Enchant Me

by Anne Violet

  He was paying me back for this morning. I started to spin the ring on my thumb around and around as I considered how to word things in a way that he wouldn’t react in an overprotective, dangerous way.

  “Christian, I want you to promise me you won’t do anything based on what I am about to tell you.” His eyes shuttered, hiding his feelings from me, he rolled further onto his back as he stared up at the ceiling. “This is about Nicolas, isn’t it?”

  “Do you promise?” I insisted, watching him warily.

  Quickly he rolled to a sitting position and stared me down. “No.”

  When I didn’t respond to this, he swiftly stood up and walked over to me. “What did he do Lex?” he demanded. I belatedly realized two things: One, he wouldn’t allow me to not tell him and two, I would have absolutely no control over how he reacted. This was bad in so many ways. I rapidly tried to think of a way to back track out of this particular conversation, but I was sidetracked by how I could actually feel the rising of his anger and protectiveness. He stood over me, his knees bumping mine: I refused to look up until I had figured out how to deal with this. There had to be some way to get him to leave it to me. Maybe my mom and I could call Nicolas’s parents or I could talk to my cop friends and they could have a discreet word with Nicolas. In the future, I would have to remember Christian wasn’t long on patience. Suddenly he leaned over me, gripped the sides of the Papasan and forced it to lay flat so that I was staring straight up at him, caged between him and the chair. Thinking time was over.

  “Lex,” he growled, “what happened?”

  “Nothing,” I blurted, “do I look hurt?”

  His eyes darkened as he stared at me, “Don’t. Lie. To. Me.”

  I quickly subdued my reactive shiver at his tone, “Christian-”

  He must have decided that intimidation wasn’t working so he braced a knee in the chair against my thigh and leaned over. His warm breath flowed down my face and his scent filled the space between us. I was so mesmerized by his masculine grace that my train of thought literally jumped the tracks. If he thought seduction was going to work--he was right. He’d just be lucky though, if he got one intelligent word out of me. He opened his eyes wider as he looked at me, letting me see the desire that was mixed in with all the other emotions.

  “Lex?”

  “I saw him at school watching me today.”

  I could hear the squeak of the wicker chair as his hands gripped the frame tighter. “What happened-- exactly?”

  “I felt like someone was watching me as I was just about to walk back into the school building. I looked around and saw him, pretty much in the same spot. We stared at each other and I started to…”

  “What?”

  “I sensed--that there is something different about him. No, that’s wrong. Actually there was something very familiar about him,” I looked at Christian pointedly. “Something similar to us.”

  Christian leaned away and stood up, staring down at me perplexedly. “What?”

  “I know. I can’t believe it either.”

  “That’s impossible. There can’t be that many of us around.”

  I pointed at my purse on my desk. “Can you get my phone?”

  He reached over, dug through my purse and handed it to me. “Who are you calling?”

  “My grandmother, maybe she will have some idea.”

  I quickly brought up her number and dialed, praying she was home. On the third ring, she picked up. “Grandma Anne?”

  “Yes, what’s going on?” she asked, worry laced in her tone. She seemed to always know when something was wrong without me saying anything. Maybe she was a little psychic too. I put her on speakerphone so Christian could hear her. I sighed. “Do you remember my ex-boyfriend Nicolas?”

  “The one who was following you around?”

  “Yes-- well, I saw him at school watching me from across the parking lot. I could sense him. He has a power of some kind. I don’t understand. How is that possible? How can there be three of us in this small town all coming into our powers?”

  She was quiet for a moment; I could almost hear the wheels in her mind turning. “I don’t think you will like my answer.”

  “Grandmother,” I said, exasperated, “just tell me.”

  “I think it is the law of attraction, like has attracted like. Or in your case power has attracted power.”

  “Are you saying we were both drawn here by Nicolas’s power? You’re right, I don’t like that answer.”

  “Hear me out. I don’t believe the universe makes mistakes. I also don’t believe it’s an accident that you met Christian just in time for your powers coming in. So for whatever reason that we can’t divine yet, there is a purpose for the three of you.”

  I briefly glanced at Christian; his brow was furrowed in concentration. He wasn’t any happier about her explanation than I was. “Grandmother, he’s a danger to me-- and Christian.” I got one hell of a glare for that, but I continued on. “While Nicolas may be watching me, I get the feeling the one he wants to hurt is Christian. I was worried enough when I just thought he was a normal guy--well, psycho normal, but now that he has some unknown power, what am I supposed to do now?”

  At my last words, Christian grabbed my phone. “We’ll call you back, Alexis and I need to discuss a couple things.” And with that he closed my phone and placed it back on my desk. “You are not supposed to do anything and you are not going to do anything! This is between me and him.”

  “Actually,” I said, while trying to rise out of the Papasan chair, but like an overturned turtle I had trouble getting up until he reached underneath my arms and lifted me to stand in front of him. “It has nothing to do with you,” I continued, avoiding his intense gaze. “I broke up with him before we even met. So obviously, Nicolas needs to be reminded of that. He has no one to blame but himself.”

  With one hand under my chin he tilted my head up to look at him. “You are not to go anywhere near him. Do you understand?”

