Page 33 of Warlocks Don’t Win (Singsong City #9)

The Dealer blinked those interesting eyes at me and then looked at Winston. “You could have come to my office instead of using the favor to bring me to this cursed place.”

Winston’s smile was serene. “But then my wife would have met you privately in your office. Your magic might prove a temptation to her.”

The Dealer raised a brow then glanced at me again. “I suppose my wife would prefer to meet publicly, although we could all have gotten together for tea.”

“But then I couldn’t question the others with sensate houses at the same time,” I said, fiddling with my ridiculously opulent engagement ring. “So, has it ever cursed anyone?”

He refocused on me. “No. My house hasn’t ever cursed anyone. Any other questions?”

I sighed heavily then perked up. “Have you ever heard of sensate houses cursing anyone?”

He blinked at me. “No. Are you certain the house cursed someone? Perhaps you did it while you weren’t paying attention.”

I snorted. “If I cast a Moridia Fleur, I would have noticed. I haven’t been to the house in years.”

“Maybe it was trying to get your attention.” He raised a brow in obvious mockery.

“Well,” Winston broke in, taking my arm and turning me away from the dark sorcerer.

“It was so lovely to see you. I have some other friends who would love to meet you, my darling.” He gazed down at me so soft and sweet.

I automatically gazed back at him while my heart twisted into a giant heart-shaped pretzel and the rest of the world faded away.

“This is Hope, of Hope’s House,” Winston said, the words taking a second to penetrate.

I blinked at the extremely old woman in bright shades of gold, mustard, all the yellows and none of it in the shape of a ball gown. “You’re Hope? It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m…”

“Clary Sage, yes, everyone knows,” she said, taking my hand and shaking it briskly.

After she dropped it she sniffed her fingers, looking like a complete lunatic, then she gave me a wide smile, showing a few missing teeth.

“Interesting. Winston said he’d make it worth my while if I talked to you. So talk.”

Winston grumbled something under his breath, but the direct approach was perfect. “Has Hope House ever cursed someone?”

“Oh, sure,” she said, nodding agreeably. “It has a whole flower border that steals stress and doles out a false sense of contentment.” Her eyes were bright, amused by me and this entire situation. At least she wasn’t nervous about me.

“No more specific curses?”

“No. Perhaps it was you who cursed someone unconsciously.”

I shrugged. This was starting to feel pointless. I’d come to a ball for this?

Winston fixed her with a hard look. “You are quite certain about Hope’s House not dealing curses?”

“Quite. Then again, Hope’s House wasn’t built on the ashes of depravity, was it?

Curses aren’t the focus of my house or of me.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a handsome man over there that looks as if he could use a dancing partner.

” She strode off in her bright yellow pants, directly to an old man with a walker.

“She’s very confident,” I murmured. The way she went out and took what she wanted was awe-inspiring. Also the way she carried off yellow.

Winston hmphed. “Not very helpful, though.”

“Neither was the Dealer. It was a long shot at best.”

“This song is good,” Winston said, looking towards the band on the stage to the left. “Will you dance with me?”

Would I? I wanted to. I was starting to feel quite discouraged, and honestly, coming out publicly as Clary Sage was more stressful than being Winston’s wife. Couldn’t I take what I wanted, like Hope of the yellow fetish?

I moved close and put a hand on his shoulder, waiting for him to take my hand in a closed position.

“Is that a yes?” he asked with a hopeful smile.

“Obviously. It’s a yes. Dance with me. Drown my sorrows in your charismatic charms.”

He swept me into the dance, pulling me closer than he had before, his eyes searching my face for clues he desperately needed. It felt desperate, the way he held me, the way he moved, intense and focused, like this was war, not some casual circumnavigation of the room.

The rest of the world didn’t exist. It was only the points of contact between us, hand to waist, palm to shoulder, and then our clasped hands, pressed together in a holy kiss. The feel of him throbbed through me, pulsing with every beat of my heart.

