Chapter 2 #2
Amellia escaped into the kitchen, unsure what she could say to bolster his confidence.
It was unsettling to see this imposing warrior so defeated.
As she went mechanically about the effort of brewing real coffee, drawn from her tiny, expensive hoard, and making sandwiches, she turned the problem over and over in her mind.
She vaguely recalled hearing once if a person believed strongly enough in a curse, they would die whether there was true magic involved or not.
He’s not well already or his scales wouldn’t be molting and he’s so shook up over this. She had no fear of black magic from another planet striking her down at the behest of a spiteful, jealous female.
But even as the thought crossed her mind, she remembered how handling the box had made her nauseous and the fact she’d become ill herself earlier in the evening, about the time Hagan was opening the box.
No, no, no, I’m not going to think like this.
I simply have to convince Hagan he’ll be okay and then wait for dawn to come and go without incident.
Amellia checked the situation in the living room and saw Hagan with his head in his hands, his tail uncurled and limp across the arm of the couch and realized no words from her were going to suffice.
The sight broke her heart, as he was plainly in such black despair.
Falling back on her organizational strengths, she decided to make a mental list of their options, starting with a trip to the emergency room.
Maybe if Hagan could find out a medical reason for his flaking scales, he’d be able to relax.
Or we could go see Auntie Cheline.
Bracing herself on the counter, Amellia considered the option.
Her mother’s oldest sister was a self-styled witch, claiming to have studied in the far-off mountains with ancient masters of the craft and certainly she excelled at making up herbal concoctions for minor ailments.
Amellia had heard it said her aunt also dabbled in love spells and the like.
Taking out her handheld, she made a call.
“What in the name of the spirits are you calling me at this hour for?” said her aunt grumpily as the com link opened. From the tiny hologram, Amellia could see the elderly woman had obviously been asleep. “Is something wrong with your mother?”
“No, she’s fine. I uh I need your help, Auntie.”
“Take two headclear and meet me at my shop in the morning. I’ll help you then.”
As her aunt was reaching to disconnect the com, Amellia said, “I’m under an alien love curse and I’m going to die at dawn.”
Eyes narrowed, brows drawn together in a frown, Cheline studied her. “Would you repeat that astonishing statement?”
Sighing, Amellia plunged ahead. “There’s this guy—”
“Of course there is,” Cheline laughed. “If all you need is a love potion, again I’ll see you tomorrow at the shop.”
“No, wait, let me explain. He broke it off with a girl on his home planet and she cursed him. And me. Well, she doesn’t actually know me but whoever it was he was involved with or attracted to here got added to the spell.
Which was me. Now I’m not worried about this at all but he’s here right now and he’s convinced we’re going to die at dawn and I’ve got to do something to cheer him up.
So I thought if you could stage kind of a ceremony or an exorcism or whatever for us, he’d feel better.
” Her aunt’s expression was unreadable and Amellia swallowed hard, hoping she hadn’t offended her relative.
“He’s normally solid as a rock being ex-military and a special agent and all but this has him shook.
He’s actually shedding scales from the stress. ”
“Scales?”
“Yes, I did mention he’s not from our planet, didn’t I? He’s from Zackmarune.”
Brow furrowed, Aunt Cherline ran one elegant hand through her already tousled white-and-pink hair.
“All right. You’ll have to come to the shop because I can’t diagnose this via comlink.
If dawn is the deadline we’d better hurry because you don’t have any time to waste. Meet me there as fast as you can.”
“Should we bring the box?” Amellia asked, a bit stunned by her aunt’s quick agreement to help.
“Definitely and anything that was inside the box, especially anything written.”
“I appreciate this, auntie.”
“Never let it be said I walked away from a family member in distress. Besides you’re my favorite niece but don’t tell the others. Now hurry!” Cheline closed the comlink.
Carrying the mugs of hot coffee and the sandwiches into the living room on a small lacquered tray, she set her burden on the table and began explaining her plan to Hagan.
“Since you’re so worried about this curse thing, I’m calling in an expert, my auntie Cheline.
She’s a—a world famous sorceress on this planet and I’m sure she can defeat or block any spell.
We have to meet her at her shop right away, so while you eat, I’ll get dressed. ”
Mug hallway to his lips, Hagan paused and stared at her. “Does she think she can help us? Did you tell her the curse isn’t of this world?”
“I did and she’s confident.” Not a lie—auntie is always confident.
Amellia took her coffee, sipping it as she hastened down the hall to her bedroom, reflecting on what a weird evening this was turning out to be.
I guess it’s our first date and we can laugh about it for the rest of our lives.
With a chuckle she examined her closet and selected one of her best sweaters, which tended to emphasize her generous curves, and a pair of black jeans.
She layered the sweater over a bright pink tee shirt, added thick socks and boots, ran a brush through her hair and hastened to the living room.
Hagan rose as she entered. “The sandwiches were excellent, exactly what the inner man needed after a long day. We can take my groundcar—I’m parked fairly close.”
“Cheline said to bring the box and any contents,” Amellia said as she headed toward the door.
“Of course.” Without looking back, he scooped up the item in question with his tail without breaking stride, managing to get to the portal first and opening it for her courteously. “After you.”