Couture and Curses

by Danielle Garrett

  “Oh! Okay. I’ll get out of your hair then.”

  Aurelia looked away again. “Great. I’ll—uh—speak with you soon. Thank you for coming by.”

  Something tugged at me, but I batted it away and turned to leave the shop. “Have a nice time at dinner.”

  Aurelia didn’t reply.

  The bell on the front door tinkled as I left the shop. I waited for a truck to pass before crossing the street, struggling with the large garment bag in my arms. When I reached the SUV, beads of sweat sprouted across my brow. I shifted the dress to one arm and awkwardly dug into my purse in search of the keys. With a groan, I remembered placing them on the counter back inside Aurelia’s shop.

  I muttered curses at myself as I marched back across the street and found the doors locked. “Great,” I growled. “Now what am I supposed to do? Haul this thing onto a Shimmer Bus?”

  I didn’t want to bother Aurelia, especially knowing she had dinner plans, but I had to try. I knocked on the glass. “Aurelia?” I called, pressing my face against the glass, trying to get a peek inside.

  Suddenly, a flash of green light exploded through the shop. I cried out and whipped away from the door, holding my face in my hands just as the glass on the doors and windows blasted into a million pieces and sprayed over me.

  In a split second, the street fell silent again, or maybe I couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in my ears. It took a second for my brain to catch up with my body and when it did, I realized my legs had sprung into action seemingly of their own autonomy and I was racing into the shop, the garment bag abandoned on the sidewalk among the wreckage.

  Chapter 3

  “Aurelia!” I screamed her name as I darted past toppled mannequins and debris from the blast. The counter that had been the picture of order moments before was a mess of scattered paperwork, business cards, and broken trinkets. The shop’s phone was on the floor along with the vintage-style cash register.

  Only when I was halfway into the shop did an alarm go off in the back of my head, warning me that I’d potentially charged into danger. I had no idea where the green light or the blast had come from. Would it happen again? I thought about turning back but I heard sounds of movement from the back of the shop and charged forward again.

  “Aurelia?” I held out my hands, wishing I could conjure the magic that ran through my veins. I knew it was there, but due to lack of use and inexperience, most of my limited power lay dormant. Harmony had been trying to teach me spells and I’d learned some basics, but nothing that would shield me from such a blast of force. My magic would be as effective as a plastic parka in a tsunami.

  My purse—and phone—were out on the sidewalk, abandoned with the dress. When no answer came from the back room, I backtracked to pick up the shop’s phone. The sound of a dial tone flooded me with relief and I dialed the emergency number for the SPA.

  Carrying the phone with me, I rounded the counter and crept toward the supply room. The cord went taut and I stopped walking just as the operator came on and asked what the emergency was.

  “This is Anastasia Winters,” I whispered, pausing with my back flat against the wall. “I’m at Aurelia Pierre’s dress shop on Fairy Joy Lane and there’s been an explosion. Please send agents. Quick.”

  “Was it the result of a potion or spellwork gone wrong?” the operator asked, entirely too calm considering what I’d just told her, though I supposed that’s what they were trained to do.

  “No,” I whispered. “At least, I don’t think so. Please, just send someone. I think Aurelia might be hurt … or …”

  I didn’t let myself finish the sentence. Aurelia was okay. I couldn’t think of an alternative.

  “Yes, Ms. Winters, agents are on the way. Can you tell me what’s going on right now?”

  I glanced around the shop. Apart from the disarray and broken windows and doors, nothing appeared to be happening. What had happened? What was the green light? Some kind of curse or spell? Surely, Aurelia hadn’t been the one to halfway blow up her own shop. Then, there was her strange behavior. I’d thought she might have had company. If so, where were they now? And more importantly, who were they?

  “I—I really don’t know. It’s quiet now. I need to find Aurelia. She could be hurt. There was a flash of light and then an explosion. It blew out all the windows and doors. Everything is a mess. Please,” I whimpered, “I don’t know what’s happened. I just need help.”

  If the operator had an inkling, she didn’t share it.

