She’s been warded …I heard my mother’s words again as I stepped into the shower. Strange, I had very few memories from my childhood of my parents beyond the stories they read me at bedtime. That had been the time I loved the best, nestled between them in bed, their voices alternating as they took turns telling stories about fairies, princesses, wizards, and magic …

She’s been warded …

It’s like she’s been caged up … like she’s lost …

My parents’ words seemed to float on the steam that writhed around me. Feeling skittish, I didn’t linger. I toweled off and then put on a rose-scented skin lotion that Liam had liked the scent of and put on a slinky blue jersey dress that Liam had loved. When I put it on – for the first time since he’d left – I could almost feel his hands on me … Catching my eye in the mirror I asked myself what I would do if Duncan were the incubus. Would I let him stay or send him back to Faerie?

Unable to answer the question, I looked away and slipped the emerald and diamond ring Liam had given me onto my right ring finger. Then I went downstairs and straightened out the library, plumping the couch cushions and picking up several books from the floor that Ralph, who had taken to hiding in the bookcases lately, had knocked over. I picked up Fraser’s Demonology, which had fallen open to a woodcut of a winged creature with nasty claws that made me shudder, and reshelved it. Then I picked up Wheelock’s Spellcraft from the coffee table and turned to the chapter on “Magical Disguises and How to Uncover Them.” It was divided into three sections (Wheelock, and all witches, I was discovering, had a thing for threes): A) Disguises for Self Protection; B) Disguises for Sexual Uses; and C) Wards.

Wards? I hadn’t realized they could be used as disguises.

I read on.

It is this author’s belief that sometimes it may be necessary to hide one’s true identity to survive an attack from an enemy. Therefore the wards of disguise are included here to be used as a means of protection in life threatening situations only. The author disavows responsibility for any other uses. If these terms are agreeable, please depress the author indemnity icon below.