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“Derek?” I asked, as the door to my bedroom swung open.

But no one came in. Except, I heard footsteps - four of them. Lifting up, I glanced down to see my brother at the foot of the bed, only he wasn’t Derek anymore.

He was Tinkerbell.

“What are you doing!?” I gasped. Had he found my secret stash of Ben’s leftover potion? It was still labelled. Why would he drink it?

The beautiful, perfectly-marked German Shepherd was our dog’s, Pancakes’, perfect mate, formed by the magic of Love Potion #10, but Derek wasn’t out there entertaining Pancakes. ‘She’ hopped up onto the end of the bed, glancing up where I lay. Of course she couldn’t answer my question with words, but she could with his actions.

“W-wait!” I stammered, but before I could react, my fourteen-year-old brother crawled between my legs and stuffed her snout right up against my crotch. I was already hard. Believe me, I knew that this wasn’t normal for a twelve-year-old boy. Most hadn’t even gotten to second base with a girl yet. But thanks to Ben, I’d already lost my virginity, and in the worst, dirtiest, most awful way. Not only had I given it away to a dog, but that dog had been my older brother.

We’d never talked about that day, but now it seemed she wanted seconds. I tried to resist, but how could I? Hormones were running through my body, glancing at the clock. What if our parents heard? Before I could say ‘no’, the eager canine had nosed my waistband down. I slid it the rest of the way, releasing my small, smooth erection to the chilled air.

It wasn’t cold for long. Derek engulfed me with her tongue, slurping every bit as eagerly as when she’d cleaned me off just before my first time with her. Warm saliva dripped down my shaft as I whimpered and bucked my hips, but this wasn’t what she really wanted. Suddenly, she was standing over me, staring down into my eyes.

She was hiking her tail like a bitch in heat, which she surely was. I watched, paralyzed, as my older brother lowered her hips closer and closer and closer to my throbbing tip. “We can’t…” I gasped, though my hands weren’t pushing her away.

To her credit, Derek stopped just above me, whimpering. I could feel her wet spade trembling against me, and it took all my willpower to keep from grabbing her hips and slamming her down on me. She looked me straight in the eyes and whined, making it clear that I hadn’t changed her mind.

“We shouldn’t…”

Derek could feel my resolve weakening. She dropped her jaw, tongue spilling out, weakly grinding her hips against me, until her slick juices were dribbling down my shaft.

“We…” I groaned, eyes rolling back in my head before I trembled, adding, “...gotta be quiet.”

With a sharp, happy yip, ‘Tinkerbell’ slammed her tan-furred hips down, her bloated spade spreading easily around me. I saw her, eyes blurring, tossing her head back and letting her tongue dangle sideways out of her muzzle, barely holding back her cries. My hands flew to her rump, lifting her up and lowering her down as I pumped up and down in her. I didn’t care anymore that she was my transformed brother, or that I was twelve, or that our parents might walk in at any moment.

Derek didn’t either, leaning forward to kiss me full on the lips, her thick, warm tongue sliding down my throat. I kissed her back, humping hard as we swapped spit.

Only...we swapped more than that. She must have had some of the potion left on her tongue, because suddenly I was shifting, my arms and legs warping even as she rode me. Her eyes widened, watching me transform into her ideal mate. For a moment, I thought I might become Derek’s crush, Sarah, but I should have known better. There was nothing my brother liked more than getting fucked roughly by a big dog. Soon, I was the spitting image of Samson, the Great Dane, my paws clumsily pressed against the German Shepherd’s chest. She didn’t pause for even a moment, bucking up and down as my huge cock grew inside her.

In more ways than one. I was hilted inside the smaller bitch, my newfound knot already starting to swell. She moaned, tail wagging so hard she whapped against my huge balls. That’s when I realized that our lovemaking had taken on a new, dangerous meaning. I could hardly get the antidote from where I’d hidden it now, but even if I could...if my big, white Dane balls had anything to say about it, Derek would be knocked up! The real Samson had been neutered, but the spell ignored that. Derek was riding defenseless on a red rocket that was about to give her a litter she’d be forced to carry to term. The antidote didn’t work on the pregnant.

