Spell Me Once: Magic and Mayhem Universe: Bespelled by Love, #1

By Cherie Marks

All she wanted was one more chance to get it right.

 

Gemma Marolinia is a witch with regrets. Heir to the Linwynian throne, she has also been trained as an assassin. Gemma is blamed for an assassination attempt on her father the King, and she sees no way to clear her name. As a rule, when conflict arises, she believes in the flight philosophy. She who fights and runs away lives to fight another day. Now, her past has caught up to her, and she can no longer run. She must face her fears and trust others, especially an attractive hunter who has been sent to bring her to justice. It's time to right the wrongs of her past with a spell that will send her back in time.

 

Maverick Waraxe promised the King he would find the princess and bring her home. Yet, Gemma refuses to come peacefully. He agrees to help her find the book of spells, but only if she comes with him to answer for her crimes. Of course, the more time they spend together, the more he falls for the dangerous beauty who surprises him with her capacity to care for others. She is a walking paradox, and if she gets her way, she might just unravel the very fabric of time.

 

Sometimes you wish you could go back in time to change the things you did wrong, but you better only Spell Me Once because you might not get another chance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cherie Marks
• Release date: Jun 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393042532

Cherie Marks

It all started with an old-fashioned typewriter. When the family brought it home, all those stories and characters rolling around in her head could finally get out. The press and click of the keys satisfied in their own right, but when she pulled out a finished page, she knew this was for her. Since then, she's graduated to a laptop, but the stories still find a way out. She's a breast cancer survivor, a teacher, a wife, a mother, and from the very beginning—a storyteller. Always a hint humorous and honest to a fault, she loves to make people laugh and smile. Her goal in life is to achieve tact and stop procrastinating. The battle wages on.

Book preview

Acknowledgements

Thank you, Teresa! You’ve saved my rear more times than I can keep track. You are an amazing editor.

Robyn Peterman, your story world rocks! And so do you!

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Dedication

Dedicated to the front-line workers of COVID-19. Your dedication to the people who need you is beyond admirable. I appreciate you, and I promise I will continue doing my part to keep you safe, even as you keep others safe.

Foreword

Blast Off with us into the Magic and Mayhem Universe!

I’m Robyn Peterman, the creator of the Magic and Mayhem Series and I’d like to invite you to my Magic and Mayhem Universe.

What is the Magic and Mayhem Universe, you may ask?

Well, let me explain...

It’s basically authorized fan fiction written by some amazing authors that I stalked and blackmailed! KIDDING! I was lucky and blessed to have some brilliant authors say yes! They have written brand new stories using my world and some of my characters. And let me tell you...the results are hilarious!

So here it is! Blast off with us into the hilarious Magic and Mayhem Universe. Side splitting books by fantabulous authors! Check out each and every one. You will laugh your way to a magical HEA!

For all the stories, go to https://magicandmayhemuniverse.com/. Grab your copy today!

And if you would like to read the book that started all the madness, Switching Hour is FREE!

https://robynpeterman.com/switching-hour/

Chapter 1

Gemma Jones, mind absorbed in her work, barely checked an automatic response to attack at the light nudge to her shoulder. Her gut reaction was to slice with her knife first, ask questions after. Yet, over time, she’d learned to temper such a violent response. Don’t kill the humans. She had to remind herself that Kylie was her friend, and she was only human. And, as strange as it was to her, humans in this realm liked to touch each other constantly. It had taken almost the entire first year to adjust to that particular peculiarity of this world, and five years later, she still had to remind herself that witches didn’t last long when they killed the humans.

Don’t look now. Hot guy. Nine o’clock.

Regardless the dimension in which a person had been born, the reality of the phrase don’t look now was that it only ensured that she would indeed look. And, she’d do it immediately.

Her gaze shifted to her left, catching sight of a tall, dark figure, partially hidden by a low shelf of books. His face was in profile and shadowed slightly. From what she could see, he was tall and had a strong jaw and a straight nose. Nothing about him was immediately concerning, but she had to admit, she was intrigued.

