Pearl (Jewels Cafe Book 8)

by Tabitha Barret

  He paused to look into my eyes. “Yes?”

  Swallowing, he wet his lips. “I…”

  I leaned in, mesmerized by his deep blue eyes. “Uh huh.”

  A car door slammed at the front of my house, breaking the spell we were both under. He immediately backed up and threw a wrapped gift at me. “I got this for you.”

  Surprised, I nodded and caught it. Tucking it under my arm, I quickly handed him my gift. “This is for you.” I smiled and stepped away from him.

  He gave me a shy smile and slowly walked to the gate separating our yards. “Make sure you open it. I think you’ll really like it. It was hard to find.”

  I nodded absently as the heat from his body quickly leeched away in the cold air. Dazed, I watched Benjamin walk home. Friends. We were just friends. Sure.

  I walked over to my favorite bench and plunked down on the cold metal. Playing with the gift, I determined that it was a book based on the size and shape. At least he knew what I wanted.

  I tore off the paper and read the small gold lettering on the red cover. “A History of the Coven Wars.” I was surprised to get a history book since I was expecting a spell book of some kind, but a book was a book. Grateful, I thumbed through it. My eye stopped on a phrase and my hand froze above the pages. Had that said “Pearl Payton”? Seeing my grandmother’s name in black ink made my heart flutter.

  Benjamin had found a history book that referenced my grandmother.

  Leaning back against the stiff bench, I settled in to devour the book with a giant smile on my face. Motion to my left made me lift my eyes. At my feet sat ghost cat.

  “Noah.” I winked at him and patted the bench next to me.

  My faithful garden companion hopped up on the bench and popped into my lap. I giggled and scratched his ear.

  “Fine. You can sit in my lap because I’m cold, but we’re having a discussion about boundaries later when you can reply.”

  “Meow.” He purred and circled my lap until he settled in. Purring loudly, he looked out over the garden.

  “I have to be at the carnival tonight. Since I can’t tell my mother about a potential threat without exposing you, I need to be there to represent the family. I won’t be alone, so don’t worry. Maybe you could accompany me, without the fur.” I petted his head as he nodded once.

  Sighing contentedly, I delved into my Solstice present.

  ≈

  Watching the people sitting at the top of the Ferris Wheel, I sighed. I was assigned to work Shanna’s food cart where the customer could pick three of the specials from the varied menu. Covered in the bottomless ice cream, taco pizza and sweet lavender bread, I couldn’t wait to go clean up.

  Earlier in the day, I had run into Amber, who was manning a coffee cart for the Jewels Cafe, though I was careful to order a plain coffee with nothing in it.

  I smiled at the people walking past and waved to Onyx and her friends.

  “Hey, I would love some taco pizza. Can you make that to go? I need to get to work.” A dark haired woman smiled at me as she opened her wallet.

  “No problem. It’s getting late, where do you work?” I scooped the taco mix into the shell and pointed questioningly at the available toppings.

  “Oh, I work at Vee, the bar in the middle of town. I guess you’re too young to go there.” She laughed when she realized that I was underage. “I’m Rose, by the way.”

  “Pearl, though everyone calls me Celeste. I would shake your hand, but I’m covered in guacamole.” I laughed as I wrapped up her taco.

  She smiled and carefully juggled her purse and the taco. “It’s better than being covered in lime juice and alcohol. I hope you get to have some fun before the carnival is over.”

  “Me too.” I looked longingly over at Carson, who was working at the dart toss booth and Benjamin, who was working at the basketball toss game. Both of them looked exhausted from standing on their feet all day.

  Rose waved to me and thanked me as she ran off

  “Thank you for supporting the Silver Springs Orphanage.”

  Wiping down the cart, I stretched my back after a long day on my feet.

  “Hey.” Hana waved as she stepped behind the cart with me. “We’re about to close up and head over to the auction. The non-sups are full on candy and soda for the night, so why don’t you and your guy take a ride on the Ferris Wheel before it closes. Go on, I see you eyeing him.” She laughed as she bumped my arm.