We moved in time to the music, or the music played in time to us.

I felt his heat, his intention, and it was so incredibly intoxicating.

Nothing else could touch us as long as the music played and he held me in his arms. It was even worse than the first time we’d danced. This was all-consuming perfection.

“Pardon me, but may I have this dance?”

Winston pulled me painfully close before he blinked a few times and then released me, leaving me untethered and unbalanced.

I found myself in the arms of a man who was all wrong. He was handsome enough, dressed well even for a vampire, which he had to be considering his pale skin and cravat. Only undead who’d been around for some time knew how to tie cravats with so much intricacy.

“You’re asking about whether or not a sensate house can cast curses of its own volition,” he said without preamble, spinning us around before he reversed directions and sent me out in a spin before pulling me back in.

This dance was much more athletic, about steps instead of the uniting of souls.

Just as well. I’d heard vampires didn’t have souls. Like demons.

“Yes. What do you know about it?” My voice was stiff, like my body. He’d interrupted the most exquisite moment of my life.

He flashed a small smile. “I’m Dire’s master.”

I hesitated while I gathered up everything I knew about Dire, the largest sensate house in the world.

House wasn’t the correct term. It was a castle, supposedly haunted by no fewer than seven ghosts, and built on the bones of a battle.

I wasn’t aware that its master was a vampire, but that explained why they would talk about the house and not the person tied to it.

“I’m Clary Sage, but you know that. Has Dire ever cursed anyone?”

He pursed his rather full lips. “Dire is a curse. Everyone who has become its master has died, but tied to the house, they linger as ghosts. In my case, as an undead abomination.”

“Ah. So you’re saying that it’s possible for the house to curse someone all by itself.” I was starting to feel the stirrings of hope. I might actually get to the bottom of this eventually.

“It’s possible, yes.”

“So, how would you break the curse?”

“You would have to defeat the house.”

“Defeat it how?”

“Magic. You would need to master the bindings connected to you. One of my ancestors was able to defeat Dire, but that was a long time ago.”

“Do you have records of the process? Was it based on incantations, potions, or what?”

“Dire is all about blood, so he probably did various blood sacrifices and worked with a demon to conquer it. The records are lost. Pity. Sage House is traditionally spiteful, but not as bloody. It wants life energy, not death.”

“So do I defeat it by giving it what it wants, or refusing it what it wants?”

“I believe confrontation is the main thing. He walked into the heart of Dire and commanded it to obey. It refused. The battle commenced. He left alive.”

“Interesting. Sage House has always been more of a cranky relative we had to humor than something to conquer. It’s never been quite so aggressive towards its heir, either.

It never killed anyone. You think the main thing is communication?

‘Stop cursing people,’ and then just pushing it until it obeys?

” I winced at the slivers that would give me.

So many slivers if I was going to actually wrestle with the house.

He cocked his head and shrugged. “I really have no idea what would work for Sage House. Perhaps if you burned enough witches…”

“Burning is not going to help,” I said shortly, despite the many witches and warlocks I’d be happy to burn.

He raised a brow. “You seem quite certain of that. You’ve tried to burn it?” His dark eyes practically twinkled with a flare of red. It was a good look on him. He really knew how to style his vampire.

“My father was very clear about that.”

Both brows went up. “Rumors have it your father is the infamous Rasputin.”

“That’s also what I heard,” I said with a shrug. My mother had made sure the rumors spread about my father. She was pretty open with the whole burying people in the backyard too. Not that she actually told anyone about it, and not that there was any actual proof.

“You actually have Rasputin’s bones at Sage House? I heard that they’re cursed.” He moved closer as we spun.

“Only if you don’t treat them properly.” I looked over his shoulder, looking for Winston. If this vampire got any closer, I might accidentally take out some of my stress on him. That would completely ruin the image I was trying to cultivate.

We spun around and there was my husband, with his co-star in her slinky backless dress draped over his arm and shoulder, hands linked around his neck like she was a cape he’d thrown over his shoulder.

