I gave it a tug, using my hands to pull at something only I could see. At first nothing happened, just a hum along the skin, and then it shattered. Not the connection; I still held that in my hands, but the window exploded inwards as if someone had thrown a big rock through it. The thought was so real in my head that I immediately looked around for a slab of stone.
All I saw was glass.
It took me a full minute to realize that it had been me. I had broken the glass from all the way across the room.
A second later, Peter knocked on the door. I don't know how I knew it was Peter. It wasn't just that it was daytime, and I was pretty sure that he was the only one awake in the house besides myself, but I could...feel him. His magic was as rich as earth. I could almost smell herbs and spring dirt on the air as I turned towards the door.
“Yeah?” I called.
“Are you alright, Miss?” he pushed open the door, real concern coloring his face.
“Uhhh...I'm okay. The window? Not so much.”
He glanced at the pile of glass that decorated the wooden floor like shattered diamonds. An outside breeze pumped through the room, carrying with it the scent of autumn. I was surprised that the sunlight, which had been high in the sky when I had started this, was touching the horizon. How long had I been sitting there?
“I see.”
“I'm sorry,” I said suddenly, and the Weave faded from my vision. Peter looked like Peter, and there were no threads of magic everywhere. “Holy crap, I didn't mean to do that.”
He chuckled. “There is no use crying over spilt magic, Miss. I can clean this up.”
I blinked in surprise. “You can?”
“I am a Brownie. Tending the home is my gift.”
He held his hands out and the glass rose off of the floor. Another wave of his fingers and the shards all flew back into place, settling into the framework of the window. The pieces melted together as if they had never been broken in the first place.
“Holy crap,” I repeated.
“You will be able to do similar things...unless your magic is inherently destructive.”
I shrugged. I didn't know what my magic was other than unwieldy. “I...think that's enough for today.”
“As you wish, Miss.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
When I got back to my room, there was a dress waiting for me. It was hanging up on the edge of the dressing screen. It was red and black and clingy. I touched the fabric, and I knew that it was probably worth more than any paycheck I had ever received. Then, I saw the box and knew that I was in for it.
It was one of those long wide boxes that rich women kept their jewelry in. Most of my jewelry had come from thrift stores. With uncertain fingers, I popped open the box and nearly dropped it. Diamonds winked up at me from some kind of black metal, making them look like stars against a curling night sky. There were earrings and a bracelet to match.
“What the heck are we doing?” I wanted to know.
I had never been on a fancy date before. The closest that I had ever gotten was my junior prom, and that had pretty much been a bust. Mostly because my date had spent the entire time trying to get his hands on my bust, and when that hadn't worked out, he'd turned his attention to a friend’s. Not exactly good memories.
I was a little nervous. Okay, scratch that. I was a lot nervous. I didn't know what to do with myself in that kind of outfit. What the heck was I going to do with my hair? I had the bare minimum of make-up, and this was definitely the kind of dress that you gussied up for.
In an act of hope and desperation, I sent a single word text to Jenny. “Help.”
~~
“There are even shoes!” she exclaimed twenty minutes later, “Cute shoes.”
I had to agree. The heels were more sensible than I would have thought after seeing the necklace. Simple black ones with a strip of glitter across the ankle and the toes. I wondered if those diamonds were real, too. They certainly glittered like they were.
“Okay, so lemme get this right.” She flopped over on my bed, stretching out like a big warm brown cat. She held one of the shoes in one hand, and the box of jewelry in the other. “You done agreed to let all the boys take you out?”
“Well, the invitation is open, but Wei isn't having it.”
She stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes. “He stupid, anyway.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I don't think he's stupid. I think he just doesn't...like the idea of being beholden to prophecy.”
She shrugged. “Well, ya got that in common.”
I guessed we did. I hadn't thought of it that way. I smirked and shook my head. “It doesn't really help me with tonight.”
“What can I do?”
“Can you do hair?”
She snorted and swished her head back and forth so that her braids swayed, the bits of crystal glittering. “What'choo think?”
“I beg your help.”
“Take a seat.” She rolled off the bed and motioned to the vanity. “You gonna tell me 'bout the big magic you casted?”
“Can you tell?” I asked, slipping into the seat.
“You smell like magic.”
“I broke a window. I don't know if that counts as big magic. It was kind of an accident.”
I told her the entire story, describing everything I could in detail while she worked a completely different kind of magic on my short mop of hair. For the first time since I had chopped it all off, I wished I had kept my long ash brown curls. Oh, well.
