I Put A Spell on You

i put a spell on you

N on-magical supes are irritating.

Despite what they may have been taught in schools or at home, they always seem to think I can wave a wand like that kid in the human movies and whatever they need will appear. That’s simply not how it works and the time I spend explaining magic has a process is exhausting. However, I’m quite interested in the new dean, even if it is for selfish reasons, and I’ll indulge her rather than the snooty beefcake she’s clinging to. So I smile and nod at their demands, if only to make peace.

“There are several possibilities that might explain this sudden onset. One is some sort of poison, be it organic or man-made. If the needle went unnoticed, it could have been inhaled, ingested, or injected. That’s what Zuzanne is busy running tests for.” When they nod in understanding, I almost sigh in relief. It would be much harder if either of them was too stupid to understand that basic breakdown. “If it’s not a compound identifiable by science, it may be from a magical source. Unfortunately, that would make it much more difficult to pinpoint quickly.”

“But you can, yes? Zuzanne seemed to think you were the person to call, Professor Ignatius.”

I like the way my name rolls off her tongue and, for a second, I get distracted. Slade told me she was enchanting, but I didn’t see it as clearly as I do in this proximity. “I can, but time is a factor. I’ll need to scry for hexes, curses, spells, potions, and magical poisons in order to determine the source. Then we need to figure out what form of enchantment it is and what it entails. I’m very good; Zuzanne is right. However, this is one of those times where you can do it well or do it fast.”

A low growl comes from the big shifter, and I look at him with an arched brow. He tries to hide that he’s squeezing Morgana’s hand, and I smile to myself. The big, burly hockey player is scared, and he doesn’t want me to know. I’ll play his game for now because I think pushing on him too hard will make my true target angry. Something is happening between them, unsure if it’s just Mrs. Robinson or more. It’s interesting, that’s for sure.

I’ll have to talk to Slade and see if he can pump Channing for information.

“Don’t worry, big guy.” I smile brightly as I pull an athame, a talisman, and several other necessary tools from my bag. “But I hope you’re up to one more poke. I’ll need to have a few drops in my little travel chalice here and one on the talisman.”

Morgana frowns. “Are you sure it’s necessary?”

I blink, tilting my head. “Of course I am. Why do you ask?”

Something that looks like fear crosses her face and she shrugs. “I avoid allowing magic users access to pieces of me for… very good reasons. I don’t wish to give you pieces of Lucas if it isn’t absolutely required.”

Smart, but unexpected. I wonder why she’s worried about it.

“It’s fine, Morgana,” Lucas says softly. “Nana will have the family mage do whatever the hell she has them do, and I’m sure it will negate whatever this dude does.”

“You have a family mage ?” I blurt incredulously. Being employed to work only for one family line is an incredibly lucrative yet dangerous occupation for one of my kind. You have a lifelong patron, but you also risk being terminated with ruthless efficiency if you don’t do your job well—and I don’t mean fired.

Lucas nods, closing his eyes as he puts his arm up on Morgana’s lap. “Mmm hmm. The Wolfenbergs have had them in several countries since forever. Cyrus is the one in the States; it’ll probably be him dropping by to check me unless he’s stuck trailing my parents again.”

“I think you need to cut and get on with this,” Morgana says in a worried tone. “I’m not sure he’s supposed to be blabbing all this stuff. Whatever it is may be affecting his inhibitions, and I know neither of us wants Fraü Wolfenberg to think we took advantage of his condition to get gossip.”

“Quite so,” I reply as I lean in and make a surface cut to his forearm. Lucas doesn’t flinch, so I hold the chalice under his arm with one hand and squeeze his limb to get the blood dripping with the other. “Now we wait for a few moments and then I’ll dip the talisman.”

Morgana’s face softens, and she looks down at the prone man, using her free hand to brush strands of hair off of his face. “Not too much longer, Lucas. Once we figure out what this is, I’m sure Zuzanne or Iggy can fix you right up.”

