Stacia Kane - Finding Magic стр 11.

A protection charm. Right, because people shaved in bathrooms, maybe? Either way, she felt the difference. If that was Mr. Warings energy, which she thought it was, it was definitely not the same as the energy of the personthe manwhod made the sex spell. No aggression colored this magic, no anger. And hardly any power, either; the man whod made this might as well have just thrown some cotton balls into the bag, for all the strength it had.

A protection charm. Right, because people shaved in bathrooms, maybe? Either way, she felt the difference. If that was Mr. Warings energy, which she thought it was, it was definitely not the same as the energy of the personthe manwhod made the sex spell. No aggression colored this magic, no anger. And hardly any power, either; the man whod made this might as well have just thrown some cotton balls into the bag, for all the strength it had.

Well, Jillian had said someone else must have been hired to make the sex spell, so no big surprise there, right?

That still didnt explain why theyd kept the sex spell so far away, though, or why it had felt so angry.

Whatever. Maybe the spell had been too strong for them. Maybe theyd felt the anger somehow, too, and just hadnt gotten around to tossing the thing. Maybe they liked to fuck in the closet. Probably didnt matter as far as the case went; probably none of her business.

She rinsed her hands and popped another candy into her mouth, giving herself one last glance in the mirror. Did she look okay? Sober, calm, collected? Yeah, basically, at least she thought she did, so good.

Time to take her pictures and get the hell out of there. The place was starting to make her itch.

J. F. Sebastians was one of those chain restaurants that tried to pretend it was fun and high-end, rather than just a yuppie meat market with overpriced drinks and mediocre food. The walls were covered with fifties-style posters and ads; those were actually fun to look at, but aside from them the place basically sucked.

A gang of men in ties stood together near the bar, their eyes following Jillian and Chess as the two women sat down in a booth outside the bar area. The men looked loathsome, like the kind of people Chess would want to slap after ten minutes of hearing about their cars or their expensive belongings or who designed their fucking suits. But they also looked like men, and she wanted to get some stuff out of her head, and the best way to do thataside from the boozewas to let a man distract her. Maybe  no, she was with Jillian, and Jillian was reporting on her behavior, so it wasnt the time.

A few minutes of silence while they skimmed over the lame-ass menu full of fried things and trademark symbols. A few minutes of chatter while the gaudily dressed waiter pretended he liked them and took their orders. Not that Chess was interested in food. Work was done and it was dark; she wanted a drink, and she wanted it alone in her room with the door locked and a good book in her hand. Or she wanted a man, someone whod do what she wanted him to do and then shut up so she could go home.

What she did not want was a Grande Burger and a Coke, but it was what she asked for, because Jillian hadnt ordered a drinka real drinkso Chess figured she shouldnt, either, despite the pounding in her head, the voices coming back.

Gloria said her parents didnt mess with magic they shouldnt be messing with, Jillian said, her eyes scanning the restaurant aimlessly as she talked. She said they were kind of scared of the whole thing, really, and never got over the loss of their religion.

A lot of people feel that way. Chess resisted the urge to add Right? to the end of the sentence. Theyd been taught this; even before she entered Church education shed been taught this, about the suicides and the small hidden cults and everything else.

Jillian nodded. Its not unusual. Might be why the Warings hired someone else to do their sex spell, too, if they werent comfortable doing their own magic.

They did the luck charms. And the protection charms. At least it felt like them. Did that sound bitchy?

Apparently not, because Jillian didnt remark on it. They did feel like them, yeah. So why would she get someone else to do her sex magic?

Maybe she needed something a little stronger, Chess said before she thought. Her face warmed. I mean, thats the only thing I can think of.

Not that she wanted to think of it at all. That sex spell refused to leave her memory, refused to leave her alone.

Jillian shrugged. I dont think it matters, really. The sex spell didnt feel like ghost magic, and we didnt find anything that would indicate they were doing ghost magic.

Whyd they keep the sex spell in the closet, though?

Hmm? Jillian wasnt looking at Chess; she was looking at the guys by the bar, and they were looking back. Hmm indeed.

The last thing Chess was going to do was look interested in the men, though. And she wanted an answer to her question. Why was the sex spell in the closet? Dont most people keep them under their beds? Andand that spell felt kind of dark to me, kind of, like, frustrated.