I didn’t know if she realized the danger. I didn’t know if she cared. All I know is that she only bucked harder, riding me with her eyes clenched shut, her yips and yelps growing in volume. There was no way our parents couldn’t hear us now! Glancing down, I saw that her small spade was now bulging out like a grapefruit, sealed impossibly tight by my huge bulbus glandis. The time to think about pulling out was long past.

Unable to resist, I leaned up with my big head and kissed her again, my tongue winning easily. I plunged into her muzzle and explored every last crevasse, pumping harder and harder until I felt my balls tense up. With a loud howl, I -

I woke up panting, covered in sweat.

“Not again…” I groaned.

I hadn’t had dreams like this since I was thirteen or fourteen. But in the last couple of weeks, they’d been occurring more and more often. Derek had left for college two years ago, so why now? I guess my brain was trying to tell me something before I left for school next fall, too.

But why dreams about Tinkerbell? I still had eight months of high school ahead of me. Maybe the dreams were supposed to make me feel guilty and ashamed, or make me wonder if there’s a reason I hadn’t ever gotten a girlfriend. I told myself I was just too busy with sports and school, but what if I just...wasn’t interested in girls? What if Ben’s fucked up trick had messed me up for life?

Groaning, I got out of bed and shuffled through my morning routine.

Not more than I fucked up his life.

I tried to suppress a smile, knowing that if Ben was still alive, she was probably getting fucked right now. Derek had been adamant that we find Ben and give her the antidote whenever we could, but he should have come with me. He’d trusted me to take the antidote to the stables after the eleven months Hendricks would need to give birth so that I could cure the transformed filly before she got knocked up again. I’d crossed my fingers that I’d be too late, but my timing couldn’t have been better.

I still remembered it like it was yesterday:

The men who worked there were more than happy to let me see the operation when I claimed I was thinking of applying for a job. I was shown the ins and outs, but I wasn’t really interested. That’s when I found Ben, a pure white filly standing in a pen, a beautiful black colt with white socks ducking his head under to suckle her teats. Another foal wandered in the mud nearby, this one pure black with a star on her forehead. The man laughed when he saw her.

“This one is something. Never seen a filly so eager to breed. Why, eight months pregnant and she was still lifting her tail multiple times a day for whichever stud needed a bit of relief.”

When Ben saw me, her eyes widened, and she started to come over, but the foal let out a distressed whinney and she stopped, watching me while her child nursed.

“Is that normal?”

The man shook his head. “It’s like she was stuck in season. Even now, she seems to be driving the stallions wild, when she just gave birth yesterday. Should be at least a week…”

Idly I fingered the antidote in my pocket. Just in time to spare the boy who’d kidnapped and raped my brother, and had tried to turn me into the broodmare he’d become. Derek would be happy, and so would the Ruths. Why couldn’t I have arrived a week later? I don’t know if Ben could hear me, but I said, “Were you planning to breed her again?”

The man nodded. “We always breed in the postpartum estrus. It’s healthier for the mares and we get more foals. We’ve got her scheduled for next week, but I don’t know if she’ll be able to last that long. I already see her teasing Blackie and the others.”

“If she’s already in heat, why wait? Besides, if I’m going to work here, I’m gunna need to see how it’s done sooner or later.”

The man paused. I was still on the fence about what I was planning to do. If he said no, I don’t think I could look Derek in the face and lie about leaving Ben there to rot. But when he said, “You know what, why not? No harm if she’s not really ovulating.”

While he called the men he needed to oversee the breeding, I stood there, motionless, staring at Ben. The young filly cocked her head at me, her child still suckling. It was so hard to imagine my brother’s former friend, Ben Hendricks, having two little foals as kids. But I’d gotten used to the idea that Derek had had his own litter of puppies, and that his first born, Benji, was still living happily next door with Sarah.