  A shadow appeared on the open door of the back room and I smothered a gasp. The shadow was shaped like a man but moved like a ghost, sliding into the room. I sucked in a breath, realizing there was no one there. The shadow moved of its own volition. Its head shifted, and though there was no face, I could feel its eyes on me.

  The phone slipped from my fingers and I took a scrambled step back. My thighs hit the edge of the counter and I raised my hands, shielding my face, but it was useless. The shadow moved like a strike of lightning. A flare of pain exploded through my head and then the world went black.

  My head pounded like the entire academy marching band had taken up residence inside my cranium. Boom. Boom. BOOM.

  “Ana?”

  A voice cut through the rat-a-tat of pain and pressure. A male voice. One I knew. I tensed as another wave of pain coursed through my head before I forced my eyes open. My heart swelled and a sob broke through as Caleb’s face came into focus.

  His eyes fluttered closed for a moment and then he smiled softly and ran a thumb down my cheek. “Thank the stars, you’re all right.”

  I nodded gingerly and tried to swallow the lump in my throat. “I—I think so.”

  I didn’t immediately recognize my surroundings and any attempt to move my head was met with a throbbing whack of pain. From what I could see, I figured I was in some kind of hospital room. White walls and ceiling tiles, a blue curtain hanging in my peripheral. The last time I’d been in the hospital was years ago following an unfortunate incident with a kitchen knife—the last time I’d bothered attempting to cook something that didn’t come in a package, pre-cut.

  “You’re safe,” Caleb told me as I continued to try looking around. “A healer came in to see you right before you woke up. Despite some nasty cuts and what I suspect is going to turn into one hell of a shiner, you’re okay. They treated the cuts and they should be bringing a potion for the pain any minute now.”

  I tried to smile but that hurt too. Instead, I reached up and placed my hand over Caleb’s as he cradled the side of my face. Suddenly, a dark thought percolated up through the tangled web of questions swirling through my head. “Aurelia?” I asked, panic in my voice.

  Caleb’s face fell.

  Fear plunged through my heart. “No,” I whispered. “She’s okay. She has to be.”

  Caleb leaned back, taking his hand off my face but keeping it intertwined with mine as he rested it on the bed. “She’s here at the hospital, in the critical wounds department. She has a team of healers working to help her, but she hasn’t woken up yet, and at this point, the healers aren’t sure she’s going to.”

  “What—what happened to her?”

  He drew in a breath. “Well, we aren’t really sure. We were hoping you’d be able to help us put together the pieces. Our agents arrived a few minutes after your call and found both you and Aurelia in the shop. We rushed both of you here. I have agents on the scene investigating, but so far we don’t have a lot to work with. Everything is a mess. In your call, you said there was an explosion?”

  I could see he was torn between wanting to let me recover and wanting answers. The detective side of him was warring with his role as my boyfriend and the battle played out on his forehead, the line between his brows twitching as he chose his next words. “If you need time—”

  I held up a hand. “I want to help.”

  Caleb hesitated but then retrieved the pad of paper he always kept in his back pocket. It was a small pad, the size of a busines
s card, but like all SPA agents, it was an essential tool when conducting interviews. The notes he wrote would sink into the page, vanishing after a few seconds, only visible to those who knew the warded spell to reveal it.

  “If you’re sure …” he said, his pen already poised.

  I struggled to sit up and Caleb adjusted the pillows behind me. A healer came into the room before Caleb asked his first question and dosed me with a strong tea. The bitterness lingered in my mouth, but it was worth it for the immediate flow of relief. The thrumming in my head died away and my tense muscles started to relax as it faded.

  “I left my office at five-forty to go to Aurelia’s shop. She was expecting me at six to pick up a dress.”

  He made a note. “Go on.”

  “I went inside and Aurelia came out. She got me the dress and we made a little small talk, but the entire time, I got this strange feeling like she didn’t want me there. She said she was running late for dinner plans, but … that doesn’t make sense. She told Hyacinth to have me meet her at six. Why would she have done that if she also had dinner reservations at six?” I paused, trying to put my finger on why I’d felt so uncomfortable during the exchange. “The whole thing was weird. Something seemed off. She kept looking at the back room, right behind the counter, and when I first got there, I thought maybe she had someone back there with her.”