When I have enough blood, I dip the end of the talisman into it and set them both aside. My hand leaves his arm and I wait for the shifter healing to kick in. It takes longer than it should and I frown. That’s odd. I watch until it seals up, then turn to my materials. Pulling an old scrying scroll out of the bag, I spread it out on the other end of the table Morgana is perched on and start murmuring the words to activate it. It glows once and I pick up the chain of the talisman, swinging it over the paper back and forth as I chant the spell. The most dangerous possibility combines science and magic, but I don’t want to claim that just yet. If some nut decided to get back at the old goat in charge of one of the most powerful Society families through her heir apparent, they could easily have mixed old and new to keep us from saving him in time.

That’s the scheming that starts wars and we haven’t had a full-on supe war since the 40s.

There have been small skirmishes, of course, and the humans always think it’s their history, but that’s exactly what they formed the Society to do—protect all the people by preventing the dominant species on the planet from annihilating everything not like them.

Too bad the asshole deities who are part of the Councils didn’t consider that before they created the fucking humans.

“Ignatius!”

I glance up as Zuzanne appears in the doorway with a troubled expression. The scrying is being difficult and I haven’t ruled out magic yet, but she clearly has something to say. My eyes cut to the Dean and Lucas, who were speaking in low tones as I worked. “Yes?”

“I need to speak with you.” She crosses her arms over her chest and I can see the tension in her frame, so I dispense with my usual snark. Clearly, she wants to keep it a secret, which is concerning.

Rising to my feet, I place the scrying stone on the map carefully and let her shepherd me a few steps away from the doorway. “What is it, Zuzanne?”

“My findings were concerning. The levels of wolfsbane in young Lucas’s system were alarming and even worse, he had a build-up of digitoxin that can only be from small, repeated doses or it would have killed him. In fact, if he weren’t a shifter with healing gifts, it definitely would have.”

I frown, mentally adding that to my list of suspicious thoughts I’ve been having. “Zuzanne, I’m having a difficult time ruling out magic. However, finding oleander and wolfsbane in your bloodwork means the culprit is banking on the effects of science or magic to not only harm this young man, but kill him eventually. They’re used as ingredients in a variety of hexes and curses—particularly ones that are aimed at shifters.”

“No shit, Ignatius! If he’d been a wolf shifter or hybrid, he’d be in the ground already,” she scoffs. “We have to speak with Morgana privately before we tell him. My serum is in progress for the medical aspect. Discover the enchantment type and the responsible person.”

“The university’s relationship with his grandmother is not my concern,” I reply with a glare. “This is a police matter and you know it.”

I don’t even see her fist before I feel the punch in my arm that nearly knocks me off my feet. “Fuck, Z!”

Grinning smugly, she tilts her head. “A pox on you for thinking that was what I cared about, Ignatius. I’m worried someone tried to kill this student and when it didn’t work fast enough, they attempted to frame him for murder. I don’t know why, of course, but we have no idea who’s involved and if they have eyes in law enforcement. Telling the idiotic campus security or the hapless moron in charge of magical incidents in the police will only put him at further risk.”

I didn’t consider that and I’m disappointed in myself—I’m a globally ranked chess player and I usually think five steps ahead.

“That’s an excellent point, Zuzanne. I should have thought of it.” Scratching my chin, I sigh. “We need to go in and finish my scrying. Once I have a better idea of what we’re dealing with, we’ll speak with both. Based on what I’ve seen, Morgana will not allow us to leave Lucas out of the discussion. There’s something going on with them and he’ll convince her in seconds.”

Her eyes widen, and she slaps her forehead. “Buggering hell, Iggy. I know why.”

“Why?” I ask curiously.

“Because the conversation we were having before he arrived was a bit too hypothetical for my taste, but I indulged it because Morgana is the Dean.” She rolls her eyes to the ceiling and mutters something before looking at me with a resigned expression. “I think Morgana and the star hockey player accidentally mated last night.”

