The next few minutes were little more than a blur. I quickly got dressed in the clothes I’d worn earlier. They just seemed like the most readily available. Then I stuffed the rest of my clothes, and toiletries into the suitcase that was waiting in my closet. I suddenly wished I had my backpack, as far as I knew it was still at Jenny’s. By the time I moved into the living room Kristina had taken each of the four goons and pulled them to the far end of the room. He’d found some zip ties, Lord only knows where, and had tied each of the goons.

“We should hurry. My hotel is only a few blocks from here. If we walk then there won’t be any record.”

The idea was safe sounding, particularly since he hoisted my suit case effortlessly. I felt a stab of jealousy at his unconscious strength and looked away. There was a growing awareness of ‘me’ within my mind and at the moment I didn’t want to think about it. We headed out of the hotel and under the city lights I could see that there were plenty of people still up and about. Unconsciously I moved closer to Kristina, his masculine bulk made me feel safe.

The cool night air helped to clear my head and all at once I was very aware of the way my body was moving. The natural, sway of breasts, hips, and ass was oddly normal. I had to hurry to keep up with Kristina’s longer strides, my heels didn’t help.

“Can you slow down?”

Kristina looked at me over his shoulder, “No, we are really vulnerable right now. We need to get to my room so I can shield us. I also need to make a few calls.”

I felt a flash of anger, at him for abusing my trust, and at my situation. Rather than complain I focused on keeping up. It took almost fifteen minutes to walk to his hotel and as we moved through the lobby I was very conscious of the looks I was getting. A part of my mind wondered why and it wasn’t until I saw my reflection in the mirrored doors of the elevator that I knew. My hair was wild looking and my clothes were slightly askew. It was obvious to me that I’d thrown them on in a hurry. For God’s sake, I had a set of buttons on my blouse miss-aligned! The doors opened and we headed down the hall to Kristina’s room and once the door closed I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I followed him over to the couch, where he’d sat my suitcase.

“Kristina?”

He turned to look at me, “Yes?”

The slap stung my hand, but I felt a surge of satisfaction at the red mark on his cheek.

“Ow, what was that for?”

“What was that for? Taking my BODY without explaining what you were doing! Having SEX with me when I didn’t remember you or me and was under the influence of that damn spell!”

At this he looked embarrassed and stepped back. “Yeah, I guess I deserve that, at least for the body swap. The sex part . . . You practically attacked me! I had no plan to have sex, I just wanted to spring the trap, then my body . . . this body . . . I just . . . couldn’t stop you.” Then after a pause, “And hey, as weird as that sounds . . . there was something about the chance to have sex with . . . myself . . . as a man.” He finished lamely.

I knew that he had a point but there was no way I was going to acknowledge it. So I moved to the sofa and sat down at the far end. My head was still a little fuzzy, but I remembered pretty much everything. I leaned over and rested my face in my hands, fighting back the sudden urge to cry.

“Where have you been for the last four days?” At this he moved to the single chair and looked at me, his face filled with worry. “Tell me what happened.”

I shook my head, “No, not yet, it’s too raw. Tell me what happened to you.”

“In a minute.” Then he pulled out the crystal he’d used earlier and focused on it whispering something I couldn’t hear. After a second I felt my ears pop and then he looked up. “There, we’re shielded from magical tracking.”

I nodded but kept silent and then when the silence stretched, “So what happened to you?”

“I lost contact with you the day before I flew to Berlin. I was worried, I figured I’d be able to find you once I got here. Only I couldn’t. I went over to Jenny’s but she didn’t know who I was and you weren’t there. So I settled into this hotel and tried to find you using astral projection. We have a very strong connection so normally all I have to do is think about you and I can locate you. Only I, still, couldn’t sense you. Wherever they had you, it was shielded. We tried everything we could think of including keeping Jenny’s place under surveillance. Nothing worked.” Kristina looked down into his hands.

Suddenly, I realized that Jenny must be worried about me. “Did you talk to Jenny?”

At this he looked up, “We didn’t need too. The Syndicate took all of your things and then had you send her a text saying that you had to leave in a hurry.”

“Oh,” now it was my turn to look down. Then after a minute I met his eyes, “So, how did you find me today?”

