“An engagement ring,” Julian clarified with a sigh.
His tension suddenly made complete sense. Julian was about as tight as a bowstring, so it was good to get him away from the missus for a bit. Olivia had an uncanny ability to read body language and tone, and if she’d been around him like this, she’d know something was up within a heartbeat.
Armando propped his chin on a fist. “So, you’re nervous about a human ritual? You two are already mates and all.”
“You don’t understand. I’m proposing at the party in a couple days.” Julian rubbed his temple.
“In front of the whole coven,” Armando said with a gasp. “The boss didn’t even do that!”
Their coven master, Alexander Rehnquist, had snuck away with Violet to return to the island nation where they’d become mates to propose to her privately. Beforehand, if Armando was a betting man, he’d have put money on Julian opting for privacy and Alex opting for something flashy and opulent.
“Olivia will like it more.” Julian spoke with certainty.
He snapped his fingers. “Ah! I get you. But how are you going to keep it a secret when you’re a nervous wreck?”
“Olivia’s out with the girls tonight. I have time to get it together.” He scrubbed his face as they stopped for a red light. “You see your shop, by the way?”
“Uh…” Armando had gotten distracted again.
“We’re stopping at the next pink store,” Julian said. He did just as he’d suggested, gesturing for Armando to get out of the car. “I’ll circle around.”
“Thanks, man.” Armando looked up at the boutique’s name, which seemed French and was written out in fancy script. Its storefront was a nice pinkish-purple, the paint bright and fresh for the Christmas shopping season.
He hoped he wasn’t about to embarrass himself by walking in and asking the store for something it didn’t carry. What was an “extra-large Sophia in rose” anyway?
As he hesitated outside, a pair of mortal women left the store and descended the stairs to the sidewalk. One caught his eye and batted her lashes over the rim of her glasses. Out of habit, he flashed a smile just wide enough not to show fangs as he stepped out of their way.
“Hey there. Want to see—?”
He was trotting up the stairs before she could finish her sentence, dodging a situation he would’ve embraced only a year ago. He used to flirt with anyone with a pulse, but now, the thought turned his stomach.
The door slammed behind him with his haste to get inside, jangling a pair of bells on the handle.
He looked up and made eye contact with a startled gathering of women. Panning over their heads, he realized just what this store sold.
Lingerie.
It was a common misconception that vampires couldn’t blush, but Armando was testament of the opposite. He felt his face flush with heat as he froze in mortification.
“Can I help you, sir?” asked an obvious employee as she sashayed over to him. Her uncomfortable-looking high heels punctuated each step with authority.
On the inside, he cursed Izell, because he knew this had to be the right store. He cleared his throat. “Do you have… an extra-large Sophia in rose?” He made sure to put as much cluelessness in the question as possible. It wasn’t hard. He was already drawing in his shoulders and ducking his head. Charlotte told him the gesture made him look like a turtle. “It’s…it’s for my girlfriend,” he added.
Thankfully, she seemed to have pity on him and went to check the store while he waited in the entryway. His embarrassment faded as he took in the establishment, which had a few fine pieces on display and plenty of bored employees milling around, waiting to give one-on-one attention to late holiday shoppers.
They were out of the particular piece Izell had requested. So, he ended up touring what was there anyway and grabbed something at random that would fit her. He winced at the bill and left in a hurry, still feeling hot in the face when Julian stopped at the curb to pick him up.
“I think this thing is made of pure gold. It cost that much,” he confided, showing off its silky hem as Julian pulled into traffic to take him directly to Izell to deliver it.
Julian’s brows rose. “Hope it’s worth it.”
“Man, I’d buy her a mountain of…scanty clothes I don’t want to imagine her wearing…if it means Charlotte finds her father,” he said.
“You still haven’t told her?” Julian asked.
“About what—the lifemate thing?” When he nodded, Armando blew out a sigh. “I haven’t told her. She’ll barely look at me if I try to flirt. I don’t want to see her reaction to anything more when she’s so preoccupied that she’s aging and I’m not.”
