Page 28 of Iris
I hit my head on my desk a few times. Which isn’t smart because of my headache from earlier. “Igor, do you ever think before you speak? At all?”
She tilts her head for a few seconds. “Nope.” Her leaves shake in silent laughter. “I think he noticed how you looked like you were ready to go savage on your female customers when they looked at him.” She cackles now. “I would have loved to see that.”
Groaning softly, I stand back up straight. It’s a good thing I haven’t gone savage on anyone. That would probably ruin any kind of business I have. Even if Igor would have been thrilled with it.
The rest of the day is uneventful. I sell three fourths of my cut flower stock, which gives me a nice boost in sales. Igor spends the day making raunchy jokes at the customers, who seem to love it. It keeps her preoccupied, so I'm fine with it.
In-between the customers, I’ve been online trying to search for answers to my power issue. There are all sorts of theories, but none of them seem to fit my situation. I'm about to give up when I run into a newsletter from the college I graduated from. It had been written anonymously but, as I start to read, it hits a few key points of what is happening to my magic. It isn’t an actual source of knowledge, but I am desperate here.
“...some magical beings, when a spell is cast upon them, react differently than the spell had been intended for. Love spells are controversial, as such, none have had official studies done on them. The theory I present to my peers is this: Love spells are not really love spells. They are simply lust spells. If true love occurs, it’s due to a mating spell disguised as a love spell. Mating spells are even harder to study as it can affect multiple races, and species, across the board. Mating spells can cause internal issues within magic users if the recipients are not aware of the spell.
For example: If a witch were to come under a mating spell, their internal magic may backfire when they try to use it if they fight the bond. They’d have issues with their magic until the mating bond is completed. For magic users, they must be in sync with their magic. If they are not, it could be dangerous for them until the issue is resolved…”
The article continues but all I can see is that last part. I'm under a mating spell. We all know that already. But my magic and I aren’t in sync because of it? What will I have to do to fix it? Not being able to communicate, grow, and nurture my plants is starting to hurt me physically when the magic rebounds, but it's also starting to wear on me mentally. My plants are my life and make me happy and whole.
Well, fuck. I glance at the time. I only have twenty minutes until closing.
“Igor, would you please help anyone who comes in? I really need to call Mom. If you take care of them, I’ll order some of those exotic flies you like. Will you close up on time?”
“Anything for you, Iris!” Igor is at the front of the store, staring out the window.
I shake my head as I step into my apartment. Anything for flies, she means. Dialing Mom, I only have to wait a few seconds for her to answer.
“Hi, sweetie! I haven’t heard from you in two weeks! Why didn’t you call me sooner?” Mom’s voice has my shoulders slumping in relief. it's nice to hear her. She’s always had a way about her that puts you at ease, as long as you aren’t in trouble.
“Hey, Mom. Are you alone? I really need to talk to you.”
“Of course. Give me a second.” There’s a scratchy noise; Mom’s voice sounds far off. The scratchy noise stops after a minute. “Ok, hunbun. I’m alone. What’s going on?” She sounds worried now. I can imagine the way she looks right now. She’d have her nose wrinkled up as her brows drew forward.
I sit on the stool in front of the bar. I'm not sure what to tell her, so I tell her everything. The spell from the book, the three males who’ve claimed we are mates, my magic hurting me, and the job for the dance. She listens quietly during my explanation only offering hums of support at different parts.
“I don’t know what’s going on, Mom. I feel lost.” There is some dirt under my thumb nail that I'm focusing on removing so I don’t have a meltdown.
She takes a breath, holding it. I can hear her shift on the chair she’s sitting on. It has to be her hobby chair. it's the most comfortable chair you’ve ever sat on, but it squeals like a dying mouse. We never could get it to stop.
“Well, let’s start off with congratulations. I’ve been worrying about you not finding someone to love for a while now. But you have three mates! How exciting is that?” Even though she is trying to hide it, her excitement is palpable.
“Mom.” I run a hand down my face. “I’m not even sure they’re all really my mates. They all seem so sure, but this is a mating spell. What if it’s just magic messing with their heads? The mating bond with Dorian is real. I found that out last night, but what about the other two?” I'm falling hard for Dorian. I'm already in love with Noah, and Kieron is breathtaking. How could I not fall for him?
“Oh, froglegs, young lady! From what you’ve said, they’re all very aware of this spell and don’t care. They’re adults. Let them make their own decision. Besides, this vampire, he spilled one of his deepest secrets to you. I don’t know about you, but if he wasn’t falling for you, I doubt he’d have told you that. Not to mention that he’s able to touch you! Can you imagine how wonderful of a feeling that is for him? When he hasn’t been able to touch skin to skin with his fingers?” Mom sighs dramatically. “I want to meet these young men.”
“Mom. Focus.” Snapping my fingers would probably get me grounded, so I don’t, but I really want to. “What about my magic?”
She snorts. “That’s easy to see what’s wrong. I’m a little disappointed you haven’t figured it out, yet.”
“MOM.” Throwing the phone across the room will not help. “Why do you think I called you for help?”
“Iris,” her voice rises, “watch your tone, young lady. Now, you’ve always been in sync with your plant magic and have always been weak with any of the other elements. That’s never bothered you. You’ve never had anything upsetting occur to you that would mess up your magic, yes?”
“Right.” I know where she is going with this, but I just don’t want to say it myself.
“So, now that you have these mates, that you’re not wholly on board with, your magic is sensing the conflict within yourself and it’s messing up. You’re going to have to figure out this situation and become ‘whole’ again to get your magic to work. It sounds like you need to get your bonds solidified. Just be careful, if you stress it too much and it rebounds badly, you could get seriously hurt.”
And there it is. Because of my internal struggle with my feelings and my magic not being in sync with my new mates, my magic isn’t working correctly. So now, I have to confront this head on. That means really talking to the guys and working out how they feel as well. I hope they will feel the same once this mate spell fades; I know I will.
Oh man, Igor is going to have a hay day with this.
“Thanks, Mom.” Sighing, I place my head on the countertop. “I’ll figure this out. I have to. The dance will be ruined if I don’t.”
