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  Sliding down, she sat on the floor with her back to the kitchen cupboard, her brain whirling with a million thoughts. Deep down she had always known that there was magic in the world but to nearly be the recipient of a spell was admittedly scary. And what did he mean about gargoyles? Was he talking about the three creatures that were on the roof? What other gargoyles could he possibly be talking about?

  Ooooh, maybe the three gargoyles were magical, coming to life at night and protecting the city from dark magic, like her favorite cartoon. That would explain why Armand forbade her from going onto the roof at night.

  Melanie’s forehead crinkled in thought; it was obvious that Armand had planned on erasing her memory all along so any permission he gave would be pointless. She would hardly be able to visit her gargoyle is she didn’t remember him. Oh! That man was a devious, gorgeous bastard! She was going to have to have a word or two with him after she figured out a way to protect herself from him.

  Five

  Melanie’s eyes burned from the lack of sleep but she was grateful to make it through the night with her memory intact. Was it because she stayed awake? If she had fallen asleep would she have forgotten everything? Well, if she thought about it, she had to admit that she was pretty sure another spell hadn’t been cast so it was more than likely that Armand believed he wiped the memory of the right girl.

  But how did it affect Vanessa? Melanie hesitated to wake her friend up; how much memory was she going to have from the night before? And was there anything that Vanessa really had to remember? It wasn’t like anything of great importance happened to the blond, at least nothing out of the ordinary. Guys at the bar had hit on her, she probably received a few phone numbers, a couple of offers of unbridled sex, but Melanie doubted Vanessa really cared about any of them.

  “Oh, my head,” Vanessa groaned, letting Melanie know that she was awake. Melanie glanced at the clock; it was just after eight.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked tentatively, as she filled a glass of water and grabbed the bottle of aspirin before walking over to the bed. She hesitated a moment before she sat on the edge, cringing at the thought that maybe there was residual spell sparks lingering.

  “Like shit,” Vanessa groaned, rolling onto her side and facing Melanie. “It must have been one hell of a New Year’s party – I don’t remember a thing.”

  Well, alcohol would be one reason why her friend would not remember the night before; at least it was somewhat plausible and if Melanie hadn’t seen the mist and heard the words herself she would have believed such a simple explanation. Twisting the cap off the bottle, she dumped two pills into her hand and held them out to Vanessa, “Here, hopefully these will take the edge off your hang over.”

  “Thanks,” Vanessa said with a groan, sitting up and letting the blanket fall from her body, revealing her nakedness. She giggled as she took the pills and swallowed them down. “It must have been even better than I thought if I wound up naked. In your bed.

  “Yeah, ha ha,” Melanie murmured, not really feeling the humor. She turned away, unable to meet her friend’s gaze. Oh, it had been an interesting, scary, night. Feeling more uncomfortable, she stood up, smoothing her sweaty palms down the front of her flannel pajama bottoms.

  “Mmm,” Vanessa said, her moan sounding suspiciously like last night’s sex fest. “Other than a headache I feel fantastic – like I had just the most incredible sex. God, I wish I remember what happened last night; did I get lucky?”

  “Uh, not that I know of,” Melanie said, fudging the truth a bit. Did Simon count as getting lucky? Either way, she could feel the heat of a blush staining her cheeks.

  Vanessa moaned again, this time with an edge of pain, “Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever had a headache this bad before!”

  “Maybe you need some fresh air,” Melanie suggested, picking up her discarded shirt from the night before and absently folding it.

  “Oh, God, yes,” Vanessa said enthusiastically. Melanie heard Vanessa moving around on the bed and figured out her friend was probably getting up. “I think the sooner I get out of here the better off I’ll be. No offense, Mel, but your apartment kind of creeps me out.”

  “I heard that the building was haunted,” Melanie laughed nervously even as she knew the real reason why Vanessa was in such a rush to get out of there.

  Vanessa gasped in true horror, “Ghosts?”

