Seventh Seal: A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 7)

by Jacquelyn Faye

  "Well, if you're done and can keep out of trouble, I'm going to head home," Yuki said and straightened her back. She had definitely taken a wallop from the building and was still moving funny while her body healed itself.

  "I think I can manage. Thanks for the save, Yuke."

  "My pleasure." She rolled her eyes and started walking away, as best she could. Her massive limp impeded her exit.

  "You good?"

  "Yeah. I'll live."

  "Dar, can you make sure she gets home okay?" I leaned in a little closer. "Make sure she's eaten, too… She seems to be healing a little slower than usual."

  "Yes, Master." He bowed and hurried away, ducking under the arm Yuki was holding her back with.

  "Is she going to be okay?" Sherry whispered her question, not knowing Yuki could still hear her.

  "She'll be fine after a good meal," Yuki answered with a wave over her shoulder. I didn't elaborate.

  "Well, if you'll excuse me, Sherry, I need to pay for my lunch." I patted her hand and opened the door to Charlotte's.

  "I've been eating here for years. I've never seen you in there once. You trying to get away from your mayoral scolding?"

  I chuckled. "No Blackwell backs away from a good fight with the mayor. Ask my mother." The truth was, I loved Sherry to death. The odds of her ending up with a horse's anus magicked to her forehead were less than zero.

  "Well, it's too late for lunch and too early for dinner. But a nice hunk of French bread and some tea might be nice." Sherry ducked inside.

  Candace was gone. Of course. Her lunch break was short, and she needed to get back to the store. At least, that's what I was sure she would have told me if she hadn't run right after the angel encounter. I had questions that she didn't want to answer. Odds were, Candace was going to be avoiding me until she thought I had forgotten. Little did she know, I was a master ambusher. And I knew where she lived and worked.

  I looked at the table. She had taken a few bites of her salad before taking off. My turkey burger still sat on the plate, untouched. "Hey, Charlie. How much do I owe you for lunch?" I motioned toward the table. At least I had an excuse not to eat it.

  "Don't worry about it. Want it to go? I can make you a fresh one."

  "Uh. No thanks. Lost my appetite." I frowned at her, hoping she would buy my horrible acting skills.

  She nodded and walked over to the table, clearing the plates. "You want anything, Sherry?"

  "Bread and tea emergency rations please."

  "Be out in a minute. Have a few loaves coming out of the oven. Butter?"

  "Oh, God. Yes, please." Sherry groaned a little. My stomach warbled in envy.

  I'd planned on stopping by the diner to get a burger, but the bread sounded sinfully delicious. "Actually, make that two and put it on my bill. Along with the food we didn't eat."

  Charlie smiled in response and headed to the back with the dishes.

  "So. How are things going with Derek?"

  "Extremely well. We're having dinner tonight. Why don't you and Jimmy join us?"

  Uhhh… "Where?" I found myself asking, horrified that I hadn't declined right off the bat. The last thing I wanted to see was Derek with another woman.

  "Bunyan's."

  "Ooh. Steak."

  "Yep."

  "What time?"

  "Seven."

  "Sounds fun. We'll be there." It was like I had absolutely no control over my mouth. Which on any given day would be normal for me, but this time was different. I'd been trying to say no from the minute I started speaking.

  Sherry's eyes lit up in excitement.

  Luckily, I could use Jimmy not being available as an excuse not to show up. I started to tell her I would check with her cousin and let her know when Charlie stepped out of the back with a picnic basket on each arm. As far as take out containers, that was a first. "Nice baskets."

  "Thanks. Make them myself."

  "Isn't it adorable? When you buy bread, she gives it to you in a basket. You're supposed to return them, but I kind of suck at it. I never remember. There's like five of them up in my office." Sherry blushed. "I promise, Charlie. I'll bring them down tomorrow."

  "No worries," Charlie answered her with an amused chuckle.

  "I'll have Candy bring mine with her tomorrow," I told her. "How much do I owe you?"

  "I told you, it is on the house, Dorothea."

