by Ellen Dugan
Lexie shrugged. “The gun wouldn’t fit in my fancy little purse.”
Her comment had me choking on my wine.
Lexie thumped me on the back. “So how are you two lovebirds doing?”
I glared at her. “Subtle,” I said.
“We’re doing fine,” Duncan interjected.
Ivy and Nathan joined us. “Hi everyone,” Ivy said. “Isn’t this nice having the whole squad together?”
“I haven’t seen Aunt Faye,” Bran commented.
Nathan set his club soda down. “She’s dancing with Dr. Meyer.”
I checked the dance floor and found my great-aunt. She and my boss were slow dancing out on the dance floor. She had re-worn that black and gold beaded dress she’d worn to the town’s Halloween Ball four years ago. “They’re good together,” I said. “She’s happy, and it’s wonderful to see.”
“Where’s Holly?” Ivy wanted to know.
“She’s working with Julian,” I reminded her. “The auction is starting in a half hour, and they have to get everything ready.”
“Oh yeah,” Ivy said. “I don’t know why they’re doinganother auction.”
“Because the one they did earlier this year was very successful.”
A brunette with short dark hair caught my eye. Leilah Drake Martin sashayed around the room, and she had a tall, buff young man on her arm. She wore a very expensive gown. The floor length, black tulle ball gown was scattered with gold sequins. I knew how much the dress cost, as I’d eyeballed it myself when shopping for the one I was currently wearing.
She spotted Duncan standing with us and hauled the attractive young man over with her. “Well if it isn’t my favorite cousin.” Leilah pushed her way in the middle of my family, leaned in and planted a kiss on Duncan’s cheek.
“Hi Leilah.” Duncan smiled politely. “Introduce us to your friend.”
“Oh, him?” Her voice was husky and deep. “Who remembers names?”
I recoiled at her casual dismissal, and inspected the blonde man. He had the build of an offensive lineman, or maybe he simply spent a lot of time at the gym. He grinned down at Leilah with a slightly dazed expression, as if he’d had a bit too much to drink.
“Hello,” I said, trying to be civil.
The young man opened his mouth to speak, and was ruthlessly cut off by Leilah. “Now, don’t strain yourself trying to make conversation, honey.” She smiled up at him and pressed her breast against his arm. “You just stand there and be handsome.”
“Sure, Leilah,” he said.
She patted his cheek. “Remember, I promised that you’d be rewarded if you behaved well this evening.”
I felt my stomach churn. She’d spelled him. Bran was clearly appalled, Ivy curled her lip in distaste, and Nathan put a restraining hand on Ivy’s shoulder.
“Leilah what have you done?” Duncan’s voice was soft, but there was an underlying threat to his tone.
Lexie subtly shifted her stance. “Is that young man under the influence of an illegal substance?” My sister-in-law’s voice was low and tough as nails.
“No, he’s not.” Leilah rolled her eyes. “Relax, Officer Butch.”
“Leilah!” Duncan gripped her arm. “Apologize now.”
Leilah laughed. “Whatever. Can’t you people take a joke?”
Lexie crossed her arms. “We’ll see how much of a joke it is if he files a complaint that you roofied him.”
“It’s only a harmless little spell.” Leilah made a face. “He’s big and strong, it will wear off by morning.”
Leilah’s name was called by a group of young people, and she sailed off with her victim in tow. She yanked him to the dance floor and they began to dance with her friends.
I touched Duncan’s hand to get his attention. “How hard do you suppose it would be to break the spell she has on that poor guy?”
“I was thinking the exact same thing,” Duncan admitted.
“I’m in,” Lexie announced, making Bran sigh.
Duncan nodded to her. “We should get Julian. He can keep Leilah busy.”
“I bet Holly would be happy to help,” Ivy said, tongue in cheek.
Bran dropped his hand on Ivy’s shoulder. “Good point.”
“Let’s go,” I said, “and find Julian.”
Lexie walked to the edge of the ballroom and kept an eye on the couple, while Duncan and I hunted up Julian and Holly. The four of us hatched a quick plan, and Julian went and cut in on Leilah and her date, taking his sister for a formal foxtrot around the dance floor.