  “Well, I think it was just a rumor,” Melanie offered with a shrug.

  “I love you to death, Lenni, but I don’t think I can stand being where ghosts might live,” Vanessa said forcefully, not realizing the apparent irony of her words. “Please, just take me home. And from now on, when we get together, we’ll do it at my place.”

  “Okay,” Melanie said slowly, figuring it was best to let Vanessa leave in such a manner. It was most likely that she wasn’t going to remember her apartment building anyway. Not if it was meant to fade away like a dream. That kind of sucked.

  It also made Melanie wonder if she was going to be allowed to bring any of her friends over or if they would all get the memory-wipe treatment of Vanessa. Would Jenna and Ferris be able to hang out with her? The possibility that her sister and niece would be unable to visit gave Melanie pause; staying in the cool apartment building with gargoyle guardians might not be worth giving that up.

  Of course, she could always go home and visit Jenna and Ferris; it’s not like she didn’t still have a bedroom of her own and she didn’t get along with her parents. She had just moved out less than a week before. It would all work out, even if no one else would be able to visit her apartment. Besides, there really wasn’t that much room to host a gathering anyway.

  While her mind had been wondering, Vanessa managed to get dressed, pulling on her slinky dress from the night before. “Ready to take me home?”

  “Sure,” Melanie said, grabbing her car keys and heading for the door. At Vanessa’s laughter, she paused, “What?”

  “Don’t you think you should get dressed first?” she asked, pointedly looking at Melanie’s pajamas. “I don’t think the world is ready for your yellow kitten pants.”

  “Right,” Melanie smiled, dropping the keys and going over to the dresser and pulling out a t-shirt and pair of jeans, and whatever else she needed to get dressed. Heading into the bathroom, she paused, “Give me a moment.”

  Closing the door before Vanessa could say anything, Melanie sat down on the toilet and pulled her top off. Something caught her eye and she looked up, frowning when she saw the lion gargoyle standing guard over her sky light. She had a pretty good sense of direction and she was fairly sure that the gargoyle had been nowhere near her bathroom. Absently, she put her clothes on, wondering how the gargoyle moved.

  Which was ridiculous; of course the gargoyle didn’t move. She must have misjudged her position when she went up to the roof or something because gargoyles can’t move. And as for why she didn’t remember seeing him standing guard before is because she never really paid attention to her skylight in the three days that she had been living there, at least not during the day. Obviously, he had always been standing there and she was going to have to learn to pay better attention to her surroundings. And the next time she went up to the roof, she was going to find her skylight and prove to herself that she wasn’t crazy.

  * * * * *

  “It’s done,” Vaughn whispered as Melanie walked out of the bathroom. A part of him had hoped that she would remember but when she looked up at him and frowned, he knew it was over.

  “For what it’s worth, I am sorry,” Armand rumbled from his usual position.

  “I know,” Vaughn managed. She was in such a hurry to leave, he could only hope that she would remember to come back for the rest of her stuff. That way he would be able to see her one final time.

  “How long should we wait before we send her stuff home?” Rhys asked.

  “No more than a few days,” Armand said matter-of-factly. “A week at most.”

  “I’ll pack it up
tonight,” Vaughn said softly, already missing her. Squeezing his stone eyes closed, he fought back the wave of anguish that threatened to engulf him. Why did it feel as if he had just cut off an essential limb? Cut out his heart?

  “It isn’t necessary,” Armand said, the sympathy in his voice grating all along every single one of Vaughn’s nerves. “I can have one of the pixies do it.”

  “No,” Vaughn quickly put a halt to that idea. “It’s something I want to do.”

  * * * * *

  Later that afternoon, after dropping Vanessa off and driving around the area, Melanie parked her car in the lot closest to the family’s St. Paul candy store, needing to walk, hoping the cold air would help clear her head. With a few subtle questions, Melanie was able to determine Vanessa didn’t remember a darn thing from the night before. And the further away they drove from the apartment building, the clearer it became the spell was working. Vanessa was somehow convinced that they had spent the night in a hotel, vaguely recalling waking up in a small, hotel-like room.