  "And I don't do that." I fished my wallet out of my jacket and put a hundred on the counter, far from her reach. "See you all later," I waved over my shoulder and headed out the door before she could stop me. If there was one thing I remembered from all of my grandmother's lessons, it was never owe a fae a favor.

  The thought of taking the bread back to the bookstore and eating in the office didn't sound half as appealing as sitting in the park across the street and doing it. Looking both ways, I cut across and staked my claim to the closest park bench.

  Lifting the lid, the aroma of hot bread steamed beside me. My mouth started salivating as I pulled the wrapped loaf out and saw a paper container of butter beside a cup of tea. Happily, I pulled out my treasures, took a sip of the tea from the cup made of ninety-percent recycled materials and set it beside me before tearing off a piece of bread and dipping it in the whipped butter.

  Heaven became a tangible place in my mouth. There were few things in the mortal realm better than hot, fresh bread and butter. I dipped my hand in the basket to grab a napkin and my fingers wrapped around a small wheel of cheese. It was officially the best day ever. Aside from the part of being almost killed by an angel. That part sucked a little.

  "Can you fly?" The little voice behind me almost made me jump. I turned and saw the girl who had waved at me, staring at me incredulously. Her eyes as big as saucers.

  "Sometimes."

  "Why was the angel mad at you?"

  I chewed what was in my mouth and swallowed. I could manage one word with a mouth full of food, but I didn't want to pepper her with chewed bread. "Well, that wasn't a real angel. It was a bad guy pretending to be one."

  "Oh." She waddled around me and sat on the bench on the other side of my basket.

  "Would you like some bread? It's fresh."

  "Mommy says I shouldn't take things from strangers."

  And mommies shouldn't let their children run around the park alone. I looked around for her, but she was talking to another woman by the statue in the middle of the park. "Well. My name is Dot. What's yours?"

  "Caroline."

  "Well, Caroline, we're not strangers now, are we?"

  The little girl giggled and shook her head happily. I ripped off a hunk of bread and handed it to her. She greedily started munching on the corner, cute as a button. "You're a real witch?"

  "Yep. Does that scare you?"

  "You're not green. And you don't have any warts. So, you must be a good witch."

  "Most of the time. But my mother…"

  "She's green and has warts?" She blinked in astonishment.

  "Yep. And a foul temper. She lives in a swamp and has long claws at the ends of her fingers."

  "Why does she have a foul temper?"

  "Somebody dropped a house on her sister!" I giggled.

  The girl's mother waved goodbye at her friend and started heading toward us. I waited for the moment of panic when she realized I was talking to her child, but she smiled sadly, ignoring me right up until the moment she walked right past us. I looked down at Caroline and then turned in my seat. "Aren't you forgetting someone?" I pointed at the seat next to me when the woman turned around. She tilted her head.

  "Who?"

  "This girl isn't yours?" I started to panic.

  "What girl?" She gave me a strange look and kept walking away.

  Horrified, I looked down at Caroline who had a tear leaking from the corner of her eye. "Mommy can't see me," she said sadly and faded from view.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  "Next time you're going to use me as an excuse not to have dinner with your ex-boyfriend and
my cousin, you should let me know beforehand," Jimmy said with a chuckle and opened the truck door.

  "Well, how the hell was I supposed to know your cousin would have called you within five minutes. Hard to tell her that I can't make it because my date had other plans when he already agreed," I said as I climbed up into the truck and smoothed my dress beneath me to protect my backside from the cold pleather.

  Jimmy shut the door and walked around the truck, getting in on the other side and starting it up. "Good point. I'm sure I can come up with an excuse if you really don't want to go…"

  "No. It's fine. I can be a big girl for one night and suck it up. Plus, Sherry seemed really excited."

  "She is. Even though she's the mayor, she doesn't have many friends or get out much," he said thoughtfully.

  "Why? She's super sweet and super cute. She could have more guys than me if she wanted to."

  "She's not a witch, Dot. But she's…quirky." He laughed and put the truck into gear, backing out of my driveway slowly.

  "Quirky?"

  "Intuitive. She can usually tell what people are thinking."

  "And?"