I was momentarily distracted at the sight of Julian Drake doing formal ball dance steps, but I shook it off, grabbed the poor lunkhead, and began to steer him off the dance floor. Lexie took his other arm and helped me lead him away to a secluded corridor.
As we walked along, I tried to scan his memories for clues to whatever Leilah had done to him. I picked up his name immediately. He was a football player for the University. I received a quick psychic flash of Leilah tucking something into his clothes, and then a swirl of colors and sounds.
Duncan and Holly were waiting for us, and I immediately told them what I had seen. “His name is Chris.” I steered him to a stop. “I think it’s a charm of some kind. In his clothes maybe.”
“He’s not doing too well.” Duncan tried to keep the pale and sweating young man upright. “We need to hurry.”
“Let me check.” Lexie began patting the student down.
“Look at me, Chris.” Holly’s voice was soft and coaxing as she made eye contact. “You don’t see anyone else, only me.”
“Hi, Red.” The football player grinned stupidly at Holly.
“You poor schmuck.” Holly held her hands out in front of the young man’s chest. “Jacket pocket, left side,” she told Lexie.
Chris the football player wobbled on his feet a bit, but continued to stare down at my cousin. “Pretty hair,” he said, entranced.
“Got it!” Lexie pulled a little bundle out of Chris’ jacket pocket. It was crude stick figure, wrapped in yarn and hair. She handed the effigy to Duncan and he immediately snapped it in half.
Within seconds the young man’s eyes began to clear.
Holly dropped her hands. “Do you feel better now?” she asked him gently.
Chris shook his head and reached for Holly. “Where am I?” he asked.
“You’re at the Drake mansion for a fundraiser,” Duncan said, still helping the young man stay upright.
“I am?” Chris asked, visibly shaken.
Holly gently removed his hand from her shoulder. She gave his fingers a supportive squeeze. “It’s alright. You had a headache and we were worried that you were ill.”
“I did?” Chris rubbed at his temple. “I’m sorry. I don’t even remember how I got here.”
“Let me walk you out,” Duncan offered.
Lexie took the football player’s other arm. “We’ll call you a cab and get you back to campus.”
Holly and I stood watching them leave. “That little bitch needs to be stopped,” she said with almost no vocal inflection.
“Maybe you should let Duncan and Julian take care of the situation with Leilah.” I warned her. Holly’s sparkly mask combined with the gold and white dress made her seem more like a faerie than a Witch. A vengeful faerie. “You’ve worked too hard to gain control, Holly, to let Leilah goad you into magickal retaliation.”
Holly nodded. “I’ll let Julian know everything is taken care of.”
“You did good, Blondie,” I said as she left.
She tossed a grin over her shoulder. “Thanks. See you later.”
Lexie and Duncan put Chris in a cab, and afterwards the three of us went back to the party. While Duncan went to go have a word with Julian, I waited for him at the edge of the dance floor. A slow song was playing, and couples were swaying to the music.
“Hello again, Miss Bishop,” said a male voice.
I glanced over and saw Wyatt Hastings, the guest of honor. He was wearing
a slick, black suit and it fit his trim body to perfection. “Hello, Mr. Hastings,” I said. “Please call me Autumn.”
He tugged self consciously on his bow tie. “Nice party, Autumn.”
“You sound so grim,” I said with a smirk. “You’ll have to work on that if you want folks to think you’re sincere.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m not comfortable in large crowds.”
Wyatt Hastings was handsome in a broody sort of way. He was movie star gorgeous in his slim, tailored suit, but he was almost too thin. I had the overwhelming urge to go buy him a milkshake and a cheeseburger—and then stand over him and make sure he ate all of it.
I yanked my snarky thoughts back in line and did my best to be polite to the author. “Well, we appreciate you attending tonight, Mr. Hastings. Your presence here will surely increase the donations for both the museum and the library.”
“I’m friends with the Drake family,” he explained. “I promised Thomas I’d come, even though large parties aren’t really my thing.”