  “You are a goddess. Thank you, Hana.” I quickly hugged her and wiped my hands on a rag to get some of the goo off me.

  Heading towards Carson, I stopped when Benjamin called my name. Turning, I saw him step away from his booth. “Ryan is going to finish up for me. I bribed him with a homework pass so that I could take you on a ride.”

  He smiled brightly as he held out his arm to me. I looked over at Carson, who had been excited to see me. He smiled and shrugged when he saw Benjamin asking to walk with me. I gave Carson a small wave and took Benjamin’s arm.

  “I want to ride the Ferris Wheel.”

  He nodded and escorted me to the ride. “Of course you do.”

  Once we were seated and rising into the air, I took in a deep breath to relax. “I’m surprised that you didn’t ask Anika to go on a ride with you.” I couldn’t help but take a jab at him after seeing the two of them walking around earlier.

  “I told you. It’s not like that.” He huffed and crossed his arms.

  “I know. It’s just that she acts like you’re her boyfriend. Benji, don’t you want to be my prince? Benji, we need to see father right away. Benji…” I hated myself for mocking Anika, but it was more about Benjamin’s being at her beck and call.

  “Ok, it’s not that bad.” He chuckled and shook his head.

  “Yes, it is.” I laughed when I saw him nodding to himself.

  “Okay, it really is. She’s nice and fun to hang out with, but I admit that I don’t know what I’m doing. My dad told me to take care of her, so I did. I don’t have feelings for her. I swear we’re just friends.” He gave me his goofy smile and bumped my arm.

  “Okay, fine. I don’t have anything against her. She did help us stop the curse. I just don’t enjoy seeing you act like an obedient robot around her. You deserve to be happy. If you don’t like her, who do you like? There has to be someone at school you’re crushing on.” I immediately regretted the question as I asked it. I wanted to be happy for him if he liked someone, but I preferred to wait a few years until we were older and retired to support his choice in a woman.

  He turned to look at me with a devastatingly sexy smile. “There’s only ever been one. Sadly, I can’t have her. I suffer from the Romeo and Juliet syndrome. Her mother hates me and my parents want me to marry up, sort of. I guess they’d like Anika as a daughter-in-law, but I can’t take my eyes off that one girl.”

  My mouth went dry and my heart stopped. I looked up at the stars, trying to think of something to say. I wanted to argue that my mother did like him, but it wasn’t true. We were both expected to live the lives our parents wanted for us.

  “But, you said the love spell was faulty.” I turned to question him when he leaned forward and pressed his warm lips to mine.

  Dumbfounded, my mind spun off into a thousand different directions. I was kissing Benjamin. Benjamin was kissing me. Wow! He was an amazing kisser. How was I going to explain this to my mother?

  My internal debate stopped when I put my arms around his shoulders and leaned in closer to kiss him with every pent up emotion that I had. This could be the only chance I had to show him exactly how I felt and I wasn’t going to waste a second.

  When the ride slowed down, I released him and looked down at the approaching ground.

  “Wow.” He sighed contentedly. “I can’t believe we waited this long to kiss.”

  I cleared my throat as the ride came to a stop. “I understand why you lied about the spell not working. Walking away from that kiss is the hardest thing I will ever have to do. You deserve
someone better than a fără putere. Goodbye, Benjamin.”

  “Celeste.” His voice broke as he said my name.

  The second the bar opened on our seat, I ran from the ride and crossed the field to hide behind the ticket booth. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I sobbed for the loss of Benjamin. No amount of magic could change my fate. No love spell was powerful enough to change who Benjamin and I were.

  Chapter 10

  I sat for a long time with my eyes closed so that I wouldn’t forget my first and only kiss with Benjamin Fitzroy. Why wasn’t I allowed to love the person who made me happy? My mother didn’t seem to have a problem with Carson because he was a caster and in our coven, though I’m sure she would have preferred someone with a little more casting skill.