If I didn’t give Ben the antidote now, she would be stuck for another year. Who knows if she would even still be at the stables in another year? She’d have another foal, and I’d have a day or two window to save her again. She’d spend the rest of her (probably short) life getting fucked and giving birth until she died sometime in her thirties.

I did nothing. I just watched as the men leapt the fence and tied a rope around her neck, shuffling the foals safely out of the way. Ben’s eyes widened as she realized what they were planning to do, tossing her head and staring over at me, but I just walked over to the next pen. She kicked and struggled as she was dragged in there to the surprise of the foreman.

“Your little foals will be okay, momma,” he said, patting her side. He turned to the others and said, “Don’t want her hurting Blackie. Better strap her in.”

“There’s a first!” one of the stable hands laughed. “This little slut’s never needed the straps before.”

“Hey, watch your language,” the foreman growled, pointing over to me.

Ben struggled, knowing what was in store for her and that there was nothing she could do. Her fate lay in my hands. I could still stop this, I could still cure her. I could make something up if I wanted to. I stared straight at her, knuckles white as I gripped the fence post.

The men worked quickly, sliding the filly between the side bars to keep her still, lifting one front leg to tie a rope and pin it up against her chest. She rolled her eyes and tossed her head, but the reigns kept her head in place so tightly she couldn’t hurt herself. The bar was placed between her hind legs, spacing them out so that she couldn’t kick or move, and her rump was neatly displayed. For once, she didn’t lift her tail of her own accord, the ropes hoisting it up and safely out of the way. I could see her glistening teardrop, already flush and throbbing. I knew the next breeding would take.

And still I did nothing.

Ben whinnied and neighed and I knew he was begging me for help. I wonder when he finally realized it was hopeless. Was it when Blackie was lead through the back gate, bugling triumphantly? When the men cleared the breeding stand, leaving her there alone? When they could barely restrain the eager thoroughbred as he strained against the ropes to reach his perfect mate?

“C’mon out, Zack. We’ll get you a better look, just keep your distance from Blackie.”

I stood, trembling, beside Ben as she stared right at me with one eye. I don’t know when she first knew, but I could see the defeat and horror in that eye. She squealed when the huge, black stallion finally leapt onto her back. I pretended to listen as the foreman explained the intricacies of breeding a filly, pointing out the safety straps before leading me behind them to get a good, close look as one of the men guided Blackie’s huge, flared cock to Ben’s glistening lips.

“Oh wow,” I said simply, as the experienced stallion bucked forward, reaming the much smaller filly in one, smooth thrust. I’d seen Ben’s first deflowering, and it had been rough and tight, but a year of fucking every horse with a cock and giving birth had left Ben quite a bit more ready. Blackie spread her easily, stuffing her balls deep.

Ben tossed her head back and moaned, and suddenly, despite the knowledge that she was being abandoned, stuck as a filly forever, to be bred and give birth, bred and give birth for the rest of her life, I could only smile to see her weakly rock her rump up and down, pushing back against her mate. The bar on her legs only meant she had to try harder to hump back.

“She really likes it, doesn’t she?” I gasped.

The foreman nodded. “Oh, she sometimes plays hard to get with the - ahem - draft horses, but once they’re in her, I’ve never seen a filly have a better time.”

Blackie pounded her so hard the ropes squeaked and the wood started to creak, but if the straps were causing her pain, she didn’t show it. Ben neighed and moaned until her voice was starting to crack, trembling as she was lifted up by each heavy thrust before Blackie pulled out, setting her back on all fours. I couldn’t tear my eyes away as his entire, enormous length slid wetly into her straining chasm, stretching her several inches wide. His dick was coated in her slick fluids.

It all happened so fast. Blackie was grunting, his nostrils peeled back, chest heaving as he kept humping. I’d lost count, even though he was probably only around fifteen thrusts or so. How many more before he sealed her fate? I could hear him bottoming out inside her, thudding against her waiting womb. Three more? Six?

