Once Upon Stilettos

by Shanna Swendson

  I took his hand and had to make an effort not to flinch when it turned out to be cold and smooth—like shaking hands with a frog, as a matter of fact. “Nice to meet you,” I said. “I’m Katie Chandler, the CEO’s assistant.”

  “Yes, I know. I normally send the boy here to any meetings. Don’t get out much, you know.”

  I smiled and turned to Owen, prepared to say something about those meetings, then almost jumped when the man became a frog, right before my eyes. There was a giant frog wearing a tuxedo and glasses standing in front of me. It took all my self-control not to leap out of the way and scream in shock. Instead, I smiled and said, “You probably get so much more done without all those meetings.”

  “Well, I’m getting empty.” He gestured with his glass. “Off for a refill, nice chatting with you.” Then he hopped away and I had to bite my tongue to keep from giggling.

  “Let me guess, it’s starting to come back,” Owen whispered in my ear.

  “Oh yeah, and interesting timing, too. What is the deal with frogs, anyway? There are way too many of them in my life these days.”

  He shrugged. “It’s a classic. Those never go out of style. I wish I could figure out a way of undoing that one. That’s no way to live. Should we get something to drink?”

  “A drink sounds wonderful.”

  With his hand on my waist, he guided me to a nearby champagne fountain, where he handed me a glass before filling one for himself. For someone who normally showed no signs of romantic interest, he was doing a good job of acting like he couldn’t take his eyes off me.

  I saw Isabel’s head approach through the crowd. When she reached us, she hugged me and patted Owen on the shoulder. “You’re wearing the fabulous shoes again!” she boomed. “Love them!” Then she gave me a sly wink as she gestured toward Owen with her chin. “And nice work. You go, girl!”

  I smiled back at her and made a mental note to let her in on the real story when all was said and done. That would be the most effective way of spreading the word companywide that Owen and I were not, in fact, a real item. Pity.

  While we got food and made small talk with the various people we ran into, I scanned the room constantly, looking for Ari. “Are you sure she’s coming?” Owen asked when half an hour had gone by with no sign of her.

  “She said she was. She’s probably being fashionably late. She’ll want to make a big entrance.”

  Just then, the front doors opened and Ari swept in on the arm of a tall, lanky man. He looked unfamiliar at first, but as I focused on him, his appearance shifted, blurred, then solidified into something all too familiar to me. “Speak of the devil,” I breathed, “and you’ll never believe who she brought as her date.”

  “Who is it?” Owen hissed into my ear. His warm breath on my cheek made me momentarily forget the urgency of the situation, but I forced myself to focus.

  “Guess,” I whispered back to him.

  “Katie.” There was a warning tone in his voice.

  “She brought Phelan Idris. He’s wearing an illusion.”

  “And you can see him?”

  “He just came into full focus. Looks like I was cured in the nick of time. But how could she possibly hope to get away with that? There are people here who can see him.”

  “Not a lot of the verifiers show up for these parties, and few of those would have the slightest idea who he is. And remember, she thinks you can’t see him.”

  “There’s Ethan,” I pointed out. “He knows Idris, and he’s an immune.”

  “Is he even here?”

  “I haven’t seen him yet, but I can’t imagine Mr. ‘I want to explore magic’ staying away. I think he’s supposed to be coming with Trix.”

  “Hmm, I haven’t seen her, either. I hope they’re okay.”

  Ari and Idris approached us, both of them smiling smugly. “Play it cool,” Owen whispered. I wondered if he was talking to me or to himself.

  “Hey,” I said to Ari. “Love your dress.” Then I smiled at Idris and said, “Hi, I’m Katie.”

  “This is my friend, Fred,” Ari said. He darted a funny look at her, like that wasn’t the cover name he’d have chosen. It seemed she couldn’t resist making even her evil allies uncomfortable. “And this is Owen and Katie. We work together.”