I told you not to look. Kylie’s hushed embarrassment made the corners of Gemma’s lips tip up ever so slightly. The people of this realm were entertaining in the way their emotions played out in every reaction, but she wasn’t wrong about the attractiveness of the guy.

He turned toward them, his eyes lifting once before dropping to peruse the contents of the flat top surface of the half-shelf that blocked him from the waist down. He was watching them, though he didn’t want them to know he was. Gemma’s radar for danger was at attention.

He looks way too hot to be in an antique shop. What do you suppose he’s doing here?

Gemma paused briefly before saying, I don’t recall a hotness inspection as we entered. Did I miss that?

Kylie gave a loud tinkling giggle as Gemma had known she would. Sure enough, the mystery man’s gaze lifted again as he shifted for a clearer view. He was watching them...definitely. It might be a good idea to find out exactly who he was and what he wanted.

With her mission in mind, Gemma held the man’s gaze with her own. His eyes were a brilliant, deep blue, and Gemma couldn’t seem to look away. A sizzling energy, like lightning, fired between them, and a warmth flowed through her body. The intense attraction was instant, and she got a sense of déjà vu. He seemed familiar somehow, though she was sure she’d remember that particular shade of blue eyes. They were like glimmering, deep pools of Caribbean waters, and she felt mesmerized as she stared at him.

You know what I mean. The usual clientele that wander into a shop like this are either older collectors or hipster couples trying to impress other hipster couples. She openly stared now as she explained, He’s different. And by different, I mean full-on panty-melting.

Gemma indulged in a very human reaction as she turned her focus back toward her task of looking through a shelf of aging, discolored books. She rolled her eyes. Her gaze centered on the necessary work of carefully searching for the rare book she’d been looking for on her many visits to antique shops and the craziest places she’d ever seen—flea markets. She sighed as she finished the final row of the shelf without spotting the one she’d hoped to come across. Nevertheless, she carefully pulled another book she needed to remove before someone got hurt. She’d sensed it was a cursed book, and it didn’t need to be easily accessible to anyone, especially not some unsuspecting human.

She slipped it into her canvas backpack with the lead lined pocket and sealed the compartment with a low, whispered spell before removing her magically reinforced gloves and placing them into her second, ever-present bag slung over her body. As smoothly as she could, Gemma pulled her curved fighting knife, preparing to get some answers to the mystery of who the man was and why he was there. With his thick, auburn hair and physical symmetry, it was too bad she’d possibly have to mar his handsomeness to get the answers she had to have.

Yet, as she turned to confront the mystery man, she was surprised to see that he was standing right behind her. She was surprised but disciplined enough not to let it show as she faced this curious man. Even more interesting and slightly irritating, was that, up close, he was even more handsome than she’d realized.

Rare books can be addictive. The deep, rich timbre of his voice sent warm tendrils down her spine. The temptation to lean in and listen closer was difficult to resist. Instead, she surreptitiously sheathed her knife, and focused on his large, muscular figure.

And, he had some height. Gemma was tall. At least six foot. Yet, she was staring up into a face that had at least five inches on her.

Are you a collector? You don’t look like the usual collector. Kylie giggled again.

Gemma watched his reaction to the question and the flirty comment with interest.

He didn’t shift his gaze from Gemma’s as he said, I do like beautiful things.

With a clearing of her throat, Gemma dropped her focus to his chest. She could feel her cheeks heating, and though she thought she knew why, she didn’t quite understand how to behave. Her first instinct was to find a reason to be anywhere else but here. She wanted to get out of this situation as quickly as possible.

Yet, part of her wanted to explore the possibilities, and another part of her knew that there was danger in making connections. She’d taken a chance on her friendship with Kylie, and though she didn’t have any regrets about that, she also knew that if anyone ever found Gemma here, they would use Kylie to get to her. Relationships were dangerous, and Gemma had learned to avoid them whenever possible.

And, right now, she was struggling to push down the part of her that she usually suppressed. Flirtation was not natural for her. She had done what she always did, experience the mysteries of life through the authors who wrote about them, including human behaviors like flirting. With books, she could learn what she needed to know without having to experience it.

