He shook his head. “There has to be a way out of this. What do you need? How do we unlock this prison?”
Alice frowned. “Chief Merrow, the magic used on you two was death magic, I’ve figured out that much.”
He snorted. “Death magic for a love spell?”
She nodded. “It might seem ironic, but death magic is the most ironclad of them all. It’s as dangerous to cast as it is to break. Maybe more so.”
“Alice Bishop is afraid?” His eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
“I’m not afraid for myself. The danger would be to you and the deputy. Breaking a death magic spell takes time and knowledge and great power. That’s why I was going to try to create a counterspell first. To buy us all some time.”
“So do that. Give us a counterspell.”
“That won’t work for you now that it’s in your blood.”
Titus went quiet for a moment, his gaze on the floor. When he lifted his head, he looked as though he’d come to peace with something. He gave Jenna a little half smile before turning to Alice. “You can still create a counterspell for Jenna?”
Alice nodded. “Yes, but that would mean—”
“I know what it means,” Titus said. “Do it.”
“No,” Jenna said. She stepped closer to him so that she could put her hands on his chest. “That’s not fair to you.”
“Keeping the spell isn’t fair to either of us. At least this way, you could be free.”
“You’re being chivalrous but also stupid. I’m not letting you do this alone.”
He put his hands over hers. They were big and warm, and the gesture touched her in a way she didn’t expect. “Jenna, you don’t want to be tied to me for the rest of your life. You don’t even like me. Let Alice and the coven do their best to free you.”
“No.” She slid her hands free of his to cup his jaw. “I like you just fine.” She liked him a lot more than fine, truth be told.
He snorted. “That’s the spell talking.”
“So what if it is? I don’t care. I’m not letting you do this alone. You think life would be hard never knowing if your emotions are real or not? If the person you love actually loves you back? How much harder would it be if you had to watch the only person you could ever love fall for someone else? Marry someone else? And all while you were bound to stay within a hundred feet of them?”
His jaw tightened as he took in her words.
She didn’t give him a chance to answer with more macho, I-can-handle-it nonsense. “I’ll tell you what kind of life that would be. The worst kind. One that was a daily misery.”
He swallowed but said nothing.
“We’re not doing that, Titus.” She shook her head slowly while looking deep into his eyes. “Because we’re in this together.”
A few breaths went by without him saying anything. “You really want to do that?”
With her hands still on his face, she leaned in and brushed her lips across his. “I really do.”
“Okay.” He took her hands, kissed her palms, then looked at Alice. “Whatever you can do for us, do it. But please, there has to be a way to fix this. You said time, knowledge, and power. How can we give you more of those?”
Alice took a deep breath. “I have the power. The time cannot be changed. But the knowledge…that might be something you can help with.”
They turned toward her and in unison said, “How?”
“If you can find the witch or sorcerer who crafted this spell, that could give me some insight as to how to break it.”
Jenna tipped her head. “Don’t you have any magical way of finding that out?”
“I do, but it would take longer than we have. I doubt I’d have my result until after the full moon.”
“Understood.” Jenna looked at Titus. “I know you have the inspector coming, but I really need to dig into this investigation if we have any chance of figuring this out in time.”
He nodded. “We’ll make it work. This takes precedence.”
“In the meantime,” Alice said, “I will have every available witch in the coven working on this.”
“Thank you.” Jenna smiled. “Are you sure there isn’t anything else we can do to help?”
Alice thought for a moment. “There is one thing, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
“Anything,” Titus said.
She looked at him with a curious glint in her eye. “Stop fighting the spell. One of the elements I found in it was a strengthening agent, which means the more you fight it, the harder it works.”
A thousand things went through Jenna’s head. All of them to do with Titus. “Are you telling us to give in to…what we’ve been feeling?”
Alice nodded, the corners of her mouth turning up in a cheeky smile. “Would that be so bad? You’re both young, attractive individuals. Both consenting. I’m not telling you to go on a murdering spree through town here. Just stop fighting the attraction. All that does is strengthen the spell. You may find that if you give in a little, things mellow out.”
Jenna looked at Titus, and he looked at her. She shrugged. “I’m game if you are.”
He slipped his hand in hers. “It’s worth a shot.”
Having that much contact with him sent a ripple of pleasure through her, and for a moment, she wanted to push back at that pleasure in an attempt to keep the spell at bay. But that wasn’t what they were supposed to do.
Instead, she allowed herself to feel the satisfaction of his touch and gave his hand a little squeeze in return. “You’ll let us know the minute you figure anything out?”
Alice nodded. “I will.” She started pulling books and bowls and ingredients from the shelves.
Titus tugged Jenna toward the door. “We’ll see ourselves out. Thank you again.”
Alice mumbled something as she stared up at one spot on her bookcase.
They left and went straight to the truck, where he finally let go