  Noah would be difficult to explain to her, yet a familiar forced to spy on me would be more acceptable than a conjurer to her and my coven. As High Priest Ainsworth had said, our coven was no place for a conjurer. They would have a hard time accepting my relationship with Benjamin due to their antiquated views on magic. As much as I wanted to rebel against my family and my coven, there were certain rules I couldn’t break, unless I was willing to part with both of them and find a new coven with Benjamin. All my fantasies of being with Benjamin hadn’t taken into account the reality of my situation. I had been stupid to believe that I could have everything that I wanted.

  Sniffling, I tried to compose myself, though it took a little longer than it should have since my mother had insisted on me using eyeliner AND mascara. After wiping my face and fluffing my hair, I came up with the excuse that the cold air had made my eyes tear up and reddened my cheeks.

  I headed for the large white tent at the far end of the field as I walked past the rides that were still lit up and blinking. I would be late for the charity auction, which was fine with me. I could go last for all I cared. Though I had found a fun, but difficult spell to teach someone, I was still taking a risk by standing in front of everyone and offering to teach them a spell. I fully expected to be laughed off the stage.

  I passed the sign indicating the location and start time of the auction. The sign also said something about no cellphones or charms. I nodded to myself and reached into my pocket to turn off my phone. The society didn’t want anyone videotaping the auction and copying the spells that were being demonstrated. They had also asked that other magical items be left at home to avoid interacting with the demos.

  Taking a breath, I shook off my fears and reached out to open the tent flap when I saw a burst of light. I quickly pulled back and covered my eyes, unsure of what was happening.

  A few people screamed before everyone went completely silent.

  “Make sure no one is alert. I did a spell to counter any protection charms just in case some idiot forgot to leave their protection gems at home. I don’t want to take any chances.” A male voice shouted to someone else inside the tent.

  Frozen on the ground, I tried to figure out what was going on. Forcing myself to move, I ducked around the side of the tent and laid on the grass to peek under the bottom of the tent. Inside, all the YWWA members were standing on the auction stage but they were staring straight ahead with blank expressions, including Carson and Benjamin.

  The audience members seemed to be in a daze as well. The only people moving around were Tamara, her mother, Lord Westerbrook and the Black Dog.

  “Oh God.” I backed away from the tent and crawled behind a trashcan.

  Curled up, I tried to figure out what to do. My first instinct was to call my parents, but they were supposed to be at the auction, even though I didn’t see them. I thought about calling Sadie, but she was too far away.

  I jumped when I felt something brush against my leg. Stifling my scream, my heart leapt when I saw Noah’s black face peering out from under my leg.

  “We’re in trouble. Everyone in there is under a spell.”

  He nodded and ran his face along my hand.

  “Never mind, of course you know. You warned me but I was too stupid to listen. I’m by myself and you can’t help; otherwise, they will know that you’re on my side. Okay, new plan. Let’s run.”

  Noah nodded again and scurried over towards the Whirl N Tilt. I stood up to follow, but someone stepped in my path.

  “Celeste.” Tamara held her wand in my face though her hands were shaking.

  “Why are you helping them, Tamara? What are they planning to do?” I wasn’t sure if Tamara was cold or scared, but something was bothering her.

  “I don’t know, but you need to leave. If they see you, they’ll do the same to you. I swear, I didn’t know the spell Lord Westerbrook gave me for the auction was a hypnosis spell. You have to get out of here and get help. I can’t leave my mom. I don’t know why she’s helping, but I can’t leave her.” Her hand shook even more when she mentioned her mom.

  “Okay. Cover for me and I’ll get help.” I looked back at the tent to make sure that no one had seen me.

  “Take this. I think it kept me safe from the spell.” She shoved a labradorite crystal into my hand and backed away.

  I shoved it into my sock and ran in Noah’s direction.

  Following Noah, we made it as far as the fried cheese on a stick stand when the Black Dog stepped out from behind the ticket booth.

  “Noah’s not going to help you.” The coven’s guard was taller up close than I remembered and twice the width of an oak tree.

  “Leave me alone or I’ll scream.” My threat was pathetic, but I had a decent scream that would carry far in the cold air.

  The Black Dog chuckled darkly as he looked over his shoulder at someone in the distance.