“Last night actually. I was searching for you several times a day and then last night I tried again, and I found you! You were sound asleep in your hotel. I can’t tell you how relieved I was. I wanted to rush over and see you, but when I called Lukas, my Society mentor, he told me not to. He suspected a trap and he thought the odds were good that you’re mind had been messed with. So I watched you last night and then this morning a Society Adept stopped by and taught me the stun spell and how to break a compulsion. Lukas had already taught me how to do the shield so the Adept didn’t have to go over that.” Then Kristina moved over toward the mini-bar. “I need a drink, do you want one?”

I nodded numbly, my mind still trying to process everything. “Wait, why didn’t this Adept just free me?”

Kristina shook his head. “It’s not the Society way. They follow the rule of helping those who can help themselves. They want practitioners who can fend for themselves. The Society is too small and doesn’t have the resources to protect all of its members from the Syndicate. The way Lukas explained it to me was that if I was worth the time to train then, I shouldn’t need help.” Then he shrugged, besides, if I really needed help, as a witch, I should have gone to the Berlin Great Coven. Only I haven’t joined a Coven yet, since I’ve only started my training, and I don’t know. I just wanted to do this on my own, to prove I could, I guess.”

I heard Kristina walk back over to the sofa. “Here.” I looked up to see him offering me a bottle of beer. It was a German brand I didn’t recognize, but I took it gratefully. I closed my eyes and took a long drink my mind racing with all of this talk about secret societies, magical criminal organizations, and now covens. Then I realized that this was distracting me from what really had me dazed.

What the syndicate had done to me had been a violation of the most intimate sort. I’d literally forgotten who I was. I’d accepted that I was Kristina, I felt myself start to shake and knew I needed to get control. I took a deep breath and focused on compartmentalizing my feelings. ‘Don’t think about what happened, deal with the current situation.’ I thought. Then when I looked over at Kristina I cleared my throat, “So, what’s next?”

“I’ve got to call Lukas and let him know I’ve got you. Then I expect he’ll want to get us out of Berlin. He’ll probably get us to a Society safe house. Hopefully to meet with one of the Adapts who should be able to swap us back into our rightful bodies.”

I nodded, at that, but then motioned for him to continue. “Then what?”

“What do you mean?”

“After all of this, you don’t think the Syndicate will just leave us alone do you?”

For the first time I saw a look of worry cross my former face and it dawned on me. “You thought that we could just swap back and that would be the end of it for me?” I couldn’t help the sarcastic laugh and he looked a little chagrinned. “Kristina, you’ve just altered my life. They will never let me go back to my normal life knowing what I now know. Once we swap back they’ll come find me to make sure that I’m not a liability.”

“I . . . I guess I didn’t think about that.”

“Well, you should have!” I felt angry with him and wanted to lash out. “You may have borrowed my body, but you’ve stolen my life!”

At this I stood up and drained the beer. Then after a quick glare at him I moved toward the bathroom.

“Uhm . . . where are you going?”

“I’m going to take a damn shower and change into something that isn’t sticky to sleep in . . . if that’s okay.”

I didn’t wait for him to nod, instead I grabbed my suitcase and used the rollers on the corner to drag it to the bathroom. Once I closed the door I looked at the blond reflection and just stared. It didn’t feel weird to see that face. It felt . . . normal.

“What the hell did that spell do to me?”

I knew who I was, I remembered my life as James. But those memories had a distant, dream like quality. Every second they were becoming clearer, more real, but as I looked into the mirror I realized that, I felt . . . comfortable with this reflection.

“Deal with it later.” I said, trying to dismiss my concern.

I turned on the water and with practiced movements stripped out of the clothes I’d worn for my date. The feeling of water cascading down my body felt, new, odd, and normal, all at the same time. It was as if I were two people inside the same skin, the part of me that was James was growing stronger while the part that was Kristina faded. However, the Kristina part was still strong enough to cause me to feel an odd duality. I focused on getting clean, including washing my hair. I wanted to remove every trace of my sexual experience.

On one level I didn’t blame Kristina. I’d thrown myself at him, and we’d both had a bit too much to drink. At the same time he shouldn’t have taken advantage of the situation! And he shouldn’t have had so much to drink if he thought we might be attacked. Although, I had to admit he’d handled the attackers quite well. This made me wonder how drunk he’d been, and if he was using that as an excuse for sleeping with me.

