Kindling the Moon (Arcadia Bell #1)(48)

“If so, that’s understandable. You were just a kid. You don’t go through something like that without a few battle scars. Ever gone to counseling?”

“Um, no.”

He shrugged. “Hypnosis sometimes restores memories.”

“Again, no. I have no guarantee that the person doing the hypnosis wouldn’t turn me into the cops.”

“You trusted me.”

“You drugged me!”

He grinned. “Yeah, I did.”

“Do you know how to hypnotize someone?”

“No, but I have a book of memory spells. Some remove memories, some restore them.”

I sat up straight. “Really? Have you tried any of them?”

“On myself, no. They’re tandem spells. Most memory spells are.”

“Huh? Tandem spells?”

“You have to perform it on someone else. You can’t perform them on yourself—you can’t erase your own memories.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

He smiled triumphantly. “Interesting … the novice knows something that the master doesn’t.” He hooked his finger around the handles of our cups and gathered the teapot in his other hand. “Bring that book. I think we should take a peek at the memory spells in my library.”

“I need to leave in about forty-five minutes to get to work,” I warned.

“We’re just looking.”

Just looking, but I was very, very curious.

18

I perused the bookshelves behind Lon while he sat with his feet propped up on the desk and thumbed through his tandem memory spells, reading the descriptions aloud to me.

“Memory Erase by Time Period: designate a length of time to eradicate thoughts.”

“Nope.”

“Memory Erase by Subject: designate a subject to remove from subject’s memory.”

“No, but you should keep that one marked. That could come in handy.”

He plopped a blue marker in the crease, then flipped to the next entry. “Complete Memory Erase: wipe out all memories of events, places, names, times. Jesus, that’s dangerous. Remind me to put this book in the locked cabinet. If Jupe got a hold of this … Okay, hold on. Memory Restoring.” He flipped through several pages then started reading to himself in low mumble, taking his feet off the desk.

“What? Did you find one? Memory Restore by Time Period?”

“I found it.”

“So? What’s the spell? Does it need kindled Heka?” I leaned over his shoulder and read. “Memory Restore, otherwise known as ‘The Wheel.’ Push and pull magical energies to ignite slow memory restoration gently. That sounds like an overnight laxative.” I grinned at him.

“Ha, ha,” he said dourly, getting up from his seat to stand.

“Lighten up.” I elbowed him in the shoulder, then continued reading. “ ‘Magick for The Wheel must be charged with fluids from sexual arousal …’ ” My voice tapered off. “Oh.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

I read the rest of the entry to myself. The person doing the tandem spell—that would be Lon—had to receive Heka-rich sexual fluids from the recipient of the spell, me, to jump-start a series of lost memories. A magical sigil and incantation were provided.

It wasn’t the first time I’d run across sex spells: they were just as common as electricity-kindled spells. They just aren’t convenient for your average on-the-go magical needs.

“Do all the memory spells require that?” I asked.

“I don’t think so. I just noticed it on the last couple of retrieval ones.”

“Uh, maybe I could just get myself, you know, privately …?” I suggested. I regretted it immediately, and felt my face flush with warmth. What the hell was I going to do? Ask Lon if he had any porn I could borrow and hole up in his library’s washroom?

“Did you read this part?” He pointed. I read.

The spell instructions claimed that “shared sexual arousal” between the participants was required so that a tight “energy link” is formed. Otherwise, the process would be too jarring and “memory leak, further loss, or permanent damage” could occur.

“Oh, well,” I said, “it was worth a try.”

He looked at me challengingly with his arms crossed over his chest. “Don’t think I can arouse you?” I froze. Maybe he was joking. “Or is it that you’re afraid you can’t arouse me?”

“Uh …” The word arouse coming out of his mouth made my nostrils widen. I took a long step backward. Must get out of range ASAP.

“Too late,” he said with a dark smile.

I gritted my teeth and made a face. “Goddammit,” I mumbled under my breath.

“It’s not a sex spell that requires … completion,” he said. “We don’t need to have sex, just stimulation.” At that moment, I truthfully wasn’t opposed to either, but I didn’t want him to know that. I stepped back again. “And we just need your fluids, not mine.” He moved forward again, thwarting my attempt at retreat. “It’s up to you.”

“Why is it up to me?”

“Because … your memories, not mine.”

“Oh, that’s right.”