I moved to Ben’s side again, but she was clenching her eyes shut and gritting her teeth at the eager onslaught. “Ben,” I whispered.

That caught her attention.

“I was supposed to give you this,” I said, patting the bottle still in my pocket. “But it looks like I was too late.”

Her dark, black eye stared up at me from the sea of white fur, trapping behind it an intelligence that none of the men working here had recognized. She could hardly escape in the middle of the city. Where would she go? A pregnant horse couldn’t exactly hide, and she certainly couldn’t make it downtown to the Ruth’s magic shop. She needed me, and now she knew exactly how I felt.

“Oh well,” I sighed. “There’s always next year. Enjoy your foal.”

Ben whinnied at me, out of anger, or desperation, or fear, but her voice shifted suddenly as she tossed her head back, her lips curling into a shrill squeal as Blackie flared inside her. The enormous weight of the thoroughbred barrelled forward, making her slender hind legs buckle and wobble, his hooves digging sharply into her belly. I saw his tail flag upward and his own voice join hers as the first massive flood of cum pumped straight into her fertile womb. I could almost hear the gushing as his fat cock blocked her pussy, forcing the fluid to splatter the back wall of her uterus, coating the egg that I knew would be waiting for him. Or maybe she would have twins, again?

He hovered above the shuddering, straining filly, who looked likely to collapse beneath his weight when just about ten seconds later he was done with her. The men helped him slide off of her, his huge plug popping free to a bright gush of white fluid. Cum streamed out of her, but I knew her belly had far more swirling around inside.

The man was about to show me around the rest of the facility, when I said, “You know, since you’ve already got her all strapped in, might as well bring in another stallion.”

He laughed, and they did.

I did actually come back to the stables a year later, but Ben had been moved to some other facility, and that was that. Derek gave up on searching for his tormentor, and I stopped thinking about her for years.

Until these dreams started up again. Derek had gone to SoCal like Sarah and her boyfriend, Isaac, and I really hope he’s gotten over her. It’s been six years! There had to be other fish in the sea, or perhaps in his case, dogs in the yard.

I went down to feed the dogs and let them out back, grabbing a bottle of water to hydrate myself. I’d sworn off soda in an effort to hone my body for the next Taekwondo regionals. I’d never been in better shape, going to the gym for two hours a day and monitoring my caloric intake to precise levels. The key was soy protein. You can’t ever get too much protein.

When I walked outside to walk the dogs, I saw that Sarah had had the same idea. Unlike Derek, the 22-year-old had decided to stay at home and commute to college. Maybe her parents didn’t want her to leave them alone, after their son disappeared? None of them knew what a horrible monster Ben had become. They were better off with him missing. And at least as a mare, he was being productive.

“Morning, Sarah,” I said noncommittally. I’d never liked her, and not just because Derek had almost chosen her over me. Sarah was reckless and impulsive, and worst - she loved her brother. She kept asking if I’d seen him for years after he’d disappeared, as if I would know where he was. The fact that I did know wasn’t the point.

“Hi, Zack. Is it alright if Benji joins you?”

“Sure,” I shrugged, and she opened the gate between our yards. Benji was still like a puppy, despite being six years old, and he galumphed into the yard to dance and play with Pancakes and Beefstick. One of the older dogs was the father, and one was the uncle, but we didn’t really know which. They were, as always, more than happy to play with their puppy.

And Derek, Ben, and I were the only people who knew who Benji’s mother really was. Well, Derek and I were the only people. I always felt a little weird around Benji, realizing the rather beautiful, smart, and strong German Shepherd had squeezed through my older brother’s quivering spade.

“How’s school?” I asked noncommittally.

“Fine. You picked one out for yourself?” she smiled.

“Not yet. Haven’t even started applying.”

“Better get started - it really sneaks up on you.