Julian grunted, letting the sound of slush under the tires be the only noise between them.
Armando just hoped this worked and that he could fulfill Charlotte’s Christmas wish. It would be perfect—she could become a vampire at last and realize just how much restraint and patience he’d shown despite being known for having little of either. She was worth it, and waiting had taught him more about those values than hundreds of years of existence.
He realized Julian was watching him out of the corner of his eye. A knowing little smile tugged at his uncle’s lips. “What?” he asked with a nervous chuckle.
“I’m proud of you,” Julian said. “I hope Charlotte sees how lucky she is soon.”
Armando felt his expression light up. It felt like his tough old pa giving him a gruff “good job” at the end of a long day of training. How times changed, to see Julian smiling and sharing in a different kind of hard work.
“Yeah, me too. Hopefully it’ll be really soon,” he said, wanting to frame this moment forever.
Chapter 5
Charlotte
By the time they made it to the festival, covered in snow, Izell and Jaromir were long gone. Charlotte figured that gave them free reign to explore with their wits about them. The festival itself was packed with various kinds of fae and their mythical friends straight out of a fairy tale. A unicorn with a prismatic horn and fur as pure as fresh snow meandered by, carrying three fae children who could be flower-like triplets with their soft pink skin and orange hair.
Olivia clasped her hands as the unicorn passed them, the awe back in her expression. “Do you think the rumors about them and virgins are true?” she whispered to Charlotte.
“Probably. I think our days of riding sparkle horses have passed,” she said with a dramatic sigh. Olivia echoed it, putting a wrist to her forehead in regret.
The festival looked like a pop-up market, with tents and attractions all over. She barely knew where to start. Except there was a signpost, which she scratched her head over. It was straight out of a children’s storybook, with erratic arrows pointing every which-way, some with loops and double ends.
“Why don’t we just wander?” she suggested.
She kept her eyes peeled for any sign of an obvious fortuneteller since “fortuneteller” on the sign had been one of the more convoluted arrows. They first found an astral fae wearing several strings of glowing beads like he was straight from Mardi Gras standing behind a booth with steaming hand pies and mugs of hot chocolate.
“Pies for a fib, mugs for a kiss,” he said with a wink.
“Seelie fae can’t lie, though,” Charlotte pointed out, coming over when Violet stopped to waft the warm scent of pie toward her.
The dark fae’s teeth sparkled like the stars that glimmered in his skin. “Can’t we? We don’t get humans in these parts often. First time?”
“Nah.” If he wanted a lie, he got one. And he seemed to know it, as he handed her a pie in a thin paper wrapper. She passed it to Violet when she noticed the other woman eyeing it.
“What do you want for some beads?” Olivia asked.
He grabbed a fistful of strands, glancing down at them with a shrug. “One of your earliest memories. So far back it’s nearly a secret.”
Olivia considered for half a second. She told the story of her fi
rst dance class, frilly pink tutu and all.
They walked further in as she held up her new strand of beads, long enough to loop around her neck. “I think there’s some sort of potion in these,” she said thoughtfully, giving it a shake.
“Maybe they’ll keep glowing, then,” Charlotte said, slowing with an appreciative whistle a few tents in. She recognized a glowing occultarus, but most of the items for sale were odd and flashy implements that seemed related to casting magic.
The occultarus belonged to a fae woman who had a burgundy shawl pulled tight over her form. “Move along, ye with no magic,” she said as Charlotte stopped to inspect the wares.
The fae turned her face away, but not before Charlotte caught a glimpse of her lavender-hued skin. She’d learned that unnatural shades usually marked an Unseelie. The line between the two sides of fae natures had blurred recently, so she didn’t leave and tried not to stare.
“I’m looking for something mostly harmless for a gift,” she said, her hand hovering over a painted skull that was about the size of her palm.
Her fingers closed around something else as the fae pushed it into her grasp. She inspected what looked like a wooden butter knife.