Abruptly, I felt the urge to pee. I thought about turning off the shower, drying off, sitting down, taking care of business, and then patting myself dry. In a fit of rebellion I just let loose. I couldn’t feel the warm urine along with the warm water. For a second I wanted to giggle, at least I was peeing standing up! Once done I grabbed a wash cloth and made sure I was clean.

Done showering I climbed out and dried off. As I did my mind drifted back to having sex. I had to admit, at least to myself, that I’d enjoyed the experience. I may have been under a spell, but I’d been exploring Kristina’s body from the moment I’d gotten it. I doubted that I’d ever have sex with a guy, I just had too many issues with that to have done it on my own. But the spell had removed my hang ups, and the sex had been great.

“Focus, Jimmy-boy,” I said out loud and then giggled at the incongruity. “You’ve got to get out of this town safely and get your body back. After that you’ll have to check out this Society and see if they can help you escape the Syndicate.”

Feeling a little better to have the start of a plan, I opened my suitcase and began rummaging through the clothes. After a few minutes I realized that the only thing I had that I was comfortable with wearing to bed was a pair of silk PJs. The pants and top did a good job of covering me up, although without a bra I’d be giving Kristina a show. Then I shrugged and dismissed the idea. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it all before. Besides, I really didn’t feel like putting a bra on.

When I returned to the living area I saw that Kristina was on the phone. As soon as I shut the bathroom door Kristina looked over at me and then ended the call.

“That was Lukas, I’ve got directions to a safe house. I’ve, also, warded this room so we should be safe for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll go get my rental and then head into the country.”

I could see that he’d drained two beers while I’d been in the shower. I went to the fridge and grabbed the last one. “Okay, do you want to flip for the bed?”

At this he laughed, “I’m bigger than you I should get it, or we could share.” As he said this he wiggled his eyebrows up and down. I snorted at that and then shook my head.

“In your dreams. And I’m almost as tall as you. Flip me for it?”

He shook his head looking a little more sober. “Naw, you can have it. You’ve had a rough couple of days.”

“Okay,” I said, and took another long drink.

“Can you tell me what happened to you?” He asked the question softly but I could tell it was really important to him. After a moment I nodded.

“There’s not that much to tell. On Wednesday, I had lunch after a workout and as I left the restaurant I felt dizzy. Then the woman wearing Elvira’s body, popped up. Someone must have used some kind of spell because I suddenly felt dizzy and sort of out of it. The next thing I knew I was in a room with a hospital bed.” At this I paused for another drink. “They had a guy, said he was a doctor. I think he said his name was Mengele. Anyway he was the one who used the magic on me. He had a ring he put on my finger.” At this I held up my hand and was relieved that it didn’t have a ring on it. “He was the one who asked me the questions. I had to answer them. I couldn’t lie, I couldn’t evade, and I HAD to answer. Then he ordered me to forget that I was James. He ordered me to believe that I was you.”

I said the last part quietly and finished my beer. When I glanced up I could tell that Kristina had started to move toward me but then had stopped. I figured she wanted to give me a hug, but I was in no mood to be touched by anyone.

“Just, like that? They were able to replace your memories and free will?”

I shook my head. “No, apparently, I’m a stubborn cuss. I fought them every step of the way. I think the key was when they discovered that they could make me forget who I was and then for a time I’d stop fighting them. When I wasn’t fighting they could start implanting the new personality. They’d have me look in the mirror and tell them what I saw. They did that to me over, and over, and over again. I think I broke on day two.” At this point I could feel my whole body start to shake and moisture started leaking down my cheeks. I heard Kristina take a step closer and I backed away holding up a hand.

“Don’t touch me.”

“I won’t hurt you.” Kristina’s voice sounded hurt.

I just shook my head, “That’s not it. I just . . . I don’t want to be touched right now.”

Then I let out a sigh. “I’m going to go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

With that I moved into the bed room and slid between the sheets. I curled into a ball on my left side as sobs shook me. Now alone in the darkness the memories came back. I don’t know how long I cried I only know that at some point I fell asleep.

