Hounded

She might be older than a century after all. College students these days didn’t begin their sentences with » I pray you, « and they thought fencing was selling stolen car stereos.
    » And I know what you are too, Emily of the Sisters of the Three Auroras. « Her mouth formed a tiny O of surprise at my use of her coven’s true name. » If you don’t want to humble this guy yourself, then I don’t want to either. «
    » If you would agree to this thing, then Radomila and her coven would be in your debt, « Emily said.
    I arched an eyebrow. » Are you authorized to commit Radomila to such a pledge? «
    » I am, « she said, and pushed a note across the counter to me. It was in Radomila’s hand. And the splatter beneath it was Radomila’s blood—even dried, I could see the power in it. Oh, yes, she had authorization.
    I snatched the note off the counter and pushed it down into my pocket. » Very well, « I said. » I will agree to make this tea against your coven’s pledge of future favor, provided that you personally agree to follow my instructions to the letter and pay my customary fees. «
    She bristled a little bit, obviously expecting the note to take care of everything, but eventually she nodded curtly. » Agreed, « she said.
    » Very well. « I smiled. » How long do you wish to remain unattractive to this man? «
    » A week should suffice. «
    » Then you will appear here tomorrow at this hour to drink a tea I will prepare for you and every day thereafter for a week. Failure to appear will void our contract with no monies refunded. «
    » I understand and agree. «
    » Tomorrow you will bring me a cashier’s check for ten thousand dollars. «
    Her eyes widened. » Outrageous! « she spat, and she had a point. I never charged more than two hundred dollars for my apothecary services. » That cannot be your customary fee! «
    » If the Tempe Coven is unwilling to take care of your paramour’s libido on its own, which they could do far more simply than I, then I am owed danger pay, « I said.
    » But not that much! « she fumed, all but admitting the danger was real.
    I produced the note and offered it to her. » Then I bid you good day. «
    Emily’s shoulders sagged. » You bargain well, « she said, her eyes downcast to my countertop. Her hands made no move to take back the note, but I kept it raised within her reach.
    » You will bring me the cashier’s check tomorrow, then? « I asked.
    » Aye, « she said, and with that I put the note back in my pocket.
    » Then we will begin tomorrow. «
    » Not now? «
    » Until I have the check, no. «
    » Then if I bring the check today, you will begin? «
    » Aye, Emily, that is the contract I propose. «
    » And once begun, you will not renege? «
    It was an unusual request to put so bluntly, but not an unreasonable one. All contracts should allow the customer a reasonable expectation of completion. But it seemed an awful lot of trouble to go through to make one guy go limp for a week.
    » You have my word, Emily, that once payment is received, I shall execute the contract as stated, so long as you appear daily at the same hour to drink my tea. «
    She spat in her hand and extended it to me. » Contract offered? «
    I stared at her hand and made no move to take it. If I spat in mine and shook her hand, then she would have some of my spittle to work with. Giving a witch your body fluids is akin to slicing off a choice cut of your buttocks and offering it to a werewolf. » Received, « I said, keeping my hands on the counter. » You may consider my word my bond. «
    She smiled triumphantly, not in the least offended, and exited my shop without feigning interest in any of my wares, though she pointedly waved at Oberon behind the counter and said, » Bye, puppy, « just to show me she had seen through the camouflage. And I wondered, far too late, whether I had behaved wisely in agreeing to this business. Probably not. Witches had better ways of controlling their bodies than drinking a Druid’s brews, and if they were willing to put their entire coven in magical hock to me and pay me ten thousand ducats to boot to get rid of one horny guy, then I was probably dealing with an incubus or something similarly nasty.
    The magic of attraction is little more than science these days. I would brew her a blend of herbs that would suppress her natural pheromones, which were currently exciting the fella, and then, with a bit of clever binding, cause her to emit the