by P. C. Cast
“That is weird as hell,” Candice said.
“Madam,” Barnabas gushed breathily into the silence, “I would like to commission you and the artist for twelve more poetry paintings. And I would be willing to pay you this amount of money.” He scribbled a number down on a piece of pink notepaper and slid it over the desk to Candice.
She picked up the paper. She blinked. And blinked again. She could not believe the amount of zeros on the paper. “You want to pay me this for twelve poems?”
“Mais non!” He looked offended. “I would pay you this for each of the twelve poems, as long as your artist agrees to illustrate them. Naturellement, I would pay the artist the same commission. I have already called my brother in Denver. As soon as you and the artist fini, we will have a grand opening exhibit in the city that will be très extraordinaire!”
Candice wasn’t sure she could breathe. “But I don’t even know who the artist is.”
“We’re idiots!” Godiva said. “Isn’t there a signature on the paintings?”
“No, madam sorcière. I studied each painting for the artist’s signature. What I found was odd, not a normal signature at all.”
“Well, what did you find?” Candice asked, staring at the painting.
“In the bottom right corner of each is a miniature reproduction of a full moon. That is the only signature the artist left.”
Candice sighed. “Looks like I’ll be here at sunset to meet this mysterious artist.”
“But I think you should go home and change first,” Godiva said. “Those jogging shorts are frayed and you spilled banana split all over your shirt.”
Candice was too busy wondering at the amazing events to notice Godiva’s self-satisfied little smile.
11
Candice was more excited than nervous. She dressed carefully, purposefully picking artsy clothes instead of the boring teacher crap that hung in the front of her closet. A poetess! she told herself, I’m going to dress like a poetess.
She chose a silk skirt that she’d bought in a funky shop in Manitou Springs the last time she’d visited the Colorado Springs area. Its scalloped hem flirted a couple of inches above her knees and it made her feel pretty and feminine. She matched a sleeveless black top with it and then hung her new necklace around her neck. It was a waterfall of amber beads and she realized that she’d bought it only because it reminded her of Justin’s eyes—but she couldn’t seem to help herself. This job will help me get over him. And if it keeps up it’ll be my ticket out of here. Denver, here I come! She pointedly ignored the fact that rumor said Justin was living in Denver. It didn’t matter. Denver was a big city, and she’d never run into him. She didn’t hang in the coed crowd. Instead of thinking about Justin, Candice slid on a pair of strappy black sandals, gave her hair one more fluff, and rushed out to her Mini.
The sun was just setting when she pulled up in front of the gallery. She was relieved that Barnabas had taken the paintings and poetry out of the display window. She really didn’t want to wade through another crowd of crying people to get to the door.
Stepping into the gallery she was met by Barnabas, who was wringing his hands.
“The artist insists on meeting alone with you, madam,” he said. “I will go, but I will be back in exactement one hour to hear your decision. Au revoir until later, then.”
“But where’s the artist?”
“In the rear gallery. That is where I have hung your work.” With one more worried glance around his gallery, the vampire minced out the door.
Candice straightened her shoulders and walked to the rear gallery. He was standing with his back to her, studying the two paintings that hung beside the framed poems. He’s really tall, was her first thought. He was wearing a dark, conservative suit that fit his broad shoulders well and tapered nicely down to his waist. His thick sand-colored hair was short and neatly cut. He didn’t seem to notice that she was there.
“Hi. My name is Candice Cox and I’m the poet,” she said, wishing she’d given more thought to how she would introduce herself.
“I know who you are,” he said without turning around.
Candice blinked. Was she so excited that her ears were playing tricks on her? That voice. She knew that voice. Didn’t she?
“Why did you write these poems?” he asked.
“As an assignment for a class I’m taking.” She felt the air slowly being squeezed out of her.
“Was that the only reason?” He still didn’t turn around.
“No,” she said softly. “When I wrote them I tried to explain how I was feeling.”
“And how was that?”
“My heart had been broken. I made a stupid mistake and jumped to a conclusion that wasn’t the right one.”
Finally, the artist turned slowly around. His amber eyes met hers. “You weren’t all that mistaken.”
She couldn’t believe it was really him. With his hair cut and his suit he looked…he looked like a man who could take on the world and win.
“I’ve missed you, Candy.”
“Justin, I—I…” She tried to put together a coherent sentence while her emotions swirled.
“I’m sorry!” they said together.
“I should have given you a chance to explain,” she blurted out.
“No! I shouldn’t have gone to that stupid party to begin with,” he said. “I want you to know that I wasn’t going there to be with another woman.”
“I know that,” she said.
