Bewitched

CHAPTER 6

It’s not a bridge, but Nero does lead me to a boat. Well, a dinghy. One that’s rusted over and partially submerged into the muddy riverbank. Inside, it’s filled with decaying shrubbery, a murky puddle of water, and what looks to be a thriving, self-contained ecosystem. The floor of it is also partially rusted through. And it’s missing its oars.

But you know what? It’s something.

So I spend a ridiculous amount of time and magic repairing the Tetanus Express and prying it out of the riverbank. By the end of it, my head, which had stopped hurting thanks to the aspirin, begins to throb again.

I ignore the pain and my rising anxieties about the amount of power I’ve used today. I’m on a magic quest; I can be a little indulgent with my spellcasting.

With that thought in mind, I release another burst of my power, one that cleans the interior of the dinghy. All the while, the dark blue magic circles me.

Empress…

I ignore the voice and the restlessness it stirs in me. Instead, I drag the boat into the water, grimacing a little when my boots squish into the riverbed. I nearly whoop with joy when the dinghy stays afloat, rocking gently in the shallows of the river. It’s still badly rusted and missing oars, but it floats.

I turn to Nero, who’s been watching from the riverbank, and I hesitate. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to acquire a familiar but not what to do with one once we bonded.

“Do you…want to come with me?” I ask.

Nero stares at me for a moment. Then, in response, he prowls to the lapping edge of the river and leaps into the dinghy. The force of his landing nearly capsizes the boat in the process.

“Dude,” I say, grabbing the edge of the vessel and holding it as steady as I can.

If Nero was at all worried about being thrown overboard, he doesn’t show it. The panther plops on the floor of the boat and begins cleaning himself.

I glance one last time at what I can see of my magical repairs to the dinghy, then at the far side of the river.

Taking a deep breath, I gather my courage and hoist myself into the boat.

Before I can even attempt a spell to get this thing moving toward the far side of the river, the magic circling me now pushes at my back, propelling us across.

I let out a shaky exhale.

Well, that solves that.

It’s only when we’ve reached the center of the river that I have my misgivings.

What in the goddess’s name am I doing? Magic quest or no, I shouldn’t be wandering around in this unfamiliar jungle, letting some mysterious being lure me closer. I don’t even have my notebook, so if I forget my memories from earlier today, I’m F-U-C-K-E-D.

I glance overhead at the afternoon sun.

And if I don’t get back before sundown…

Doubled fucked.

But my intuition isn’t warning me off this trail, and I did find my familiar by listening to it earlier. Technically, this is what a magic quest is—listening to that untamable i

Nero lunges toward the river, nearly capsizing the boat. Again. I grab the sides of the dinghy for balance while the water near us churns. I hear a crunch, and then the panther is backing up, dragging some writhing thing along with him.

What in the…?

Nero turns toward me, and clamped in his jaws is the biggest motherfucking snake I’ve ever seen, its head and neck hanging lifelessly, even while the rest of its body still spasms.

Ho-ly shit.

“Good boy,” I croak.

He gives me a look like he might eat me next if I treat him like a pet again. He pads back to the middle of the boat and flops down, the huge twitching snake tumbling in along with him.

I grimace.

Clearing my throat, I say, “I feel like we need to go over some boat rules. Rule one—”

Nero sinks his teeth into the creature’s belly.

Going to hurl.

“No eating animals on the boat.”

Ignoring me, the panther continues to chomp on the dead snake.

What am I supposed to do if my familiar doesn’t listen to me? Aren’t familiars supposed to give their undivided loyalty to the witch they’re bonded with?

I take a few deep breaths and decide this is not the hill I want to die on today.

“Fine, ignore boat rules, just don’t get any blood on me—”

I feel something warm and wet hit the back of my hand.

I glare at my familiar—who is still absorbed in his meal. “Don’t make me turn you into a housecat,” I warn him.

He pauses eating to flash me his fangs.

Guess he doesn’t like the idea of that all that much. “Then behave.”

He stares at me for a moment longer, then goes back to eating his nasty snack.

The blue magic pushes us along, and slowly but surely, we cross the river. Overhead, the rest of the magic hangs above us like a contrail, the line of it disappearing into the trees on the approaching side of the riverbank. I swear it looks denser than it did at the crash site.

I can still feel the power pressing against my back, but it’s begun to creep over my shoulders and around my chest, and a strand of it brushes against my jaw, feeling for all the world like the light stroke of knuckles against my skin.