Once again my dreams were filled with color. Then I was watching Ms. Jackson, as she worked over a heavy bag. The room was dimly lit and her bare feet made almost no noise on the hardwood floor as she spun in place planting a high back kick against the bag sending it swinging. Then she followed it up with a back fist and a left cross. The sounds came in quick succession. Her black sports bra showed heavy perspiration, yet she never slowed as she focused on attacking the heavy bag. I had to admit that her technique looked pretty damn good. Then there was the sound of a door opening. The man who came in was quite a bit taller than Jackson, yet he seemed a little scared.

“Ma’am, I’ve got the latest SITREP”

At this she paused, one leg up, held in a perfect round-house kick. She looked over at him.

“Report.”

The man swallowed, “The woman, Kristina, she escaped.” Then in a rush he continued, “She had help. She met up with a man. Someone working for the Society. The man she was with used magic to subdue our guards and then when they escaped he was good enough to obscure his tracks.”

Ms. Jackson dropped her leg to the floor and straightened up before walking over him. “I thought we had a team, a team ready to subdue any Society Adept that might show up? A team with a Magi?”

“This wasn’t a Society Adept. According to our agent, it was Kristina Curtis in the body of James Frost. At least that’s what our agent texted us. The records we have on Kristina Curtis indicate she can’t use magic. So we used a mundane security team and held our Magi in reserve. Ready to act when the Adept showed up.”

“Are you telling me that you’ve lost them?”

The man nodded, unwilling to meet her eyes.

“I see, so we had a team in place. A team that included magical support and allowed Kristina and James to slip away? Did your associates explain to you that I’ve got very little patience?”

He nodded, “I’m sorry Ma’am. We were watching and we were ready, but I . . . we . . . he got the drop on us. I’ve got no excuse.”

“Apology . . .” she spun around in a blur and her foot lashed out in a back thrust kick. The blow buried the blade of her right food into the man’s throat. He fell to the ground clutching his neck and his body went into convulsions. “. . . Accepted.” she said, finishing the sentence. Then she shook her head, “And I really liked you. Well, if you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.”

With that Ms. Jackson went to her gym bag and pulled out a phone and dialed a number I couldn’t see.

“Rich, yeah, it’s me. I need a cleaner at my location. I also need another team to augment the one in Berlin. We’re going to have to start a search, our target is running.”

Then the dream faded and I lurched up right in bed. I could feel my heart racing and I knew that I hadn’t just witnessed a dream. “Fuck, we’ve got to get out of here.” I said and threw back the covers.

Unable to sleep I climbed out of bed and rousted Kristina by the simple expedient of turning on every light I could find. It took a few minutes of convincing but Kristina eventually agreed that we needed to move, and move now. At four in the morning the city of Berlin is a pretty sleepy place. It took about fifteen minutes to get a cab but the ride to Kristina’s car was quick along the deserted streets. I didn’t start to relax until we were well outside of Berlin headed west. For a while I just stared out into the darkness as Kristina drove. Then out of boredom and curiosity I looked over at him.

“Why me?”

Kristina glanced at me and then back at the Autobahn. “Excuse me?”

“Why did you pick me? To swap bodies with? Did you always want to be a guy?”

Kristina refused to look at me for a few minutes and then finally started to answer. “I . . . I don’t really know. I mean, there I was in the airport trying to mind my own business and get to Mexico, stressed out and worried about the Syndicate and what they might do to me. Then that drunk asshole wouldn’t leave me alone.” He shook his head remembering, “I felt small and trapped and then there you were. You just looked at him and he backed down. I started wishing it was that easy for me to get people to leave me alone. Then I realized with the Syndicate after me, I needed help. You offered to help. So I thought I’d take you up on it. I really didn’t think that much about the gender change until I woke up in your body. Then it hit me.” He glanced down at his crotch quickly with a rueful grin. “Do you always wake up with a hard on?”

“You’ve heard of morning wood, right?” I asked feeling a little amused at the idea of Kristina waking up in my body to my normal boner and not knowing what to do. After that the conversation just sort of died away. Kristina drove and I dosed off as the scenery changed from city to country. Then we were stopping for petrol and I realized that we’d transitioned from the autobahn to a secondary road.

“Could you get me a coffee while I refuel us?”

“Sure,” I said and grabbed the purse I’d been given. The bag wasn’t the one I’d left Kristina’s flat with, so I figured that it had been given to me by the Syndicate. I went into the station and paid for the fuel and then headed to the restroom. I was the only one in the restroom at this hour and then the thought struck me. If I’d been planning this Op I’d have planted a bug in the purse.