As a result, romance books had become her new, favorite thing about living in this dimension. She loved the experience that each brought, and right now, she decided she could use what she’d learn through reading to imitate human behavior in this novel situation.

An image of two characters from a recent romance book standing close to each other came to mind. She followed the image moving through her mind. Her next step was to slowly lift her gaze up to meet his once again, this time with a lop-sided smile, whatever that was.

Yet, just as she was beginning to lift her chin upward, she caught his nervous pull at his collar. His fingers shifted the fabric as if he were trying to hide something.

All pretense forgotten, she reached for his shirt collar with every intention of seeing what he was trying to hide. She had an idea already, but she wanted to see for herself.

Unfortunately, she never got a finger on fabric. His hand grasped her wrist firmly, stopping her from going any farther, but not before she got a glimpse of what she’d expected to find. He had the mark of a hunter. The circular brand with the raised sword was unmistakable.

She didn’t pause to ask who he was. She already knew, and it was exactly what she’d feared.

With a twist, she pulled free and rolled over the low bookshelf, pulling her dagger once more. She heard Kylie scream, drawing Gemma’s attention to her retreating figure. At least Kylie was out of the way and safe.

Gemma spun to search for the hunter but only heard the bell over the door as the front door opened and closed. She watched as his broad-shouldered body turned right and disappear. He was quick to be so large.

Where’d he go? Kylie’s question came from behind Gemma.

Gemma was already at the door as Kylie’s voice carried through the store. She stepped outside, but as she looked up and down the street in both directions, there wasn’t a single sign of the hunter. He’d vanished, and Gemma cursed at the unfortunate turn of events. She knew he wasn’t gone for good.

She didn’t want to think about who the man had been because, deep down, she knew what it meant, but she didn’t want to think about that right now.

Her past had caught up to her, and she wasn’t ready for that just yet.

Well, that was strange. Who do you suppose he was?

Though Gemma knew the mystery man was a hunter, she didn’t share her suspicion with Kylie. Her friend wouldn’t understand. Gemma had never shared the truth of her origin with Kylie, and she had no plans to. It would only confuse the human.

I don’t know, but I think it’s time to go now.

She knew she hadn’t seen the last of the hunter who had stood here a few minutes earlier. He would find her again, and next time, she wouldn’t see him coming until it was too late.

Kylie, it’s time for me to move on.

Kylie rushed around and grabbed Gemma’s free hand. Gemma quickly sheathed her knife and focused on her human best friend.

Oh, Gemma! You can’t run and hide from every problem.  She squeezed Gemma’s hand tightly in hers. And, we’ve talked about the knife. I don’t care what they do in that little country you’re from, we don’t regularly pull knives on people here.

Kylie looked around nervously, but there wasn’t anyone in the store other than the two of them. For the first time, Gemma wondered where the store clerk had gone. Something strange was going on here, but they couldn’t wait around to find out.

Feeling the weight of the book in her bag and the bounty on her head, Gemma squeezed Kylie’s hand in return and pulled her out the front door.

Chapter 2

It had been the princess. Of that Maverick Waraxe was sure.

She had been right in front of him, but for some reason, he had hesitated.

Normally, when he found the criminal he was hunting, he acted quickly. The target never even had a chance to run. They most certainly never pulled a weapon and nearly get the drop on him.

But there had been something unexpected about her, and it had given him pause. He had heard the tales of her beauty, had seen her pictures, and neither had done her justice, but her electric green eyes and long, wavy light-brown hair hadn’t been what had stopped him. No, his halt in mid-action had been her scent. The vanilla, woodsy smell that surrounded her had been attractive, but more so, it had been surprising.

A murderer had a distinctive smell, a sour odor. It tainted any other natural smells. As a hunter, he had scented the tainted smell more often than he cared to think about. Yet, as he’d breathed in the air around her, he had only scented innocence. It had halted all intentions of taking her captive.

And confused the hell out