“You got any products?” she asked.
I opened a drawer in the vanity, showing her the paltry selection of styling products I had. It consisted of some soft hold hairspray and goop that I would use before shifts at work to hold my hair under my hat while I sweated like a pig.
She smirked. “I can work with this.”
“You are a goddess.”
She grinned. “True. But yeah, you worked some damn big magic. It's not as easy as people think to break things with magic. The Weave likes ta be where it's supposed to be. Pulling at it like you did? Big stuff.”
I hadn't known that. Maybe because I didn't know it was easy for me, or maybe I had a knack. I wasn't sure which. Heck, I was pretty much not sure of anything. Great place to be.
“Neat. I can make really big messes. Magical.”
She snorted and tugged her fingers through my hair, leaving a thin trail of product in their wake. She held her fingers there, so that when she released it, the hair fell in cute waves around my face. The effect was pretty elegant, if simple.
“Yesterday, you couldn't even see The Weave. Today, you can cause it to go against its own nature. Yeah, that's a big deal.”
Well, when she put it like that, I felt pretty sheepish.
“Is this the first date?” she wanted to know as she moved to the other side of my hair.
“Kinda? I dunno, Dmitri and I had a... moment.”
Her eyes caught mine in the mirror. “Didn't I tell ya he was somethin' else?”
I grinned my agreement and then told her about the whole night.
She sighed dramatically. “If only he was a she.”
I reached up and patted her hand. “I'm sorry, sweetie.”
She shrugged. “I'll find someone.”
I really hoped she did. I had only known her for a couple of days, but already I was firmly in her corner of support. She deserved everything and then some.
“Damn right you will. Even if I have to gather up every lesbian on the mountain and bring her to your front door.”
She stuck her tongue between her teeth and chuckled. “Don't be stupid. Okay...let's do your make-up.”
Half an hour later, I looked like a CoverGirl version of myself. I did a little turn in front of the full-length mirror and took a deep breath. “Holy crap.”
“He's gonna want to sink his fangs into you.”
“Do they do that?” I asked, “Like, I know that the stories all say that, and they got the pointy teeth and...well...
yesterday morning there was this moment but...crap, they totally do that, don't they?”
She nodded at me. “They totally do. I hear it feels good.”
I remembered how much my body had ached for Alan to taste me yesterday, and Dmitri's response to the near bite.
“Yeah, that's what I hear.” I swallowed.
The door opened, and Jenny and I both jumped. I expected to see Alan standing there, or maybe Dmitri, though I couldn't imagine him being rude enough to just open my bedroom door. It was neither. Instead, Wei stood there, his big shoulders filling the doorway. His eyes swept over me, from head to toe. He didn't say anything, just looked.
“Problem?” I asked.
“Alan says he's ready.”
I raised my brow, surprised that he was bringing that bit of information to me. I couldn't really imagine Wei being anyone's messenger boy.
“I'll be down in a moment.”
“You can tell him that yourself.”
“So what, you can bring his message to me, but can't be bothered to respond?”
He lifted his chin arrogantly. “It was either I do it or Dmitri. I am not cruel enough to send Dmitri to see you walk into the arms of another man dressed as you are.”
I blinked. When he put it like that, I felt kind of bad.
“I'll go,” Jenny said, putting a hand of support on my shoulder, “You look great.”
“Thanks,” I answered and watched her go. Wei still stood there.
“What?” I asked again, feeling irritated. God, he got under my skin. “What is it?”
He took a deep breath. I wondered why. I was pretty sure that the vampires didn't need to breathe. “Do not draw this out. If you are going to pick, do it quickly.”
I didn't have any plans of dangling the guys, that wasn't really my way. There were some people out there who liked having multiple partners. That was cool, so long as they weren't lying about it. Me? I just wanted one guy. Just one person that I could depend on. A guy who was as much my friend as he was my lover. I didn't think that was asking too much.
“I promised them both the chance. I intend to keep that promise.”
“Why?” he wanted to know.
I blinked in surprise. “Because...you are supposed to keep promises?” I answered. What kind of weird question was that?
“You do not honor your parents, but you honor a promise?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Dude, I explained this to you last night. My parents have done nothing in my life that has made me want to honor them.”
“Your father cared for you, provided for your life.”
“Yeah, because the law demands it of him. Besides, that's the bare minimum as far as I'm concerned, and no one gets a pat on the back for doing the absolute least shitty thing that they can do. He never bothered to try to help me when I struggled, or gave the least bit of a damn about my hopes and my dreams. He just expected me to listen to him and never to talk back. That's a dictator, not a parent. Okay?”
