Magic Steals Read Online Free Page B

hairs on the back of my neck. This was bad. This was so bad.
    The ugly magic noticed me. Hundreds of mouths appeared all over the slime, dark slits armed with sharp, black teeth. The slime stretched toward me, trying to take a bite. It felt familiar. This was Indonesian black magic. Things were out of balance here, way out of balance.
    I opened my eyes. The house appeared so welcoming from the outside. Just you wait, you nasty thing. You have no idea who you’re trying to eat. I don’t know what you’re doing in this house, but I will purge you out. You don’t get to defile the home of someone I know.
    â€œWhat is it?” Jim asked.
    â€œEyang Ida is a nice lady,” I told him, my voice tight withanger. “Something evil is squatting in her house and feeding on it. I’m going to get it out. This is going to get creepy fast. Do you want to stay in the car?”
    Jim looked at me, his face completely flat.
    â€œJim?”
    He leaned toward me and said in a quiet, scary voice, “I don’t stay in a car.”
    Well of course. That would be ridiculous. Big Alpha Man does not stay in car. Big Alpha Man roar and beat manly chest. He’d locked his teeth. Jim was an incredibly smart man. That’s why I fell for him so hard. He was also incredibly stubborn.
    I sighed. “Look, this is something I do. If you come with me, you have to do it on my terms. I’m going to do some magic and you will have to go along with it and not act like it’s stupid.”
    â€œIt’s your show.”
    Say what you want about Jim, he always treated my magic with a healthy dose of respect. My calligraphy didn’t always work, but my Balinese magic was a different story. He had never seen that side of me before.
    I popped the trunk open and got out of the car. Two chests sat in the trunk, the small one with my calligraphy supplies and the large one with all of my Balinese items. A box of donuts sat on top of the bigger chest. Jim’s eyes lit up. He reached for the box and I slapped his hand lightly. “No. Offering.”
    I opened the large chest, pulled out a necklace of iron wood beads with a large black amulet hanging from it. A stylized lion, bright red with details painted in gold gleamed on the amulet. The lion had large round black eyes half covered by bright red lids, a wide nose with two round nostrils, twowide ears, and a huge open mouth filled with bright white teeth.
    â€œBarong Bali,” I told Jim, as I put the necklace over his neck. “King of spirits and sworn enemy of Rangda, the Demon Queen.”
    Jim studied the amulet. “So how often do you do things like this?”
    â€œAbout once every couple of weeks,” I said. “There is usually something untoward going on.”
    â€œAnd it’s an insult to offer you money for it?”
    â€œThe legend says that a long, long time ago on the island of Bali, there lived an evil sorcerer. He was a terrible man who summoned demons, cast curses, and stole children and young pretty men and women to drain them of their blood so he could use it in his dark rituals. A man called Ketut had had enough and he asked Barong Bali for the strength to destroy the sorcerer. Barong Bali spoke to Ketut and told him that he would grant him powers to banish evil, but in return if any villagers came to Ketut for help against the dark magic, neither he nor his family could turn them away. Ketut agreed and Barong Bali made him into Barong Macan, the Tiger Barong. Ketut defeated the sorcerer and his descendants have guarded the balance between evil and good ever since.”
    â€œDo you think it’s true?” Jim asked.
    â€œI don’t know. But I’m a tiger, I have the power to banish bad magic, and people come to me for help.”
    â€œAre you afraid that if you started charging for the services, you would be tempted to prioritize?”
    I glanced at him in surprise. Wow. Nailed it. “Yes. Right