  Caleb’s eyebrows lifted. “You heard someone else?”

  “Not exactly,” I replied thoughtfully. “Maybe footsteps, but I couldn’t quite tell. Aurelia is usually so warm and friendly, but tonight, it was like she couldn’t wait to get rid of me, like I was bothering her. But maybe she was feeling a little embarrassed after the whole scene at the wedding convention. I don’t know.”

  “Okay.” Caleb jotted down another note. “So, you got the dress and then what?”

  “I left. I’d parked the company car across the street and when I got back to it, I realized I’d left the keys in Aurelia’s shop. I went back but the doors were locked. Before I could figure out what to do, I saw this green flash of light. It was really bright, like a firework going off right in front of me, and then the glass blew out on the doors and windows.”

  “Explains your cuts,” Caleb said, his eyes moving over my face. I hadn’t seen myself in a mirror yet, but from the look he gave me, I wasn’t sure I wanted to just yet. “Was that when you called it in?” he asked.

  I hesitated. In hindsight, that’s when I should have called. I shouldn’t have set foot inside the shop.

  “My ears were ringing and I wasn’t really thinking clearly, so I went inside and started calling for Aurelia.”

  Caleb cringed.

  I shifted, fidgeting with the ceramic mug the healer had given me. “I know. It was dumb. I should have stayed outside.”

  Caleb softened. “You were trying to help.”

  “The shop was a mess. The blast of power or magic or whatever it was took out everything. I didn’t see Aurelia and the lights were off, or blown out, I guess. I was about to go in the back room, figuring Aurelia would be there still, but I heard a noise and decided to call it in using the shop’s phone.”

  The lump returned to my throat and my nose stung as tears formed in my eyes.

  Caleb set the notepad aside and gathered me into his arms. One of his hands went to the back of my head, holding me still and close as the tears slipped down my cheeks. “I was—so—so scared,” I whispered.

  “It’s over now,” he told me, his voice low and reassuring. “You’re safe now. Here, with me.”

  I closed my eyes and breathed him in, letting him be my anchor.

  The door of the room opened again and I opened my eyes at the sound of heavy footsteps. Caleb released me and turned to look over his shoulder and then quickly sprang to his feet. “Agent Bloom,” he said.

  The man who’d entered the room looked to be in his mid-forties, with salt-and-pepper hair cropped close to his head and the hint of a belly was starting to bulge at the waist of his black pants. He fell short of Caleb by a few inches but looked at least twice as wide with a barrel chest and thick arms. Caleb was buff, but the man before us was a mountain. “Agent McCord,” he said, his tone as hard as his muscles. “I need a word.”

  Caleb looked at me, his expression torn. I gave a reassuring nod.

  “Right, Sir. Of course.”

  Caleb followed the older agent out into the hall, closing my door behind him. Alone, I sagged back against the pillows but then sat back upright again. I was safe. My head knew that, but my body was still on edge. I closed my eyes and the shadow I’d seen before the attack flashed through my mind and my eyes snapped back open.

  When Caleb stepped back into the room, he was alone. He noticed my shallow breaths and hurried to my side. “Ana? Are you okay?” He took my hands and the furrow between his brows deepened. “You’re shaking.”

  I tried to stop trembling but it was as if the harder I tried, the more unraveled I became. I searched the room, assuring myself the shadow wasn’t there with me, but couldn’t shake the feeling that I was somehow being watched. That I was seen.

  “Should I get the healer to bring something to help you sleep?” Caleb asked. “I think they want to keep you overnight to make sure you’re okay.”

  I shook my head. “No. I want to go home. I want to sleep in my own bed.”

  Caleb eyed me but he didn’t object.

  “Who’s Agent Bloom?” I asked, glancing at the closed door. “I don’t think I’ve heard you mention him before.”

