by Bella Falls
All sense flew out of my head, and I let my body do the talking. I stood on my tiptoes to get as close as possible, hoping he’d take the lead. Instead, he loosened his tight grip on my face and fluttered my lips with light kisses until he stopped with a sigh.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” he murmured.
It was my turn to place my forehead against his. “It’s not like I stopped you. Or hated it.”
Dash’s thumb stroked my cheek. “Oh, Charli, if only…” He squeezed his eyes shut. With a grunt of effort, he took a step away from me.
The short distance cooled my body and awakened my senses. What had I just done? Half of me wanted to throw myself at the shifter and attack him again. The other half pictured Mason and how he’d react if he found out. My fingers touched my swollen lips, and I tried my hardest not to start comparing. This wasn’t about apples and oranges. This was about the difference between a pixie and a unicorn. Or a shifter and a witch.
Dash blew out a breath and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I don’t mean to complicate your life. But I couldn’t help myself. So many nights, I stayed up dreaming about what that would be like.”
“Awful? Terrible? Completely yucky?” My sarcasm acted as the last resort to shield my heart.
He grunted one short sad chuckle and smirked. “Far from. But it won’t be happening again. It can’t.” He held up a finger over my lips. “And don’t ask me why.”
I almost bit off the offending digit stopping that exact question. Crossing my arms, I tried on my best challenging glare.
My attempts at being more kick butt than mushy puddle earned me sad amusement. He removed his index finger from my mouth. “I haven’t finished yet. When I do, you’ll understand what I mean.”
Flustered and a little hurt, I raised my hands in the air. “Sweet honeysuckle iced tea, get on with it then.”
My frustration didn’t stop the shifter, who kept us on the track to my house. “Fine. We lost the first couple rounds of attacks on Kash because one of the witches had psychic abilities of his own. He was kept sober enough to foresee when we were coming. That’s how I got these.” He pointed at his scars.
I reached up to touch the gashes again, but he pulled back. A flash of pain ripped through me at his rejection, and I held in a wince.
“After that, I figured I needed a little witchy help on our side,” Dash continued. “Like I said, I credit you for our ultimate winning of the war. I sought out a similar private community like Honeysuckle where I’d heard a few witches lived. That’s when I found the Whitaker sisters.”
My goodwill for Georgia and Ginny vanished with a shot of old-fashioned jealousy. “I’m glad they helped,” I croaked with a little too much whine in my voice.
“You’re messin’ with my ego, being all jealous,” Dash crowed. “But it wasn’t like that. Caro, the oldest of the three, has a way with creatures. She works as a large animal vet, which helps pay the bills. But she’s like the creature whisperer. I’ve never seen someone be able to work with animals and magical beasts like she can. Because of her, we got a hippogriff to use in attacking Kash.”
“No, that’s not right,” I countered. “Hippogriffs only exist in really popular wizard books and movie series.”
Dash lifted his eyebrows. “I’m being serious. She enlisted a Yeti, too. I’m not lying, although even I had some problems believing she knew one until I met George.”
Spit blew out of my mouth when I scoffed. “You had a Yeti named George who joined your side?”
“His name isn’t really George, but he said we didn’t need to take the time to learn how to pronounce his real one. Caro helped in recruiting creatures while Georgia risked her sanity talking to spirits.”
“And what did Ginny do? Did she use her fortunetelling abilities to help?” I asked.
Dash pursed his lips. “I don’t think she’d want me to tell you exactly what happened. She blames herself for my brother’s current state. You can’t tell anyone I told you this, but I trust you. Because of our interpretation of one of her predictions, Davis got injured in the fight more permanently than we expected.
That got my attention and stoked my interest. “What happened?”
“He can’t shift into his wolf now.” Regret and anger mixed in Dash’s tone. “He’s moved out of our family home in Red Ridge territory and is living near the sisters. I don’t know how long it will take for him to get better. And Kash is gone now.”
Dash didn’t have to say who killed his middle brother. With such a high body count, I didn’t know if I could excuse the amount of blood the shifter had on his hands despite the reasons.
I thought about what I’d overheard Trey and Dash talking about in the alley next to the bar and why he left to fight in the first place. “So who’s running the Red Ridge pack?”
Dash halted one more time but didn’t answer.
His silence reeked of the truth. “It’s you. You’re the new pack leader. You’re coming back here this weekend isn’t a permanent return, is it?” My last question came out in a thin whisper.
The lights of my house loomed in the near distance and the moon shone bright in the sky, casting its cold light over the field.
Dash took my hand in his one more time. “I told you things were complicated. It seems you were right when you said we take two steps forward and then fall way behind in the long run. No matter how much we try to dance with each other, we can never get the steps right.”
The tiny rips in my heart that cracked when he refused to kiss me again tore open a little further. I swallowed hard, wanting to find a solution but failing.
He brought my hand up to his lips and brushed a light kiss against my skin again. “Also, I’m still hurt from everything. Not my scars. Those I can live with. But you’ve witnessed how close my animal is to the surface. I don’t trust him or myself enough yet. And there’s one more thing.”
What else could I take? Tears pooled at the corners of my eyes, and I did nothing to stop them from falling.
