Without Lea's threat, I would have hidden in my house until the charm blew over. I didn't want to deal with whatever game she was playing with me. I didn't even want the specifics of the charm.

But fighting the Leanansidhe, perhaps the most powerful Fae in Winter but the Queens themselves, was not a great idea.

I needed to know what I was up against before adventuring out past my front door. I went to talk to Bob in the basement of my brownstone. Having a basement had been almost the deciding factor of picking out my new place. I just couldn't keep my lab anywhere else. It was habit by now.

"Bob," I called as I pulled on my robe. I didn't actually feel cold much anymore, but it was another habit I retained from Before (as I mentally referred to the time before I took the mantle and was killed). "Wake up, lazybones, I've been charmed and need a consult."

Bob's eyelights blinked on. "Charmed? The sexy kind or-- oh!" His orange light shone on my neck. "Not the sexy kind. Unless you're into magical bondage. I got a few ideas you could try out on your boyfriend."

Yeah, that'd go over well for the half-second it'd take for John to get a knife at my throat. "No. My Godmother is teaching me that lying is naughty. Can you see what's been done?"

"Of course. Nice work. Delicate. She's tied your voice to a deep part of your mind. What you say is going to come directly from there, no trims or frills. You'll probably answer questions faster and with complete honesty."

I groaned. "I got truth-spelled?"

"Yeah. Allow me to demonstrate," he said, then asked very quickly, "You and Murphy, why haven't you two gotten it on yet?"

"Almost did," I answered without hesitation. "She never wanted a relationship with me, but I agreed to a one-night thing as one last hurrah before being the Winter Knight. I got shot before I could go through with it."

I recoiled like someone had slapped me. "Wait, that... something's wrong, that's not true."

"You're alive again. Why not bed her now?"

"Because I didn't want to do it before. I just wanted a comfort after Maggie and the Knight thing. I was going to give up my free will to Mab. After that, bending to Murphy's terms didn't hurt so much." I slapped a hand over my mouth, too late. "That's not--" When Bob's jaw opened again, I nearly flung myself at him. "No! No more! Don't ask me anything else!"

Bob's lights dimmed. "Boss..."

"Something's wrong with the charm. All that, it wasn't true." It wasn't. I wanted to sleep with Murphy. Okay, it was a bit of a last hurrah, but I cared about Murphy. I didn't think of it that way. We were friends who'd been through hell together to save my daughter. I wanted to be with her. If it wasn't in the way I wanted, that was... fine. It was fine.

"I don't know, Harry. Why would--" I glared at Bob and he rephrased. "I just wonder why she would curse you to lie?"

I shrugged. "Hey, it could work. She could be showing me that lying causes more trouble than telling the truth, so when the compulsion's gone, I'll be more likely to tell the truth." It made sense to me. I sighed in relief at having figured out Lea's deal.

Bob didn't sound as confident. "I'm looking at the spell working. It doesn't really look like that..."

"But it makes sense. Occam's Razor."

"Occam's Razor doesn't really work on Fae. They don't think like you mortals do."

I knew that from experience. But I didn't want that to be true.

Either way, I couldn't stay cooped up inside. Lea made that clear. Things were going to be... interesting.