  "If you were a guy, would you want your date to know what you're thinking?"

  "Pervs?"

  "To say the least."

  "Oye."

  "But she can't seem to read witches. She could never tell what I was thinking, so I'm guessing Derek is a nice change."

  "And the Irish accent doesn't hurt."

  "Or his sad eyes," Jimmy added.

  "Don't get any fucking ideas. No."

  He chuckled.

  "And you behave yourself tonight. No funny business."

  "In front of my cousin? I don't think you have to worry."

  "This is you we're talking about. Of course, I'm worried."

  "Ewww. That's just gross. I don't even want to think about it." He made a few gagging noises to top it off. "It was a month before she could look me in the eye after the pencident."

  "What the hell is a pencident?"

  "You know."

  "Enlighten me."

  "The incident. With the pen."

  "Oh. That pencident." I blushed.

  "Just remember, payback's a bitch."

  "Blah blah blah. Talking pretty big for a man without his wingman." Just to make sure, I checked the back seat. "Where's Dennis?"

  "Pulling an extra shift. One of the guys was…sick."

  "Sick?"

  He sighed. "Scared shitless. Even the fire department has its share of racist assholes in OWL T-shirts…"

  "Oh."

  "Yeah. Kind of ironic that he asked his good buddy Dennis to take his shift."

  I chuckled. "I'm surprised he said yes."

  "He wanted the OT. He has grand designs on buying a Corvette."

  "Dennis?" I was a little shocked by the revelation. I always saw him as a truck kind of guy. Not a sports car fanatic.

  "It's been his dream since we were kids. He's getting close, too." Jimmy didn't sound too impressed.

  "Whatever makes him happy."

  "You mean besides you?" He grinned at me.

  "I hope I do."

  "Don't doubt it for a moment. You have that effect on all of us." He reached over and rubbed my leg reassuringly until we pulled into Bunyan's packed parking lot.

  Luckily, Sherry and Derek had already gotten one of the larger booths, wide enough for six people, but perfect for the four of us. I slid in across from Sherry and Jimmy sat next to me, across from my ex-boyfriend. The only way it could have felt more awkward would have been if Chief had shown up and pulled up a chair.

  "I'm so glad you guys made it! This might be my first double date since high school." She grinned and leaned against Derek.

  "Wouldn't have missed it for the world," I lied through my teeth. "Hey, Derek."

  "Dot." He gave me a small smile.

  "You remember Jimmy?"

  "The fireman. Yes." He reached across the table and shook Jimmy's hand.

  "So, what's new and exciting?" I asked Sherry, not Derek. Wanting to get the conversation going and away from Derek.

  "Since I saw you a few hours ago? Not much. Thanks for fixing the war zone."

  "My pleasure."

  "War zone?" Derek leaned forward a little, his curiosity piqued. Even Jimmy was staring at me. I probably should have told him, too.

  "Yeah. Had a visitor this afternoon. The flaming sword wielding kind. Downtown took the brunt of the damage."

  "Was everyone okay?" Jimmy asked concernedly.

  "Well, it was close. Not every day you get your ass handed to you by an arch angel. I managed to dodge most of it, but Yuki learned what it felt like to go in like a wrecking ball."

  "An arch angel?" Derek asked dubiously.

  "Yeah. They don't like me very much."

  "How did you kill it?" That was my Jimmy. Straight to the point and assuming I'd won.

  "I didn't. Believe it or not, Candace came flying out of the Bistro we were having lunch at and scared it away." I cocked my eyebrow, still uncertain how she had managed to pull it off. She was about as scary as a Pomeranian in a tutu.

  "Well, just try to keep the fighting to a minimum. We don't want a repeat of the other night, either," Sherry said absentmindedly as she perused the menu.

  "The other night?" Derek asked. With every question, his eyebrows moved closer to his hairline.

  "Vampire attack on an anti-witch coalition. Fun stuff. You should hang out more," Jimmy answered him with a chuckle.

  "It would appear so." He took a long pull from his dark beer and didn't sound honest at all. For the first time since we had broken up, I felt as though he might be glad. Which was good.