I had to suppress an eye roll. What did she really care, anyway? “Thanks.”

There was an awkward pause in the conversation, which Sarah filled with, “We’re, uh, getting married.”

I blinked. “Who?”

“Isaac and me. He proposed last weekend.”

“Oh, wow,” I said without any real energy. At least that might stop Derek from fixating on the Hendricks girl. I still don’t know what he sees in her. “When’s the wedding?”

She shook her head. “Haven’t decided yet, but we’re going to move in together next month. Got a place lined up on Carabiner Ave.”

“I hope you’ve got a queen-sized bed lined up, or I don’t know where you’ll put Benji,” I joked.

“You don’t know the half of it - he’s taking Derika.”

“King-sized, then.” Derika was half Great Dane. “Maybe you should leave the dogs at home. I mean, dog-free apartments are a lot cheaper. And doesn’t Isaac get a little jealous?”

“Jealous?” Sarah said with a blank look.

“Of the way you look at Benji?” I laughed.

Sarah chuckled weirdly and said, “It’s no different than the way he looks at Derika.”

I pressed the joke further. “Then maybe you should be jealous of her.”

“Oh come on,” she protested weakly.

“Seriously though,” I added, putting on my serious face. As much as I didn’t respect Sarah, I knew very much that she needed good advice. “If you’re planning to have two intact dogs in your apartment, you’re going to have to be really careful, or you’ll end up with an unwanted litter. And Benji and Derika are half-siblings.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. Full-stop, not even hiding it. Fine, whatever, I thought. Sarah said, “Yeah, we know.”

“I’m serious. Dogs get...really intense. I’ve heard of dogs mating through a chain-link fence. With a dog as big as Derika, you’ll need to reinforce your doors.”

This time, Sarah paused. “Seriously? A chain-linked fence? Alright...I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe we ought to get little Benji here a little operation…”

I grabbed Benji by the collar and dragged him back to the Hendricks yard. “Here you go, I’m heading back inside. Good luck with the engagement thing.”

“Thanks, Zack.”

I lead the dogs back into the house, realizing that if the proposal had happened last weekend, odds were that Derek didn’t even know. Better call him… As much as I liked to criticize Derek’s life choices, we were still really close. He told me about all his drama, and I told him about all mine.

But I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him about the dreams I’d been having.

* * * * *

Benji spilled happily into the house ahead of me. While he skittered around on the tile, I grabbed the Frosted Corn Nuggets and poured a quick bowl of cereal. I’d already fed the mutt, since he would not let up in the morning until his stomach was full. A little skim milk and I was munching away.

Mrs. Sarah Hendricks Laughner. No, that sounded like garbage. Maybe I should keep my middle name. Sarah Lillian Laughner. That was a little better, but with Ben still missing, it seemed a shame to lose the Hendricks name. Maybe he was out there somewhere, with a sweetheart of his own.

Things were going to be pretty different when I moved in with Isaac. I’ve never lived without my parents. Not to mention the apartments we were looking at were way smaller. With the two-hundred and twenty pound former football player, myself, a pure-bred German Shepherd and a Dane mix, it was going to get pretty cramped. I took another bite of cereal. What would Benji do if I kicked him off the bed at night?

He might not take kindly to Isaac taking his place. Did Isaac sleep with Derika? Suddenly, moving in seemed like a bad idea.

Shut up, Sarah. I loved Isaac. Why did I keep looking for excuses?

I knew why, but I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t write about it in my journal, or tell my best friends. I certainly didn’t tell Isaac. I liked every morning when my parents left for work and I waited for my 10:00 AM class. I liked every night when I snuggled up with Benji and drifted off to sleep.

Speaking of which, there was still two hours before my 10:00 AM class. “Here, Benji,” I called and tromped upstairs, ignoring the closed, hidden room that had once been Ben’s to run down the hall to my own bedroom, the German Shepherd clattering at my heels. He knew the routine, and I was in no rush to change it.

