Backfired Magic: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Mates & Magic) Read online

  I hear footsteps from the narrow staircase by the kitchen and Brett appears, looking sleepy. He’s wearing his wire-rim glasses, and he takes them off, rubbing his gray eyes. When he sees the tacos though, he perks right up.

  “Carnitas?” He asks hopefully, taking a seat at the table.

  I toss him a Coke from the office fridge under the counter and Grant says, “Always.”

  The couple leaves without buying anything. They just give us those tight little smiles that say they were only here to browse, and they’re probably never coming back. When the bell rings again, I glance over, my mouth full of steak. But the girl who enters makes me start to choke on my taco.

  Time actually slows down. I’ve heard of that, but I never thought it was a real thing. But when the girl with burgundy hair walks in and she turns her head to look at me, I actually do feel like it’s all happening in slow motion. I manage to swallow my food at least. The others are sitting down lower, on the other side of the desk, and they haven’t seen her yet. She smiles at me softly, giving me a little nod of acknowledgment and then turns her head again and continues on into the store. I’m left reeling, and I’m not even sure why. The primal bear part of my mind is telling me that the woman who just walked in is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen but, more importantly, that I need to...protect her? I’m not sure exactly. It’s a chaotic, sort of overwhelming feeling, and in my head, it’s expressed by vague bear sounds. Not very helpful.

  My ears perk up as I listen to her walk around. It’s autumn in New York. When she turns back around to look at the smaller displays near the front of the store, I try to inconspicuously observe her. She’s wearing brown suede boots and a long skirt. She’s wearing a pretty yellow sweater and a long scarf. She looks pretty and cozy. When I see her face in profile, I admire her creamy, porcelain skin and her bright green eyes and the sprinkling of freckles across her nose.

  “Psst.” I hiss in the direction of the guys at their table, and they dutifully look up at me because it’s not the first time I’ve hissed at them.

  Grant looks at me in question, and I nod in the direction of the girl who’s looking at postcards in a shoebox. I see the guys strain from their seats to get a look at the girl, and she turns just enough for them to get an eyeful. For a second, I think I’m just in kind of a horny mood, and it’s been a while. But then I see how all three of them look like they’ve just been hit over the head.

  We, all four of us, have a silent conversation with our expressions because she’d hear us if we said anything. They look at me in question as if to ask why they’re so affected, or what the hell is happening and I just shrug. I wonder if she’s a witch. She could be enchanting us right now… Except that we have pretty good magical shields on the house. She’d have to pretty powerful to—

  “Excuse me?” The woman walks up to my counter, looking hopeful. “Do you have um…” She clears her throat and hesitates. I can tell right away that she’s heard we’re a magic shop on the down low, and she’s trying to figure out how to ask about it just in case she’s wrong. But she’s cute, getting all nervous like that, so I kinda let her flounder for a minute just to watch. “Do you have, like, other types of items? As in very...unusual items?”

  “Yes!” That’s Jesse, who suddenly pops up from his seat like he’s been sitting on a tack. “I’ll show you!”

  Jesse escorts the woman toward the back. There’s a door behind the side chair section that says “Employees Only,” but it’s really another hidden section of stuff for sale that has nothing to do with antiques. I find myself following, and I hardly realize I’m doing it until I notice Grant and Brett are also following. It’s going to look totally weird for all four of us to show her the magic section, but we seem to be almost enchanted as we head back past the sideboards, dressers, shelving and the general, vaguely organized chaos of smaller things like lamps, tea sets and whatever is old worth some money.

  “This section has our other... items,” Jesse says. His voice has lowered an octave or two, and I roll my eyes. But I can’t blame him either. For whatever reason, this woman has affected all four of us just by walking in the door. It’s a little alarming.

  The rest of us are all crowded toward the back, watching their interaction as Jesse shows her around the one room that contains a variety of herbs and other ingredients for potions and magic brews, cauldrons, wands, crystals, books, and other ephemera. The woman glances back at us, looking a little confused as to why we’re all watching. We smile and pretend to talk to each other as if we just happened to need something from the back of the store too, which probably makes it even creepier.