It took me about five minutes to find it, and I had to cut the lining of the purse but I pulled the transmitter out and looked at it. I thought about flushing it but then I figured I could use it for some misdirection. I returned to the main store area and got the coffees and headed back to the car.

“Thanks,” Kristina said, and then looked at me. “What was that side trip about?”

I grinned, “I just needed to check out the back of that truck. It seemed awfully lonely.”

He wasn’t buying my story and I couldn’t help laughing. “I’ll tell you later.” With that I ducked back into the car. It took a couple of minutes for him to finish and then we were pulling away.

“Okay, spill the beans.”

“I decided to use the bathroom and while I was there I realized that if I was running this mission, I’d have put a bug on my ‘bait’ so if I lost track of her I’d be able to reacquire her.” I picked up my purse and showed Kristina the whole I’d cut in the lining.

“This isn’t the purse I took from your place, yet it’s got your wallet, ID, make up, hygiene products . . . Why did they go to the trouble of transferring all of that to a different purse?” Kristina just looked at me so I continued, “After I found it I thought the most courteous thing to do would be to return it to Berlin. That truck happens to be headed that way right now.”

At this he chuckled, “I’d never have thought of that or to put it in another car.”

“Yeah, well, how many missions have you been on?”

“Uhm, well . . . none.”

I figured it was time to change the subject. “How long until we get to this safe house?”

“Just under an hour.”

The house was old, built before world war two, with ivy running up the stone walls. I didn’t see any other houses around it and couldn’t help thinking this was like a slice from an earlier time. Kristina parked in the driveway and glanced over at me.

“We should be safe here for the next couple of days. But don’t use your phone while we’re here.”

“Fine” I said knowing my phone was already powered down. I also doubted that this place had internet. Kristina acted the part of the gentleman and grabbed my suitcase and headed up onto the front porch. He unlocked it and threw on the light switch before stepping to one side.

“Welcome home. Would you like me to carry you over the threshold?”

“Very funny,” I said, stepping around him. “But we aren’t married and I’m not anyone’s wife.”

Even with the lights on the inside was a bit dark, with sheets draped over the furniture, and dust everywhere. My heels made a clicking noise on the hardwood floors as I started to explore. The house was an old, perhaps even pre-WWI, unmatched stone farm house. It had a small porch and two floors and was smaller than I’d have expected.

For the next couple of hours we unpacked, uncovered the furniture, dusted, and explored. By lunch time I was starving yet we’d been instructed to stay where we were. Then I heard a shout from the front of the house and when I came to check on it I found Kristina looking out the open front door at a Volvo pulling into the driveway. I moved to stand next to Kristina, watching the car with more than a little suspicion, and wishing that I had my 9mm or an AR-15.

Then the door opened and the tall blonde woman who climbed out reminded me of the Valkyrie of legend more than a human woman. She had to be at least six feet tall and the graceful athleticism that oozed from every pore left me feeling more than a little inadequate. I followed Kristina onto the porch and stepped to one side not wanting to be standing behind him. The woman climbed the steps to the porch and I realized that she was taller than both of us.

“Guten Morgen, James, Kristina, ich glaube, wir müssen reden.”

“I don’t speak German, do you speak English?” I asked moving a half step forward.

“Yes, of course.” Then she gave me a penetrating look. “You’re American?”

I nodded, “Yeah, guilty as charged.”

“I’ve got water boiling,” Kristina said. “We can have a cup of tea and discuss the situation.”

“That would be nice. Oh, my name is Diana,” the woman added and gave us a thousand watt smile that left my heart racing.

Once we were settled into the kitchen I looked back and forth between Diana and Kristina and then figured I’d bring up the topic that was at the front of my mind.

“So, I’m assuming that you’re an Adept from the Society and that you’re here to fix our problem.” I made a gesture between Kristina and me. “Can you fix us? Can you return us to our original bodies?”

At this the woman let out a laugh, louder, and more melodic than I’d been expecting. “You don’t waste any time getting to the point.” Then she took a sip of tea before setting it down and opening her handbag. From within the bag she drew out a candle and a set of eye glasses that were quite odd. They were wire rim glasses and had a hinge on the outer corner of each lens. The hinge allowed one of several lenses to be flipped up or down. Diana sat the candle on the table flicked a finger at it causing it to burst into flame.