  He definitely had cornered the market on intensity. I could feel the emotions vibrating off of him and I found myself nodding in agreement. It wasn’t as if I wanted to talk to Nicolas anyways. “Christian, I don’t want you to do anything about it.”

  I saw displeasure wash over his face. “You don’t think I can take care of myself?” he challenged in a low voice.

  Pulling away, I took a couple steps back and breathed deep. “That is not it and you know it. I don’t want you two to get in a fight-- magical or otherwise. I don’t want you to get in trouble for harming him. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

  He seemed to relax a bit, but I knew better than to think it was because he changed his mind. He closed the distance between us but didn’t touch me, his eyes burning with emotion. “Don’t you get it Alexis? He’s not going to stop. You can’t get a restraining order on him because he hasn’t done anything, and quite a few people saw you dancing with him at prom, so you are going to have a hard time selling to anybody that you believe he is a danger to you.”

  I shivered as I realized he was right. “My mom and I will call his parents.”

  He looked at me like I was nuts. “Do you really believe that they have any control over him?”

  We stared at each other locked in a stalemate. I could see only one way out now but I didn’t really want to do it. I wished he had given me another choice. “Christian, if you love me, you will stay away from him.”

  He drew back like I had slapped him. “What!” He swung away, and paced in what little floor space was available in my room. “How can you say that? You can’t expect me to do nothing while he is stalking you.”

  “I don’t think it is me he is really after,” I pleaded, “I think you’re the one he wants to hurt.”

  He went completely still, the glance he threw at me oddly victorious and then stalked over to me, gripped my shoulders and stared me down. “So you believe that it is only me he is after?”

  I had a bad feeling about this. “Yes,�
� I said weakly.

  “Good, so since he is only after me, that makes it none of your business, and I have every reason to defend myself, right?”

  My jaw dropped, he thought he had found a loophole out of my ultimatum. “No that-” suddenly I was crushed against him. His lips felt so good against mine and his kiss so passionate, my mind went blank and I stared at him dumbly when he pulled away. We both took a step back when we heard my mom’s key opening the door. He brushed a soft kiss across my cheek then headed out of my bedroom, through the living room to the front door.

  “Alexis, I will see you tomorrow at school,” he called back to me. He actually grinned after he said goodbye to my mom and closed the door after himself.

  My mom, not even having had a chance to put down her purse or take off her windbreaker yet, looked from my stunned expression to the closed front door, “what’s going on?”

  Sighing, I pulled my mind back together. “We need to talk, and no, I am not pregnant.” I finished indignantly.

  After having brought her up to date regarding Nicolas at prom and today, she leaned back against the couch, her expression truly concerned.

  “Mom, I don’t think he is really after me.”

  She took a quick glance at me, a wry look on her face. “You mentioned that, but he does seem to be stalking you, and I don’t like the idea of Nicolas being after Christian either.”

  Cody padded across the couch and sat in my lap, distractedly I started petting him. “Christian was right though, he hasn’t done anything that we can get a restraining order for. I have mentioned it to Tim and John with the Steilacoom police. They said they will keep an eye out and stuff, but at the moment there is nothing else they can do.”

  She pushed off the couch and walked over to the cordless phone in the kitchen. I didn’t need to even ask who she was calling. She put it on speakerphone as soon as the phone started ringing, and leaned against the wall like she was so exhausted that it was the only thing holding her up. “Mrs. Devereaux?”

  “Yes,” Nicolas’s mom said.

  “This is Alexis’s mom Cindy. Alexis has told me that she has caught Nicolas multiple times following her around, even stalking her at prom. If this doesn’t-”

  “Nicolas isn’t even here. He has been in France, we took him to the airport ourselves,” Mrs. Devereaux interrupted.

  The anger Mrs. Devereaux felt towards us was coming across loud and clear. The worst thing was, I could swear she was telling the truth. Was it possible Nicolas had come back and not told his parents? Where was he living then? This made me more nervous than anything else. There could be no good reason for Nicolas to come back secretly. Mom glanced at me in confusion. I shook my head and mouthed to her that it was him.

  “Apparently he came back somehow,” my mom said haughtily. “I am sure he could pull his life together but it won’t look very good on his record if he has a restraining order.”

  A big smile burst across my face at the threat and I threw my hand in the air in a way-to-go gesture.

  “Don’t you lecture me about my child; you’re the one raising a lying brat. If you call my house again I will file harassment charges.” Mrs. Devereaux slammed the phone down so hard after that, mom and I both winced in pain.

  Mom came back and sat down on the couch, wrapping an arm around me in comfort. She stared out the window, deep in thought. “You’re sure it was him?”

  “Yes… Mom, I don’t think it is a good sign that Nicolas is home and doesn’t want his parents to know.”

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions yet,” she said pulling her arm from around me and patting both me and a sleeping Cody on the head. “Why don’t you go do your homework and I will call the precinct and see if they have any further ideas on what we can do.”

  Nodding, I stood up with Cody cradled in my arms, “Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thanks.”

  “Of course,” she said, almost sounding affronted as she headed back to the cordless phone.

