That Old Black Magic by Michelle Rowen Page B

his body—currently in all its naked glory. “You look fine. Great. Normal. How do you feel?”
    He forced himself into a sitting position. “ That was extremely unpleasant.”
    “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Hot tears streaked down her face. “And I don’t think it even worked. I had to stop before I could really try to do anything else. I didn’t want to make it worse.”
    He touched her face to push the tears away. “I’m fine now. But you’re right, the curse is still with me. I feel it. Nothing’s changed.”
    “I know. I’m sorry.” She’d tried, but she knew it hadn’t done a bit of good. The bright light had blocked what she’d tried to get at—that dark, nasty sludge that she was certain represented the curse on a metaphysical level. As soon as she’d tried to separate the light from the dark she’d sensed Darrak’s distress. It had come across to her loud and clear.
    “Don’t be sorry,” he said. “We tried. It was enough to know it’s not nearly as simple to remove as the spell.”
    Darrak was still bound to Eden, as much as he’d ever been.
    But she wasn’t disappointed she’d failed. She was filled with relief that he was okay. For a horrible moment there, she thought she’d lost him completely.
    Looked like Maksim’s advice had been too good to be true after all.
    “So . . . it looks like you’re stuck with me,” Darrak said cautiously.
    She leaned back against the side of her bed. “Looks that way.”
    “We can go see Maksim again if you like. Get some more advice from the Wiz.”
    “Maybe another day. But today we have other plans if you’re up to it.”
    “I’m up. Or I will be momentarily.”
    She finally let go of him. The near-romance of earlier had momentarily passed. Nothing like wrenching pain and a near death experience to help spoil the mood.
    For now, anyway.
    “What was the guy’s name again?” Darrak asked.
    “Good question. Lucas gave me a card that has info on it, but since the guy is magically cloaked from him the card was blank. I’ll check it in a minute.”
    When he didn’t reply, she glanced over her shoulder at him. He was pushing himself up to a standing position, and in three seconds flat had conjured clothing to cover his body. He gave her a quizzical look.
    “What?” she asked.
    “You don’t like calling him by his real name, do you?”
    She swallowed. “I don’t know.”
    “Makes you feel like he’s not as dangerous, maybe?”
    “What’s the difference?”
    Darrak shrugged. “Nothing, I guess. Call him Gertrude if you like.”
    “He might not answer to that.”
    “Where’s the famous summoning crystal?”
    “Why?”
    “Maybe I should hang on to it for you so there are no more unplanned trips.”
    “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Her eyes narrowed at his pinched look. “Lucas isn’t interested in me. I mean, come on. I’m a nobody in the grand scheme of things.”
    “Right. Nobody. You really think that, don’t you? Just Caroline Riley’s daughter, the slightly psychic loner who doesn’t let anyone get close to her.”
    Eden cringed. “I wasn’t asking for a psychological evaluation. Besides, today’s not about me. Or you. We gave it a shot just now, and it didn’t work. Now we need to find this blank card guy, and then we have to focus on Andy. Our problems will wait for another day.”
    Darrak nodded. “You’re right. You’re always right.”
    He left for the kitchen. He didn’t sound completely sincere, and Eden tried not to think about that.
    They had to get along. Fighting or major disagreements wouldn’t serve them at all. Besides, she’d just proven to herself that the two of them were stuck together. And she had no idea how long she had to find another solution for them.

    The moment Eden pulled the previously blank card out of her coat pocket, she realized it wasn’t blank anymore. After all, Lucas wasn’t near it anymore.
    BRENDANFRANKS
    55 BL _ _ RST _ _ E _ W _ _ _
    She