Ah, the mind witch. If she and her husband could put Xander in line, then I liked her already.
Xander raised a hand. “Please don’t call that berserker demon here. He’s actually quite terrifying when he’s angry.”
Lila clapped her hands, a wide smile on her lips. “How’s newlywed life?”
Shante turned her attention from Xander and dropped her scowl to talk to Lila. “Wonderful. Devin is a great partner.” She waved her hand around the room. Her brown eyes then settled on Jalisa and me. “You must be the fae they told me about. I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I will do everything in my power to help you with your memory issue. I’m Shante by the way.”
We exchanged introductions, and then Shante sat down next to us, placing her bag on the couch. “I don’t know how this is happening to you, and I definitely don’t know fae realm magic. I barely know earth fae magic. All I can do is go into your mind and root out the trauma. I don’t know if that’s the same thing as finding what’s essentially eating your memories of certain things. Just managing expectations.”
I nodded. “I appreciate your taking the time to help.”
She gave a gentle smile and then opened her hands to me. “Need to hold your hands.”
I gave her my hands, and she shivered. “Wow, you are like an icicle. Okay, be still but relax. I’m going to root around in your mind a bit, but it won’t hurt. You might feel a little sleepy, maybe hazy.”
“Fun,” I stated and then closed my eyes.
I thought it would be a challenge to mentally relax. I was on edge in my new surroundings and still concerned about our growing list of problems, however, in seconds, it felt like a cloud of darkness wrapped around me. My mind just shut off. I had noidea how long I was in that state. However, after what felt like moments later, a clap thundered through my mind and the black cloud dissipated.
When I opened my eyes, I was met with several faces, all looking at me. I didn’t feel any different, but that didn’t mean it didn’t work. “Did it work?”
Shante sighed. “There is powerful magic wrapped around your mind like a vice. I tried to pull at it, but it digs in deeper and that’s not what we want. There’s no root to it, it’s dispersed. And it’s multiplying. That’s how it’s covering your memories. And it’s strong. It took a lot of my energy to try to slow its progression. I put up barriers around some of the magic to limit its growth, but it’s possible the free parts will break it down. I’ll do some more research and keep working at it. It’s going to take time.”
I dropped my shoulders. “So, I’m still going to keep losing my memories?”
“I’m so sorry. All I could do was slow it down. This is a spell, not an affliction, which is more my background. This magic has purpose. I have to figure out a way to remove what it’s trying to do. It’s a challenge, but hopefully I bought us some time.”
“What if it’s not enough time? If everything goes, will I never get it back?” I felt sick thinking about that possibility. Would I even be who I was if I didn’t have memories of the people I cared about?
Shante gave me sympathetic eyes. “Whatever you’re losing, we will get it back. Just give me some time. I’ve helped people regain lost memories.” She stood up. “I’m going to help you. And we’ll work our coven networks.”
I stood up as well and shook her hand. “Thank you. I can pay you for all that you’re doing.”
She waved a dismissive hand at me. “You’re Lila’s friend. So, you’re my friend.”
Xander made a coughing noise. “Actually, he’s more my friend.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t think that’s going to help me, mate.”
Shante pointed at me. “I like him.” She waved at us all, then turned and headed out of the room. “Just remember to relax and not get agitated. That will help keep that magic from moving too quickly. Binge watch mindless TV shows! We will fix you. Toodles all.”
She really was certain I could be healed. I hoped she was right because I didn’t want to lose another precious memory of Jalisa.
Chapter Sixteen
Jalisa
One week into being in the human world and I feared that this was making things worse for Ivan. I had hoped the claiming would help, but so far this mind curse was resistant. When I found the witch or fae who did this, I would tip my hat in respect to their power before slicing them open.
I looked at the front door of the guest house that had become our temporary home. We needed to get out and get some fresh air, but Ivan was falling into a depressive mood and a bit of paranoia. Our search for help was failing. We’d even tried to get the help of Kai’s demon community to break the spell, but still nothing. Ivan also wasn’t having much success tracking down his uncle.
I looked back to Ivan who laid stretched out on the couch in front of the queen-sized bed. The room was rather large, with a tiny kitchen off to the right of the couch and small table with two chairs. To the left of the bed, near the front door, was a bathroom and closet area. Closer to the kitchen was the couch, coffee table, and a large rectangular box they called a television.
Ivan chuckled at something on the box, and I scowled at him, disapproving the wasted time. “How’s the search going?”
He lifted a shoulder, not taking his eyes off the screen. “That internet world is not as helpful as they said it would be. Perhaps he has ‘gone off the grid’as Billie explained.”
I nodded slowly. “Right, so then maybe we should get out and look for him.” I walked closer to the door. Before I could touch the knob, a cold wind pushed me back and lifted me off my feet. I soon found myself twirling slowly in the air toward the couch until I was placed slowly down beside Ivan, who was now sitting upright.
