Page 64

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, her face turning bright red. "You don't mean…?"

"I'm afraid that is precisely what it means," I said stiffly.

For once, the curvy little witch seemed to be completely at a loss for words. I was rather grateful, since I had no idea what to say myself.

And then, of course, Bartleby had to open his mouth.

"Well, well, well," he purred from beneath the stone bench. "Now that's an interesting development!"

"Not another word out of you, cat!" I warned him.

"Oh, come now, Garrik! Don't be such a prude!" he exclaimed. "It's not as though you haven't done that sort of thing before. You were married for years, after all!"

"That is quite enough!" I roared, feeling my cheeks growing even warmer.

Celeste covered her face with both hands.

"Oh my God, this is so embarrassing!" she groaned. "I can't believe we're actually talking about this!"

"Well, at least you won't have to kiss a corpse anymore," Bartleby pointed out helpfully. "Personally, I should think this would be a considerable improvement."

"My body is not a corpse!" I snapped automatically.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Garrik!" Celeste exclaimed, dropping her hands. "Would you please stop worrying about what to call your body and finish reading the spell?"

I looked down at the parchment again, though I was beginning to wish I'd never agreed to read the damned thing in the first place.

"There are only a few more lines," I said, trying to regain my composure.

“There let his ghostly mouth bestow

The kiss that bids her magic flow.

If freely offered, heart to heart,

The sundered soul its path shall start.”

I finished reading and lowered the parchment, feeling more uncomfortable than I had in a very long time. Good heavens! Of all the possible ways to break a curse, why did it have to be this?

Not that I was opposed to the idea, of course. Quite the contrary, in fact. I had always taken considerable pleasure in giving a woman that particular kind of attention, and the thought of doing so with Celeste was enough to make me feel things I hadn't felt in a century.

But that was precisely the problem. Celeste was a guest in my home. She was a newly awakened witch who had come here entirely by accident and had kindly agreed to help me break my curse. She was under no obligation to engage in intimate activities with me, no matter what some ancient spell might say.

And I certainly wasn't going to ask her to do something so personal simply for my own benefit!

"Well," I said at last, folding the parchment carefully. "That's that, then."

Celeste looked up at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that we shall have to find another way to break the curse," I told her firmly.

"Why?" she demanded, frowning. "We finally found a spell that seems to be written specifically for a Veil Witch and now you want to give up?"

"Celeste, surely you understand what this particular spell requires!" I exclaimed. "I cannot possibly ask you to submit to such an intimate act merely to restore me to my body!"

"Well, you wouldn't be asking me if I volunteered," she pointed out.