Holy. Fucking. Hephaestus’. Fiery. Balls.

Hissing curses under my breath, I scrub my hand down my face. “That explains a lot. Is this intrigue related to her? The last thing I want to do is get on the bad side of some groupie still in love with dear old dead Magnus.”

“No. Lucas’s poison levels go back at least three weeks, if not more. The person trying to hurt him has been doing it since he arrived on campus for hockey orientation and Morgana hasn’t been here that long. She’s just gotten caught in the crossfire of another high-level PR nightmare.” Zuzanne cocks her head at the room. “Let’s go talk to them and we’ll all develop a plan from there.”

Something tickles my brain and I remember how wired this building is. I’ve always hated coming here because of the invisible tech and I can’t imagine whoever installed all of this isn’t monitoring it. I made certain our conversation was shielded when I stepped up to Zuzanne, but I don’t have enough materials to extend my personal shields to all four of us. We cannot have that conversation anywhere in this place; if we don’t know who’s involved, it would put all of us in danger.

“No. It’s not safe.” I roll my eyes around the hallway, then stare at her for a moment until she gets the idea. “Morgana was supposed to meet Slade, Channing, and I for a game night. You go back to the lab and finish your serum. Hopefully, that will help the kid long enough to get him out of here. He can go back to Morgana’s with her and we will meet at my place to have a more serious discussion. It’s warded so tightly that Merlin wouldn’t be able to get in.”

Zuzanne laughs and shakes her head. “Your ego will be the death of you, Iggy. But I see your point. Go figure out the witchy woo things. I’ll handle getting Lucas up and moving.”

She turns on her heel and marches off, making me chuckle. An alliance with someone as rooted in the provable world as her is unexpected, but that kind of networking will be even more valuable than saving Fraü Wolfenberg’s grandson. I grin to myself as I walk back into the room with a fake smile.

“Zuzanne has something cooking that might help while we’re figuring this out. I’m going to finish my scrying and once she gives Lucas the serum, you should be able to take him home. Then we’ll research some more and she’s going to meet us at my place tonight. It will add seriousness to game night, but it’s a good gathering place.”

Morgana studies me and the single snake she called a troublemaker darts out to lick the air. It hisses low and I’m pretty certain by the change in her expression that she knows I’m not telling the truth. I didn’t know that a gorgon’s snakes could do that, and it makes me a little giddy to add it to my mental encyclopedia. She stays quiet, though, as I look around the room, hoping to let her know why I’m being cautious. When she nods, I almost sigh in relief.

“Okay.” The Dean’s shoulders square and she uses her free hand to brush sweaty strands off of the polar bear’s forehead. “That sounds good, right, Lucas? You can come to my place and you can tell me about the other contractors coming next week.”

Contractors? He hired people to renovate her house? Slade and I are so screwed.

The hockey player opens his eyes, looking exhausted but happy. “I can come to your place? Can I feel the new sheets?”

Morgana’s laugh is rich and smoky as she nods. I watch her go from worried to soft care as she nods. “I suppose I could put the new bedclothes on that you had sent. I’m too old to be sleeping on the couch and living out of suitcases, anyway. I don’t think I told you how much I appreciated you doing that. Living in Magnus’ shadow was eating away at me more than I wanted to admit.”

Suddenly, the talisman stops on a familiar building and my gaze narrows. The greenhouse near the Natural Sciences building would be a perfect place to gather the physical ingredients needed for this type of poison and magic. It doesn’t tell me who is doing this nonsense, but it definitely gives me a place to look.

“Did you find something?”

I look up and see both of them staring at me hopefully. “A start, perhaps. However, more work is still needed to fix it.”

Zuzanne shows up with a flask of red liquid right at that moment, holding it up with a triumphant smile. “First, we help him stand up. Then, we read.”

Hopefully, whatever this is gives us enough time to find the source and take it out or I have a feeling the Fraü won’t be our only problem.