“Good boy,” I said, kicking off my shoes and tossing my t-shirt over my head. I managed to struggle out of my pajama bottoms while falling over backward onto the bed. Then, to an intrigued, furry audience of one, I lifted my little butt and slid off my panties.

Benji wasted no time. When we’d started this, he’d needed peanut butter for encouragement, but not for the last four years. I always wondered if he was just doing this because I told him to, or if he really enjoyed it. Maybe he just enjoyed doing what I wanted him to? Did it really matter?

I spread my legs and he was between them, his wide, wet tongue fluttering against my labia. I still remembered the first time I’d ever done this - with Tinkerbell, Benji’s mom. She’d been Ben’s dog, but she sneaked into my room once when I was masturbating, and before I knew it, she was doing just what Benji was now. Perversion must run in the family.

I can’t describe how good it felt as Benji once again slathered my pussy with his huge, warm tongue, leaving a cool, evaporating film of saliva on the lightly fuzzed skin that surrounded my clit. During this phase, while he was still savoring the outside, his cold, wet nose bumped and nudged against my clitoral hood, just a prelude to what I would soon feel. I clapped a hand to my mouth, even though my parents weren’t home - it had become second nature.

My hands trembled as I tried to avoid directing his head, letting Benji decide when and where to lick. Eventually, I had to grip the sheets, gently pressing my hips up against him, until I couldn’t hold my breath any longer and I let out a big gasp, placing my hands on his head. He’d licked me clean, but now he could taste my inner fluids leaking out.

“Oh...God…” I gasped.

Like a roller coasting falling over the first hill, everything changed when he decided to lap inside me. I grabbed the fur of his neck so tightly my hands turned white as he plunged between my lips, thicker and more powerful than Isaac had ever been. Benji gulped and guzzled so insistently that all I could do was arch my back and moan into my hand. Now, his licks ran the full gamut - I could feel the tip of his tongue spread me wide, tickle every crevasse of my vagina, then curl out and up, gently rubbing my clit before diving in again.

My calves tensed and pushed me up to him, offering my crotch to the old pro. If I hadn’t already been dating Isaac, I wonder if I’d even have bothered to join the dating scene. It was hard to imagine any boy competing with that tongue. Soon, I was bucking up and down, but that didn’t sway Benji, eating me out and drinking in my flavor.

Gasping, I said, “What are we going to do, boy?”

He didn’t seem to notice or care what I was saying.

“When we start living with Isaac? We’ll have to stop,” I moaned, squeezing my legs around his furry body.

I knew from experience that he wouldn’t stop until I made him stop. He was content to guzzle me until every last drop was in his stomach. “Unless...Isaac knew, too.”

Glancing down at Benji’s wagging tail, I knew he would be confused and disappointed if I stopped our daily play. But what if...Isaac knew? What if he didn’t mind? What if he was doing this with Derika…?

That was a new thought for me, bucking my hips at the edge of orgasm. What if he was letting the Dane-mix blow him? I didn’t feel jealous. Would he about Benji? What if I convinced him to try it? Then he couldn’t get too upset if I did it. Gasping for breath, I grabbed wildly for my phone at the edge of the bed, just a dozen licks from my climax. I could get him to record a video of the moment, and then send him mine.

I don’t know if I was thinking particularly straight at that particular moment, but it didn’t matter. I propped my phone up on the nightstand and pressed ‘record’. “Good boy!” I said, both for Benji and for the camera, as I humped his muzzle.

“Oh shit...here I go!” I managed to gasp, over the edge from his fierce licks and the delicious naughtiness of it all. This kind of evidence on my phone...

“Aaaah!”

I let go and let loose, squirting into Benji’s open muzzle. He just slurped it all down, rolling his tongue inside me to grasp all the salty flavor. I was clenching so hard around his tongue that he struggled to pull it free, before sliding it back into my spasming pussy. If anything, he redoubled his efforts, driving me again and again over the peak into a mindless freefall.