  Looking over, I saw Lord Westerbrook coming towards us. “Oh, Noah. You poor lovesick creature. I had my suspicions after the poison failed to kill the lovely Miss Dreger, but I had hoped that your years of service to us would negate any feelings you might have for a pretty girl. I shouldn’t have underestimated kitty love.” Lord Westerbrook came up the game aisle and stood next to the Black Dog. He took out his wand, pointed it at Noah and forced him to shift back into human form.

  Screaming in pain, I tried to go to Noah’s side, but the Black Dog pointed his wand at me.

  “Leave her alone.” Noah tried to get to his feet, but he was in too much pain.

  “Oh, Noah. What am I going to do with you?” Westerbrook shook his head and turned to offer me some cotton candy. “Want some?” He winked as I tried to back away.

  “You’re twisted. You enslaved my friends and family, now you’re offering me food. What’s wrong with you?” I looked around for anyone who might be able to help me.

  “Friends?” He chuckled as he licked the pink fluff from his fingers. “These people aren’t your friends. They hate you. You should hear what they say behind your back. They call you fără putere. They aren’t wrong. You are powerless, a dud, a weakling. Sadly, we don’t need failures like you in our world. What we need are strong witches and wizards.” He raised his wand and shouted, “hipnotizează dușmanul meu!”

  I flinched when his hypnosis spell flashed the same bright light as the one in the tent.

  With the labradorite crystal in my sock protecting me, the spell dissipated. “You need to stop this. What you’re doing is wrong. What exactly are you going to do with all these kids? You can’t kill them all.” I had no idea why he wanted the town under his control, but I needed to keep him talking until I came up with a plan.

  “Why didn’t that work?” He frowned at his wand and tossed the cotton candy stick over his shoulder. “Hmm. Kill them? I don’t want to kill them. Not all of them anyway. No, they‘ll survive. They will be used as leverage against their parents. The adults will fall into line with my plans as long as I have their children. You see, some of the parents might be strong enough to fight my hypnosis spell, but their children are already being moved to a secure location. If and when the adults wake up or the slacker parents who couldn’t be bothered to attend the auction come looking for their brats, they won
’t find them. Not until we get what we want. You see, we have plans for this town and towns just like it across the globe. One by one, they will all be united under us. I kind of like the term Shadow Masters. It has a nice ring to it. Maybe Shadow Coven. I’m not sure, but we can work on it.”

  I shook my head as I started to understand the full picture. This wasn’t about the YWWA, this was about all the covens—casters and conjurers.

  “So instead of campaigning for High Priest of the casters, you’re going to take all the covens by force?” I backed up towards the main announcement stage until my backside hit the hard wood. Looking around, I didn’t have many options aside from running or challenging Westerbrook.

  His face scrunched up. “This isn’t a democracy. The higher ups decide the fate of the coven, which is ridiculous. All this favoritism and ass kissing is too much to take. This town has lost its way. Did you know that they were considering a motion that would allow non-sups into both covens? Why would we want something as ridiculous as that? Here we are trying to get rid of the useless and weak. We don’t want to bring more of them into the fold. Magic isn’t a privilege, it’s a birthright. Only the strongest should lead. The rest can fight for scraps.”

  “My parents will stop you.” It was the best threat I could come up with since I was no one. I was exactly the kind of person who would be pushed aside in his new coven.

  He sniggered. “No. They won’t. The tragic loss of their daughter will drive them mad. They will be nullified as a threat. Besides, they have no idea that I’m involved. In fact, you’re the only non-member of our group who knows my identity, so we need to fix that right away.” He pointed his wand at me and smiled gleefully.

  “Any trace of magic used to kill me will work against you. If my parents learn that I was killed by a wizard, they won’t stop until they find the person responsible.” If the jerk was going to kill me, he would have to do it with his own hands.

  He lowered his wand and chuckled. “You are a smart one.” He tapped his foot. “Drowning is an option. I’ll take you to the springs. No, that’ll take time. Oh, I could make the temperature drop. Death by exposure is normal enough.”