Thoroughly Kissed (34 page)

There had to be an easier way to reach magical people. Michael couldn't believe all that calling for them or using code phrases was completely made up.

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to find out. He didn't leave a message with the restaurant—that was too complicated. He toyed with calling Nora at her office, but he knew she couldn't do anything more than he could. If only he had magic. But wishes wouldn't do him any good, not without the power to go with them.

And then he turned toward the window.

Wishes. He smiled. There were magical white horses only two blocks away.

He stuffed his wallet back into his pocket and let himself out of the room, heading for the horses. He only hoped he made it in time.

***

“Well,” Atropos said, setting down her shears, “get on with it.”

“Yes,” Lachesis said. “Being coy won't help.”

Emma's heart was pounding. The room was stuffy, and the cigar smoke swirled around her. “I've been doing a lot of thinking about this. For the last few days especially. And I've made a decision.”

“You're still being coy, my dear,” Clotho said, tugging on the sleeve of her red smoking jacket.

Emma straightened her spine. “I want to give up my magic.”

Atropos made a tsk-tsk sound. “You just don't want to work hard. Magic takes discipline.”

“I have discipline,” Emma snapped. “I learned how to speak half a dozen languages. I learned the history of the world. I learned how to function in the modern environment.”

“Yes, and you wouldn't have had to do any of it if you'd only taken Aethelstan's catch-up spell,” Lachesis said.

“No wonder you're burnt out, child,” Clotho said. “Learning is difficult. You should have thought that through before making the wrong choice.”

“The wrong choice?” Emma's voice went up. “It wasn't the wrong choice. Aethelstan's spell would have left me with a superficial knowledge of everything. My knowledge isn't superficial. It's real and it's mine. Do you know how important that is?”

“It's not important at all,” Atropos said. “After a few thousand years, you'll wonder why you tried so hard to learn about things you'd only forget.”

“I don't want to live another thousand years,” Emma said. “I hate magic. I hate what it's done to my life. That's why I want out of this.”

“You'll regret the decision,” Lachesis said. “Your life will be terribly short. You won't have any recourse at all. You'll be—unremarkable.”

“I don't think so.” The voice was Michael's. Emma whirled. He was standing near the fireplace, holding a white horse on a lead. One of her special horses.

“Michael,” she breathed.

“Great Caesar's Ghost,” Clotho said. “It's a mortal.”

“It's Emma's mortal,” Lachesis said, sounding smug.

“That's why you want to lose your powers,” Atropos said. “You feel sorry for the creature.”

“I do not!” Emma said.

“You want to give up your magic?” Michael let go of the horse and came toward her. “Emma, you can't. It's part of you.”

“No,” she said, “it's not. I was just telling them that I hate it.”

“You don't hate it, child,” Clotho said. “You hate the inconvenience of it. A whole different thing.”

“No.” Emma clenched her fists. They had to understand this. “I hate magic. It's ruined my life and I just got it back. Don't you understand? I hate the loud crashes, the talking cats, the ghostly saviors.”

“Oh, I thought that a unique spell,” Lachesis said. “I saved it for future use. You have an immense talent, Emma.”

“A talent I don't want to use.”

Atropos sighed. “So dramatic.”

“What are those?” Clotho asked.

Everyone turned. The room was filling up with white horses—and expanding to accommodate them.

“Oh dear,” Lachesis said. “Your beggars are getting their wishes.”

“Nothing bad, I hope,” Emma said.

“Not so far,” Atropos said.

Michael slipped his hand in Emma's. She held on tightly.

Clotho sighed. “We are going to have to deal with this.”

“One problem at a time,” Lachesis said.

Atropos had turned her attention back to Emma. “You know, Zeus once considered giving up everything for a mortal.”

“He did not and you know it,” Clotho said. “That's a myth.”

“No, actually,” Lachesis said. “I remember it. He had to be talked out of it.”

“You can have relationships with mortals. Satisfying ones, too. But to give up your future for one just isn't something we allow.” Atropos glared at Michael. “I hope you didn't encourage this, young man.”