  Melanie could hardly correct her, after all, if Vanessa were to somehow magically get her memory back, who was to say they wouldn’t perform the memory wipe spell again? And Melanie wasn’t at all sure it was wise to continuously wipe someone’s memory with spells. It didn’t seem like something that would be wise.

  A burst of cold wind slammed against her and she hunkered down further into her heavy coat. Even with a hat that was going to matte her hair to her head and a scarf that was wrapped around her face, the chill air still took her breath away. When she returned to her apartment, she was going to strip off all of these layers and head up to the roof one last time through Armand’s apartment; it was the least he could let her do.

  Hmm, maybe this weekend she could get her brother to take her to a hardware store in his truck so she could pick up a ladder. Vaughn’s brother did say that if she found another way up then she could visit anytime she wanted; at least any time during the day. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t really meant it. And with a ladder, she would be able to reach the roof from her tiny balcony. Of course, that would mean trying to pretend she wasn’t deathly afraid of heights.

  Damn, it was cold. Lifting her head just enough to glance at the surrounding buildings, Melanie swore; she had walked at least a block beyond her apartment and in order to go back, she would have to turn around and face the wind. Maybe if she thawed out in one of the stores, the prospect of walking into the wind to return home wouldn’t be so daunting. And knowing that she would be able to get warm on the roof was a pretty big incentive to thaw out and return.

  A shop that she hadn’t noticed before caught her attention. Tilting her head to the side, she stopped in front of the store window, noticing the unique items that were being sold, everything from crystals to… to shrunken monkey heads? Blinking, she read the name: Magyks Emporium.

  She could be superstitious and believe that the fates provided exactly what she was looking for right when she was needing to find it but that was too simple of an explanation. She hadn’t been paying enough attention before, which was easy to understand because she had only been living there for a few days and she didn’t really relish exploring her neighborhood in the dead of winter. She was sure that she would have discovered the shop come spring or summer.

  Pushing the door open, she welcomed the rush of heat as the bells rang overhead. A spicy scent filled her nostrils, something between freshly ground nutmeg and cinnamon. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the heady scent; it was delicious. Opening her eyes, she looked around, pleased to see that the store was filled with peculiar odds and ends, with no apparent order at all. It was the type of place a person could spend hours in, just exploring and seeing what was there.

  Running her hand over a smooth crystal ball, she smiled; perhaps this store was exactly what she was looking for. Pulling her hat from her head and stuffing it in her pockets, she scrubbed her fingers through her hair, trying to fluff it up some. Next, she unwound the scarf from around her throat, letting it hang from her neck.

  “Can I help you?” a low, melodic voice asked from behind her.

  Jumping, she spun around and saw a wizened old man standing not five feet in front of her, his clear hazel eyes twinkling with amusement. White hair was pulled away from his head in a low pony tail and so she wasn’t sure if he had long hair or not so long hair. Several gold hoops decorated his ear lobe and even more rings circled his long, surprisingly elegant, fingers. He wore loose, cream-colored shirt and dark, comfy-looking pants. If she was going to be fanciful, she would say he reminded her of a wizard, or rather, how a wizard would appear in the modern world. She smiled, “I’m surprised you’re opened today, with it being New Year’s and all.”

  “That depends on which calendar one is referring to,” he chuckled, holding out his hand and lightly grasping her elbow. Despite the tingle of electricity that skittered over her skin at his touch, it was almost comforting and she let him lead her further into the store. “Now, what can I help you with, child?”

  “Well,” Melanie said, stopping when she realized how ridiculous she was going to sound. Squeezing her eyes shut, she blurted, “I was wondering if you carried anything that protects against memory augmentation spells?”

  When he didn’t immediately start laughing, Melanie opened her eyes and looked at him. She was relieved to see the thoughtful expression on his face, as if he were taking her strange request seriously.