  Now that I knew what was going on, I recognized the cat-who-ate-the-canary look in her eyes. I should have suspected earlier that she was up to something, but she always looked like she was up to something, or was at least thinking about being up to something.

  “It’s good to meet you, Fred,” I said with faked sincerity as I kicked Owen in the ankle. He was quivering with barely suppressed hostility. Owen kept a carefully blank face, though, going only a little bit pale. I couldn’t resist giving the verbal knife a little twist. “I can’t believe Ari hasn’t told us anything about you. She usually doesn’t have much of a problem with kissing and telling.”

  I was rewarded by a fleeting look of panic in her eyes. “Fred’s just a friend,” she said. “All my other potential dates vanished. Well, gotta mingle. Catch you later.”

  Owen’s champagne glass shattered in his hand, then disappeared in midair before it hit the floor. “I’m going to kill him,” he said with calm certainty. “But unfortunately, I don’t think it’ll be tonight.”

  “All our players appear to be onstage, so now what?” I asked.

  “We play our roles and see what happens. I can break his illusion, but it’ll be easier if he’s off-guard, and much, much more effective if I do it at the right moment. But let’s first give her enough rope to really hang herself. Bringing him as her date is probably enough evidence, but let’s see what else she does.”

  It was hard to focus on party small talk when I knew a major battle could take place at any moment. Then we ran into Rod. Now that my immunity had returned, he was the same old Rod I’d always known, which made it easier for me to face him. I could pretend those things that had happened between us had involved some stranger I’d never see again, and in time maybe I’d be able to forget it entirely. For now, though, his split lip served as a vivid reminder of what had happened.

  Rod gave me one of his more charming smiles, and Owen responded by putting his arm around my waist and pulling me roughly against him. “Back off,” he said with quiet intensity. “How many times do I have to warn you to leave her alone?”

  “At least I had the stones to make a move. And shouldn’t the lady have the right to decide who she wants to be with?”

  “She’s here with me.”

  I’d had enough of two otherwise sane, rational men acting like rutting stags over me. “Would you two cut it out, please?” I begged. “Let’s put it behind us, okay?”

  Owen’s mouth twitched, then he whispered to me, “Play along.”

  While I was still gaping at him, Psychodrama Theater continued to play, drawing a growing audience. “Please,” Rod said. “Like you’d even know what to do with her.”

  “And you did such a good job that she ran away from you and went straight to me.”

  I wondered what my role in this little play was supposed to be. Was I supposed to be horrified, or was I supposed to enjoy the attention? It would have helped if they’d shared the script with me, but I had a feeling they were making it up as they went along, based on a lifetime of being practically brothers who knew each other well enough to anticipate every thought or action. I finally decided that I should go with the way things were when the shoes were working on me and everyone else around me. That had to have been the intent of the scene. They were making Ari think the shoes still worked.

  I tried to put on the attitude of a woman who could have any man she wanted. That was something of a stretch. I could, however, fake not knowing why men were acting so weird around me. “Seriously, cut it out, you two,” I said. “You’ve been friends forever, and I don’t want that to end on my account. Besides, we don’t want to ruin the party for everyone else.”

  Rod glared at Owen for a second long
er, then turned and stalked away. Owen pulled me to the other side of the room with a possessive arm still around my waist. Oh, but that felt good. I chanced a glance at Ari, who seemed to have enjoyed the entertainment immensely.

  “Would it have killed you to let me in on that?” I asked Owen when we were out of earshot of everyone else.

  “I thought it would be more authentic if you didn’t know.”

  “So you two are okay now? You’re friends again?”

  “At least enough to cooperate on this.”

  “You really hit him, then? Or was that part of the plan?”

  “I hit him, and then we came up with the plan. You’re the only one who can see what I presume is a fat lip.”

  “Owen! You didn’t have to do that.”

  He flexed his right hand. “Yes, I did. He promised me that you were off-limits, and I promised what I’d do if he broke that promise. He wasn’t supposed to ask you out, and the spell wouldn’t have been a factor if he’d kept that promise.”