She glanced over at Kristina and said, “I’m a sorceress.”

As if that explained something. Then Diana stood up and moved toward me and I felt the hair on my arms stand up as she started flipping lenses up and down, examining me. This was enough to cause me to feel nervous but then she started chanting something softly. As soon as she did the candle flame flared up several inches. It was now burning impossibly bright as she continued to flip the lens up, down, up, and down a different one each time. This continued for several seconds and then she turned her attention to Kristina and repeated the process. As I watched I noticed that Kristina was handling the exam with better grace than me. Finally Diana turned to me and removed her glasses.

“I’ve been told what happened by Lukas, and I understand the urgency. But I’m sorry. There isn’t anything I can do to return you to your rightful bodies.”

For a moment my mind failed to comprehend the words. I’d been counting on the Society to get me back to my body. It had been the life line I’d used to get through the Syndicate’s brain washing. Yet here I was facing a Society Adept and she was telling me that I was trapped.

“Does that mean we’re stuck?” Kristina asked the question before I could voice it.

At this Diana shook her head. “Nicht, you both have talent. I think that is what drew you together to start with.” At this she looked at me, “James can you tell me, has anything odd happened to you since the switch?”

I wanted to laugh, or cry, everyday had been filled with new or odd things since I landed in this body. As if sensing my train of thought Diana leaned forward.

“Have you been able to move an object by just thinking about it? Or caused a candle to light with a glance, or felt like you knew what someone was feeling without having to ask?”

At this line of questioning I forced myself to slow down and take her seriously. I could tell by her intent look that she was very interested in my answer.

“Uhm, well, no, none of that. But I’ve had the oddest dreams lately.”

At this Kristina laughed, “Well, honey, you were just having your period.”

I shook my head feeling a flash of irritation, “Yeah, did you have dreams about people who were about to attack you when you had a period?”

“What do you mean, ‘about people who were about to attack you?’” Diana said giving Kristina a look to keep quiet.

At this I launched into an accounting of each of the weird dreams I’d had. When I got to the one that identified Mr. Jason Drake, Diana held up her hand for me to stop.

“Describe him for me?”

“Tall, in his early fifties, dark red hair with a touch of silver. Very handsome,” I reluctantly added.

“James, I think you’re a Seer. Did you ever have dreams like these before the swap?”

I shook my head. “I’d get a feeling, I learned to always trust my instincts, but no, I’ve never had dreams like these.”

“I think the use of that body swap spell had a side effect. It ‘awoke’ you both.”

I glanced at Kristina but she looked a little unsure then I remembered the dream I’d had most recently. The one where Ms. Jackson had claimed that neither Kristina nor I should have had any magical ability. I launched into a recount of that dream and Diana nodded.

“Yes, that’s one of the reasons we made sure that an Adept didn’t accompany Kristina here when he rescued you.” Then she looked at Kristina and added, “You didn’t know it but Lukas had made several phone calls. The Berlin Great Coven was alerted. We had Guardian Witches and a Society Adept ready if you would have needed them. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective, the Syndicate stayed true to form. They wanted to use both of you as bait for a bigger fish and held back.” She shook her head, “The Syndicate has been targeting the Berlin Society Enclave and associated organizations, like the Berlin Great Coven, for years. Things have sort of settled into a Cold War like series of moves and counter moves. No one really wants to escalate things, but these crystals and the ability to move a person from one body to another, this changes everything.” Diana put down her empty cup and looked at Kristina. “Lukas tells me you’re a witch and that you’ve already bonded a focus?” Kristina nodded and Diana continued, “He also tells me that he has taken you on as his apprentice.”

Kristina nodded, again, and added, “Yes, Ma’am.”

“That is a tremendous honor. You must have a powerful gift.”

I watched as Kristina for the first time since I’d met him blushed. “Thank you.”

Then Diana looked at me. “James, you’ve got the soul of a Seer. This is a very rare gift. With Society training you could become very powerful.”

I didn’t know what to say so I just nodded.

“I thought that the Seer talent was a subset of the Witchcraft gift?” Kristina asked.

