Page 18 of Wicked Love
I nodded, feeling my eyes water.
“Well, we know how the curse hit you,” she said with a sigh. “It’s showing up differently for everyone. I’d hoped that you hadn’t been hit, but Thea’s spell was too powerful. And here I was hoping she was merely being optimistic,” Lavinia finished with another sigh.
“What are you talking about?”
“Have you really looked at the curse?” Lavinia asked, crossing her arms like she wasn’t stinking of skunk ass.
As I did too, I supposed I shouldn’t cast stones. “Nope. I haven’t been thinking about it at all,” I said truthfully.
“Well, the last three lines say it all.” Lavinia closed her eyes and quoted,
“I damn you to your darkest fear
I bind you to dread’s cold embrace
Until your truth you boldly face.”
“What does that mean?” I asked. I couldn’t think, couldn’t process it.
“What’s your darkest fear?” Lavinia asked.
“What?”
She waved a hand. “Never mind that. You don’t have to tell me. But you will need to figure it out. Because until you face it, your magic is fucked.”
“What?”
“You’ve done two cleaning spells, and the recipients of both have come out smelling like the back end of a skunk. Does that seem right to you?”
“No,” I shook my head, trying to process what I was hearing.
“So you need to go home, and face your fear. And when you do, your spells will work right.”
“You can’t be sure of this,” I argued.
Lavinia rolled her eyes. She grabbed my hand and brought me to a small fire pit on the side of the garden. “Start a fire.”
I looked at her, and then cast the spell for fire. Nothing happened. I cast it again, and this time, the rocks from the pit flew straight up into the air.
“Shit!” I jumped back.
“Exactly. Shit,” Lavinia said. “Well, you’re not going to be any good here. Go home, and get some sleep. See if you can get rid of the smell. And I’ll see you at the library tomorrow. Only—” she held out a finger, “If you get rid of the smell. If not, you stay home. Got it.?”
“No,” I said. This couldn’t be happening. Not to me.
“Listen, this is going to take some time to sort out. I’ve already talked to some of the witches here, and not everyone is showing signs. But those that are, it’s different for everyone. So for you, Jasper, your magic is going to be off kilter until you identify your fear and face it.”
“You don’t know that!” I nearly shouted.
“No, I don’t, but I’m taking an educated guess. Now go.”
“I can—”
“Do your part by breaking your piece of the curse,” Lavinia finished firmly. “We didn’t realize it when she cast it, but it seems that everyone that has been affected will need to break it on their own. Damn her,” she added. “It’s brilliant on her part, even as it’s a pain in the ass.”
“Thea is a powerful witch,” I agreed. “Which is why you need me here.”
“No, not smelling like that. And not with your magic on the fritz. Go home. Call me when it’s sorted. And by sorted,” Lavinia said, “I mean you cast twenty spells a day and they all come out right.”