  "Lady Dorothea!" The bubbly, non-human, blonde waitress that I always seemed to find myself saddled with, the one whose name I could never remember, stopped at our table. "Good to see you again! The usual?"

  "Please." I shrugged. I was kind of starving, and sixty-four ounces of steak sounded like it would fill me up quite nicely.

  "Jimmy?" She blushed when she said his name.

  "Not for me. Just the porterhouse, please."

  "Beer?"

  "You betcha." He flashed a smile at her. I gripped his knee and gave it a little squeeze.

  She turned to Derek and Sherry and took their orders before flashing Jimmy a demure smile and heading for the kitchen. "She wants me," Jimmy said jokingly.

  "Probably between two pieces of bread with a light coating of mayonnaise," I answered him warningly.

  "Well, I'm safe. The only person's lips who are touching my exquisite flesh are yours, love." He grinned and kissed me.

  "Keep flirting with her, and I'll carve some of your ass off for her sammich."

  "Me? I never flirt."

  His cousin scoffed.

  "What?"

  "You flirt. You just don't realize it. Nor do you pay attention when girls flirt with you, which makes you doubly dangerous."

  "Right?" I nodded at her.

  "Don't know what you're talking about," Jimmy answered defensively.

  "I don' think he was flirtin'," Derek agreed.

  "You shush. You're twice as bad with that honey-dipped accent," I said with a laugh. Sherry grinned and nodded.

  "I don't think they appreciate the fine subtleties of the finer points of our personalities, Jimbo."

  "We're totally unappreciated."

  "Slaves to the women we love…"

  "Love?" Sherry's eyes grew twice as wide as she turned to him and stared at him like a doe in headlights.

  It was at that moment that Derek realized he fucked up.

  Chuckling, I curled up into the crook of Jimmy's arm to watch the show. But not before whispering, "Just remember. You can't flirt if you're dead."

  Chapter 18

  "Well, that was fun," I said as I got back into Jimmy's truck, half meaning it. While it had been nice to hang out with Sherry, spending time with my ex had been more than a little awkward. No matter how hard I tried, I co
uldn't stop imagining the feel of his fingers, the taste of his kiss, or the sound of his voice as he whispered in my ear. I found myself staring off into nothingness more than once as we finished our meal.

  "Which part?" Jimmy asked softly, shutting the door and walking around the truck to get in. It took me until he started the engine to realize he was expecting an answer.

  "Hanging out with your cousin. I really like her."

  "Good. She likes you, too. What about Derek?" He asked as he put the truck in reverse but didn't let go of the break.

  "You want the truth?"

  "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."

  "Even if the truth sucks?"

  "You still have feelings for him," he stated flatly.

  "Not so much as feelings for him, just the memories of the time we shared are rather…"

  "Vivid?"

  "Yes. Vivid. Vivid and happy."

  "So, you don't want him?"

  "Oh, hell no. He had his chance. Two of them in fact."

  He leaned across the truck and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek. "Well, if you change your mind…"

  "I won't."

  He held up his hand. "The heart gets what the heart wants, Dot. Just do me a favor and try not to devastate my cousin. You saw her face when he mentioned the L word."

  "I did. More importantly, I saw his face when he realized what he said. Tell you what, I'll make you a deal."

  "What's that?"

  "I promise not to hurt her, but if he hurts her, we can hurt him together." I grinned proudly.

  "Such a deal." He winked and backed out of the spot and headed for Main.

  "Want to go back to my place?"

  "Maybe in a little bit. I have something else planned…"

  "Fuck me." I sighed and slumped in the seat.

  "Oh. I will. I will." He grinned mischievously.

  "That's not the part I'm worried about."

  "Oh? What is, pray tell."

  "Who's going to be watching…"

  "I would never do something so dastardly…" He feigned shock and put his hand over his heart.

  "Both hands on the wheel, mister."

  He kept driving, taking us closer and closer to the center of town. My heart stopped when he pulled in the parking lot of the bookstore. "Uh. Why are we here?"

  "I figured you could use a coffee…"