He glanced at Emma. She was watching him in confusion. She thought the Fates never spoke to mortals.

“I may have,” he said. “Inadvertently. This morning, we were talking and I reminded her how different our lives were.”

“And I suppose you said you couldn't live with her so young and you getting old and decrepit. You needed to at least look the part, perhaps even have your aging process slowed down.” Lachesis leaned back in her chair. Her smoking jacket gaped at the bosom. Emma wondered if that was some sort of test.

“No,” Michael said. “I told her I'd be with her no matter what.”

“Really?” Clotho's voice rose in surprise. “Did he really say that, Emma?”

Emma nodded. She squeezed his hand. “That's why I'm here.”

“Oh, dear, now I'm confused,” Atropos said. “I would think there was no problem if he loved you no matter what.”

“It's not about him and me.” She squeezed his hand. “When he said that I realized that I could do what I want. And I want to be normal.”

All three Fates rolled their eyes.

“You'll never be normal,” Lachesis said. “Your thousand-year sleep guaranteed that.”

“If it's children you're worried about,” Clotho said, “we've checked with the Powers That Be—”

And with that all three Fates bowed their heads and spread out their hands in a reflexive movement, the way a Catholic might cross himself—

“They said you can still have children even though your magic has arrived. They warned us to warn you, however, that when your hormones go out of whack you might want to go into seclusion. They expect earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes. Things you'll be able to put right afterwards, but still, why have all that damage if you can avoid it?”

Michael was looking confused, but he didn't say anything. Six more horses appeared behind him.

“It's not about children,” Emma said.

“Then what is it?” Atropos said.

“I like this century,” Emma said. “I like the idea of spending the rest of my life in my neighborhood, teaching people, and writing books. I don't want adventures. I hate them. I don't want the responsibilities that magic brings. If I get pregnant, I don't want to worry about having a hormone surge that could wipe out the entire Midwest.”

Michael squeezed her hand in support. She squeezed back.

“Please,” she said, “if you look into my heart, you'll see how I feel. I appreciate the magical gift. I just don't want it.”

The Fates were silent for a moment. Clotho swirled her brandy. Lachesis took a puff off her cigar. Atropos cut one of her cards in half.

Emma felt something pass through her, like several fingers touching her mind. Then they went away.

“How very odd,” Lachesis said.

“Well, you can't be normal if you turn down magic,” Clotho said. “Everyone wants some.”

Atropos cut another card. Lachesis took her scissors away. Atropos didn't seem to mind. “If we do this, she'll end up with the mortal.”

Emma bristled. Michael held her back.

“What's wrong with that?” Lachesis asked.

“He's trying to be a hero,” Clotho said. “He even arrived on a white horse.”

“That's my horse,” Emma said. “It's really a wish. It should have vanished.”

“Where do you think wishes go when they're done with their work?” Atropos said.

“It's really our wish,” Lachesis said.

“Well, not
our
wish because we wouldn't have wished him here, but all wishes ultimately come from us,” Clotho said.

“And all wishes return to us,” Atropos said.

“Well,” Emma said, “I wish to lose my magic. Please.”

“It's a death sentence, Emma,” Michael said. “What's fifty years when you could have thousands?”

She turned to him. This would bother him for the rest of their lives if she didn't explain it now. “It's better to have fifty wonderful years, Michael, doing exactly what I want, than a thousand miserable ones.”

“There we go!” Lachesis said.

“The magic words!” Clotho said.

“Who would have thought the girl understood the essence of happily ever after?” Atropos said.

Emma was still looking at Michael. He pulled her close. “I hope you'll be happy with this,” he said.

“Of course she will,” Lachesis said.

“It's the prophecy,” Clotho said.

“Strange that we were the last to see it,” Atropos said.

“We weren't paying attention,” Lachesis said.

“Young man, do you know how to play whist?” Clotho asked.

“Never tried it,” Michael said.

“Don't,” Atropos said. “It's dull and you only have limited time. Do things you enjoy.”