“Ye may desire that,” the fae said, keeping her head bowed to avoid eye contact. “For the woodcarver in yer life.”
Charlotte’s gaze narrowed. How had this fae known about Armando’s hobby?
“What does it do?” she asked.
“Whisper a true secret in my ear and maybe I tell ye.”
She wet her lips, drawing on the short list of secrets she was willing to share with these stranger fae. While she supposed it was good fun for a race of tricky melee-mouths who probably convinced each other complete fabrications were their secrets, she didn’t feel like lying and getting kicked out before visiting the fortuneteller.
Bending, she whispered over the woman’s shawl, “I’ve spent a thousand hours plus on my favorite video game. But when my friend wanted to get into it, I pretend to be new so I could show off.” She glanced over her shoulder to be sure Olivia hadn’t heard her. She and Violet were busy watching a herd of satyr and faun perform an acrobatic routine.
“Hmph. Humans and their toys,” the fae woman snorted. “The knife looks unsuited to the task but reads the intentions of the whittler. No mistakes will it make.”
“Really?” She imagined it would be quite useful.
“Ye can take it for one more secret. Did yer friend ever notice yer deception?”
Charlotte smiled proudly. “No. I kicked her ass for weeks until she got better at it.”
“Yer secret is safe with me. Now go, I have nothing else for ye.” She waved her off with a smile in her tone.
Charlotte rejoined her friends, and they wandered further into the festival. It was bright as daytime around them from the lanterns hanging from the trees and booths. While Olivia and Violet flitted over different offerings, from food to flowers to crafts, Charlotte stayed back and kept her ears open.
Now that she had something for Armando, she needed to find that fortuneteller before the night ended. She heard a few fae mention their fortunes. Most had painted runes on their hands and were studying them intently.
Charlotte wondered if this was the fae equivalent to a human fortuneteller. Someone who put on a good show but was ultimately a fake. That kind of performer was fun, but she wanted magic. She wanted it to be real.
Olivia’s raised voice interrupted her thoughts. “Look, I gave you my best secret. I need more than this!” She flapped around what looked like a leather glove.
“It’s a good deal, human,” the fae man across the booth told her. “You don’t even have the currency to afford it normally.”
Charlotte came to Olivia’s side and crossed her arms. “But what can she do with one glove?” She asked.
“Give it as a gift and see.” He shrugged. “Or another secret and I’ll tell you what it does.”
Olivia ground her teeth as she and Charlotte exchanged a glance. “I’ll give you a little one,” Charlotte offered when she saw the crease of stubbornness between her friend’s brow.
She had the fae man lean in and whispered in his ear, “I played the trumpet when I was in school.” She wasn’t kidding when she said it was small, but the honking and tooting she remembered from that time was best left forgotten.
He tapped on her shoulder and beckoned she turn her head. “One glove is all it takes,” he murmured. “It’s enchanted.”
“What does that mean?” She asked.
“You’ll see.”
“So, she doesn’t need to buy another glove or something?” Her brow raised. That didn’t seem right.
He shrugged. “You can trust a Seelie.”
Ah, now she was familiar with that phrase. She added how Izell ended it. “Except when you can’t.”
He crossed his arms. “Unlike you, I cannot lie. I stand by my word.” And actually, she believed that. Somehow, one glove was enough. They were in Faerie; anything goes here.
She tugged Olivia away and shared his secret while the curly-haired woman put it away in a plain wooden box. A disbelieving frown was shot at her. “One glove, though? I wanted a whole getup. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to tell Julian one of my best secrets was only worth this much.”
“Just add it to the mountain of gifts you’re giving him anyway,” Charlotte said with a laugh. Olivia and Violet had gone separate ways with their conundrum of what to buy. Olivia had at least six things she’d custom ordered while Violet had one big one. They’d spent about the same amount of money for different results.
“I could just give him a piece at a time. One for his birthday…if he remembers when that is…” she mused.
“I’m sure by the end, he’ll be dying to know what you got him,” Charlotte teased, earning a playful shove.
