “How is that possible?”

  “Giselle and Amber say it’s because he was the one who cast the spell.” I still couldn’t believe it. “I just don’t understand why.”

  “It was Jack Palmer,” Amber explained for me. “This could be his way to challenge you for the leadership.”

  He pulled straight. “By casting a spell on my human employee?” I tried not to wince for being called human, as it made clear that the rest of them weren’t. “That is not acceptable.”

  Amber began to pour another round of tea, even though only she and Ashley had emptied their cups. “It’s the only explanation that makes sense. And it’s a rather good challenge too. It would definitely show your skill if you can break it—or his if you can’t.”

  He didn’t look convinced. “How would he even know about Phoebe to attack her?”

  “He said he’d spotted me outside the Tube station, but I think that was a lie.” I felt sick, and I put the cup away. “I think he’s been keeping an eye on the gallery, and he seized the opportunity when he saw me to go in the café.”

  “Maybe…” Kane frowned. “But why didn’t he cast the spell on Mrs Walsh? She’s easier to access in the gallery, and it would hurt my business more if she weren’t able to serve the customers.”

  I rubbed my face as I tried to
come up with an explanation for Jack’s actions. “Maybe he intended to demonstrate that he wasn’t affected by the spell by dating me. He couldn’t do that with Mrs Walsh, because she’s married.” And twenty-five years older than him, so probably not as appealing an option. “And you might not have noticed it so soon, if he had used her.”

  “Are the reasons important anyway?” Ashley pitched in. “The fact remains that your employee is highly inconvenienced by his spell and will remain so if you don’t find a way to break it.”

  Kane nodded. “That’ll have to be my priority.”

  “I’ll help,” I stated, determination pushing away my upset. “You’ve had a whole week and you haven’t found the spell yet.”

  His face turned forbidding. “I can’t let you in the library of our headquarters.”

  I gave him a slow look. We’d been through his reluctance to let me participate before when I was cursed. I wasn’t about to let him push me to the side-line when it concerned me.

  “Why not? It’s not like I don’t know you people exist, and I’ve been to your headquarters already.”

  “We’ll all go,” Giselle said. “We need all eyes on the job.”

  Wisely enough, Kane didn’t argue further and just went to change his clothes. The jeans and dark green V-neck cashmere jumper were almost as odd as the joggers had been, but they fit his tall and leanly muscled body perfectly. Much better than the suit.

  Ashley’s car was large enough to fit us all, so we took it. The mage council’s headquarters were in Thames Ditton, on the south side of the Thames from Hampton Court, about thirteen miles upriver from where Kane lived. Sunday traffic there and back was surprisingly heavy, the fine weather luring people to the parks, so we settled in for a slow and aggravating ride.

  “This has really upset you, Phoebe,” Kane noted when we had cleared the worst congestion and crossed the river in Chelsea. He was sitting in the front, mostly so he didn’t have to be near me. He tried to hide it, but it put a strain on him to be so close to me for such a long time.

  His question threatened to make the tears spill again. “I don’t understand why he had to pretend to be attracted to me, if he was the one who spelled me.” I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand. “Why didn’t he simply wait to see what you would do?”

  “He could truly be attracted to you,” he suggested in a kind tone.

  I crossed my arms over my chest, hugging myself. “Then why the spell? He doesn’t need it to charm women.”

  “It’s not a charm spell. Those don’t exist,” he explained. I shook my head, because I hadn’t meant that.

  “It keeps the competition away really effectively, and makes a woman truly grateful that anyone is paying attention to her.”

  I’d practically crawled into his arms.

  He tilted his head in acknowledgement. “I’m really sorry you were caught in this business again.”

  I was too, but it was hardly his fault. “Maybe it’s a compliment to you. They’re not brave enough to attack you directly.”

  The notion clearly pleased him, but he brushed it away with a wave of his hand. “I think this is part of a wider attack to undermine me. With Jack distracting me, someone else has a chance to make their move.”

  “You mean Jack’s not your challenger?” Amber asked, leaning closer to hear him, as she was sitting directly behind him. He made to shake his head, then hesitated.

  “The rules specifically state that the attack has to be on the leader, so this doesn’t count. He may challenge me later, but for now I think he’s helping someone else.”

  “So, who do you think he’s teamed with?”

  He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he gave her question a thought. “We still don’t know who the mastermind behind that secret society was that frightened even Danielle. Maybe it’s him.”

  Silence fell in the car. Danielle had been terrified of him—and she was dating a warlock.

  “I think we’d best to prepare for worst,” Amber declared. “You should keep an eye out for an attack from this unknown—or other challengers—while the rest of us look for the spell.”

  “I’ll stay with Kane,” Ashley said, slowing down to turn at an intersection. “I’m not much for books, but I can keep him alive.”

