Background: Hagan has broken off a loveless, arranged engagement on his home planet so he can court a human co-worker. Now they’re both cursed. Amellia takes him to see her Aunt Cheline, hoping she can cheer him up and persuade him the curse is a fake.
Random Fact: Hagan was my first MMC with a tail.
The excerpt:
“Set whatever you’ve brought me of the remnants from the spell in the exact center of the table,” Cheline said. “I’ve established a warded space so the evil can’t do any further harm. I must examine the objects and study the aura.”
Hagan complied and neatly recoiled his tail after setting the box down. He moved closer to Amellia as if to protect her. “There was a holo at the end, after I’d opened the box but I didn’t see a trigger for the message so it may have been one time only.”
Cheline nodded and murmured a few ‘hmm” sounds as she circled the table. She rapped her staff on the floor, startling Amellia into flinching violently and asked, “What came out of the box when it was opened?”
“A cloud of sparkling glittery stuff,” Hagan said with distaste. “I breathed some of it in and a portion of it fled the room, going to find Amellia, I fear.”
“I didn’t see anything,” she said as her aunt turned to her and raised her penciled-on elegant eyebrows in silent query. “I was out with friends and fell ill at about the same time though, as near as we can pinpoint it.”
“Open the box for me,” Cheline said to Hagan.
He obliged, and then removed the leaves and the vine, spreading them out as per her orders, being careful not to allow any of the items to stray off the edge of the cloth onto the wood. Amellia’s aunt studied the array for a few minutes, rocking back and forth on her heels, chewing her lip and moving to assess the pile from various angles.
“Powerful indeed,” Cheline said at length, straightening her spine with obvious effort. Resting one hand on the small of her back and rubbing gently, she added, “I’m going to have to study potential remedies for a bit before we can continue.” She gestured at the far wall and Amellia pivoted to see a huge bookcase stuffed with old fashioned paper books and even assorted scrolls tied with ribbons.
“But do you think you can help us?” Hagan asked. “How can your magic have any effect on a curse cast at a temple on my planet?”
Eyes narrowed, Cheline stared at him. “Magic is magic, my friend. There are rules, bargains, prices to be paid, loopholes to be negotiated. The fact this isn’t the planet of origin helps a bit with neutralizing the curse but time is short and I need to concentrate. I have a task for the two of you, which will also conveniently get you out of my hair for a few minutes. I need to think, not answer endless questions.” Her voice had a snap of annoyance. “Go into the shop, to the bracelet display on the western wall. There’s an entire section of braided ones. I want you to each select one and it must be whichever attracts your eye first.” She shook her finger at them. “No second guessing. Allow yourselves to be drawn to the right one. Bring what you select here to me and hopefully by then I’ll be ready to proceed.”
“And this nightmare will be over,” Hagan said with relief, flicking a loose scale off his forearm.
“Oh no, this is merely the beginning.” Cheline made a shooing motion with her hand. “You’re wasting time—go on.”
Amellia stepped into the hallway with Hagan but then paused, saying, “I need to ask her something. You can go ahead into the shop if you want.”
“I’ll wait for you right inside the entrance.” Shoulders squared he strode away.
Smiling broadly, Amellia hurried into the conference room. Voice low, she said, “You’re doing a great job, auntie. I can’t thank you enough. He’s definitely relaxing and he hasn’t shed any more scales since we got here. Well, except for the one which just fell and it was loose when we were at my apartment. I’m grateful for all this stuff you’ve done, to make things look official, real I mean, not fake.”
With a frown, Cheline glanced up from the ancient, dusty book she was perusing. “Child, this is all real. You’re both in grave peril and dawn will bring your deaths if we don’t succeed. Lucky for you I am a wielder of old and sacred powers and knowledge or lost scales would be the least of his problems. Now scoot—I’m busy and you have a task to accomplish.”
Blinking hard, astonished by the severity and seriousness of her aunt’s tone, Amellia retreated from the room and staggered to lean against the wall, her stomach churning and her head spinning. Real? Auntie thought this was all real? Could it possibly be true? Cold chills ran up and down her spine.
BREAKING THE ALIEN LOVE CURSE by Veronica Scott
VS Note: This 23K word novella was previously in the Supra Vellum Anthology, which is no longer available, No new material has been added.
Amellia Taneek loved her job as the office manager for a group of Sectors agents from various organizations, all based out of her central location. She enjoyed the challenges of handling administrative details for them and the excitement of constantly meeting new offworlders. She was especially intrigued by Hagan Raljarr, seven feet of green, scaled, muscular SCIA agent, and more than a little curious about his tail. Hey, she was a healthy unmarried, unattached female and there was no rule against dating a co-worker.
But so far he’d shown confusing signs of reciprocating her interest.
Hagan was an honorable warrior and before he could pursue his definite interest in Amellia, who might even be his fated mate, he had to clear up one little detail – the engagement contract he’d been entered into as a child with a female from his own planet. They barely knew each other and she was highly ambitious. Surely in this modern day and age she’d be happy for him to sever the contract and set her free, right? Leaving him in the perfect position to begin courting the lovely human.
But the jilted fiancée sends a mysterious box across the galaxy to him and when he unwisely opens it, a powerful love curse is activated, striking both him and Amellia. They’ll die at dawn if the curse isn’t broken. With help from Amellia’s aunt, who is said to have magic powers, the pair set out on a desperate quest for three special ingredients needed to break the spell. Over the course of a very long night, will Hagan and Amellia find their way to a relationship, break the curse in time and survive? Is such a thing even possible?