Gold was not the look for this evening. It didn’t look terribly clashing with the purple and green, but silver would be better.

I broke out of the vampire’s arms and walked through the dancers, ignoring them and the sudden darkness spreading around us as I stalked towards my husband and the woman he’d specifically asked me to protect him from.

The incantation came to my mouth, words I hadn’t used in fifteen years, but I’d remembered while the shadows spread. Rasputin’s magic had been filled with shadows, and so was mine.

“Arum ardit vascom!” I said, spreading my hand and casting my transfiguration curse at the woman. Who was over Winston. Suppose I missed her and hit him. Or maybe it would transfigure both of them. And then I got them mixed up and…

In a cloud of smoke that smelled a bit swampy, the magic did its work while I continued walking towards them. When the cloud cleared enough to see Winston still standing there, I exhaled a breath of relief.

“What did she do!?” A loud voice exclaimed.

A ribbit and then a panicked toad stuck in the straps of the gold gown answered that question pretty clearly.

“She turned her into a toad?” That voice was filled with awe and horror.

Ah. Right. Public displays of irrational jealousy weren’t the vibe I was going for. But I was so good at it. I stopped moving, just stood there in the center of the crowd of magic users who might rip me apart without waiting for a jury or a trial.

“How in the world did you turn her into a toad?” Gabby said, linking her arm in mine.

“Can you reverse the spell?” Anna asked, taking a position on my other side. Were they taking me in for questioning, or was this a protective gesture? I couldn’t tell. Honestly, I didn’t really care. I just stared at Winston who was staring back at me, like no one else was in the room.

The Dealer and his wife stood behind me. His murmur, “He did announce their marriage. She clearly wanted to die. Turning her into a toad was a mercy. And think what a lovely life she’ll have in a nice bog.”

“Unless someone accidentally steps on her,” Dire’s vampire said on the other side of Anna. He flashed me a smile of fangs. “These things happen.”

I found myself automatically smiling back before I shook myself. “Oh. Actually I believe the transfiguration also gives protection to the subject. Lengthens life span, protects from smaller injuries, that sort of thing.”

Gabby tugged on my arm. “Really? And changing someone into toad is neutral magic?”

“Yes,” the Grand Sorcerer answered for me. “Changing states is neutral. The life and matter remains the same. Life is life as far as magic is concerned.”

“What did you do to me?!” The toad started to squeak, hopping around on the floor, one foot still caught in the gold strap, dragging the dress around.

Someone tittered. The toad fell over on the polished floor with a satisfying splat and more chuckles.

“I’ll kill you for this!” the toad croaked, looking around until she saw me, then she hopped towards me, adapting really quickly to her new state, fire in her eyes.

Jessica swooped in from the side, gathered the toad up in a shirt, while Jordan followed, bare-chested because apparently his shirt is the one she’d used. Were they actually working together on something? The world had officially ended.

“Don’t worry, Clary, we’ll take care of it,” she called, waving the white bundle that still threatened, but more muffled now. Jessica and Jordan left the room, leaving the crowd murmuring.

“Transfiguring into a toad is the mark of a true witch.”

“And from halfway across the room. Impressive.”

“I expected a lot more blood.”

“It’s almost disappointing. What were you saying about the coming eclipse?”

Winston came towards me, walking slowly, head cocked slightly like he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with me.

“Are you in trouble?” Gabby asked, tightening her grip on my arm. “You were clearly within your rights. It someone touched my husband like that, she’d be in a lot of pain. Probably death.”

“No one’s in trouble,” Winston said coolly as he held out his hand for me. “However, it’s time to take my wife home.” His eyes glinted with something peculiar, and then a crackling portal of purple energy came to life to the right of us. “Shall we?”

He couldn’t make a portal. That wasn’t neutral magic. But the lightning matched the crackle in his eyes. I slowly put my hand on his arm, and with one last perplexed look back at the group of dark sorcerers behind me, stepped through with Winston.