  “Are you looking for anything specific?” Grant says, giving up the pretense. He shuffles by us and stands in the doorway. The woman is examining the herbs on a shelf, and when she looks over at Grant, the brightness of her eyes takes my breath away.

  “Yes, I’m actually looking for roseheart weed?” She winces when she says it, which must mean she knows how powerful and potentially dangerous roseheart weed is.

  It’s only now that she’s in close proximity, that I can feel the magic energy coming off of her in waves. That doesn’t mean she necessarily knows what to do with roseheart weed, but then again, it might.

  “Are you an advanced magic user?” The question is stern and coming from Brett because that’s how Brett is.

  The woman’s pale face flushes a little and she nods. “Yeah...yeah, of course. I know it can be a little fussy.”

  “Well, it’s more than a little fussy,” Brett says in his authoritative voice. “It demands a high degree of skill or it can be quite volatile—”

  “Brett,” I mutter under my breath. Just his name in the tone that tells Brett to shut up, makes Brett shut up and his mouth twists. “If the lady would like some roseheart weed, how about we just sell her some roseheart weed, huh?” I give her a nod and she looks right at me, and I feel like my brain skips like a record. “Uh...how much—how much would you like?”

  “Two ounces should be fine,” she says, smiling gratefully. “And I promise, I’ll be very careful with it.”

  She looks around at us, and for a moment, I think she’s as struck as the rest of us, but she ends up only taking her roseheart weed and heading to the register where Jesse rings her up and sends her on her way, telling her to come back soon.

  When she’s gone, the rest of us all relax a little. I didn’t even realize that I was a little riled up when she walked in, but now that she’s gone I feel different. I also feel like something significant has happened.

  “What the hell was that?” Grant says.

  Brett takes off his glasses and cleans them with the tail of his shirt, which usually means he’s pretending he’s not completely freaked. “I have no idea,” he says. He sounds a little raw. “But I hope it happens again.”

  Dora

  What in the actual fuck. I don’t meet as many men as hot as the four guys running the magic/antique shop in a month, much less in a day and all in the same place. The guy who showed me to the back room where all the magic stuff was, looked like some CW show cast member. He had these pale, icy blue eyes and these long, thick eyelashes, and besides that, I could see his toned arms under his shirt. But the thing is, all four of them were remarkably good-looking. And even beyond that, when I walked in the door, I felt a sort of electric charge. It was like my body was buzzing. I don’t know if they felt it too, but I’ve never been so strongly attracted, so instantly, to anyone much less four guys at the same time.

  Anyway, they’ll be nice to think about in bed tonight.

  Right now, I have bigger fish to fry. I’m going to try a love spell. I’m not dismissing the warnings the antique store guys gave me about the roseheart weed. I know I probably shouldn’t even be using it. But all love spells call for roseheart weed, and I’m determined to use my magic to help myself. I want to find a someone. My mom, as awful as she is, is right about that. I want someone to laugh with, and I’ve been dating since high school with little luck. My last couple boyfriends turned out to be real duds. There were promising prospects before that. But the older I get, the worse the prospects seem to get. And the thing is, I have a real advantage. I have magical abilities, so why not use them? If I were wiser and more patient, I would probably practice with some easier spells and work on my skills. But life is short and sometimes it’s about risk.

  So, I’m trying out a spell to attract love tonight. It’s not like I’ve never done magic anyway. I just haven’t practiced in a while. But my cauldron is in good shape, and I have all the other ingredients I need from the last time I was doing magic more regularly. I tend to go in phases. I’ve used magic to stop neighbors from bothering me and to make my boss think well of me. That stuff isn’t so far from a love spell. It’s just a stronger feeling you’re shooting for. That guy at the store was right. There’s also a potential for volatility when you’re using roseheart weed. I’ll just have to be very careful.

