The Magician's Mistake (The Fay Morgan Chronicles Book 1) by Katherine Sparrow Page A

His mouth fell open and he seemed to lean toward me with his whole self.
    He blinked slowly a couple of time, shook his head, and then said, “Wards! Throw them up, witch. Now!”
    He kept staring, and his eyes… blue skies or a coming storm, I wasn’t sure which. Time hung like the eternal moon, round and whole, still and lonesome as we studied each other and—
    Two trolls ran into my shop.

 
     
     
     
     
    2
    The Amulet of Avalon
    Or half-trolls, in any case. They were big women: thick with muscles, ample bosoms, and teased-out hair. They wore matching polyester dresses, one in purple, the other pink. I knew them: sisters named Sonja and Rona. They’d grown up in Ballard, had thick Norwegian accents, and brewed some of the darkest and best beer I’d ever drank. I liked them both. Who doesn’t like trolls?
    That is to say, I usually liked them, except when they came crashing into my store.
    Sonja gnashed her teeth, punched through my glass case of rough-cut gemstones, and bellowed, “Hand over the man meat.”
    “Now!” Rona roared and kicked over my display of love spells. I’d spent hours setting them up for Valentine’s Day.
    This wasn’t at all like the troll sisters I knew. In fact, as I stared at them, they both looked dazed. I made myself smile. “Ladies. Sisters. Enough. This is a place of peace.” I held out both hands and moved them through the air, trying to get the sisters’ attention.
    Rona dumped baskets of rosemary and belladonna on the ground and stomped on them.
    “The men! Give them to us,” Sonja howled.
    I smiled harder. “I’m sure I have no idea who—”
    The troll sisters spotted the two crouching men. They moved with the precision of large predators as they stalked toward them, knocking over my display of d.i.y. health zines and Wiccan how-to pamphlets.
    I held back my own troll-ish growl.
    “Wards. Protective incantations. Any time now, fair-witch,” the blue-eyed man yelled at me.
    I stepped forward and placed myself in the trolls’ path, still waving my hands through the air. “So nice to see you both, sisters. You appear to be in foul moods. I have many remedies I can offer for such issues.” I grabbed a gazing ball and held it out to them, moving it around to draw their attention.
    The trolls fell for it. They stopped and stared.
    “This is a store of healing and harmony.” I tilted the ball back and forth so that light sparkled within it.
    The trolls stared at it dully. Confused. Sonja drooled. Not like her at all.
    “The men,” Rona muttered. She shook her head and stomped her foot, shattering a tile and shaking the entire room. She smacked a meaty fist against her palm. “Give us the men.”
    Sonja grunted in agreement, and they stomped forward.
    “Gladly, gladly,” I said, stepping back from them nimbly. “You’ll be happy to hear the men are on sale today. Two for the price of one. Though they are a bit used, it’s a good deal nonetheless. They should clean up well with a thorough de-lousing.”
    The trolls blinked and looked confused again. I danced the gazing ball in front of their faces. “And of course I will throw in some glitter to pretty them up. This way, this way. Come quick and follow.” I took a step backwards.
    They followed. Sonja reached for the gazing ball as she kicked over a display of midnight candles.
    Rona reached for the ball, too. I pulled it back, just out of their reach. The sisters took a step toward me. And another.
    “Belial,” I whispered and made a quick summoning gesture with my right hand.
    A circle of rope, hempen and unbroken, fell to the ground, surrounding the trolls.
    They growled and would have pounded me to bits, if they didn’t hit the invisible ward wall circling them on all sides. They roared and threw their considerable weight against the ward. It held. For now.
    They glared and huddled together inside the rope’s circle, looking less like women by the second as teeth jutted out of their widening mouths