Free Witch Bound (Twilight of the Gods) by Eleri Stone

pestle. “Valerian?”
    “A tonic for insomnia.”
    He examined the other items spread across the countertop. Skullcap, hops, what looked like a clip of human hair. He wrinkled his nose. “They have pills for that you know. Ones that don’t involve body parts.”
    “This will work better. It’s gentle. No side effects and no chance of developing a dependence on it. And besides, there are always the purists.”
    Mostly the elderly who didn’t want to let go of the old ways. Of course, it was impossible for any of them to completely give up on the old ways—it was what kept them alive. But Fen had always thought it was a sad way to live...no modern medicine, TV or internet. Their society was insular enough.
    “I’ve never understood the hair thing,” he said. “It seems like that should be an old wives’ tale.”
    “Well, I say that the hair works and I’m not an old wife.”
    “Not yet.” When she raised her eyebrows, he added, “You’re not married yet.”
    She leaned over the counter and her scent enveloped him, sunshine and magic. His gaze dropped to where her hand rested on the glass display case. Slender fingers and short, perfectly shaped nails. The large, very expensive engagement ring Christian had bought her looked gaudy on that pretty little hand.
    “It’s a DNA sample,” she said in a low voice, like a spy imparting state secrets. “The hair. It ties the magic to the physical plane. Well, all of the ingredients do. They each bind some aspect of the spell to this world. The order is important. For example, you wouldn’t want to mix a crow feather—or any death avatar—with water unless you wanted to drown yourself or call a flood. But if you bind the feather to a specific person first...”
    “You have a death spell.”
    She nodded and a strand of hair fell from her shoulder, curling down to rest on her breast. He lifted his gaze to her face.
    “It’s all about the DNA. Hair and nails are easy because people shed them constantly, but saliva would work, or semen.” She smiled and pointed at him. “Don’t tell Lois I’m giving away our secrets. She’s the kind of purist that holds them tight.”
    He straightened and cocked his head to one side. “I thought you were...blocked. That you couldn’t do magic.”
    “I can do small magics, the kind of things any hedge witch can do. Kathy made sure I was well trained, and this is just prep work really. If it’s a simple enough spell, you don’t need to be very powerful to activate it. And runes...well, I’ve always been good with runes. There are a few that help, ummm...thin the barrier between me and the magic. I haven’t quite got the combination right, but when I do I’ll tattoo them on my forehead.”
    “Subtle.” He laughed at the mental image. “You find the right combination, I’ll work them into a design for you. We’ll find someplace better than your forehead to put them.”
    He winced, hoping she wouldn’t take that the wrong way. Tried to ignore the images in his own mind of creamy skin and hidden places.
    She paused in putting away the materials to look up. “You do that? Tattoos?”
    “Graphic design, actually. It lets me work from home. Office work can be hard on hounds. But yeah, I’ve designed tattoos before and placed them, mostly for the pack.”
    She straightened. “Are you serious about the offer? Because I’m serious about trying to use runes to break through the block. I’ll take you up on it, if you mean it.”
    Heaven help him. “I’m serious. I still have the equipment.”
    Her smile was slow and brilliant, chasing away the storm clouds in her eyes. And no matter how stupid, he couldn’t make himself regret the offer.
    “Okay, then.” She tucked the shoebox away behind her on the bookshelf and pointed toward a crate beside the door. “The wards are over there. I carved the runes onto the rocks and Lois sealed them to the stone. Just place them about five feet away from the ward stones on this