He took a couple of steps toward her. “Did I really break your heart?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Is there any way you could let me fix it?” he asked.
“Yes,” she whispered again. Then she closed the space between them and stepped into his arms. He bent to kiss her, but her words stopped him. “You’re the artist!”
He smiled. “I am.”
“So you found your inspiration in my poetry?”
“No. I found my inspiration in the woman whose heart finally became soft enough to be broken, and when I did I understood that separately we are just a gigolo wolf and a burned-out teacher, but together…” His lips gently brushed against hers.
“Together we make magic,” she finished for him.
EPILOGUE
six months later
The art gallery, Dark Shadows II, was located in trendy downtown Denver, nestled between a Starbucks and a posh designer jewelry shop. It was a popular place, known for its unique exhibits and for discovering talented new artists. But even for a popular gallery, tonight’s opening was busy. No, not busy—mobbed. The gallery owner, Quentin Vlad (whom everyone in Denver believed to be eccentric and odd, which was partially true…the other part was that he was a vampire—something that no one needed to know) was all atwitter. Dollar signs were blazing in his eyes, and he didn’t even mind that he’d had to hire extra security to control the crowd. Sold! Every available piece in the exhibit had been sold within the first hour of the opening.
He could hardly believe his brother’s amazing find! Who would have imagined it? A nonmagical poet and an untrained artist werewolf—put them together and they create art that evokes feelings in the people who view it even outside the boundaries of Mysteria!
Now that was magic.
“Fifty thousand! I’ll up my offer to fifty thousand dollars!”
Quentin looked into the flushed face of the sweaty man who was staring, mesmerized, at the spectacular painting and poem that hung side by side in the central room of the gallery. “Sir, I’m sorry. I told you the first twelve times you inquired as to its price. That particular piece is part of the artist and poet’s personal collection. It is not for sale.”
“Everything’s for sale,” the man quipped. “Everything has a price.”
“Not that piece.”
The deep voice came from behind them. Quentin and the desperate man looked back to see a tall, handsome young man dressed in dark jeans, a T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. He had his arm around a wom
an who wore funky, artsy clothes. Her thick blonde hair was loose, framing the arresting green in her eyes perfectly. She leaned into his side intimately.
“No.” She smiled. “Not that piece.”
He bent to kiss her and, arm in arm, they strolled into one of the other crowded rooms of the gallery.
The sweaty-faced man’s gaze stayed with them a moment, but soon his eyes were drawn back to the painting and the poem—as was everyone’s attention. The painting was wondrous, a blending eroticism and beauty so breathtaking that it, alone, would have been an attention-getter in any gallery. But mix it with the poem that was displayed in intricate calligraphy and framed beside it, and wondrous evolved into spectacular…magical. As couples read the poem they gravitated together. Lone readers sighed wistfully. Some rushed out of the gallery, already on their cell phones to their lovers. Some just stood and stared, weeping silently at what was missing in their own lives. Some, like the sweaty-faced man, decided that if they just owned the piece then somehow, miraculously, love would find its way into their lives.
“It’s what I want; what I have to have,” the sweaty man said to no one in particular. “It has to be my story.” He looked at Quentin one last time. “I really can’t buy this?”
“No, you really can’t.”
The man’s eyes moved back to the artwork. “But maybe I can get her to forgive me—ask her for a second chance.” His eyes brightened and some of the desperate flush went out of his face. Quentin decided that he must be much more attractive when he wasn’t so, well, sweaty and florid. “That’s it! I’m going to ask her for a second chance!” He gripped Quentin’s thin hand. “Thank you, Mr. Vlad! And thank the artist and the poet, too!” Then he rushed from the gallery.
Quentin grimaced and discreetly wiped his palm on his hand-tailored Italian suit. But like everyone in the room, his eyes were pulled unerringly back to the wall where the art was exhibited. The painting was almost life-sized. The medium was textured oil, so the nudes looked rich, their skin almost alive. Their bodies were twined together in an intimate embrace—erotic yet loving—sexual and sensual. Their faces were indistinct, and Quentin thought then, as he had the first time he’d seen the piece, about the brilliance of the artist. He’d created a painting that allowed each viewer to imagine his or her own face within the scene. But the woman’s hair was distinctive—thick and long and blonde. The man in the painting fisted it in his desire as it cascaded around her shoulders. Quentin shivered. Even he was not immune to the passion in the piece. His eyes shifted to the poem and, again, he was captured in the poet’s web as he read:
Second Chance
Remember when it went wrong,
When the fabric of our universe tore…frayed…dissolved?
But then you turned back time
and we escaped from the prison of withered desire
I flung my arms wide and embraced
passion newborn.