“Hey Char?”
“Yeah-huh?”
“Where’s Violet?”
They both stopped and took a look around. Amidst the crowd of colorful fae, there was little sign of the petite blonde.
Chapter 6
Charlotte
“Okay, don’t panic. This place isn’t that big,” Olivia said, taking deep breaths.
“She was just here.” Charlotte wasn’t too worried, at least not yet.
They decided not to split up, instead combing the immediate area for Violet. Finding a human at a fae festival should be an easy task. She could admit that they were dull compared to beings who wore stars, flowers, fire, or even clouds as if they were accessories.
Charlotte was about to call out to her using telepathy, yet another vampiric ability that was difficult for her to use consistently, when she blundered into a cloud of mini-fae. Flying around as a unit, they were all about four inches tall and glowing like lightbulbs with wings. She could make out the silhouettes of men and women within their light, pointed ears and little flowers and leaves worn like clothing.
“Oh, ‘scuse me,” she said. They alighted on her like a flock of roosting birds, resting featherlight atop her head and arms.
One of them waved into her line of sight upside-down, dimming its glow until she could make out a smiling face and pointed little nose. “Hi!” it exclaimed.
“You’re a human!” another said.
The rest chattered in a chorus of squeaky voices. Charlotte glanced to Olivia to share some disbelief, just to find her friend chasing one of the tiny creatures in circles while it giggled gleefully. She scrubbed her cheeks instead. “Hello, yes, I’m…sort of human,” she said. Half-human, close enough. “What are you guys?”
“Oh, a new person! We’re pixies,” the one hanging off her brow said.
“Right on,” she said, distracted. “Have you seen another human?” A dozen little arms pointed toward Olivia. “Not that one. A third one?”
The pixies quizzed her on what Violet looked like, fluttering off in all directions in search of her. Only the one clinging to her face remained. At least it transferred to her ha
nd when she offered her palm, which allowed her to study it more closely. It actually seemed male to her, with gangly limbs and a shock of evergreen hair.
“Can you tell me where the fortuneteller is, too?” she asked.
“She’s in the last tent!” He pointed the way they’d been going, with the flow of the crowd. “Did you want to make a wish?”
She nodded, watching a pixie approach and alight on her wrist. “Who were we looking for again?” the newcomer asked.
“I forgot,” the pixie sitting on her palm admitted.
“You forgot already?” She wanted to bury her face in her palm.
More pixies drifted back to them, similarly unsuccessful, until one came and tugged on her jacket, fluttering off with a giggle. “C’mon, Olive,” she said, catching her friend’s shoulder and tugging her along to rush after the little ball of light.
Olivia took that moment to steal a pixie off Charlotte. “You’re my Tinkerbell now,” she informed it.
“Huh?” it asked. This one stayed on her shoulder at least.
They went around a few bends in the path about as complicated as the topsy-turvy signposts here and there amongst the festival. Violet stood in front of a vendor, holding a glass bottle full of chalky blue liquid. She flinched as Olivia called to her, “Hey! Are you really buying a potion?”
“Oh, hey guys.” Violet put it down and flashed a grimace. “I must’ve drifted off, huh.”
“It’s not like we worried you’d been kidnapped by a fae or something.” Olivia rolled her eyes. “But I got Tink out of the deal, so it’s good. What potion were you buying there? I could fix you up, you know.”
“I was just shopping. I’ll just come back to this later.” Violet glanced to the fae she’d been haggling with, who shrugged.
They stood in a gaggle, with more pixies landing on them for a rest. “Maybe we should visit the fortuneteller,” Charlotte suggested. Even though she thought the itty-bitty pixie committee could also get them completely lost if they really had a gnat’s memory.
The pixies asked dozens of questions as they went looking for that tent. “I’m not making a wish,” Violet told one on her shoulder. “Maybe it’ll give Charlotte’s a better chance of coming true. Like less competition.”
Holidays Bite: A Limited Edition Collection of Holiday Vampire Tales Page 38