Enchantment Read Online Free PDF Page A

glared at Abby, then shifted her gaze to Daddy. He stared right back at her — calm, focused and unblinking — like a bobcat stalking a robin. Channie refused to break eye-contact. It was dangerous to challenge Daddy, but she refused to give up without a fight. “I have a brain. I’m not going to let some pretty-boy sweet-talk his way into my pants!”  
    Abby scraped the bottom of the ceramic crock with her spoon, setting Channie’s teeth on edge. “Oh, believe me, ‘lil sis. They don’t do it by talking. It’s their hands you need to watch out for. Well, that and their—”
    Abby's mouth slammed shut, her face turned purple and her eyes looked like they were about to pop clean out of her head. Momma’s no-speak spell wouldn’t last much longer, but it might be Channie’s only opportunity to get out of this mess. She took advantage of the distraction and used every bit of energy in her power-well in a desperate attempt to enchant Momma while her shield was down.  
    Daddy repelled Channie’s magic with so much force it knocked her on her butt. She expected him to come after her with his belt for trying to use strong magic on Momma, but he just put a hand on Momma’s knee and gave it a little shake. “That girl’s too smart for her own good. If we’re not careful, she’ll twist our good intentions into something else entirely. Her new name has to be specific so it will work exactly the way we want it to. We need to think of something better than Purity.”
    Purity? That’s what they’d planned to name her? Purity? Losing Enchantment was bad enough, but if they saddled her with a name like Purity and sent her off to public school with a bunch of Empties that didn’t understand the purpose of a power-name, they might as well just put a bullet through her brain right now and end her misery.    
    Momma said, “If you have any better ideas, let’s hear ‘em.”
    “Well … how about Ugly. Or Repulsive?”
    Momma brushed Daddy’s hand off her knee. “Do you want her to be an outcast?”
    Daddy leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. “Better an outcast than an unwed mother.”
    “We agreed on Purity. There’s no better name to keep her chaste.”
    “What about Chastity?”
    Channie cringed, waiting for Momma to curse Daddy for cracking a dirty joke.  
    But Momma just nodded her head and said, “Perfect.”
    “What? No! You can’t name me Chastity — not when our last name is Belks!”  
    ~***~
    Daddy stood up and wrapped his arms around Channie. “We know this is hard for you, baby girl. But you’ll thank us someday when you’re happily married to a powerful mage.”  
    With no warning at all, Daddy trapped Channie inside his circle of power. Tears spilled out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks. “Please, Daddy. I’ll be good. I promise. I won’t flirt with boys no more. I won’t even talk to ‘em. Just … please … don’t do this. Don't change my name.”  
    Momma added her energy to the spell, put her hands on Channie’s shoulders and began to chant …  

    “Child of power, child of light,  
    We now assert a parent’s right.  
    The name of power once bestowed,
    We now revoke ‘till you’re betrothed.”  

    Adding the power of words to a spell’s energy was serious business, especially words that rhymed. It was ancient magic reserved for bindings like marriages, treaties between clans, death pledges and … namings. An intense buzz assaulted Channie’s ears as power sparked and crackled all around her. This was no ordinary magic.  
    The stench of burnt onions filled Channie’s nose and throat. Momma and Daddy weren’t just changing her name — they were cursing her.
    Channie squeezed her eyes shut and whispered, “My name is Enchantment. My name is Enchantment.” She didn’t know what good it would do against the dark magic Momma and Daddy were wielding — especially since she couldn’t think of an appropriate word that rhymed with Enchantment to