  Caleb’s expression tightened. “He’s my new partner.”

  “Oh.”

  Six months ago, Caleb’s former partner, Jessica, had fired a spell intended for vampires and ended up hitting—and subsequently killing—a human. The SPA hadn’t fired her, but she’d been demoted from working in the field and now occupied a desk back at headquarters. Since then, Caleb had been through half a dozen partners, none of them lasting more than a few weeks. Caleb insisted it was normal for it to take a little work to find someone who was a good fit, but I thought it might have more to do with his fastidiousness.

  I adored him, but the man was picky.

  Judging by the brief exchange, I’d say Agent Bloom might be his toughest match yet. He wasn’t some young, fresh-face straight from training. Which, under normal circumstances, seemed to be a good thing, but there’d been a tension between the two men that told me something else was brewing. I also had to wonder why Caleb hadn’t mentioned having a new partner when we’d been together on Saturday or over the phone on Sunday.

  Caleb frowned and placed both of my hands into one of his and covered them with the other. “Ana, the healers are going to keep trying, but it doesn’t look good right now.” He swallowed hard. “Aurelia was hit by a powerful curse and she’s frozen in some kind of a coma. At this point, the SPA is treating this attack as an attempted murder, and from what we’ve seen of her wounds, it appears you are very lucky to have been left alive.”

  I nodded even as a mix of emotions twisted together inside my chest. Thinking of Aurelia, lying in another hospital bed, I didn’t feel lucky. I felt helpless.

  Who was the shadow man and what had he wanted from Aurelia? And if he hadn’t gotten it, what would he do next?

  Chapter 4

  “This isn’t up for debate, Ana,” Caleb told me. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “He’s right,” Harmony agreed.

  They’d ganged up on me the moment we’d walked through the door and were insisting that Caleb stay on the couch while Harmony and I took the master bed.

  Only Peaches, my cat, was on my side. She hadn’t quite warmed to Caleb yet.

  “I don’t need a bodyguard,” I insisted.

  Caleb frowned but dropped it just as quickly. “How about a boyfriend?”

  I sighed and tossed my hands into the air. “All right, fine.”

  “Good.” Caleb and Harmony exchanged a victorious smile that made me wanna knock their heads together. I
knew they were only trying to help, but I was already tired of being treated like a Fabergé egg. With the way they were acting, I considered myself lucky for simply being allowed to check myself out of the hospital.

  “Harmony, can you get Caleb some fresh sheets and a pillow? I want to take a shower. I still feel like I have glass on me.”

  “Sure thing,” Harmony said, springing into action.

  Caleb sidled up to me and looped an arm around my waist. When Harmony was out of earshot he lowered his voice and asked, “You need an extra set of hands in there?”

  I shot him a look.

  He grinned. “To help comb out the glass. That’s all.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Wouldn’t that ruin your whole Mr. Nice Guy routine you’ve got going on?”

  He arched a thick brow.

  “You’re the one insisting on sleeping on the couch,” I explained.

  “Oh! That’s purely from a security standpoint. Believe me, I’d rather be in there with you. Well, you and the fanged pillow you call a cat.”

  I punched his bicep lightly. “That’s my baby you’re talking about!”

  He chuckled and pulled me closer for a kiss. When he opened his eyes, he winced. “After you shower, let’s get some ice on that eye. It’s getting pretty dark already.”

  I agreed and then wandered down the short hallway to the bedroom. My condo was a good size but only had one bedroom and bathroom. The master bedroom was connected to the bathroom via a walk-through closet, and Harmony was inside it, rummaging for sheets. I smiled at the puzzled look on her face as she rooted through my winter sweaters. “Linen closet, Harmony.”

  “Huh?”

  I sighed but then laughed softly and steered her by the shoulders. “Hallway. How long have you lived here again?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she said, walking back through my bedroom. She paused at the door and glanced over her shoulder. “And for the record, I’m not twelve, Stace. It’s not going to scandalize me if you have your boyfriend sleep in your bedroom.”