  I start taking all the ingredients down to the basement. I like doing magic in the basement for no other reason than it makes me nostalgic.

  My dad was a wizard and a pretty good one. I’ve never gotten a good handle on how he ended up with my mother at all. I could understand it if it was some one-night mistake and then they stayed together for a while because she wanted to keep me. But my mother tells it like they were really in love once, and I’ve never been able to even imagine it. They got divorced when I was a kid. My dad lives in Connecticut, and I go visit him when I can get the time in. My mother lives close. Too close. Much too close for my comfort anyway.

  But when I was a little kid, my dad made no secret about his magic. He used to let me help him with his spells and teach me the basics of magic. If I’d kept it up more regularly, I’d be a lot more powerful. I think the reason I even do magic as much as I do is just to keep that connection to my dad. If I was smart about this, I’d give him a call and ask him for tips on this love spell. But then he’d give me a lecture about how I don’t need a spell to attract a partner and I’m plenty pretty enough and smart enough and all that. He’s nice that way, much nicer than my mom. In other ways though, he can be just as bad. He doesn’t like that I work at the law firm. That’s mostly because he just hates lawyers, but I don’t know that I’ve ever had a job that he really approved of.

  If I’m honest, I’m probably warmer to my dad because he lives far away and my mom is close and drives me crazy. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

  I light about a dozen candles and I spread out my favorite tablecloth for spells on the floor. That’s one of the things that my dad used to do that I keep doing just out of habit. He thought it was bad luck to spill magic ingredients on the floor. You never know what might mix together and cause some strange bit of magic that you didn’t plan on, wreaking havoc in your house. When you’re done, whether you’ve spilled anything or not, you wash the tablecloth in vinegar, and it neutralizes the magic elements.

  I spread out all the ingredients on my cloth around the cauldron; peacock feathers, roseheart weed, seven coins that are more than ten years old, sodalite crystal, four real pearls, two red candles, a goat heart…

  I put on some calming music without vocals. That was another thing my dad always insisted on. He said to put on music that calms the soul to even out the magical properties of the caster.

  The purpose of the spell is to attract romantic love, real romantic love. If I do this right, the guy I’m supposed to end up with should fall right into my lap. I just have to “measure twice, cut once” as they say. But I’ve gone over the spell multiple times, and I’m feeling confident that I can pull this off.

  There’s no guarantee of who exactly the spell will attract, but I’m imagining Ted as I get my ingredients ready and take deep breaths, studying the chants I’m supposed to recite. He hasn’t always been a jerk like he was today. I’ve had a pleasant conversation with him. Sure, he seems boring and maybe a little douchey, but that office environment puts all of us under a lot of pressure. I’ve been short with people too when I’ve had a heavy workload. I’m not holding that against him. He’s also flirted with me before. Enough, at least, that I think there might be something there between us.

  I’m also thinking of the antique stores guests though as I get ready to cast. The very idea makes me laugh. For one thing, I’d put down money that they’re all gay. I don’t like to generalize usually, but four guys running an antique store? I’m pretty sure they also live there together. Still, the way they looked at me, it’s enough that I’m going to be having some happy thoughts tonight when I’m alone with myself in the dark.

  Whatever happens, I will be attracting the one if I can pull this off. Then maybe my mother will finally leave me alone. Better yet, I will have that partner I’ve always wanted. I’ve always pictured myself living in a big house full of laughter and conversation; casual dinners and playfulness. I’ve actually tried to recreate that with roommates before, but it’s never been quite right. Now I just live by myself in a small house that I rent for a decent price. At least it’s a house. I’ve never liked apartments. But sometimes it’s so empty and quiet, the lack of noise makes me more lonely than anything else.

  But if Ted or someone a lot like him can come along because of this spell… Well, it’s hard not to think I might get the life I’ve always dreamed of. My family will approve, and I’ll get my own house full of laughter. I just have to make sure I do this correctly.

