by Larissa Ladd
“I know you don’t like to admit it, but being a witch is part of the real world,” Ava argued. “You have to make it all coincide with each other. You can’t separate work from your daily life or who you are inside just because you want to pretend you’re mortal. You’re not, and it’s going to come out one way or another.”
Skyler shook her head. “Come on, Mom, let’s not have this discussion again. You and I are never going to agree about this. Just make your peace with the fact that I feel the need to make some accomplishments of my own merit, not because of magical talent.” She stood and paced back and forth across the kitchen floor. She was tired of defending her position to her mother, and she knew that her Aunt Tilda wasn’t far behind. As soon as Mom went to vent to her sister, Tilda would be over here, giving her the same grief.
At that moment, she considered calling Margo Weissner to have a hex put on this house that made it appear empty and allowed no one in without Skyler’s express permission. It sounded like a golden dream right about now. “Can we please just change the subject? I don’t want to argue anymore.”
Visibly reluctant, Ava threw her hands in the air in surrender. “When was the last time you heard from your brother?”
The abrupt change of subject gave Skyler whiplash, but her shoulders sagged in relief. “He called about a month ago. He was at a monastery in Nepal, where he had holed himself up in a quiet room and meditated himself into a mental silence.” Creed Duran, her younger brother, was psychic, but he’d had trouble for years turning off the voices in his head. Doctors had diagnosed him as schizophrenic, but that’s only because they didn’t know the truth. Gifts typically only passed through the female lineage of the family, but somehow, Creed had been blessed with his ability and cursed to never be able to control it, since he technically wasn’t a witch. Because of the situation, he was disturbed, and he spent his life hunting down peaceful places to unwind from the horrible cacophony of voices that riddled his head all the time.
The sadness in her mother’s eyes broke Skyler’s heart. Creed didn’t like to talk to Ava. He hated the reminder of his heritage, and the only reason he ever contacted Skyler was because he could pretend she was mortal, like he was. The charade grounded him and gave him someone to speak to—someone who understood his situation yet didn’t speak of it. Skyler just felt grateful he kept in touch so they all knew he was safe.
“Mom, he loves you. But you have to understand when he says he doesn’t want to talk about it. He knows you’re going to bring up the family history and give him pointers. He doesn’t want that. He just wants you to tell him you love him and miss him, like any mother would do.”
“I tell him that!” Now, Ava stood and began ranting. “Should I be persecuted because I want to help my son? Like you said, it’s what any good mother would do, and this mother happens to be a witch. I want to help my son with those problems as well.”
This conversation wasn’t going any better than the first. How on earth had things gotten this far out of control? In fact, why was it that this happened every time she spoke to her mother? Rubbing the bridge of her nose between finger and thumb, she told her mother, “You remember the guy who left Jayden? He’s getting married to someone else.”
“Oh, dear.” Ava shook her head, frowning. “Jayden must be beside herself.” Suddenly, she perked up. “Now, I think there’s something we can do about this. You won’t let me help you, but maybe Jayden won’t see my attempts to help as interfering in her life.” The woman was up pacing, and Skyler had a sick feeling in her stomach. “Yes, I think I know just the thing.” She met Skyler’s gaze with a brilliant smile. “I’m sorry, dear, but something’s come up, and I must be on my way.”
“Wait, Mom, what are you up to?” But Ava didn’t answer as she flew out the door. Skyler didn’t bother to chase her; whatever idea she had in her head, it wouldn’t matter if Skyler strapped her to a chair. Ava wouldn’t tell her what evil plan she was coming up with. It would be a wasted effort. Instead, Skyler sighed and went back to the kitchen, where the smell of her mother’s stew finally hit her, making her stomach growl so hard she nearly collapsed from hunger. As much as she hated having a meddlesome mother, Skyler definitely appreciated the woman’s cooking.
