“What does the Court Magika suspect?” Nerium asked.
“Well, for one thing, there appears to be an expensive buy-in, which automatically makes the company shady. For another, there’s an emphasis on recruitment over sales—another pyramid scheme trick. And third, there’s something…wrong about this. It’s growing too fast, too quickly, and the Court is thinking there might be coercion magic involved.”
“So you think one of us should visit her instead?” May asked.
“Yes, simply put.” Rowan swiveled to stare at Ari and me. “But it can’t be Berta or you, May. Or even Nerium or Yolen. All of us are too experienced and we radiate too much energy. Anyone who is running some sort of a scam is going to pick up on that. Teran, I don’t want you going in because you’re the worst liar I’ve ever met. So I’m thinking Ari and January should take a gander.”
I didn’t want to take a gander at anything, but I kept my mouth shut. Once my grandmother’s mind was made up, that was that.
“What do we do? Show up at her door?” Ari asked.
Rowan shook her head. “No. Look up Majikoil on the net, find out what you can. Call her from the number on her website. Tell her you have a friend in Terameth Lake who raved to you about the oils—I checked and there are two consultants there. Tell her how much you loved them and that you’d like to buy some.”
“What should we ask about? What is Majikoil?” I asked.
“Quite simply, a line of magical oils. Sheryl also has some tinctures as well. I don’t know if the oils are fake, or if they are truly enchanted. I know the buy-in is way more than it should be. And there’s something else about the company but so far, the Court Magika has to walk slowly. If Sheryl catches wind they’re onto her, she’ll vanish and pop up somewhere else. We want to put a stop to this as soon as possible. Justice, from the Court Magika, has warned me to move slowly. I also talked to Starlight Williams, who runs the Crescent Moon Society in Whisper Hollow. She’s trying to investigate as well, given there’s a rep who moved over there, too.”
“So, we call this woman, and enthuse about how happy our friends in Terameth Lake are with the products, and say they recommended we try them?” I was beginning to get the picture.
“That about sums it up. And when you are talking to Sheryl, drop a few hints about how you wish you could make some extra money. Also, and I don’t know why—they wouldn’t tell me—but the Court Magika recommends that you also mention about how tired you are. I suppose the oils are supposed to give you a burst of energy.”
“Okay, let me jot this down.” Ari pulled out a pen and notebook.
Rowan leaned back in the rocker. “It’s amazing what people will find to make money on. Any witch worth her salt knows that making her own oils is more powerful than buying them. Or if you need to buy something, support your local magic shop. The gods know, they can use the business, especially in today’s economy.”
Daya cleared her throat. “If we’re done with the subject, can I ask for some advice?”
“Of course,” Rowan said. “What’s the matter?”
Daya, who struck me as bland except for her talent with the element of fire, blushed. “It’s about my boyfriend. He’s having trouble with… When we are in bed he can’t seem to…”
“Get it up?” Nerium said.
“Don’t be mean,” Yolen said.
“I wasn’t,” Nerium said. “If he’s having trouble in bed, then he’s having trouble getting his wood hard. It happens to a lot of men. There’s nothing mean about it.”
“Yes, that’s what I meant,” Daya said, blushing even harder. “The thing is, he’s been to the doctor and there’s no reason he should be having problems getting… An erection. And psychologically, there doesn’t seem to be any block. He doesn’t even wake up with one so it’s not a psychological problem. I’m thinking that somebody put a curse on him.”
“Does he have any ex-girlfriends who are pissed at him?” Rowan asked.
Daya stared at the ground. “Maybe. Or maybe…she’s mad at me. You see, I kind of stole him from his old girlfriend. They were having problems and…she isn’t right for him at all. I didn’t use any magic to attract him away. They would have broken up sooner or later.”
Rowan let out a deep sigh. “Never get involved with someone before they officially break up with their ex. It’s never going to end well. How long ago did you get together?”
“Three months. I haven’t talked about it much because… Well… I knew you’d scold me. She found out a week after I first slept with him. They broke up and he moved in with me.”
I stared at Daya, feeling churlish. “Going to give you a little bit of advice, honey,” I said. “My ex cheated on me and it hurt like hell. Even though they were just dating, the fact is you stepped in and humiliated her. You owe her an apology. I don’t care if they were wrong for each other. Unless they’re polyamorous, you don’t fuck around on the side.”
Rowan motioned for me to be quiet, and then turned to Daya. “Stand in the center of the room. Don’t be alarmed by what I’m about to do.”
My grandmother walked over to her and placed one hand on Daya’s lower stomach, the other on the curve of her ass. Daya’s face was bright red by that point.
“Just what I thought,” Rowan said. “The curse isn’t on your boyfriend, it’s on you. It’s a very common spell used by dust witches. Is your boyfriend’s ex witchblood?”
Daya rolled her eyes. “Yes, but I don’t know what she specializes in.”
“Most likely, she’s a dust witch. They fight dirty. The spell that I suspect she placed on you will cause any man who even looks at you with the least bit of arousal to lose his erection whenever you’re near. It’s not only your boyfriend who can’t get it up around you. It’s going to be any man you try to sleep with.”
Daya clapped her hand to her mouth. “Oh my gods, what do I do?”
“It’s not an easy spell to break. I’ll have to consult my magical journals. I’ll call you tomorrow after I’ve done some research. Meanwhile, I suggest that you consider yourself lucky. Dust witches aren’t afraid to use death magic. And it sounds like she may be fairly powerful. What’s her name?”
“Blythe Drayden. She lives on the edge of town in a little cottage on Wendover Street.”
Rowan took down the information. “All right. Don’t do anything else to piss her off until we find a cure for this. You could end up in danger.” She smoothly turned back to Ari and me. “So, can you get on this tomorrow?”
I cleared my throat. “No, but Sunday will work. The Witches Guild dumped a daunting task on me and now, with my computer on the fritz, I don’t know what to do.”
“All right, get together Sunday and start forging a plan. Try to be discreet.” Rowan motioned to Nerium. “Why don’t you hand out the cookies while Yolen pours the wine. “
As we toasted the full moon with our cakes (in this case, cookies) and wine, all I could think about was the fact that this was the busiest vacation I’d had in ages.