The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes Read online

  ‘Her? It’s probably Charles,’ she said, resigned.

  ‘I don’t think so.’ He had an oddly smug expression on his face. ‘Hurry up. I’m getting bored.’

  ‘You can always leave,’ she pointed out, heading for the door.

  It was Maxine from the diner, odd enough in itself, odder still because Maxine seemed to be twitching with nerves. ‘Hi, Lizzie,’ she said. And then she sneezed. ‘You’ll never guess what I’m here for.’

  ‘I can’t imagine,’ Lizzie said faintly. She glanced behind her. She could just manage to see Elric’s shimmering outline. A definite advance from earlier in the day, she thought.

  I’m collecting for the Salem’s Fork Wetlands Project. We’re… er… planning an auction, and we’re looking for donations.’ She stumbled over the words, as if she’d memorized them.

  Lizzie just looked at her. ‘I didn’t know Salem’s Fork had any wetlands.’

  ‘That’s an amethyst, isn’t it?’ Maxine said, her beady eyes focusing in on the pendant. ‘It’s new, right? You could donate that – I bet it would bring in a lot of money. And think of the poor frogs and salamanders.’

  Instinctively, Lizzie wrapped her hand over the amethyst, shielding it from Maxine’s eyes, and it pulsed in her hand. ‘I don’t think so. I’m sorry, Maxine. Maybe Dee could write you a check-’

  ‘Don’t tell Dee!’ Maxine said, clearly worried. ‘I’ve never seen you wear jewelry before, wouldn’t you rather donate it-’

  The door slammed in her face, and there was an audible click. Lizzie reached for the doorknob, but it was hot to the touch, and Elric was standing behind her shoulder, looking bored.

  ‘Sorry, Maxine,’ she shouted through the door. ‘The wind must have blown it shut. Come back tomorrow and we’ll give you a check.’

  ‘But I can’t…’ There was sudden silence on the other side of the door.

  She whirled around to face Elric. ‘What did you do to her?’

  ‘Sent her back to work. Which is what we need to do. Come along. I’m not in the mood for any more interruptions.’

  He motioned her into the workshop. ‘This is a fairly simple array.’ He began to draw a circular design on the rough wooden floor there. ‘Just enough to help focus the energy. When you get better at this you’ll probably tweak it a bit, find one that works better for you. There are thousands of variations, carried down through history – you’re bound to find one that’s just right for you.’

  She looked at him, doubtful. It was late, and the wind outside was growing stronger. She could hear the creak of the branches overhead, the occasional rattle of the windows as a gust swept through. She’d spent the entire day listening to him, and she should have been tired and bored and restless. And in fact she was restless, though she couldn’t figure out why. Even Mare had been an intrusion, somebody to be gotten out of the way. Something was building inside her, in concert with the coming storm, and she kept thinking her life was about to change.

  Of course it was. Elric was showing her the secrets of the gift she’d struggled with so long, hated for so long, and she soaked up every word with rapt attention, mesmerized by the sound of his deep voice and his magical words.

  They’d been at it for hours, with only a couple of breaks for food and tea. She’d offered him wine, but he’d taken one look at the ordinary chardonnay Dee kept and shook his head. ‘Working with a gift like ours is tricky enough without throwing alcohol or drugs into the mix. If I were you I wouldn’t touch anything for at least five years, until you’re a master at transmutation.’

  ‘Five years without a drink?’ she’d replied. ‘You’re kidding!’

  ‘Is that a problem?’

  In fact it wasn’t. Beer gave her a headache, wine upset her stomach, and the harder stuff made her shudder. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. ‘Next you’ll be telling me I have to be celibate, as well,’ she shot back. Then strongly regretted it. Mentioning sex in his presence had the most unsettling effect. She glanced around to see whether any untoward shoes had popped up, but for once she was spared.

  He pushed his long, dark blond hair away from his beautiful face, and the silver stud glittered. ‘It all depends. Sleeping with someone like your fiancé will dull your gifts. Eventually they’d disappear altogether.’

  Her instincts had been right about that. Every time she was around Charles, the shards of magic faded, leaving her safe and quiet and dull. ‘Isn’t that what you’d like?’ she said. ‘Since you say I’m so dangerous?’

  He looked at her, considering. ‘It would be a loss,’ he said finally. ‘You have more talent than I’ve seen in decades, and it would be a shame to waste it. Particularly on an oaf like your fiancé.’

  ‘Decades?’ she echoed, amused. ‘I doubt you were that aware when you were a kid.’

  ‘In fact I was very aware as a child, but I’m older than you think.’

  ‘How old are you?’ He couldn’t be much over thirty-five, though she would have guessed closer to thirty.

  ‘Older,’ he said in a voice that allowed no further discussion. ‘Are we going to do this or are you going to throw everything away on true love?’

  He sounded annoyed by the notion. Was it simply that she’d be wasting her talents, or something else? That had to be some bizarre streak of wishful thinking on her part.

  ‘Don’t you think true love is worth risking everything for?’

  ‘It depends on how you define it,’ he said. He’d taken off his jacket and tie, rolled up his sleeves, and his long hair was rumpled. He should have looked more approachable. In fact, the more human he appeared, the more nervous it made her, and she wasn’t sure why.

  ‘I bet you don’t even believe in true love.’

  ‘To quote the Queen of Hearts, I try to believe in six impossible things before breakfast every day. Are we going to do this or are you going to keep talking?’

  ‘We’re going to do this,’ she said, eyeing the chalk circle doubtfully.

  ‘You’ll need to take off those shoes.’ At some point her espadrilles had been replaced by black patent Mary Janes, an odd look beneath her jeans, but then, she was used to having strange things on her feet. She kicked them off and under the workbench.

  ‘Socks, too,’ he said. ‘Your body needs to be in contact with the circle.’

  She peeled off the white socks with the lace trim, grumbling under her breath, and then stepped into the middle of the circle. Immediately the pendant went into hyperdrive, thrumming against her heart.

  She met his dark eyes for a moment, startled, and he nodded. ‘Very good. You’re even more receptive than I thought. This would work better if you were naked, but I’m assuming I can’t talk you into that. At least, not yet.’

  ‘Not in this lifetime,’ she said, half expecting him to mock her on that blanket statement. His silence was even more challenging.

  He picked up one of her shoes and set it on the wooden workbench, in the center of the smaller circle he’d drawn there. ‘This should be easy enough to start with – it’s already been transmuted once, and I can still feel the energy. What do you want to turn it into?’

  ‘Gold,’ she said promptly.

  ‘Don’t be so single-minded,’ he chided her. ‘The first time you ski you don’t go down a double black diamond run, the first time you sail you don’t head across the ocean. Try something small.’

  ‘A diamond?’ she suggested, ever hopeful.

  ‘Go for something you’d wear,’ he said patiently. ‘Just a small transmutation, nothing drastic. You’ll learn by small steps.’

  ‘I’m going to have to learn fast if you’re only going to be here three days.’

  ‘You’ll learn. Close your eyes.’

  That was the last thing she wanted to do. Standing barefoot in a circle with her eyes closed made her feel too vulnerable. But the longer she hesitated, the longer it would take, so she dutifully closed her eyes.

  ‘Relax. You’re tight as a spring. I’m not goi