Stew was going to be just the thing to fill her up with both nutrition and warmth while she did some digging and plotting of her own. Chad Pearson was as much a target for her as Jayden’s ex had just become for her mother. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter 7
The scotch didn’t satisfy Chad. He made a face at it and asked, “Where did you get this putrid stuff? You always used to have such good taste in liquor. I don’t know what’s happened lately, but you fail miserably.”
His brother, Van, poured himself another snifter of the drink and shrugged, slouched down in his armchair and already past the point of intoxicated. “The more you drink, the better it gets. Besides, it’s a waste to pay for the good stuff when you drink as much of it as I do.”
It was time to face the facts; his brother was turning into a drunk, and it was infuriating to Chad that the man he’d looked up to for so long could no longer face reality without the help of a fifth of scotch. Chad liked the stuff and, on occasion, didn’t mind getting a little heady, but he was tired of sitting back and letting Van slowly kill himself. He wouldn’t condone the behavior anymore. “It’s got to stop, Van.”
Van gave him a raspberry. “You, little brother, are a buzzkill. You should loosen up.”
Angry, Chad stood, slamming his glass on the side table. “No, Van, I’m not a buzzkill, but I bet your liver will be soon. Either you stop on your own, or I’m sending you to rehab.”
With a guffaw, Van shook his head. “You know better than that. There is no rehab that can help people like us. I’m tired of living like this, Chad. I want to be normal. I want to live in the suburbs, in a nice little house where I can find a nice little wife, and we can have some nice little kids. No, strike that. I don’t want nice kids because that’s not normal. I want brats, who are always in trouble. That’s normal.”
Chad wiped a hand down his face as if he could erase all of this. Van hadn’t always been this way. But he’d won the lottery a few months ago, invested in the most luxurious lifestyle he could dream of, and turned into a lush. He hated being rich, and Chad could understand that. Having the kind of money Van had won meant there was never any kind of challenge to life, and neither of them enjoyed life without challenges. But Van had progressed quickly from bad to worse. In just the last three months, the drinking had escalated, and Van had shown not a care in the world about anything else. He never left the mansion, rarely even got out of bed, and for a man who used to bring home a different woman every night of the week, he showed no interest in sex.
“It’s not fair to say ‘us,’ Van. You know very well we’re not the same. I’m not the one giving up hope and sitting around, drinking myself to death. When did you quit living, exactly, and just start waiting to die?” The fury in Chad’s voice rang out and echoed off the walls.
Van’s eyes shot fire at his brother. “You know what I meant, asshole. Don’t get testy and technical with me. If all you want to do is rag on me, you can get out of my house. Better yet, stay out of it. And stay out of my life. If I’ve become something you hate, it’s your fault. I never wanted this.”
The words stung, even though they held no truth, and Chad walked out of the room. He wanted to throw Van against a wall, shake some sense into him. Unfortunately, that would cost him more than he could afford, with a possible trip to jail and assault charges or at least a very large mess and perhaps a broken nose when it was all said and done. Who knew? Maybe his brother would surprise him and actually kick his ass. No matter what, things would go badly.
No, he had to leave now, and call for backup so he could get Van into treatment. He had problems of his own to deal with. He still wasn’t sure what to expect from Skyler Duran, and he needed to be prepared for whatever she br
ought to the table. That meant getting the goods on the woman and what she was capable of. It also meant figuring out if she was the vindictive type or simply someone who would throw herself into her job and make it even more difficult for Chad to get rid of her.
Whatever her direction, he had the motive and the means to make sure she disappeared from his life. And when she did, he’d have to make sure and get a really great photo of her; she was too pretty and curvy not to keep some sort of souvenir.
Chapter 8
Skyler’s desk phone never rang; she only used the number for emergencies, and only a few select people had it. Frowning at it, she reached for the handset and picked it up, hesitating as she put it to her ear. “Hello?” she asked, suspicion and concern battling in her voice.
“What did you tell your mother about me?” Jayden was obviously beside herself, and she was out of breath. Skyler assumed she was at work and wasn’t sure why she would be so breathless.
