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Before the girl could speak, Nevelyn turned the charm on her necklace. She set the golden side facing out and drew on her magic. This was her true secret. Ren Monroe had only witnessed half of her gift. Certainly, she could vanish from someone’s attention and memory. She could make herself into nothing. But her power ran in the other direction too. There was a push and a pull. She could also force someone to behold her, to prize her above all else. That was what she did now.
The spell struck Edna with full force. Nevelyn watched the girl’s face twitch unpleasantly. Her lips curled into an unnatural smile. The girl’s eyes lit up at the sight of Nevelyn. She slid into the seat across the table like a fish falling into a barrel.
“There’s wine?”
“Just for you,” Nevelyn intoned. “Go on. Have a drink.”
Edna eagerly obeyed. It sloshed down her chin a little, but she took two healthy gulps. Her lips smacked together before she sighed delightedly.
“It’s delicious. Where did you get it?”
“Have some more. I brought plenty.”
Obediently, the girl tilted back again. She kept drinking until she’d finished the entire cup. As soon as she set the glass back down on the table, Nevelyn filled it to the brim. Edna was staring at her with open fascination.
“You have nice hair,” she noted. “I like the little curls.”
“Thank you,” Nevelyn said. She was carefully maintaining the spell. It was always a delicate balance. She’d learned this lesson as a girl. Her father had taught her that magic craved order until it was ordered, and then it craved release. To keep Edna within her enchantment took more than a smile. “I don’t like your hair. I really don’t like anything about you.”
Edna wanted to frown. She wanted to offer her own insult in return, Nevelyn was sure, but the power of the spell was too strong. Instead, she raised her glass.
“Cheers to that.”
Another huge swig. And another. Nevelyn allowed the moment to stretch. She could see Edna’s discomfort growing. The girl tried to fight that feeling off by drinking more—sip after desperate sip. The glass emptied again. Nevelyn opened the other bottle and quietly poured. Edna reached up and scratched at her collarbone. The spot was growing more and more red. There was no poison in the wine. Nothing so crass as that. Her twitches were growing more frequent because the spell was keeping her bound, and she wanted nothing more than to dismiss Nevelyn entirely.
“Something wrong, Edna?”
The girl twitched again. “My… well… I’m not sure.”
She drank another healthy measure of wine. Her lips were starting to purple. Like bruises. The stain had dried along her chin, too, which had the unhappy effect of making her look a touch feral.
“You’re wondering why you can’t leave,” Nevelyn offered.
Edna itched the spot on her collarbone again. Her words were starting to slur.
“Yes. What… why can’t I leave?”
“The door is right there. No one’s forcing you to stay.”
Edna heard her but didn’t move. Her fingers were tapping nervously on the table.
“Saul was coming to meet me.”
“Was he?”
Edna nodded fervently, though she seemed to doubt her own words now. It was almost as if nothing outside this room existed anymore. There was only Nevelyn.
“Your hair is really pretty.”
“You already told me that.”
“Did I?”
The girl blushed at her mistake. Nervous, she reached once more for the wine. Nevelyn had never experienced magic like this herself. She did not know if anyone else possessed a spell quite like hers. She suspected, though, that it was rather unpleasant. Likely, the girl felt like crawling out of her own skin. Instinct would tell her to leave. Get up and go find out if Saul was waiting by the back door. Edna knew she did not actually want to be here with this girl she despised. But Nevelyn’s magic was impossible to resist.
“Here. Have one more glass.”
The girl’s hands were already trembling. Her eyes looked unfocused. One thing that could be said for such a small girl, so slight of frame, was that it wouldn’t have taken much more than that first glass to get her drunk. Nevelyn thought one more pour would be enough for her purposes.
