8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Callum

What words were even coming from my mouth right now?

I'll break the spell for you?

Had I lost my ever-loving mind?

Watching Michael walk towards the door to leave, shoulders slumped, looking miserable and honestly slightly scared, one thought filled my mind.

Don't let him go.

My crush on him in high school had consumed more than a healthy amount of my time back then and seeing him now had ignited it once more. Just staring into his blue eyes and handsome face had my stomach dipping down to my toes.

But to offer to reverse the spell for him? I knew better. My spells always, always went wild. Not a single one ever worked the way it was supposed to. And I had promised my family. But…this was a special case, wasn't it? Michael clearly needed help. My help.

Yeah, that sounded good and was exactly how I was going to spin it to my family. Not that I planned for them to ever find out. Nope, I was going to do a simple spell reversal, and Michael would be on his way. Or, not.

Because when I had stood in front of him, and held his hands, searching for the spell, I had seen…something. Usually my visions only came to me when I read cards. But this time, along with the spell, I had seen…our hands. Wound together, clasped tightly, fingers entwined. And I had just known it was a vision of a future yet to come.

That Michael was my future.

If I didn't fuck it up.

So yeah, I was going to man up and ask him for coffee when we were done.

If nothing went wrong with my spell casting.

Which I absolutely wasn't going to be doing, if anyone asked. Nothing to see here, folks, move along. No spell casting going on today.

It was going to be fine.

The spell on Michael truly wasn't a very powerful one. I very much doubted anything that had happened to him was actually caused by the spell–it simply wasn't strong enough. The majority of bad luck spells weren't aimed to cause actual, physical harm to the person unless cast by a witch who was dark. The wannabe witch that had cast the spell on Michael might have been pissed when he did it, but it wasn't strong enough to cause true maliciousness.

Sometimes bad days were just that. Nothing evil, just a string of annoyances. Though the fire at his building was concerning, as was him tripping into traffic, they weren't caused by the spell. I was certain of that.

I could do this. I could break this spell for Michael. All it would take was a simple reversal spell, and even I should be able to do that.

Probably. Possibly. It would be fine.

Michael looked so relieved when he turned to face me, and I knew in that moment I couldn't take the offer back even if I wanted to. He needed my help. He truly believed the spell was the cause of all the bad things that had happened to him the last day and a half, and if I could make that troubled look in his eyes vanish, I was going to try.

"You will?" His voice was full of relief, and I nodded. Hex meowed loudly at me, his tone telling me he wasn't on board with my plan in the slightest. Yeah, he was as worried as I was about this.

"Yeah, it's a simple reversal spell." I sounded way more confident than I felt, my palms growing sweaty. Taking a steadying breath, I offered him a smile I hoped conveyed my skill.

You have no spell casting skills, Callum, and this is a very, very bad idea.

"Thank you, Callum." The way Michael said my name, low and silky, had goosebumps racing down my spine and all my blood rushing straight towards my dick. "Thank you."

Brushing past him to hide the bulge in my jeans his words had caused, I flipped the open sign to closed, and locked the door, pulling down the shade. We didn't need any tourists witnessing me doing any actual spell casting. Especially if something went awry.

Not that it would. I had every confidence that this time my spell would work. Mostly.

"Let me grab one of Daphne's candles." I hurried to the row of Daphne's spelled candles we sold. Grabbing a green one that was for reversing bad luck, I placed it on the counter and lit it.

Hex arched his back, swiping at my hand that held the lighter with his paw.

"Stop that," I ordered the cat, moving the candle away from him, before he accidentally flicked his tail in the flame. Or knocked the candle over and set the shop and house on fire. I'd never be able to explain that to my family.

Oh hey, you know how we all agreed it was a bad idea for me to spell cast? Well, this really cute guy came in that I crushed on in high school, and he batted his eyes at me, and my dick got hard, so I said I would help him reverse a tiny little spell he had on him. Before I could even get started, Hex knocked the candle over and poof! Fire! But it happened before I actually did anything, so really, it's the cat's fault.

Yeah, that wouldn't go over well at all.

Turning to Michael, I smiled tentatively. "I need to go look up something in my Gran's grimoire. I'll be right back. Make sure Hex doesn't knock the candle over, please." Pointing at the cat, I shot him a stern look before hurrying through the curtain and up the stairs to Gran's room.

Ten minutes later, I returned to find Michael pretty much where I had left him, occupying himself with petting Hex. The cat looked to be in heaven, his purring loud enough I could hear him when I came back into the shop, his earlier displeasure with me replaced by the lavish attention being heaped on him. He was such an attention whore.

"All set." Standing in front of Michael, I took his hands in mine, feeling a tingle of awareness spread through my body.

He shook his shoulders, his arms wiggling like noodles, but his fingers wrapped around mine with a firm hold. "Should I do anything?"

"Close your eyes." He did, shutting his intense blue gaze from me. He took a breath, then slowly let it out, trying hard to relax.

My voice was quiet, but steady, as I chanted the spell. With each word, I grew more confident .

"Banish bad fortune and fear, make this spell disappear. Bring good fortune and luck today, only good karma shall stay. Banish all that blocks and binds, conjure thee and make it mine. Return this spell from whence it came, with my power, I mote it be."