Even worse, what was she talking about? “I didn’t tell her anything about you. What on earth . . .”
The office door burst open, and she watched Jayden hang up her cell phone as she stormed toward Skyler’s desk. Eyes wide, Skyler felt her heart racing. Her best friend causing a scene in the office was the last thing she needed when she already had trouble with her new boss. She couldn’t believe Jayden would do something so irrational. “Don’t play dumb with me, Skyler. You told her about David getting married, didn’t you?”
By now, several of her coworkers were watching the showdown, and Skyler, who loved being the center of the attention, was mortified. She glanced around the blockade that Jayden’s body had become to see if Chad was watching, and while he wasn’t exactly standing in the door to his office gawking, he’d taken notice. Skyler groaned internally. “Jayden, be reasonable. This is my office. Can we go get some coffee and talk about what evil, ridiculous thing my mother has done this time?”
Her lips pressed into a tight, white line, Jayden nodded curtly and clicked back through the door in her Prada heels. Clearing her throat and refusing to look at anyone on the way out, Skyler grabbed her purse and followed behind with her usual confidence. Jayden was a good thirty feet ahead of her when she entered the coffee shop and didn’t bother to look back to see if Skyler was behind her. As she reached the counter, she heard Jayden tell the clerk, “My friend’s right behind me. She’ll pick up the tab.”
Skyler rolled her eyes at the trick as Jayden went to sit down at a table in the back corner. Ordering her own drink and paying the total, she rushed to sit across from the woman who refused to look at her. “Listen, Jayden, I didn’t expect her to butt into your business. The only reason I mentioned anything was to get her to stop snooping into mine. Do you even know what it’s like to have your mother still try to run your life as an adult?”
Jayden gave her an incredulous look. “Do you really have to ask that question? It’s part of our heritage, part of what we are. You can’t expect our mothers to keep their noses clean. Unfortunately, I don’t just have my own mom ruining my life. Now I have the meddlesome Ava Duran trying to ruin mine.” There was a tremor in her voice, and Skyler knew that she was truly upset.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. But I can’t fix anything if you don’t tell me what my mother is up to now. What has she done to have you this upset?”
The waitress delivered the coffees, and Jayden finally met Skyler’s gaze, tears in her eyes. “David called me this morning. Somehow, your mother managed to get a flyer in front of him for a catering service she doesn’t own. She apparently put some sort of charm on it, and now he’s fixated on having her cater his wedding. He called me because, apparently, he remembers that the two of us are friends and wanted to have me put in a good word for him with your mother so she’d take the job.”
Skyler was truly horrified. “What nerve! He didn’t even have an apology for you? I mean, he just called out of the blue and asked if you would help him, no clearing the air or anything?”
Jayden shrugged. “Apparently, I’m not supposed to be upset with the fact that he left me or that he called me a nutcase.” She shook her head, using her outrage to cover up her misery once again. “But that’s not the problem. Skyler. What does Ava think she’s doing? There’s no way she can pull this off. She doesn’t have a business and can’t put one together in time. And even if she did or could, it would only be to wreak havoc on the ceremony or the reception. And then it would likely get back to me! I can’t have that. I can survive not being a part of David’s life. But I can’t be the object of his hatred. You have to stop her, Skyler.”
The problem was, once Ava had started something like this in motion, there was no calling off the dogs. At this point, the best Skyler could do was get her dear, old mother to divulge what she was planning and see if there was any kind of damage control that could be done. “I’ll talk to my mother and somehow weasel out of her what she’s planning. Then, we can work together to find a way to thwart the worst of it. But you know Mom. She can’t be stopped completely. We’ll just have to do our best to lessen the impact.”
Sipping her coffee, Jayden nodded, looking defeated. “I’m sorry, Skyler. I didn’t mean to just barge in and come down on you.” Her eyes went wide. “Oh, lord, what did I do? You have enough issues at work without the scene I just made. I’m so sorry!”