He frowned at me or maybe it was at himself. It wasn't his usual grumpy-face but something more introspective. “So, people who learn who you are? Who support you...”
“Those people? I will go to the wall for. Anyone who I can count on knows that they can count on me, too. Like Jenny. If that girl needed a kidney, I'd give it without even asking why.”
“You do not know her.”
I shrugged. “It doesn't matter. With some people, you just know.”
I stood up, and he watched me. I wasn't blind, and even though he usually looked either grumpy or stoic, I could see the heat entered his eyes as I walked towards him.
“My respect has to be earned,” I explained, “but the moment that it is? It's pretty damn hard to lose.”
“I do not agree with that view...but I can respect it.”
Then, he bowed. Really bowed. Like his hands stayed at his sides and he put his body in a deep graceful dip that was a sweep of motion that struck me breathless.
Prickly boy’ I thought to myself, but there was something there. I just didn't really know what that something was.
“Thank you.”
“Your date awaits.”
He moved out of my way, letting me pass by. I paused in the hallway and looked over my shoulder at him. “Hey, I don't really want to be involved in this prophecy either. But I am making the best of it. I won’t ask you to take part. That's not cool, but I'll let you know that the invitation is still open if you want to get to know me.”
He watched me with the cool unblinking stare of a hawk. I could feel the gaze as I walked away.
CHAPTER NINE
If I looked good, Alan looked like a dream. I had to hand it to the guy, he really knew how to dress, or maybe he just knew how to present himself. When I came downstairs, he was lounging in an elegant antique wingback chair that I figured he chose to be the perfect background to his all too pretty self.
“Wow,” I said.
He wore the same colors as I did; black, red, and silver, but the style was completely his own. The jacket, cut in that long aristocratic style, was a deep black velvet with silver stitching that fit him in just the right way to show off the elegant slenderness of his body. The ruffled red shirt he wore should have looked flamboyant, but he pulled it off, though maybe the black vest he wore helped with that.
The pants, equally black, were fitted slacks and skimmed the tops of his boots so perfectly that I knew they were tailored. Diamonds shimmered at his cuffs, the pin of his cravat, and a single one at one ear.
He smiled at me, bowing so that the tips of his blond hair swept against the ground. He hadn't pulled it back as far as I could tell, but it looked fancy enough just sitting there. He extended his hand to me like this was some romantic movie moment. Maybe it was.
“And you, Lorena Quinn, you look like a dream.”
I placed my hand in his offered one. I was surprised to feel nothing but skin. With everything else he wore, I expected there to be the hat and gloves and everything, but all I felt was the satin caress of his fingers against mine as he lifted my knuckles to his lips. I couldn't help myself; I shivered. A shock of interest went from where his lips touched to all the places that liked to feel good.
I had to clear my throat before I could respond, because I'm super smooth that way. “I'd say thank you, but you picked everything out for me.”
“I hope that I didn't overstep myself.”
I shrugged. Maybe he had a little bit, but not so much that I was really bothered. He hadn't pinned a creepy note to the hanger that said “wear this or else” or something weird like that. Red flag much? “Well, if the dress had been ugly, I wouldn't have worn it.”
His chuckle was so warm that it brought a tingle to my skin. It was like the elegant rumble of an instrument warming up.
His fingers were cool and strong against mine as he gave my hand the gentlest of squeezes. “You are a bewitching woman, Lorena.”
“Well, to be fair, I am a witch.”
He laughed. His laugh was even better. The chuckle was controlled, soft and pretty. The laugh was bright and unfettered. His lips spread enough that I could see the tips of his fangs. The points should have ruined his aesthetic...they didn't.
“What is it about a woman of wit?” He shook his head and kissed my knuckles again. I was expecting the zing this time, but it was no less potent. “Shall we?”
“Where are we going?” I asked, realizing that I had absolutely no clue what to expect from the night.
“How do you feel about French cuisine?”
“Honestly? I don't know much about it. Are there snails involved?” I liked to consider myself adventurous, but I drew the line at snails.
He took my hand and pressed it to the crook of his arm. It lacked the definition of Dmitri's bulk, but had its own slender elegance that I appreciated.
Ugh, I thought to myself, I really needed to stop comparing them to one another. That felt...unfair somehow. I didn't really want to turn this into some
kind of pro-con competition, but what else was I supposed to do? Marry them all? Props to the polyandrous crowd, but I just didn't have that in me.
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