Dash squeezed my hand and let go. “You seem to have found someone who’s good for you.”
“Mason,” I screeched. “You’re using Mason as an excuse?”
He crossed his arms. “No, not as an excuse for anything. Just an observation. Sure, it bugs me to no end when he’s so smug about whatever’s going on between the two of you. I can’t stand the fact that he can pursue you when I can’t.”
I wanted to tell him he still had a chance, but nothing came out when I opened my mouth.
Dash kicked a rock. “Even I can tell that you’d be good together. And I shouldn’t hold you back from anything that could ultimately make you happy.”
My vision blurred from the tears. “You could try.”
Dash wiped away the wetness from my cheeks with a gentle touch. “I wish I could.”
His tenderness tore the rest of the cracks wide open. I smacked my hands against his muscled chest. “No,” I roared and poked him in the pec. “You don’t get to make the decision for me. Don’t go telling me that Mason is who I should end up with or that things can’t work out with you. Nobody gets to decide who I’m with. Except. Me.” My finger hurt from each jab.
“Charli,” Dash protested.
The reality of my world crashed down over my head. We had a friend’s life in terrible jeopardy. A culprit to catch. Luck to find and return. Races to win. Who I kissed or even chose had to wait.
I took a few steps toward my house and away from the wolf shifter. “I’m tired. I’ve got to get some rest before the race tomorrow.” Pointing a finger at him, I gave him a final order. “Do not leave town again before we discuss this one more time.”
Remorse filled Dash’s face. Pursing his lips, he nodded.
I stomped through the field, allowing the light of my house to guide me, never looking back. Despite everything tumbling down around me, I made it to the top of my front porch before I completely lost it and collapsed in sobs and tears.
Chapt
er Sixteen
Sound sleep eluded me most of the night. All the girls did their best to cheer me up, but I knew they heard me crying on and off at all hours. Peaches curled up on my pillow to show her support even though she left me with no place to lay my head. When dawn lit up the sky, I still didn’t know if I was mourning the lost opportunity with Dash or destroying what was only beginning with Mason.
Exhausted, my nerves affected me even more while waiting for the race to start. I’d given Mason a quick lesson on how to sharpen the magic to search for objects, but left him when the qualifying round approached.
Horatio and Juniper waited with me while Lee checked Mason’s broom and tightened up a few mechanical spells. I spotted Earl patting the back of a fellow racer. When he caught me staring, he stuck his middle finger in the air.
Using all the creativity of a snail, he tapped his wrist and mouthed, “Watch.”
Earl pointed at me and said, “Your.”
Turning around, he used both hands to gesture at his body. He glanced over his shoulder and finished, “Back.”
Power sizzled across my fingers and I counted the people standing in between us who might get hit by my stinging hex.
“Charli, don’t get yourself disqualified.” Mason came up from behind, looking between me and the ignoramus still trying to taunt me from afar.
“He started it,” I pouted. My lack of rest apparently turned me into a five-year-old.
The detective raised a disapproving eyebrow. “You can’t ruin the only plans we have in place. Henry says he and a few others have taken care of their side of things. Now it’s up to you.”
I closed my eyes and reminded myself to stay focused on what we really needed to win here. A warm pair of lips on mine caught me off guard, and I blinked my eyes open again.
Mason smiled and wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer. “That was for luck. This one’s because I want to.”
The detective’s body brushed against mine. Still in shock, I didn’t fight him off. My traitorous body took a step closer, giving Mason a signal to deepen our connection. His hand swept through my hair and held onto the back of my head, and a little warmth bloomed in my chest.
He knocked the broom out of my grasp and intertwined our fingers, holding onto me while his lips explored mine. Heat flared to life and burned away all my protests. This kiss was no less pleasurable than the other one I’d received last night. Both melted my brain like butter on hot biscuits.
The comparison startled me out of my romantic haze. Ending our contact, I placed a hand on the detective’s shoulder. “Mason, we need to talk.”
He answered with a cocky grin. “I know we do, but after you win. Good luck, Birdy.” Stepping away, he pointed at the T-shirt he wore in support of me.
I picked up the broom with one hand and hit my forehead with the other. “I am in so much trouble.”
The official for this race checked us all in like before, and our names appeared on the scoreboard. When mine showed up, a small group of recognizable voices cheered from somewhere nearby. The same thing happened for Horatio.
“May you fly true,” wished the troll, giving me another massive fist bump. We both adjusted our goggles and waited for the instructions from the official.
In her black and white striped shirt, she raised her hand in the air. “Lady and gentlemen, this is the qualifying round for amateurs aged eighteen and up. Whoever wins the top two spots will move on to race with the professionals in today’s final event. No pressure, right?”
Her joke earned a few nervous chuckles. When she called for us to mount, I did so and kicked off the ground. A stray memory about the two kisses invaded my head, causing my stomach to stir and the broom to dip.
“Get a grip,” I admonished myself, obeying and holding onto the broom handle a little tighter.
When the blinking light through my goggles turned green, I shot forward. The path through the field toward the forest was the same. I aimed my broom in that direction, leaning forward to soar faster. At the front of the pack, I tried to focus on what came next rather than what happened behind me. The path narrowed as I flew into the woods.