Even though Skyler was a bit worried, she waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. I’m already working on something that could really make things better.”
Jayden raised an eyebrow. “Are you considering a little abracadabra to get the big boss to come around?”
“No,” Skyler stated adamantly, though at this point, she might have to make an exception, depending on how angry he was with the disruption Jayden had created. What a horrible spot she was in! She had to control her mother, keep Jayden from going off the deep end, convince Chad she really was a good writer worth keeping aboard, and that wasn’t even considering anything she needed to do to take care of herself.
Feeling overwhelmed, she stood with the rest of her coffee and grabbed her purse. “I have to get back to the office and talk to Chad. But I’ll call my mother tonight and see if I can figure out what she’s got up her sleeve. Maybe we can steal her ace.” She called back over her shoulder as she rushed out, “Don’t worry, we’ll get this figured out.” But honestly, Skyler wasn’t so sure. In fact, she didn’t know if she wanted to get involved. She had a bad feeling about the whole thing.
And it started the instant she walked back into the office. Without even standing from his desk, Chad caught her eye and motioned to her to step inside. She winced internally but didn’t show any outward sign of fear or regret. Better to put up the usual strong front so he couldn’t beat her down. She smiled as she came into the office and shut the door behind her. “Chad, I’m sorry for the interruption. It was a family emergency, but I’ve made sure that it won’t happen in the future.”
Chad scowled. “Ms. Duran, that disruption caused a huge scene in my office. It interrupted my work, as well as the work of every writer sitting out there with you. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone in the entire office, even the vice president on the other side of the building, heard the commotion. Now, I thought you knew how to conduct yourself in a professional manner.”
Skyler could take a lot of beatings, but she wouldn’t allow him to trash her mannerisms. “Excuse me, but I’m not the one who barged in, and I did everything in my power to minimize the disruption. I never raised my voice, I didn’t invite her to stay, and I removed myself from the environment to have the discussion elsewhere so as not to be a continuous distraction. If you really want to go there, everything I did was as professional as it gets, so you can rag on my writing and my look and my attitude toward life, but don’t you dare call me unprofessional.”
The expression on Chad’s face was unreadable, but it didn’t look happy. Still, Skyler wasn’t going to stand down. She waited for the rebuff. “I digress; in this instance, yo
u are correct, and I apologize if I insinuated otherwise. At the same time, it was your family or friend who did act inappropriately, and I have to insist that no one outside of employees ever comes through that door to see you again.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down. “I believe I already told you it will never happen again. Just know that not only will there be employees but also interviewees coming to see me from time to time, if we can’t arrange meetings elsewhere, and I expect you to be just as professional.”
He spread his hands. “I can handle that.” Skyler turned to leave. “Ms. Duran, there’s one more thing.” She closed her eyes and counted to five in hopes of not unleashing a whirlwind of rage in a nasty spell that would deplete his office of its organized luxury. Spinning on her heel, she gave him a saccharine smile and waited. “I read over the article you wrote, and I’ve made some comments. I just emailed it to you, and I hope you can finish it up by the end of the day. The weekly edition has to be proofed no later than tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll have to review your revisions before it goes to copy.”
Grinding her teeth, Skyler nodded, certain she wouldn’t like what she found when she opened the document. “Very well.”
“Oh, and Skyler?” This time, the shock of hearing her first name stopped her dead in her tracks in the doorway. She looked back over her shoulder and shivered at that gorgeous, taunting half-smile he wore. “I appreciate you not being argumentative with me today. I think we might actually learn to get along somewhere down the road.”
Something inside Skyler sparked, and she gave him a genuine, if slightly seductive, smile in return. The man was devastating, and she couldn’t make herself truly hate him. If she could, it would be easy to hex him or to just walk out of this job. She could have another in no time. She got calls almost daily from other publications. Hell, with a little help and some magic, she could start her own magazine. But if she left this place or did something to Chad, she’d regret it because then she wouldn’t be able to salivate over his looks.