  “What were you doing making him make that promise?” I asked, hardly daring hope it meant he had any interest in me.

  “You’ve seen the way he is with women. We agreed that you weren’t a candidate to be one of his conquests.”

  “He needs professional help. Seriously.”

  “Tell me about it. Now it’s almost time for act two.”

  “What’s act two?”

  He gestured behind me, and I turned to see Merlin appear at the top of the stairs. “Ladies and gentlebeings,” the ancient wizard boomed in a voice that seemed too strong to come from someone so old and seemingly fragile.

  “Oh, act two,” I said, nodding with realization. “And you’re not going to tell him what’s going on?”

  “We didn’t have enough evidence going in to say anything, and now we don’t have time. Come on.” With his arm still around my waist, he tugged me toward the front of the crowd that was forming at the foot of the stairs. The instruments stopped playing and hung suspended and still in midair. Ari and Idris were also near the front of the crowd. Rod wasn’t too far from them. I still hadn’t spotted Ethan or Trix.

  Once he had everyone’s attention, Merlin began speaking. “This is my first such celebration to share with all of you, and I deem it a great honor to do so,” he said. “We are facing troubled times, but I believe we can prevail if we face them together, if we remember the purpose behind this company and the role it plays in the magical world.”

  I knew I should have been paying attention to my boss, but I couldn’t help watching Idris. He rolled his eyes and made mocking expressions, which I presumed were covered by the illusion he wore.

  Merlin continued, “In recent weeks, we’ve been forced to focus inward due to the disloyalty of one of our own. I believe we’ve moved past that now and can work together toward our common goal. The perpetrator will be caught, and we will protect ourselves from the forces of chaos who seek to undermine us.”

  Now I noticed that Rod was looking right at us. “Showtime,” Owen whispered. “Watch my back.” He released my waist, and I felt the tingle of powerful magic building near me. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and there was an audible zap followed by a gasp from the crowd.

  Merlin froze, then he dropped any pretense of being a kindly elder statesman. “You,” he said, his voice a whisper, but one that cut through the silence like a knife.

  Only then did Idris apparently realize he’d been exposed. He glanced over his shoulder, like he was looking for an exit, and panic washed over his features when he found his way blocked by the entire workforce of MSI. Only then did he assume the cocky pose that was so familiar to those of us who’d faced him in the last battle we’d fought.

  At that, Owen stepped in front of me. The crowd between Owen and Idris took a collective stride backward, leaving the space clear between them. Merlin made his way slowly down the stairs.

  “Nice trick,” Idris said to Owen.

  “Thank you,” Owen replied, sounding calm and casual.

  “How’d you know it was me?”

  “You give off an unmistakable odor.” Muffled laughter rippled through the crowd.

  Idris crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at Merlin. “So, what are you going to do about it, old man? I’m here as an invited guest. That’s not against the law. Or are you going to get your pet lawyer to file for a restraining order? Where is your lawyer, anyway? I haven’t seen him here tonight.”

  Ethan wasn’t my favorite person in the world at the moment, but that didn’t mean I wanted to see something bad happen to him, so I immediately became worried.

  “Whose guest are you?” Merlin asked.

  “I came here with one of your own employees,” Idris said with a smirk. “Says a lot about your company loyalty, doesn’t it?”

  While watching Idris for signs of treachery, I noticed Ari’s wings moving away. The little rat was trying to sneak out of this. Not on my watch, I vowed. I slipped through the crowd toward her, trying to keep an eye on her while also watching for any illusions or other magic that might be a danger to Owen or Merlin. The bitch had taken my powers, enchanted me, and screwed around with my life. She was not going to get away with it.

  “It says something about that particular employee,” Merlin said. “Don’t assume it says anything about the rest of us.” His eyes scanned the crowd, like he was looking for who the traitor might be. Ari moved faster.

  I knew I couldn’t keep up with her if she used her wings, and if she got away without being exposed, we’d be right back to the widespread paranoia and suspicion that had swamped the company when we first learned we had a traitor. “Hold it right there!” I shouted to her back. “Stop her!”