  Kane paled a little. “Surely you don’t think they’d threaten my life?”

  We jumped as she blared the horn to make the car in front of us move faster, as if she was behind the wheel of a fire engine. “Best be prepared for everything.”

  We reached the mage council’s headquarters eventually. It was a large, rectangular, brown-brick with a façade from the Georgian era, though the original building was much older; some buildings in the village dated from the Middle Ages. It shared a car park with a large Queen Anne style manor that functioned as an expensive care home for the elderly.

  The last time I was here, it had been night and I hadn’t been able to see much. I looked around curiously, admiring the neat, verdant lawn between the car park and the river, and the beautiful buildings. There were more people around too, with orderlies pushing residents of the care home in wheelchairs on the footpath by the river, and visitors driving in and out from the car park.

  It was a beautiful September day, but I suddenly shivered with cold. Kane placed a hand on my shoulder, and I appreciated the gesture, as it clearly cost him. His arm was stiff, and he wouldn’t stand close.

  “We’ll find the counter-spell. Don’t worry.”

  “I know. It’s not the spell that gets to me as much as the betrayal. Which is funny, considering I only met Jack yesterday. Well, Monday, but that was brief.”

  “He deliberately used you. Of course that hurts.”

  I couldn’t tell him how utterly smitten I’d been with Jack after such a short acquaintance. I’d already imagined telling my parents that I’d found someone I’d spend the rest of my life with and that they could start planning an April wedding.

  Such a fool.

  The façade of the mages’ headquarters consisted of tall French doors. Afternoon sun slanted through the many panes into the entrance hall, making the polished tile floor gleam. There wasn’t a speck of dust in sight. There weren’t people around either, and it was eerily silent.

  The library was on the right side of the hall from the door, taking the entire shorter end of the building. It was a square room with no windows, and it seemed gloomy in the artificial light after the sunshine. Tall shelves covered every available space, and they were full of books, old and new. I drew a deep breath, enjoying the scent of books.

  “I didn’t realise there were so many spell books in the world,” I said with awe.

  “These aren’t only spell books,” Kane explained. “But there are a lot of those too.”

  “So where should we start?”

  “I’ve been going through the older books, as it is a medieval spell. I think I’ll continue with those. You should go through the modern ones, in case it’s reproduced in one of them.”

  “Surely we would’ve heard about it in that case,” Giselle noted.

  “Maybe, but we can’t overlook the possibility.”

  He and Amber went to the older books, and I followed Giselle to the newer ones. Ashley settled at the open door to the entrance hall to keep watch.

  For all that I was into arts and antiques, old books had never been my passion, so I didn’t mind that we’d been put to study the newer ones—though they weren’t exactly modern either but from the late nineteenth century onwards.

  “Shall we try to deduce the likeliest books to contain the spell, or go through all of them?” I asked Giselle who eyed the shelf in front of us in dismay.

  “I can’t decide. Part of me knows that a spell like this is a highly specialised one and will be in a particular book, but I don’t want to overlook anything.”

  “We’ll check them all, then.”

  At least the modern books had tables of content and indexes. It made the task much easier. One by on
e, both took a book, opened it, checked the pertinent parts, were disappointed, and put the book back. After an hour of that, my arms were starting to ache, and I was parched.

  “Any chance for tea?” I asked Giselle, who perked.

  “Absolutely.”

  She practically fled the room, leaving me to handle our lot alone, but that was fine. I needed tea more than I needed company. But there had to be a better way to approach this.

  “Can people loan these out?” I asked loud enough so that Kane and Amber could hear me where they were at the other end. Maybe there was a register we could check.

  “Only with permission, from me,” Kane said. “Which I haven’t given anyone lately. And the room is warded so that no one can remove the books without my say-so.”

  I worried my lips with my teeth as I tried to come up with other possibilities. “Wouldn’t it show the mage’s skill if they could smuggle a book out anyway? And would that be an acceptable attack on you?”

  Kane and Amber shared a look. “Yes…”

  “So maybe you should check if anyone has removed your wards?”

  Kane grimaced. Pivoting around, he marched out of the library, and we followed curiously. He faced the library door and made a series of gestures with his hands. Nothing happened.

  “Well, fuck,” he said, stunning me. I hadn’t often heard him curse. “The wards are gone.”

  “And that would mean…”

  “That there’s no point for us to go through the library. Jack has stolen the book.”

  Chapter Seven

  We retreated to the dining room on the other side of the hall, where Giselle set the tea at one end of the long table. I sank gratefully on a chair and took a long sip of the cup she placed in front of me.

  Kane sat at the head of the table, his back turned to us, and stared out of the open double doors towards the library, slowly sipping his tea. It didn’t seem to make him feel better—and it was excellent tea.

  I’d worked for him long enough to recognise the mood. “It’s not your fault that the wards were taken down.”