Page 10 of Mochas and Minotaurs

And that gave me an idea.

“I don’t think she’s leaving,” I said.

“No, she wouldn’t, not until she gets what she wants. But that ain’t happening.” Marcus still didn’t offer any other explanation.

“Let’s make a deal. I help you convince her that you are Marcus and not whoever you were, and you tell me why you’re avoiding her. All of it. No omissions. No lies.”

Marcus looked ready to bolt for a moment, but there was nowhere for him to run. Finally he said, “Only if you promise the information stays between us.”

A secret then. I didn’t know what to expect, but I did know that I needed a partner to help fight Arcane Development. I had this feeling that if Marcus's mother got what she wanted, I’d be out of a friendly neighbor.

“Deal,” I agreed.

He nodded. “What’s your plan?”

Instead of telling him, I simply said, “Sit still and let me work my magic.”

He looked amused but didn’t move. As I worked, the negative energy from him started to fade.

First I removed the glamor spell that hid his horns and other inhuman details. The original spell had kept his defining looks and simply humanized them. He still looked like himself despite the illusion. My job was to turn him into someone else completely.

“I’m guessing she expects a minotaur?” I asked.

“Yes, or one in glamor.”

“I’m going to keep your minotaur form so she thinks you aren’t wearing glamor at all. Trust me, no one can see through this unless they are a seasoned magic user.”

I focused on his face, manipulating the air around, sculpting a new one. A little nudge here. A small bump there. It was like working with modeling clay, except the magic made it much easier for me to form what I saw in my head. Then a few softly chanted words. Done.

“Ta-da!” I grinned at my masterpiece. It was still the same gorgeous face under the mask, but on the outside, Marcus was someone else. Gone were the sculpted cheekbones and the sharp jawline, replaced by something that was wholly and utterly average. Still decent-looking, but not cover-model gorgeous.

And he was still very much a minotaur, complete with horns, downturned bovine ears, and bullish features. Under his pants, his legs were those of a beast. I looked down to check, and sure enough the trainers he wore were shaped for a set of hooves.

He went to the single floor-length mirror he’d leaned up against the wall for a look, and reached up to touch his face.

“What did you do? I’ve never had glamor spells change my actual features before. Usually they only hide my bull parts.”

“It’s still a glamor spell, just a more advanced one. Even if she tried to use one of those illusion-detecting apps, it’d come back as natural. You might need to change your voice though.”

He shook his head. “My voice is very different from before. She won’t recognize it.”

He headed toward the back door and stepped out into the stairwell. I turned my attention to the screen. Moments later the door opened, and Marcus stepped into the shot, forcing the woman to step back. She frowned at him, confusion clear on her face. This was not who she’d expected.

“Ma’am, if you’re looking for the young lady who owned the bookstore, she moved. But if it’s important, I can try to get a message to her.” Marcus made himself sound ultra white-bread American.

“Um, ah, no. I was looking for…” She looked down at her phone. “…Marcus.”

“That’s me.” Marcus made a show of looking past her shoulder. “Is it the yoga mat delivery? I thought it was coming tomorrow.”

The woman suddenly lifted her phone and snapped a picture of him, the flash blinding the cameras.

“Hey!” Marcus complained, holding a hand over his eyes. “What the hell?”

The woman stepped back, her eyes on her screen. She looked confused, probably because her app failed to detect any illusion spells on him.

“No, no, no.” She shook her head. “Mais, c’est vrai.”

“Delete that right now,” Marcus exclaimed in false outrage. “Who put you up to this? One of our competitors?”

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