Free Bride of Death (Marla Mason) by T.A. Pratt Page B

plastic bag. I retrieved my sack from the convenience store and pulled out some ugly Southwestern-style earrings, all turquoise and fake silver, and a simple black leather necklace with a dangling turquoise pendant. I got my tool bag and took out a mortar and pestle and a small pair of scissors and some assorted tinctures and essences in little glass bottles. Nicolette watched with interest as I crushed up the tiger moth with various other substances, said the right words, and then applied the resulting clear fluid to the earrings. The stones sucked in the fluid like they were made of sponge instead of turquoise.
    “You’re a decent enchanter,” Nicolette said, with grudging appreciation. “Why tiger moth?”
    “They have some of the best hearing of any animal. Bat ears, or the lower jaw of a dolphin – those pick up sound transmitted through the water – would work, too, but they’re less portable and harder to find.”
    “Huh. I thought you were crap at all the kinds of magic that didn’t involve beating people up.”
    “I am a woman of many talents.” Actually, not that many. I’m not even that great at magic – or, to be fair to myself, magic didn’t come naturally to me. But enchanting is something anyone can do, if they learn how, and if they do it exactly right . It’s no harder than neurosurgery, I’m told. I fucked up a lot in the learning process, but I seldom made the same mistake twice, and an enchantment of hearing-and-listening isn’t that hard. Most sorcerers don’t bother learning to do this kind of enchantment – because we have these little things called phones now – but they’re useful in places where there’s no phone service, or, for instance, when you need to communicate with someone who doesn’t have the appendages necessary to operate a phone.
    She said, “So that’s the listening. How are you going to handle the talking?”
    I showed Nicolette the silkworms. “They can communicate over incredible distances. I’m not convinced they have anything all that interesting to say , but they can say it to other worms a long ways away.” I prepared the specimens, working meticulously and slowly, and applied the resulting shimmering oil to the necklace’s pendant, where the stone soaked up the fluid, just like the earrings had.
    “So, a necklace for you to talk through. What about me? We’ve already discussed my lack of a neck.”
    I opened the bag of things I’d gotten at the tattoo parlor: forceps, a 14 gauge tongue stud, and a 14 gauge needle. I hadn’t bothered with getting any ointment. Infection wasn’t a concern.
    “What’s all that for?” Nicolette said.
    “To improve our communication.” I lifted off the cage lid. “Stick out your tongue.”
    She eyed the tools on the table. “Oh, hell, no.”
    “Like you’ve never had a piercing. You’ve got like eight holes in each ear.”
    “I’ve never had my tongue pierced. Or anything pierced by someone I hate .”
    “There’s a first time for everything. Look, I can get some dental tools, and some c-clamps, and fix your head to the table, and force your mouth open –”
    “Kinky,” Nicolette said.
    “– or we can skip all the trouble and you can just stick out your damn tongue.”
    “Marla. If I could shake my head right now, I would. When have you ever known me to avoid trouble? Bring it on. I bet I can bite off one of your fingers at least.”
    I rubbed my eyes. I’d been enchanting for two hours, and it takes a lot out of you. “Look. Can I bribe you instead?”
    “I am always open to bribes.”
    We haggled, and I finally got her to agree to something I was willing to give, so she stuck out her tongue, and I grabbed it with the forceps. After lifting up her tongue and looking to make sure I wouldn’t tear the webbing underneath, or hit the big vein running through the tongue – which probably wouldn’t hurt her, but I was following the procedure the guy at the tattoo shop showed me – I jabbed down