I was panting louder than Benji ever did when I finally grabbed the phone and stopped recording. What a stupid thing to do, I told myself. I was never going to send this video to Isaac. And why would I need a video of it, when I had Benji himself every day? Groaning, I kicked Benji away and had to cover myself with the blankets or he’d never give up. I went to immediately delete the offending recording.

But I paused first, and pressed play. Wiping sweat from my eyes, I watched the blank wall of my room as the audio came in perfectly. You couldn’t see a thing. I’d totally missed the action. I mean, the sounds were damning enough, but if I really wanted to record this, I’d need to set it up beforehand and make sure I stayed in the field of the small camera.

I dropped the phone. My hands were shaking. Wait, what the fuck? I thought. While the video droned on with gasps and moans, my eyes turned of their own accord toward my closet.

“It wasn’t still. It was shaking.”

I stood up walking in a daze to the closet. “Who was holding it? How did I not notice?”

Benji jumped around at my feet, but I ignored him, reaching with trembling hands for the closet door. With a flick of the light, I could see the shoebox in the corner. I rushed over to it and popped it open lifting up the fake cardboard bottom.

There it was, Ben’s cell phone. The one I stupidly kept from the police. Luckily, I’d kept the charger too, because it was long dead. While Benji looked on, confused, I ran to an outlet and plugged the device in, jamming the power button. Thank God it turned on.

This time, I turned up the sound. How could I be so careless? I’d taken one look at the video and turned it off, too horrified to watch more and unable to turn the evidence over to the cops. I slid to the camera, and there it was - the most recent video. Shivering, I pressed ‘play’.

In one second, my question was answered, when I heard Zack clearly state, “W-what are you doing to do?”

“Just watch,” my fool of a brother replied, kicking off his pants and underpants. The camera shook as Zack held the phone. How did I not realize there was someone recording it!?

Ben walked, half-naked, to Tinkerbell, and that was all I could watch. I stopped the video, taking note of the date it was recorded.

A few days before Ben disappeared without a trace.

“Zack has a lot of explaining to do.”

* * * * *

The Iowa State Fair was always a huge event with tens of thousands of guests and a carnival atmosphere filled with funnel cakes, donuts dipped in fudge, break soaked in butter, and butter fried in bacon grease. The noise of happy children, tired parents, and casual fair-goers filled my ears.

But I wasn’t here for food. I was here for magic. The witches of the coasts like to trade their most recent developments in potions, and Iowa was a perfect middle ground. I was carrying them on behalf of my mother, Madam Ruth, one of the most renowned witches in California. I was to make a trade with Ella Zadia. I carried the briefcase with the potions and their accompanying notes like I was in a spy novel.

I couldn’t let these potions get into the wrong hands. My mother had included a small vial of the failed Love Potions #9 and #10, with careful notes on what not to do. If word of these spells got out, the whole world would find out that magic had gone far beyond the placebo effect.

Now, where was the exchange point, again? Behind the port-o-potties?

I took a step toward one of the many embankments of plastic restrooms, then paused, head tilted toward a particular sign.

It read, “Come see Maredonna, the mother of horses. See the most productive broodmare of all time in action, pregnant with twins again for the seventh time in six years, as she takes on El Diablo, this afternoon at 3:00 PM. Must be 14 or older.”

I glanced at my watch. 2:59 PM.

Six years. It couldn’t be! Surely those boys had fixed the problem.

I tossed the entry fee into the bucket and walked inside. There, in the center of the tent, was a pure white filly with an enormous belly, standing in a stall so that the audience could see her dark vulva, clearly winking and in heat, despite being ready to pop any day now.

My hand tightened around the briefcase. This wasn’t a normal mare. This was that fourteen-year-old boy that had snuck into the basement of our shop and stolen the experimental potion. What was his name?

Oh, right.

I’d have to wait until the crowds were gone, of course, but I knew what I had to do.

I had to cure Ben.