Michael's eyes fluttered open and we stared at each other for a few seconds, neither saying a word. Finally, he whispered, "Is that it?"

Nodding, I reluctantly dropped my hands from his, breaking our connection. "That's it."

He blinked and took a step back. "I don't feel any different."

Snorting, I chuckled. "Did you feel different before?"

"Oh, no. I don't think so," he shook his head, "I just thought I'd feel…I don't know…something different. Thank you, Callum. How much do I owe you?"

Waving a hand to dismiss his question, I blew out the candle. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Surreptitiously casting my eyes over the shop, I looked for anything that might be amiss, but everything seemed normal. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turned to find Michael watching me with concern.

"Everything okay?" he asked, putting his wallet back into his pocket from where he'd pulled it out.

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't it be?" I tried to sound as normal as possible, while still checking for anything that might be amiss .

He shrugged, "I don't know, you tell me. You look a little…I'm not sure. Like you're looking for something."

"No worries. Thought I saw a mouse," I lied. "Hex is pretty but he's not a great mouser. Thinks it's beneath him."

Hex batted his paw in my direction, his meow telling me what I could do with my opinion of his mouse hunting skills.

"I guess I'll be going now," Michael said each word slowly, and I nodded.

Stop nodding like a lunatic, Callum. He's going to think you're a weirdo. Though if the whole witch thing didn't scare him off, you're probably good.

"Yeah, okay." Now would be a good time to ask him about that cup of coffee.

"Okay." He took a step back, his eyes conflicted.

"Okay." Say something, Callum. Anything. Do not say okay one more time.

Michael ran a hand through his messy hair. "It was good seeing you again."

Smiling, I snorted, "You had no clue who I was when you walked in here."

He laughed, "You're right, I didn't."

"It's no big deal. I was pretty unremarkable in school. You were way too popular for me to be on your radar. And I was two years behind you. "

He bit his lower lip, and it was adorable the way he looked almost shy. "I…yeah…if it didn't revolve around sports, or debate club, it didn't really register. Sorry."

"Don't be," I moved the candle from one side of the counter to the other for something to do with my hands. "Really, it's not a big deal. You were pretty wrapped up in your girlfriend back then too." Wincing, I kept my gaze plastered to the floor, because I hadn't really meant to go there.

"Well," he shoved his pockets into the front of his jeans, "I wasn't out then, and Steph was…understanding. I didn't come out until my second year of college."

"I'm gay too," I blurted.

Michael's lips tipped up into a sly smile. "Yeah, I figured that when you called me cute."

Oh, fucking hell, I had forgotten about that embarrassment. "Oh, yeah…and you are too?"

He nodded, grinning now, "I am, yeah."

Say something clever, Callum! And, I had…absolutely nothing. Why couldn't I be a natural born flirt like my sister?

Michael shoved his hands in his back pockets, "I guess I should go. I need to at least stop by and see my parents while I'm here. If my mom hears I was in Salem and didn't come see them, there will be hell to pay."

"Yeah, moms are like that." What was I even saying? I should not be allowed to speak. Ever.

"Do you ever come to Boston?" Michael asked, his voice hopeful.

"Not if I can fucking avoid it."

His face fell, "Oh. Yeah, it's not for everyone."

"Sorry, that was rude of me." Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I was blowing this. Ask him for coffee, Callum! Man the fuck up. Remember your vision? And your reading! The cards predicted a new love would enter your life and here he is. Don't blow this!

Michael shuffled a foot across the tiled floor. "Um…I don't suppose you would want to, maybe, grab dinner or something tonight, would you?"

Shoving my glasses up my nose, I stared at him, my mouth hanging open.

"Oh," I breathed, my chest filling with warmth, "I'd love to, sure."

His smile lit up his face and reached all the way to his eyes. It was the smile I remembered from school, and it still had the power to make my stomach swoop and swirl. "Good then. What time do you close? Is seven good?"

Technically, we closed at nine, but I was closing early because I needed to help Macy tonight. Macy! I'd completely forgotten I had promised to help.

"I can't." Michael's face fell, and I hurriedly explained, "I promised to help my friend, Macy, tonight. She does a guided walking witch tour. I mean, if you don't mind eating after, you could tag along. Might even learn a thing or two."

"What time? It might be fun. I've never done any of the walking tours of anything here."

"I need to meet her on Derby Street at seven."

Excitement raced through my body, and it took everything inside me to not bounce up and down on the balls of my feet. Michael Endicott was taking me to dinner! More than that, he was going on the walking tour with me, then taking me to dinner. Plus, I had actually done a spell and nothing bad had happened. My cards might have been onto something.

Michael took a few steps toward the door, "I'll pick you up at six-thirty, then."

"I'm…looking forward to it." My cheeks were hurting with all the grinning my face was doing, but I couldn't help myself.

What were the odds my high school crush would walk into our shop, need my help, then ask me on a date? Michael might have been having bad luck, but mine had definitely changed for the better.

"Me too," he tossed another grin at me over his shoulder, moving towards the door.

And that's when it happened.

I should have been expecting it.

No spell I ever did worked.

Why had I thought today would be any different?

Michael grabbed his head, cried out in agony and crumpled to the floor.