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Hearing their names, the troublemaking duo stretched in their hammock in the rat tree, which we’d moved to the living room along with their cage. They crawled down, hopped onto the top of the couch, and bobbed their heads, trying to figure out the best way to get to the dining room table without touching the floor.
They had a natural wariness for open spaces and as a result played the-floor-is-lava often. Back at the condo, I had my furniture arranged so they could easily play this game. They didn’t mind traveling short distances on the floor and obviously had decided that the floor cushions counted as furniture.
I picked up the laptop and moved over to the couch. They both took their customary spots on my shoulders.
“Salt’s already looking so much better.” Zayn joined us with two glasses of iced lattes and a couple of chocolate bars.
He really was. We’d gone out back last night at dusk, the rats in their carriers. After Zayn did a quick perimeter check to confirm that we were indeed alone, we waited for the owl to go hunting. We didn’t have to wait long. Salt would stay young for several more years now.
Pepper had gotten his extra bit of life this morning, courtesy of a hawk swooping down on a lizard sunning itself on the driveway. That hadn’t been planned, but I’d taken advantage of the happy coincidence.
I grabbed my drink and took a long swig as Salt climbed down my arm and onto Zayn’s lap, begging for a piece of his chocolate bar.
“Is it okay for them to eat chocolate?” he asked, holding the sweet up in the air and out of Salt’s grasp. “Or is it off limits, like for dogs?”
“Rats can digest theobromine, so it wouldn’t kill them. But don’t give him too much. It’s still more sugar than they should really have.”
Zayn broke off a tiny piece and offered it to Salt, who shoved the whole thing in his mouth before Pepper could steal it from him. Pepper scrambled down my arm and tried to get at the sweet anyway, physically trying to pry open Salt’s mouth.
Zayn chuckled. “Too late, buddy. Here, have this.” He pinched off another piece.
The interaction warmed my heart.
I turned my attention back to the rat-io design on the screen. “Does this mean you plan on coming over again?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I was presuming a fair bit, wasn’t I?”
“I don’t mind.” I didn’t. I enjoyed his company. “Besides, I still haven’t broken the curse yet.”
We’d tried several things already, including having him make proper offerings to goddesses and other deities of love. We’d also tried bathing him in angelica root, milk, honey, and neroli oil. He came out smelling great but with the curse still intact.
We hadn’t moved onto the more elaborate options yet, though I had already ruled out him falling in love with the curser’s descendant. I’d asked Helen about it, and when she mentioned it to her grandmother, the older woman had cackled and asked why she’d ever want to burden her future descendants with a guaranteed asshole. So that was a no.
“I didn’t actually expect you to break the curse.” He said it as if it were a lost cause.
“Well… I think I’ve found a way to give you your naga back, at least temporarily.”
His eyes widened and he sat up straighter. “You have?”
“Don’t get too excited yet. It might not work.” I held out my hand. “Give me the watch.”
He held out his wrist so I could remove it. He still wore it 24/7, except when he’d let his snake out last weekend. The moment I had the watch off his wrist and in my hands his snake surged forward, his face elongating into a snout. Salt and Pepper, who had been on his lap, scrambled off him.
I sent my magic out to keep him calm, at least until he could get to the door and hurl himself outside. His jeans and boxers fell to the ground as his serpent took over, ripping right out of his t-shirt.
“You clearly needed to let him out anyway. Go soak your tail in the pond and relax.” I held up the watch. “I’ll work on this while you’re gone.”
I returned to the couch, where Salt and Pepper had curled up on the warm spot Zayn had vacated. Pulling the spell book out of my bag—I’d had to physically bring it with me in the truck since it wouldn’t fit through the opening of my magical purse—I got to work.
Chapter 21
Sybil
Zaynsteppedinthroughthe side door just as I was finished casting the complicated spell. It was another forbidden one, originally meant to control and oppress. It allowed indentured shifters to shift to do their job but not to harm their “masters.” Gross. In this case, I was hoping it would give Zayn some control back over his naga.
It had made me wonder if there were any truly “bad” spells, or if it just depended on how they were used. Context really did matter.
I’d reworded the incantation so that it would allow him to shift, but only into his naga. The watch would stay on his wrist, helping him keep control. I’d never done anything like this before, so I wasn’t sure how well it would work, but the theory was sound.
