Love Charms and Other Catastrophes Read Online Free Page A

apartment.
    â€œAlmost,” Fallon called back with a laugh.
    â€œSeriously, focus,” Hijiri said, digging her nails into her skin. “This is a big problem.”
    Fallon turned her sharp gaze on Ken. “So it’s true, then?”
    Ken opened his mouth, only to gasp on the first word. His face turned red when he tried again.
    Hijiri’s heart lurched. Was he okay? He looked like he was choking … on what? Air?
    He touched his throat, frowning, and said, “Love sent me here.”
    â€œAnd you’re supposed to get Hijiri to love you. That sounds like manipulation,” Fallon said.
    â€œ I may be a charm,” he said, “but I don’t know what kind.”
    â€œSo you don’t know how you were made?” Hijiri relaxed a little. Curiosity made her fingers itch. “You must know something .”
    Ken coughed and shook his head. “I guess that’s where you come in. Love said you could solve me.”
    â€œDoesn’t mean I’ll love you.”
    â€œThen figure me out,” Ken said with a soft smile. “I’ll enjoy the attention.”
    Hijiri sighed.
    Sebastian came to the door, wrapping an arm around Fallon’s waist. He wore his usual smirk, the curl of his lip rising when he spotted Ken. “Hi there, charm-boy. Did I hear right? Love gave Hijiri this guy, and then what?”
    Hijiri rehashed the last few minutes to them both, from Ken popping out of the present to Love’s windy exit. She told them about Love’s hand in the love charm-making competition, and how he would be away from Grimbaud while taking inventory for the next few months. “He also said to keep watch over the new love charm-makers. If Love’s concerned about them…”
    â€œThen we have to be too,” Fallon said. “The twins were onto something when they said that a local should be competing.”
    â€œAll the more reason to meet these charm-makers tomorrow,” Sebastian said. “While you two go love charm shopping, I can show Ken around town. He looks lost already.”
    Ken’s smile widened. “Thank you.”
    â€œDon’t be so nice to him,” Hijiri said, fidgeting. “He could … disappear into a puff of smoke or collapse into a pile of glitter when you’re not looking.”
    â€œDo you think Love made me so flimsy?” Ken said, his eyebrows lifting.
    â€œYou are flimsy.” He was too thin. Probably lacking muscles of any kind. She’d never understand Love. If only she could identify the charms that held him together. What had Love done to make him?
    He caught her intense stare. “You’re trying to dissect me. I think that means it’s time for me to go.”
    â€œDo the puff of smoke thing,” Sebastian said.
    â€œSorry, I just have my two feet.” Ken took his key out of the front zipper of his duffel bag. His eyes landed on Hijiri once more. “Tomorrow.”
    â€œGood night,” Hijiri muttered. She pressed her fist against her heart, trying to muffle its beating.
    *   *   *
    After a fitful sleep, Hijiri tumbled out of bed early the next morning and started unpacking her suitcase. The few clothes she brought fit easily in her closet. The rest—her charm-making materials—were more complicated to reorganize and find a place for in her bedroom.
    Hijiri gathered a few potion bottles and notes in her arms and looked for a place to put them. Last year, she had used a corner of her bedroom for charm-making: the perfect spot to hide from prying eyes and conduct her crafting in secret. As an extra precaution, she always covered her worktable with a shoji screen. I couldn’t let anyone find out I made love charms. Not with Zita monopolizing the craft , Hijiri thought, remembering how careful she had been. She could have been kicked out of town like Grimbaud’s past love charm-makers … or worse.
    She had tried to