The blinking light directed me through a different direction than before. I took one curve a little too wide, and the broom wavered under my touch. The gut instinct I counted on lessened. A body zoomed past my left side, and I recognized the taller frame of Eric Mosely, the clever boy from the first permit class I’d taught.
Instead of following his lead and catching up to him, the broom wobbled underneath me for a brief second, allowing the racer who Earl favored to pass me.
“Oh, no you don’t,” I called out. With renewed determination, I zipped forward.
He looked over his shoulder and found me riding his tail. Brown liquid came hurtling over his back and splattered across the left side of my face. I seriously considered hexing his behind, but with my focus on winning to help Lucky, I couldn’t risk it.
Instead, I had to rely on my swapped magic to help me fly. I pulled up to the right side of the spitting man, who smiled a toothless grin of a challenge. Aiming his body at mine, he bumped me almost hard enough to run me into a fast-approaching tree. With a quick recovery, I caught back up to him as the light of the last section of the race approached at the edge of the woods.
Eric was long gone by the time we broke into the sunlit field. The other racer and I traded body hits back and forth. Sweat poured down my face as the effort to fly and attempt to come in second exhausted me. I didn’t remember it being this hard in the last race. A little fear coursed through my veins, and my broom wobbled again.
Sensing a weakness, the spitting racer aimed his broom to bump me off course one last time. Sending more magic than I wanted through me and into the broom, I zipped ahead by a fraction, and he missed my body. However, he did catch the bristles of my broom, knocking me into a horizontal spin.
The world spun faster and faster around me, and I couldn’t find a direction to choose to pull out. The watching crowd gasped with horror, and everything happened in slow motion. Something collided with the broom, throwing me off balance. The earth stopped spinning only because it approached my face with great speed.
Dirt filled my mouth and nose when I impacted with the ground, and pain seared across my shoulder. I must have tumbled a couple of times because when I opened my eyes, the world appeared upside down.
Voices shouted and I lay on the ground, waiting for Doc or any other healer to help. Nana reached me first, her professional demeanor destroyed by her concern for me.
“How many fingers am I holding up, Birdy?” She waited with worried eyes for my response.
“Who’s Birdy?” I joked, wincing as I rolled to my side. “I’m fine, Nana.”
The zap of pain fired from my right shoulder and into my upper arm, throbbing with more intensity. Would it be a good time now or later to tell my grandmother I couldn’t move it?
Doc Andrews and Mason rushed over to me. The doctor tried to examine me while pushing the detective’s concerned hands out of the way.
“I’m sorry I didn’t do what I promised I would,” I exclaimed.
Mason relaxed his expression. “After all that, you’re worried about the results of the race? You’ve got grass and dirt in your hair, scratches on your face, and you want to apologize. You know, you’re pretty amazing.”
Still focused on the task I failed to complete, I reached out with my good arm and grabbed his. “Seriously. What are we going to do? I think I lost your broom and someone else won the race.”
Nana requested Doc to have my head checked. He assured everyone I was in a little shock. “I’m going to have to reset your shoulder, Charli. You dislocated it when you landed.”
“When she crashed, you mean,” corrected the detective. He leaned a little closer so I could hear him. “You didn’t lose my broom. It’s still clutched in your hand. That’s why you won second place. Even though you crashed over the finish line, you kept ahold of t
he broom.”
Doc insisted I lay back down. “I don’t think that’s what’s important right now.”
Under his careful touch, the pain subsided a bit and my head lightened. “I don’t think I’m actually hurt,” I declared, fighting to sit again.
Mason assisted the doctor in holding me down. Doc pursed his lips. “That’s because I’ve spellcast a little help to numb the pain. This next part you’re gonna feel. Take a couple of deep breaths for me.” He pulled the injured arm out to the side.
Before I could ask him what came next, he gripped my wrist firmly and pulled my arm at an angle. His foot braced against my chest, and he moved slow and steady until I heard and felt an internal clunk in my shoulder. I cried out despite the immediate reduction of pain.
“There. One more thing.” Doc knelt beside me and laid his hands over my skin. It felt like someone poured warm liquid over the injured spot. The magic trickled down my arm until the throbbing stopped. The warmth changed to stinging cold as his spell finished.
“What did you do to me?” I asked, rubbing my arm.
“That should reduce any swelling. I’d give you a sling and tell you to go home and rest, but I don’t think you’ll listen. So I cast a spell to help your body heal a little faster,” Doc explained. “And I would advise you not to enter the final race.”
I sat up, my head a little clearer. “I’ll make that decision after I clean myself up.”
With a little help, I got on my feet and the crowd cheered for me. I waved back using my good arm. When I walked, I did my best not to limp off the end of the course and over to the side where my friends waited for me.
“Y’all give her some breathing room,” insisted Nana.
I looked around for my troll friend, wanting to know how he did. “Where’s Horatio?”
“Filing a formal complaint,” my grandmother pursed her lips while she and Blythe attempted to clean the dirt from my face and hair. “The racer that hit you in the end had an accomplice who antagonized Horatio during the race.”