“Oh?” I stuck my tongue in my cheek. “I’d have thought the life of an author was one fabulous society soiree and media filled book signing, after the next.”
He rolled his eyes. “Hardly. It’s more like working twelve hours a day, seven days a week.”
“Well, you’ve gone and shattered my illusions,” I said dryly.
“Sonofabitch. They found me,” he muttered beneath his breath. I blinked at the author for a moment and then followed his gaze. Several women were staring at him. En masse they began to descend.
I don’t know what possessed me, maybe it was sympathy for the man, maybe it was because I remembered all too well what it was like to be with a person who other people fixated on. But before he could bolt, I took his arm. “You promised me a dance,” I said loud enough so that it would carry, and steered us towards the dance floor.
Seeing his chance for escape, he quickly stepped with me. We moved to the center of the dance floor, and I took his hand. I rested my left on his shoulder and he rested his hand on my waist. We began to slow dance, a perfectly polite, societally acceptable dance. The horde of women pouted as one, and moved along.
He stared straight into my eyes. “Thank you, Autumn,” he said sincerely. “You’re my hero.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Hastings.”
“Please,” he said. “Call me Wyatt.”
“Okay, Wyatt.” Dancing in his arms, I could feel that although he was thin, he was also solid as a rock. I got a psychic flash of him working out—some type of yoga thing.
“So do you often swoop in and rescue socially inept men from awkward situations?” He raised a single eyebrow and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Only under the full moon,” I countered, and had the pleasure of watching him laugh. “Maybe you could use that for a character in a book someday.”
“There’s a thought,” he said.
I saw Duncan from across the room. “Tell you what, Wyatt. Why don’t you waltz me across the dance floor and over to my date?”
“Who’s your date?” he asked.
“Duncan Quinn,” I said, tipping my head in his general direction.
“Sure.” Wyatt gave my hand a friendly squeeze and we began to dance our way through other couples and across the floor to where Duncan waited.
Wyatt surprised me with releasing my waist and giving me a quick spin. With a bump I ended up right in Duncan’s arms. “Well that was slick,” I said.
“Thank you.” Wyatt gave a gallant bow, then shook hands with Duncan. “Hello Duncan.”
“Hi Wyatt.” Duncan and he stood there and began to chat.
“So, I take it you two know each other?” I asked.
“Sure,” Duncan said, slipping his arm around me. “We’ve been friends since I redesigned his office for him.”
“Your girl rescued me,” Wyatt said.
“There were some female fans after him,” I said to Duncan. “It wasn’t pretty.”
“Yeah, well.” Wyatt grimaced. “That happens sometimes, especially at functions like this.”
“You brave, brave man.” Duncan shook his head ruefully. “We appreciate your sacrifice.”
Julian approached us. “Hello Wyatt.” He shook his hand. “We’re ready for you.”
“Of course,” Wyatt said to Julian. “Well, if you’ll excuse me.” He nodded to me and Duncan and followed Julian across the room.
“My turn,” Duncan said, and swung me out onto the dance floor.
I wobbled for a second, regained my balance and glared at him. “Please don’t try another spin. I don’t want to humiliate myself by face planting.”
Duncan pulled me close and pressed a kiss to my hair. “I’d never let that happen.”
We enjoyed the music for a while, and from over Duncan’s shoulder I spotted Violet O’Connell dancing with a very attractive silver-haired man. I had no idea who her partner was, as he, like so many other people, was wearing a mask. But Violet’s ombre purple hair was easy to spot.
Tonight, my friend was rocking a one shouldered jumpsuit. It showcased her colorful sleeve of tattoos that ran from her right shoulder and ended above her elbow. The ebony fabric of the outfit was crepe and it featured cropped skinny pants. I admired my friend’s style, and decided I’d have given anything to be that assured and casually sexy. After the song was over, Violet said a polite thank you to her dance partner and retreated.
I hailed her as we also began to leave the dance floor, and she made her way straight to us on very high stiletto heels. “Hello Duncan. Hi Autumn.” She winked from behind a sexy, lace covered black mask.