Emma grinned at him. Michael grinned back.

“Emma,” Lachesis said. “We'll return you to your life. Your magic will be gone, and so will your spells, although we will honor all those wishes.”

“At least fifty so far,” Atropos whispered.

“Fifty-one,” Clotho said, “and not a nasty one in the bunch.”

“As I was saying,” Lachesis continued, “you won't ever be able to get your magic back. This is your last chance to change your mind.”

Emma felt as if a huge burden were lifting off her. “I won't change it.”

“Very well,” Clotho said.

“We shower you with blessings,” Atropos said.

“And send you away with love,” Lachesis said.

“We'll miss you, child,” Clotho said.

“I'll miss you, too,” Emma said, but they had vanished. She was standing in the hotel room, Michael at her side. He was still holding her close.

“I can't believe you did that,” he said.

“Why not? Because you'd keep the magic?” She had an edge to her voice. She was worried that he wouldn't be interested now. She was different, after all, not the special woman she had been before.

“No,” he said. “I was thinking that it was an enormous burden.”

“Then why can't you believe it?” she asked.

“Because I thought it was so much a part of you.”

“That's because you've only known me since I had the magic.” She studied him. “Will you miss it?”

“Your magic?” He pulled her down on the bed. “You still have magic, Emma. Just not of the snap-your-finger-and-turn-a-house-cat-into-a-lion variety.”

“Professor Found, will you let me keep my job?”

He smiled. “Sleeping with your boss. That's a trick that's not recommended in business school. How about marrying him instead?”

“Can I keep my job?”

“You're quite focused, you know that?” His eyes twinkled. “How would it look if I fired my wife?”

“Tacky,” she said, kissing his neck.

“That's right. We'll have to marry before we go home.”

“I'm afraid now we'll have to drive back,” Emma said.

“Two thousand miles with Darnell all over again?” Michael shuddered. Emma couldn't tell if it was a mock shudder or not. “How about asking Aethelstan to zap us back to Madison?”

Emma giggled. “I think he'll do it, after he stops yelling at me for making a major decision like this one without him.”

“He'll have to get used to the fact that I'm the man in your life now,” Michael said.

“I think he'll be relieved.”

Michael started to kiss her, and then he stopped. She frowned at him. “What's wrong?” she asked.

“The Fates mentioned a prophecy. They said it just came true.”

She thought for a moment. “I never paid much attention to prophecies. They even had to remind me about it.”

“What was it?”

“You will find what you seek,” she said, and then, suddenly, she laughed. She couldn't help herself.

Michael was frowning at her.

“Oh, Michael, it's perfect,” she said. “Don't you see?”

“No, I don't see,” he said. “What's so funny?”

“After this trip…”

“Yes?”

“I was Lost, but now I'm Found.”

He grinned. “Those Fates are right. You'll never be normal. Life with you will be fascinating.”

“I'm glad you think so,” she said.

“Oh, I do.”

He started to kiss her, but she put a hand to his mouth. “I think I've been thoroughly kissed, Michael,” she said. “I'm ready to move on.”

“Oh, no, you're not,” he said. “I've only got fifty short years with you, Emma. I've only just begun to kiss.”

Then he lowered his mouth to hers. As she sank into the pillows, she realized that she was feeling joy for the first time since she woke from her thousand-year sleep.

So this was what happily ever after felt like. She liked it more than she could say.

Read on for an excerpt from

He's lived through ages with the curse of attracting women…who end up dead

Once upon a time…he was the most handsome of princes, destined for great things. But now he's a lonely legend, hobbled by a dark history. With too many dead in his wake, Bluebeard escapes the only way he knows how—through the evil spell of alcohol. But it's a far different kind of spell that's been ruining his life for centuries.

How will she survive this killer prince charming?

Jodi Walters is a fixer, someone who can put magic back in order. She's the best in Hollywood at her game. But Blue has a problem she's never encountered before—and worse, she finds herself perilously attracted to him.

Coming September 2012
from Sourcebooks Casablanca