  Gaining my room, I closed the door and gently placed Cody in the Papasan chair while I collapsed on my bed, staring at the canopy above me. When had this become such a damned nightmare? I wished Nicolas wasn’t such a psycho so I could talk to him and get him to knock it off, but even without my intuition I could have sensed the menace emanating from him. He was planning something…I was sure of it.

  CHAPTER 13

  When I got to school Wednesday morning I still wasn’t sure what I should say to Christian to get him to let it go, and let my mom and me handle it. I studied his face as he walked up to me, taking my school bag and throwing it over his shoulder. His gorgeous face was closed to me as he put an arm around my waist.

  I opened my mouth to say something and he flashed a warning glance at me. “Don’t,” he warned.

  Sighing, I leaned my head against his shoulder and let him lead me to class. He wasn’t going to cave in, and I couldn’t control him, so unless I wanted to fight non-stop until it was all over, I would have to trust him to handle it as best he could. Arriving at my first period class, he handed me the book bag and looked deep into my eyes. His eyes were warm and soft now as they looked at me. He must have sensed my surrender on the issue.

  I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hug. “Christian, I don’t want anything to ever happen to you.”

  He laid a whisper of a kiss on my lips. “I’ll be careful,” he said quietly and nudged me into class.

  At lunch I was almost glad Christian had to stay in class to make up some missed assignments so I could talk to Tina privately. We headed to the track behind the school and I wondered how I would explain everything that had happened the previous weekend. Although I had originally planned to tell her about my powers, suddenly it didn’t seem fair to burden her with that kind of knowledge-- and fear. For her sake, this was a secret I couldn’t share. So I kept it to the basic non-magic problems with Nicolas.

  Her dark eyes were wide with distress. “Do you really believe Nicolas’s parents don’t know that he’s back?”

  I shrugged my shoulders, but then nodded. “Yeah, I am pretty sure. Even mom doesn’t think they know.”

  I watched as she visibly shivered then wrapped her arms around herself and looked around us, searching for Nicolas to suddenly pop out of the bushes. This was exactly why I hadn’t told her everything. I didn’t want her to have to live like that--like me.

  “So there’s nothing you can do?” she said while staring down at the track as we made another circuit.

  “No, and it is really messing with my life. I am going to have to miss my belly dancing class tonight just to be on the safe side and I have already skipped the last couple weeks as it is.”

  She peered at me out of the corner of her eye. “What does Christian say?”

  Tina had already guessed Christian’s reaction and I am sure mine too. “He won’t listen to me. He is determined to have it out with him. To be honest, I don’t want either of them to get hurt. I get the pain Nicolas is going through… That brief time without Christian-- was painful, so I sympathize. I just want him to move on.”

  Tina took a deep breath in and then exhaled slowly. “What if a third party intervened, like me and Jim?”

  My head whipped around to her in horror. “Absolutely not, something is wrong with him. He isn’t completely sane. If you see him you are to make a run for it, you hear?”

  She looked at me as if surprised by my vehemence. “It’s just, I don’t want anything bad to happen to you guys either.”

  “I know,” I said giving her a quick side hug.

  On the way back into the building I kept the conversation to her and Jim while trying to unobtrusively be on the lookout for Nicolas. I couldn’t see or sense him, so it seemed we were safe, for the moment. I could always hope that he had given up and went back to France or wherever, but I wasn’t that delusional. During a break in sixth period yearbook, I hauled Michelle outside, grabbing an umbrella on the way out in case the huge
dark clouds released the downpour that was threatening. I pulled her over to my bike for the talk we so desperately needed.

  “Miss Michelle,” I started, only to have her throw her arms around me in a big hear hug.

  “I am so happy that you and Christian are back together. You guys are such a cute couple.”

  “Michelle,” I warned, moving back so I could give her a nice hard glare. “I am not unaware of all the strings you were pulling during my party. How could you involve your brother Jaime?”

  She smiled widely at this. “Yeah, he wasn’t too happy with me either.”

  “Michelle, I am thrilled that Christian and I are back together, but from now on--mind your own business.”

  Without a word she grasped my shoulders and turned me back towards school and class. “You need a big sister and I’m it. You just don’t like being the one not in control.”

  I tried to stare at her in consternation but she didn’t let me turn around and stop until we were back in class surrounded by our friends and teacher. I grimaced at her as I sat down. For the second time today I was going to have to let an argument go. This was starting to become an annoying habit. My irritation started to rise again when I noticed the quick little nod in appreciation from Christian to Michelle as she left the class. Grabbing my stuff, I stormed past him and headed straight for my bike. Christian seized my arm as I prepared to ride off without a single word to him.

  “What is the problem?”

  For once I really resented how much taller and stronger he was than me. Pulling my arm away, I scowled at him. “I don’t want you or Michelle to ever manipulate or try to control me again!”

  He scrutinized me for a second, probably measuring how truly pissed off I was. “Agreed.”

  I tried to hide my surprise. I had actually won an argument today. “Good,” I said satisfied. “Where did you want to go, my place or yours?”

  He seemed bemused by my swift change in mood. “How about your house?” he asked. “I’m not ready for you to see your portrait yet.”