“Hi Violet,” Duncan said.
“Who was your dance partner?” I asked as we moved away from the dance floor.
“I don’t know.” Violet shook her head, causing the golden chandelier earrings she wore to sway.
“Ooh, a mystery man,” I teased.
“At least I got a little thrill out of this shin-dig.” Violet smirked. “We did all the floral arrangements, and pumpkin displays.”
“You did?”
“And they’re amazing,” Duncan interjected.
“Yeah, I never want to see gold spray paint again,” Violet said straight faced.
The comment made me snort with laughter. “Come on girlfriend, we’ll buy you a drink.” Violet linked her arm with me and we worked our way back to the family.
As we arrived I noticed that now teams of waiters had spread out around the party and were offering hors d’oeuvres and desserts. Also, Candice Jacobs had joined our little group. Her platinum hair was swept up to spill over one shoulder, and made me think of 1950’s movie stars. Her chocolate brown eyes were framed by a delicate, laser cut black mask. Her ebony lace dress was retro, with cap sleeves and a tea length skirt, and she stood confidently in the tallest ankle strap shoes that I’d ever seen.
I waved at her. “Hi Candice.”
“May I offer you a cookie?” She held the gold tray out, and I saw that there were dozens of sugar cookies cut out in the shapes of masks. The cookies had been decorated in white royal icing and accented beautifully with black and gold piping and edible glitter.
“Oh thanks.” I selected a cookie. Duncan and Violet did the same.
“Candice, are you working this event or attending?” Violet asked.
“Both actually.” Candice whipped business cards out of her pocket. “Here, pass these out if anyone asks who did the cookies.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I saluted her with a cookie.
“Gotta run,” she said. “No rest for the wicked and all that.” She gave me an air kiss, and dashed off to the next group of party goers.
“Did you see her shoes?” Ivy asked with awe.
Duncan tried a cookie, and shut his eyes for a moment. “Did you taste the cookies?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Around midnight all the party goers began to straggle home. Ivy and Nathan had left together. Lexie, Bran, Aunt Faye and Dr. Meyer
went with friends for an after-party at the Dean’s home, and I sighed thinking I should probably go find Holly so we could leave.
Instead, I found myself dancing the last dance of the evening with Duncan. He had been attentive and gallant all evening, and it had made me feel a little like Cinderella. Before the clock struck twelve, I was determined to take the last few moments of the night simply for the two of us.
The glittering event was practically over and we were alone in the ballroom, slow dancing, to “Seven Devils” by Florence and the Machine. Perhaps not the most conventional of slow dance music, but somehow it was right—for us. “I love that it’s just you and me.” I sighed, and rested my head on Duncan’s shoulder, enjoying the final moments of our dance.
Duncan pressed his lips to my hair. “Stay,” he whispered.
I’d never stayed the night with him at the Drake mansion before. We both knew it, and the moment stretched out before us. “I was supposed to drive Holly home,” I reminded him.
“It’s taken care of,” he said and brushed his mouth over mine.
My heart sped up a little. I knew he could feel it as we were pressed together. “Alright,” I said. “I’d like to stay.”
A light came into his eyes. “Go get your things.”
I nodded and went to the nearby table to retrieve my mask and clutch bag. While Duncan spoke to the DJ, the clean-up crew started working their way across the room. I took a moment and eased my shoes off, then I glanced over at him, and my breath caught in my throat. He looked so wonderful in his tux. Not to mention hot as hell. What was it about a man in a tailored suit?
It struck me again how very different this cultured, high society side of him was, compared to the easy-going, blue-jean wearing hot contractor that I’d fallen for. But as a Drake this type of gathering was a part of his world too. All things considered—I felt like I’d held my own on that upper-class society front tonight. I stood silently, simply enjoying the view. A moment later he caught me staring at him, and I smiled.
His eyes were locked on mine as he walked straight to me. Tucking his arm around my waist, we silently left the ballroom together. We took a left down a hallway and as soon as we were out of sight of any party goers, crew, or staff, Duncan pressed me against a wall and kissed me breathless.