  Isabel was standing closest to Ari, and she looked at me in shock and horror. “Katie?” she asked softly, and I could feel every head in the room swivel to look at me.

  Ari, ever the schemer, turned to look at me with wide, innocent eyes. “What are you talking about, Katie? You aren’t trying to create a distraction, are you?”

  That was a low blow, even for her, one I hadn’t been anticipating. “Wha—?” was all I could say.

  “Who would have guessed it of sweet little Katie? Investigating the traitor, when the whole time, you’re the one stirring up trouble. It seems like in the last month, you’ve dated half the company, broken up a lifelong friendship, and now you’re trying to frame me?” With an air of affronted innocence, she looked around at the enthralled crowd. “Maybe you should ask her where she got those pretty red shoes, and what she’s doing with them. How else do you think she got all those men interested in her? She’s had her eyes on Owen Palmer since before she joined the company, and she’s stopped at nothing to get him, even if it takes getting someone to put a Cinderella spell on her shoes to make him want her.”

  By this time, I was well over my shock and on my way to anger. “How would you know the shoes are enchanted?” I asked.

  “Please! Like he’d see someone like you any other way? I wish I’d thought of it. If you didn’t have him under a spell, he wouldn’t notice if you threw yourself at him.”

  I kicked off my shoes and tossed them at two nearby people. “Do they seem enchanted to you?” I asked them. I felt a lot shorter in my stocking feet, but I was also better prepared to run if I had to give chase.

  She wasn’t done, though. In fact, she seemed surprisingly confident, probably because she knew for a fact that the shoes had been enchanted. “You may not have noticed the enchantment, since you’re immune. Or are you? Maybe you’ve been lying about that, too.”

  The crowd parted, and soon Merlin was standing beside me. “Katie, is this true?”

  Wishing I’d been honest with him sooner, I said, “Yes, sir. It was. I completely lost my immunity for a couple of weeks. It turned out someone had been drugging me. The water in my building was tainted, and then the effect was reinforced with enchanted candy sent to me by my secret Santa.”

  “Ari!�
� Isabel blurted out, moving to block any possible path for Ari to escape. Then she turned to Merlin. “It was Ari. I assigned her to Katie because I thought it would be fun among friends.”

  “But now I’m okay,” I added. “Totally back to normal.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?” Merlin asked me, sounding disappointed.

  “I was afraid I’d lose my job, so I kept waiting and hoping it was temporary. And then, once we found the source, well, we figured that the only person who’d know about it would be the one who did it.”

  “That was my idea, sir,” Owen’s voice called out from behind us, loud and clear. Every head in the room turned. Most of them had probably never heard Owen speak before tonight, let alone speak that loudly and firmly. “It was part of our plan.”

  Now Merlin looked amused. “Your plan? Please, let’s discuss this.”

  Ari tried to back away. “You’re going to believe her? She was lying to you.”

  “At least she wasn’t conking people on the head and leaving them tied up in a broom closet,” a male voice said from the top of the stairs. I turned, along with everyone else in the room, to see Ethan and Trix at the top of the stairs. Both of them looked bedraggled and dazed.

  Trix held up a small figure of a fairy. “But on the bright side, we found the last treasure hunt item, which I think means the Dragon team wins.”

  The Dragon team launched into its cheer, which fizzled away a couple of seconds later when they realized that it wasn’t the right time for that sort of thing.

  “What’s Idris doing here?” Ethan added.

  “Are you sure who did it?” Merlin asked.

  “Ari asked us to meet her before we left to get ready for the party,” Trix said, straightening her skirt.

  I’d had enough. I stepped forward and grabbed one of Ari’s wings. She yelped. “Does that hurt?” I asked. She nodded. “Good,” I said, and dragged her forward to the foot of the stairs. That position made it easier for me to keep an eye on Idris and still run the inquisition on Ari.