I think it would be better if I found the touch repulsive, but I…don’t, and that leaves me confused.

Eventually, we reach the riverbank. I wait until the dinghy has nearly beached itself on the shore before hopping out with Nero and dragging the boat as far ashore as I can.

Dusting my hands off, I turn to the dark jungle beyond.

Come to me…

I pause. That phantom voice is so much stronger now.

The air around me seems to vibrate. I can feel the magic as though it were alive.

Calling to me. Calling…

I pick my way through the vegetation and the looming lush trees, that insistent pull getting stronger. I stop only when I get to a dense, almost-impassable cluster of foliage.

I’m about to move away from it when I sense…more magic. Only this doesn’t have the same elements as the blue magic above me.

The spell here—and what I’m sensing is a spell, not unspooled magic—is unlike the one pulling me onward. This power is so subtle that I would have missed it if I weren’t looking for magic in the first place.

Now that I am looking right at it, I see the shimmery lines that its spellcasting left behind. Sometimes these can take the shape of writing, but other times, like right now, the spells look like nothing more than glittery string woven together.

This spell, however, is not simply a few magical strings; it’s a whole tapestry. The spells—wards technically—hang in the air like a giant web, one so complex and so intricately wrought that it must’ve taken weeks if not months to create.

I study the layers and layers of protective spells, in awe that someone created this.

The most prominent of these wards are ones that will a person to leave this place. There are still more that form a magical barrier of sorts, one that would be impenetrable to a nonmagical human. Finally, I sense several overlapping enchantments that obscure whatever’s beyond from view. It’s all so hopelessly complicated.

Unfortunately for me, the magic I’ve been following cuts directly across these wards, as though they weren’t there.

My queen…

That voice stirs my blood and prods my back, and if I have any hope of finding its source, I’ll need to get past these spells.

I give the web of them another once-over. After a moment’s hesitation, I reach out with my fingers, unsure how the wards will react. Hexes and curses could be woven into these things, and I really don’t want to walk away from here with some curse that rots me from the inside out.

Help me…

I’m emboldened by that plea. There may be someone on the other side of these spells that’s in true peril. And while I’m in no position to be some knight in shining armor, I am the only one who’s here, so I can at least try to be brave.

I take a steadying breath, then press my hand to the web of spells.

At my touch, the entire cluster of them disintegrates, as though it were no sturdier than an actual web. But even as my hand slips right through, I feel the massive amount of power these spells released, the wave of it slamming into me and causing me to stagger back. The shock wave spreads out into the jungle, dissipating as it goes.

I frown. Spells that strong should’ve put up some sort of fight.

But I only linger on that concern for a moment because now that I’ve removed this section of wards, I can see the area in front of me for what it really is.

Ruins.

I stare at the toppled columns and the smashed remains of hewn arches, the white marble covered in vines and vegetation. The stone itself appears to be inlaid with golden floral patterns, and the ends of the columns morph into what look to be the boughs of trees.

I’m no expert but…I swear this architecture has the touch of the Otherworld to it, the realm where fairies reside. So what is it doing hidden away in South America?

My heart thumps harder.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s some sort of failed resort that was left to molder…

That would make some amount of sense, even if it doesn’t explain the protective wards.

Tentatively, I step forward and move through the ruins.

Come to me, my queen…

That masculine voice sounds clear and close, and there’s something about it that is gut-wrenchingly intimate. It makes my breath come out shaky.

I head toward it, the line of blue magic still guiding my way. It weaves between the structure’s fallen features. My gaze snags on a bit of smashed stone and what appears to be part of a marble branch, the end of it morphing into what looks like a real leaf. But that can’t be right.

The more details I take in, however, the more certain I am that this isn’t some failed resort. Instead, it appears to be an unearthly palace left to rot. Most of it is thickly buried beneath strata of vegetation, but here and there I catch glimpses of what once stood here.

I step up to one of the more intact walls, pushing aside a curtain of plants. Underneath them, I take in the marble, my eyes lingering on the gold inlay of a coiling flowering plant decorating the wall.

This definitely seems made by the fae. Maybe one of them even lived here.

Empress…

I step away from the wall, letting the foliage drop back in place, the haunting voice luring me to it once more.

All around me, I feel more of those wards. They’re everywhere, glittering in the air, wrapped around toppled columns, coating the few standing walls. Someone went to pains to cover every square inch of this place in spells. It would take me hours to figure out what each one’s purpose is and longer still to remove them all.