Diana nodded, “Yes, that’s true.”

Then Kristina continued an intent look on his face. “I thought that because Witchcraft is spirit based magic, I would be able to learn to use my gift to restore us?”

Diana smiled at Kristina obviously pleased with his line of reasoning. “Yes, but James’ power is also ‘spirit’ magic. She could interfere with your attempts to manipulate the ether. And without her cooperation you would never be able to change bodies.”

“Are you kidding, of course I want to change back! Why would I stop Kristina?”

Diana gave me a patient look, “Because right now you’ve got NO control. Even if Kristina had mastered the spells he needs, which he hasn’t, you would stop it cold because you’ve got no control. Your magic would act to defend you from what it would perceive as an attack and the spell would fail.”

I was silent thinking about that and then something else clicked. “Is that why it took so long for Mengele’s mind control spell to work on me?”

“Yes, exactly.” Then her face grew pale, “Did you say Mengele? As in Doctor Josef Mengele?”

I nodded, “Yeah, he was the one casting all those spells on me. I remember him commenting that I had a very strong will and that I was stubbornly resisting his magic. He seemed very surprised.”

“Oh Scheiße!”

Diana stood up and pulled out a pair of crystals. “James, hold these, one in each hand, please.”

I stood up and took one in each hand.

“Kristina I need you to open that window and bring me a basin of water.” Diana said, moving with a sense of urgency. The candle flared up and as soon as Kristina brought the water Diana submerged a hand. Then as if on cue a gust of wind came in through the window it swirled around the room but didn’t disturb anything. Diana once again put on her strange glasses on and instantly started chanting.

This went on for several minutes and then I felt the crystal in my left hand grow cold while the one in my right hand grew warm. I tried to say something but I realized I couldn’t move. Then it felt like there was a current running through me, right to left, hot to cold, and the world started to grow fuzzy around me and I lost track of time.

Abruptly the world snapped back into focus and I realized the crystals I was holding had gone dormant and I could move. I dropped them and lurched to my left losing my balance for a second. I avoided falling over by grabbing the kitchen table.

“What the fuck was that!”

“James, please, I’m sorry I didn’t warn you.”

At this point I noticed that Diana had sat back down and she looked exhausted. I also noticed the window was closed and the basin was over on the counter. In addition to all of that Kristina had put fresh tea out, ‘When did all that happen?’ I wondered.

“Josef Mengele is a Necromancer of no little skill. He is evil in an alien way. He doesn’t really look at other people as human, they are almost like play things to him. Once I realized he was the one that had bound you, I knew I needed to look you over for any additional spells.” Diana looked down, “I’m a sorceress and I needed all four elements to power my magic tonight. In fact I’ve not pushed my gift this hard in several years.” Then looking directly at me, “You had a couple of deeply buried compulsions. At you’re first opportunity you would have sent your location to the Syndicate and you wouldn’t even have remembered doing it.”

I sat down feeling stunned. “They can do that?”

Diana looked exhausted as she nodded. “Yes, they can do that. Don’t worry, dear, I removed everything. But this just makes it all the more important for you both to get to Mexico. The Training Enclave maintained by the Society is one of the places the Syndicate has agreed to consider neutral ground. You’ll be safe there. Once your both ready, swapping back should be the easiest thing in the world.”

I felt stunned and just sat there my mind trying to come to terms with what I’d just learned. The silence told me that both Kristina and Diana were watching me. Finally I asked the question now at the forefront of my mind. “How long will it take to learn to control our powers?”

I looked up directly into Diana’s eyes. She met my gaze unflinchingly. “It will take as long as it takes. But what you both seek to do is very advanced, I’d say at least a year of training is required. Perhaps longer.”

I felt my world contract around me. A year! A year as Kristina! Eleven more periods! A year as a woman! Would I remember what it was like to be a man? Would I even want to change back? And what would happen to the old life I’d built? My job? My girlfriend, my family? Even if we'd finally swap back after a year, I'd have to start all over again!

I stood up and moved away from the two of them to look out the kitchen window. I allowed my thoughts to drift. I didn’t really want to think at the moment. I’d already figured it out, but hearing it from Diana made it all too real. My life as James Frost, whether I got my body back or not, was over. For better or worse, I was now involved in an international organization that was fighting a hidden war.