  I finally start the spell, adding ingredients carefully, one after another. I’m halfway through the recitation of a chant when I hear a door slam upstairs, and it startles me. Then I hear my mother’s shrill voice call out.

  “Doraaaa!” Her voice always goes up at the end, and it drives me crazy. What drives me crazier is that I gave her a key for emergencies only, and she uses it whenever she wants to just come over and drive me up the wall.

  This is the worst possible moment. She knows I’m home because my car is in the driveway and now she’s going to hunt all over the house until she finds me. I’ve been telling her I don’t use magic and if she finds out I do, I’ll never hear the end of it. I groan and hop to my feet, blowing out the candles. They shouldn’t have an effect on the spell. It’s not ideal to stop in the middle, but, as far as I know, it shouldn’t make a difference if I’m able to finish within the next day or so.

  “Mom!” I’m out of breath when I slam the basement door behind me and my mother whirls around. She has a helmet-shaped head of dyed chestnut hair, and she is always wearing a turtleneck, slacks and a blazer like she’s going to a business meeting in a lodge or something. It’s kind of like Upstate New York chic, I guess. Her makeup is perfect, and she looks me up and down. I see the corners of her mouth tighten. I know she has some kind of problem. My boots are slutty or my eyeliner is too heavy. “What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to borrow that book from you,” she says with raised eyebrows. She plucks them too much, and they’re thin, little lines that make her look excessively surprised all the time. But that also seems like something she’d say to me so...fuck my life, I guess.

  “What book?” I say, shrugging.

  “The one about Alexander Hamilton? The biography? That inspired that musical?”

  “You mean...Hamilton?” I smirk a little. It’s fun when I get to mess with her. “That musical?”

  “Yes, smartypants. That musical.”

  “Okay…” She does get little whims like this sometimes. She’s probably just bored though. She follows me into my living room, and I find the book on my shelf. When I turn around to hand it over, she’s sitting on my couch.

  “My day was absolutely exhausting.” She rubs her forehead. She’s just gotten her nails done in a pale peach shade and all her little rings match.

  “Here’s the book,” I say flatly. “My day was exhausting too so...I think I’m just going to go to bed.”

  “Do you know my lawyer is flirting with me?” Her eyes light up. I am never going to get out of this. “I mean, my God, the man must be twenty years younger than me—”

  “More like thirty,” I crack. “There’s no way Justin was hitting on you.”

  “You didn’t see him,” my mom says, looking pleased as punch. “He gets this look in his eyes.”

  “Really? Was the look in his eye while he was convincing you to redo your estate again?”

  “Well, you have to be careful with trusts, dear.” She wags a finger. “And then there’s your father—”

  “Mom, I’m really tired. I need to go to bed. If you don’t mind—”

  “Oh my Lord, you are the most ungrateful, most inhospitable person I have ever met!” It sounds dramatic, but she says stuff like that all the time, and now she pops up with the book under her arm and leans over to kiss each of my cheeks and smile as if everything is peachy. Which, to her, it is, I guess. “Okay. I’ll see you soon, dear.”

  “We’ll see,” I mutter, as I usher her to the door.

  It takes another ten minutes to actually get her gone, and then I pound down the steps, back down to the basement to complete my spell. I relight all the candles (just in case) and put the calming music back on.

  I feel rattled, though, and it’s not good to be in a rattled headspace when you’re casting a spell. But I do some breathing to try to calm myself down. I start the recitation over and add the rest of the ingredients and recite some more and then the spell is done. I watch the brew fizz up into a nice mauve foam. That’s supposed to mean it worked. I have no reason to think it didn’t.

  I take a deep breath, but I feel a little...off. Maybe it’s just because I haven’t done magic in a long time. Besides that, my mother always puts me in a sour mood. But I go about cleaning up my ingredients and take everything back upstairs. I fill a dishpan up with white vinegar and put the tablecloth in there to soak. I put all my ingredients away and then I pour the brew out and scour my cauldron with steel wool.