Naughty Karma

“Um, excuse me? How much is this one?” The girl with the book stood off to one side, holding up a true love charm. “The racks got all jumbled up and I can’t tell which ones go where.”

Prometheus frowned at the charm. “You don’t want that one.”

Jane Austen Girl’s expression turned instantly militant. “Yes, I do.”

“What do you want?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you want the charm to accomplish? What do you want to achieve?”

Jane Austen Girl blushed. “Never mind.” She started to turn away.

“There’s a guy, right?”

He half-expected her to ignore him, but she hesitated, drawing a circle on the floor with the toe of one Ked. “Aaron Walsh,” she mumbled.

Prometheus frowned. He’d heard that name several times today. Apparently, the kid was something of a heartthrob at the local high school. “That’ll make him love you.”

Jane Austen Girl spun back to face him, brown eyes fierce behind her glasses. “Then it’s the one I want.”

“You sure? It won’t make him be faithful to you or treat you well. Love isn’t always fun. Sometimes it stings like a bitch—and it isn’t always romance. It might make him love you as a friend, or a little sister. But go ahead and buy that one. If you just want him to love you.”

Jane Austen Girl was studying him speculatively now, all traces of defensiveness gone. “Which one will make him do all that other stuff? Treat me well and love me like I love him?”

“None of them. Magic doesn’t do that. It works with free will, not against it. It won’t change your nature to make you want something you normally wouldn’t. All it can do is let you see things you wouldn’t normally. For all I know, your Aaron Walsh is gay or so religious he thinks dating is a sin—or he is a dickhead who refuses to date anyone who isn’t a cheerleader. Magic won’t change that.”

“Then what good is magic?”

“It’s amazing. If you know how to ask for what you want.”

“But you said it can’t—”

“It can’t make Aaron Walsh love you, but do you really want someone who would have to be forced by magic to love you? Wouldn’t you start to resent the way you won him? Start to wonder if it was really love or just the spell tricking him into wanting you?”

“At least someone would want me.”

“Ah, see, now we’re getting somewhere. You want someone to want you. You want to be loved. You want the happily ever after, right?”

She squeezed the book tighter against her chest. “Sure.”

Prometheus reached behind the counter, unlocking the cabinet with a frisson of magic, and pulled out a tiny, stoppered vial. “Then what you want is this.”

Jane Austen Girl’s eyes narrowed. “Looks expensive.”

He shrugged. “For the right person, the right price.”

“What does it do?”

“This, my dear, is luck. And if you want to know a secret, this is what I sold to Carly. A little potion of my own invention I like to call lucky in love. Now, it won’t last forever—it wears off after a few weeks—and it won’t guarantee happiness, but it gives you a head start. It’ll draw opportunities toward you, and if you’re open to them, there’s no telling how far a little dose of luck can take you.”

“So it won’t be Aaron, but it’ll be someone?”

“It’ll be better than Aaron. It’ll be the chance, just the chance, for the right someone. But you have to choose it.” Prometheus swept up the charm she’d let drop onto the counter. “Which will it be?” He held up the love charm. “Aaron Walsh loving you, even if there’s no guarantee it will be the way you want?” Then he lifted the vial of luck. “Or the possibility of someone else?”

Jane Austen Girl clutched her book, bit her lip and smiled. “I’ll take the chance.”

He grinned. “Good girl.”

“How much?”

Prometheus eyed her worn out sneakers and ratty book bag. He’d once sold luck for over a thousand dollars a vial, but today… Right customer, right price. “Ten bucks.”

The girl pulled out her wallet, counted out ten singles and took her luck, the door chiming behind her.

“That’s why.”

Prometheus jerked, belatedly remembering Brittany’s presence. “Why what?”

“That’s why I like you. That’s why I’m on your side in the battle for Karma’s heart. You’re a good egg, Prometheus. The Willie Wonka egg-meter thing would love you. Give Karma time and she’ll see it too. You’re gold. And you’re like us. A misfit. That Carlton guy is way too normal for Karma. He could never get her. You get my vote because you’re weird and gold and part of the Karmic family already.”

His chest tightened. He didn’t want to be part of the Karmic family. Family was never really a good word for him. “I think you have me mixed up with someone else.” Someone with a soul. “I’m not part of your little club.”

“You are.” She said it simply, with absolute confidence. Not arguing with him, just utterly certain that she was right. “It’s okay if you don’t see it yet. You will. But don’t go retreating now. Karma may be out with that other guy, but I’m in your corner and I’m good luck. Those potions of yours have nothing on me. She’ll be singing your praises in no time.”

Karma wanted to kill Prometheus. Or maybe just maim him a little. The bastard was ruining the first date she’d had in years and he wasn’t even here.

Carlton held her door and held her chair. He asked her questions about her work, her family and her hobbies, and seemed genuinely interested in her answers. He was polite and attentive. And dull.

There it was. The truth of the matter. She was bored.

Crap. She missed Prometheus. Actually missed the bastard. Not only was she constantly distracted—like the ass had planned—by trying to figure out what the hell that last kiss had meant, she was boring herself with her usual spiel on Karmic Consultants without him there to argue with her about the ethics or lack thereof of what they did. He was a challenge and she felt sharper when he was there pushing all her buttons.

Not to mention the physical attraction.

What the hell was the deal with that kiss? Was it only to torment her during her date? Had it been restrained because they’d both had nightmarish morning breath or soft and gentle because the man really did have a soft side?

“And you’re not listening to a word I’m saying.”

Karma snapped to attention, kicking herself as she realized she’d drifted into her own thoughts again. Carlton was going to think she had brain damage. She blushed. “I’m so sorry. I’m a little distracted tonight. What were you saying?”

“What’s his name?”

“Whose name?”

Carlton flashed his pearly whites, his perfect smile failing to move her. “I’ve brilliantly deduced that you’re either just getting over someone or just getting into him. But whichever it is, you aren’t here with me.”

Karma flushed, embarrassed by the truth in his words. “It’s nothing like that. I’m preoccupied with some work stuff.”

“No one gets that dewy look in their eye for work stuff.”

Irritation flashed. “I am not dewy.” Then she immediately felt guilty for the sharpness. It wasn’t Carlton Norris’s fault she was twisted into knots by an amoral warlock. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m not offended. It serves me right, since I asked you out in an attempt to forget someone myself.”