  Perhaps that shouldn’t have been such a reassuring thought.

  “Follow me,” he said, disappearing behind a gauzy curtain. Taking a deep breath, hoping she wasn’t making a huge mistake that might get her killed, she followed, coming to a complete stop when she saw beyond the curtain. Shelves were lined with various vials and bottles, haphazardly placed books, strange looking doo-dads and whatchamecallits. It was a wizard’s workshop! If wizards existed….

  “Now, tell me,” the musical voice interrupted her stunned contemplations. Shaking her head, she focused on the shop keeper; he was looking at her with empathy, as if he understood her plight. “Who is casting the spell? A warlock? A witch? Succubus? Priestess?”

  “I’m… not sure.” Melanie frowned, feeling a little lost in the conversation. Of course she knew what a warlock, witch and succubus were, but she usually only dealt with them in games or movies. It was disconcerting to know they were real; perhaps this strange, old man really was a wizard. Maybe she should be a little bit scared; there was no telling what sort of mischief a wizard could get into. “Not a succubus; he’s male. He might be an incubus but somehow that doesn’t sound right, either.”

  The old man chuckled as he scanned the shelves, randomly pulling out various bottles and handing them to her as he did so. She barely had time to awkwardly position the colorful bottles before she was being given another one. She was terrified that she was going to drop something and a genie was going to rise from the broken pieces. How messed up would that be? To release a genie when all she wanted to do was make sure Vaughn’s brother couldn’t erase her memory. She did not need a genie messing around in her life.

  The man abruptly stopped, right in the middle of handing her a turquoise bottle that was… glowing. Well, the liquid inside was glowing. It took her a moment to realize that the man was studying her with an intense expression that was at once disconcerting and calming. His hazel eyes seemed to start glowing as his gaze bore into the depths of her soul. She was powerless to look away.

  Slowly, still holding her gaze, the proprietor began putting the bottles back on the shelf, not placing them where they once were. As he placed the final bottle back on the shelf, he blinked slowly, his gaze even more penetrating as the glow began to diminish. “Interesting.”

  “What?” she asked in a hushed voice, caught up in the mysterious atmosphere.

  Quicker than a flash, his arm shot out and he grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger. Tilting her head from side to side, he smiled slightly, “Very int
eresting.”

  She was more concerned when he smiled then she had been when he took her by the arm and led her further into the store. “What is it?” she asked, sounding like her mouth was full of chocolates. “What do you see?”

  “You’re….” his voice trailed off, as if he just didn’t know how to put it into words.

  Melanie’s eyes widened as his narrowed. “Yes?”

  “You’re….” He waved his arm around, as if it would give him the inspiration to determine what she was. She was starting to freak her out.

  In a soft voice, she asked, “What am I?”

  “Human!” he exclaimed, his narrowed eyes popping open in shock as he laughed delightedly.

  She jerked her head back and swatted his hand away, “Well, duh; of course I’m human. What else would I be?”

  “How are you even aware of this store?” he asked instead, with genuine curiosity.

  “Um, I admit that I didn’t know about this store until about two seconds before I entered,” Melanie admitted. “Though I’m sure that if it were warmer out….”

  “Fascinating,” he murmured, and Melanie was pretty sure he wasn’t talking to her. He seemed to be studying her and coming to some conclusion as a smile played about his lips. It was unsettling.

  “Yeah, well,” she shrugged her shoulders, turning around and looking at the shelves of bottles and miscellanea. With her back towards him, she took a deep breath, “Um, before we established my, er, humanness, you were hopefully going to tell me how to protect myself from a memory spell?”

  His delighted chuckle had her turning around, wondering if he was going to ask her anymore unusual questions. “Quite right. This way, if you please.”

  He led her further into the depths of the store and Melanie had to wonder how deep the store went; it didn’t seem to mesh with what she knew of the architecture. “Where are you taking me?”