Because you turned back time
I dance naked, joyously teasing the fiery sun,
safe in the knowledge that even Apollo’s
warmth cannot compare to
the heat of your caresses.
When you turned back time
I found the way to nurture
soft, sweet words
in my emerald meadow
I wound around you, a clear, cooling stream
soothing and nourishing,
helping you, in turn, to feel renewed.
And in that renewing
found my own magic
with you.
Beside the poem hung a placard that told about the artist and the poet. It read:
The medium of our work is not important. It varies from piece to piece. We do not focus on techniques or styles. We simply focus on the same thing we’d like you to focus on—the true magic of love, which will always transcend time and disbelief. May all of you live happily ever after.…
—JUSTIN AND CANDICE WOODS
IT’S IN HIS KISS…
(Title hummed to the tune of Cher
singing “The Shoop Shoop Song”)
To Gyna Snowater
with love from P. C. Castwater.
We rock when we team up, baby!
1
“All right, we’re going to start a new unit, so get out your folders and get ready to take notes,” Summer said in what she liked to hope was her best Teacher Voice.
“What’s the new unit, Miss S.?” called a male voice from the rear of the class.
Summer frowned. Was it disrespectful to call her Miss S.? Oh, Goddess! Another question she’d have to ask her sister on the phone tonight. She cleared her throat and tried to look severe and ten years older. “Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.”
The girls in the class sighed and looked dreamy. The boys groaned.
“Hey, I hear there’s sex in that play,” came the same voice from the rear of the class.
“Well, yes. Actually it’s a play about star-crossed lovers whose families won’t let them be together,” said Summer.
The girls smiled. The boys rolled their eyes.
“So that means there’s sex in it. Lots, actually,” Summer said before her mind caught up with her mouth.
“Cool!”
“Of course, it’s all written in Elizabethan English,” she hastily amended, reconnecting with the excellent control she usually had over everything she said or did.
“Sucks fairy butt,” said a surly voice from the other side of the room.
“So we won’t get it?” asked a cute blonde in the front row who wore a short, pink cheerleading uniform with fighting fairies emblazoned across her perky bosom.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get it,” Summer said.
“Awesome!” chorused several annoying male voices, accompanied by giggles from the girls.
“Hey, Miss Smith, can we watch the movie?” asked the cheerleader.
“The one that shows Juliet’s boobs!” called the irritating male voice. Which kid was that, anyway? Maybe she should move him up closer. (As if she wanted the annoying child closer to her? Ugh.)
“I’ll think about the movie,” Summer said firmly. “What we are going to see is an art exhibit of Pre-Raphaelite paintings that features Ford Madox Brown’s famous Romeo and Juliet balcony scene.”
The classroom went dead silent. Finally a pleasantly plump redheaded girl who sat smack in the center of the class smiled up at Summer through extra-thick glasses and a face full of unfortunate zits and said, “You mean we’re taking a field trip?”
“Yes, we’re taking a field trip. Tomorrow.”
There was a general class-wide sigh of relief and several high fives accompanied by murmurs of “Dude! That means no class tomorrow!”
“Okay, don’t forget to work on the Shakespearian vocab I gave you at the beginning of class. It’s due the day after tomorrow, and then we’ll begin—” Summer was saying when—thank the blessed Goddess—the bell rang that signaled the end of the period as well as the end of the school day.
“High school sucks,” Summer muttered to herself as the last pubescent boy filed out of her classroom, almost running into the door frame as he tried to keep his eyes on her cleavage as long as humanly possible. When the coast was clear, she dropped her head to her desk, and with a satisfying thud began to bang it not so softly. “I’m not a fool for teaching high school. I’m not a fool for teaching high school…” she spoke the litany in time to her head banging.
“Oh, honey. Just give up. We’re all fools. That’s one of the things that makes a truly great teacher: foolishness. The second thing starts with a W.”
Summer looked up to see a tall, slender woman dressed all in black. Her acorn-colored hair was shoulder length and wavy in a disarrayed I’m-so-naughty style. She offered her hand to Summer with a smile just as the door to her classroom opened again.
“What?” The tall, slender woman whipped around, skewering the hapless teenage boy with her amber eyes.
The boy’s eyes flitted from the scowling woman to Summer, and back to the scowler again.
“Mr. Rom? Isn’t that your name?” asked the slender woman in a no-nonsense voice.
The boy nodded nervously.
“And what is it you wished to bother Miss Smith with?”
The boy’s mouth opened, closed, and then opened again. “I have my journals to turn in. The ones that were due yesterday,” he finally blurted.