by Grace,Viola
Wearing that gown would be like wearing smoke. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, so she put it away.
How Norman knew about the shredded clothing was probably an educated guess based on Zemuel’s past behaviour.
The box was tucked onto a shelf in her closet, and she grabbed her phone to check her schedule. She was going to take over for a friend at a magical supply shop and that would take up most of her next two weeks.
She loved playing with the ingredients. It was a chance to work on a few new personal spells that needed tweaking.
Minerva knew that she needed to write a thank you letter to Norman, but she would have to work out what she wanted to say. That was going to take some thought.
She grabbed her purse and her keys, heading to her small car. It would be a short drive to the shop.
Two weeks later, she was working in Sawberry’s Magical Supplies when a familiar face came through the door.
Minerva grinned.
Sophy looked surprised. “Minerva? What are you doing here?”
Minerva smirked. “Oh, Tabeel drank some of her own tea and had to check into the medical centre. She will be fine as soon as she stops burping up fortune-telling bubbles.”
Sophy looked at her and grinned. “When is she going to learn that she can’t try her own concoctions?”
Minerva shrugged and turned to lift a wide box up and over her head.
The man with Sophy moved swiftly and helped her set it in place. Minerva looked up at him. “Well, hello. Friend of Sophia’s, I presume?”
“You could say that. She is responsible for me.” He smiled down at her with predatory interest. “However, if I had known that there was an enchantress such as yourself behind that wall, I would have beaten it down for the honour of your greeting.”
Sophia rolled her eyes on the other side of the counter, and Minerva grinned. “You are not from around here, are you?”
“No. I am not. I am a very recent arrival, sworn to the service of the Cursed One.”
Sophy snorted. “Nothing like the word Cursed to make a girl feel special.”
He moved from behind the counter and returned to her side. “That is not what I meant.”
“You are bound to me. I get it. Now, Minerva, can you help me out?”
Minerva held out her hand. “Give me the list, and I will tell you what is and isn’t in stock.”
“They should all be fairly standard.”
Sophy retrieved the list from her ample cleavage and handed it over.
Minerva looked at the list and was amused by the male’s attempt at chitchat.
“How long have you known each other?”
Sophy snorted. “She is too young for you, Magnus.”
“No. It just seems that you have a camaraderie that is surprising, considering what you are and what she is.”
“What? That I am over a decade older than she is? Or is it that I tear magic apart and she creates it?”
As Minerva gathered items, he asked, “You don’t know what her parentage is?”
She paused. She hadn’t told anyone about it. It was just her and her mom. She hadn’t even told Lenora yet.
Minerva focused on her job in the shop as she retrieved and weighed the list, piece by piece. Each item was placed carefully on a separate piece of tissue that would keep them from interacting before it was time. It wouldn’t do to muddle the spell before it started.
Minerva tapped the list over and over as she returned to them. “You just need one thing.”
Sophy looked at the list and blushed. “Right. I have that at home.”
“Thought you might but wasn’t sure if it was still good.” Minerva folded the list with a smile. “Well, everything else is here.”
She packed the items up, one by one, until she had a large bag and a smile. “Nineteen, please.”
Sophy reached into her purse and pulled out a small coin canister. She opened one end and poured out the nineteen gold coins. “There you are. Tabeel should be happy. I think I just paid her rent for a month.”
“Or, it will pay for her medical treatment. Either way, she will be happy. Have a great day, and we need to go for coffee at the Patchwork Dragon. It’s illuminating.”
Sophy grinned, and her eyes brightened with excitement. “Now that he isn’t occupying it, my phone is at your disposal. Call me anytime. I will be only too happy to meet up. This is my first week off in years.”
It was about the only thing that could have shocked Minerva. “You have time off? What happened?”
As the Cursed One, Sophy was always on duty. Minerva didn’t remember her having a day off... ever.
Sophy chuckled and took the bag. “Call me when you are done here, and I will tell you over coffee.”
“Done.”
Sophy’s man followed her out of the specialty shop, and Minerva started to breathe again. He knew. She didn’t know how he knew, but Sophy’s companion had sensed what she was.
She made a face and tidied up. Tabeel would be back in a few hours. Going out for coffee would be a piece of normal that she had been missing. Benny was married and working with the XIA, Freddy was still holding down her job at the online newspaper, Sophy had a day off and Minerva was going to take complete advantage of it.
The Patchwork Dragon was alive with customers. It was no wonder. Jennifer was an excellent seer, and a reading could be purchased with coffee if you were so inclined.
Sophy’s male friend was sitting at a table of his own, and his gaze kept coming over to watch them. Minerva grinned at her and casually said, “He is staring again.”
He was sitting with a sample of every type of coffee and tea available at the Patchwork Dragon in front of him. The table was covered with little white cups.
The servers were bickering to attend his table as he took sip after sip and made notes on a small piece of paper.
He was looking toward them with a hungry gaze.
“He is staring at you, Min. He and I have already had the talk that firmly lodged him in the friend zone. I am not his type.”
Minerva chuckled. “You are nearly every male’s type. Even the gay ones want to befriend you. I am pretty sure that you just got some signals crossed.”
“I am pretty sure I didn’t. Frankly, it was my virginity that put him off. He’s repelled by it. Funny, right?” She sighed and sipped at her bowl of cappuccino.
Minerva scowled. “You are kidding.”
“Nope. His mouth dropped open.”
“I don’t know what to say. Perhaps things were dif—no that wouldn’t be right. A few hundred years ago, it was a prize.”
Sophy shrugged. “I am used to rejection. Once folks realize what I do for a living, I am out on my own. It isn’t something that most guys would sign on for.”
“Well, I am currently dealing with a similar but opposing situation. I am used to guys running the other way, but an arms dealer is currently after me for sexual purposes.”
Sophia blinked. “You are kidding.”
“Nope. He is one of the mountain dragons. I was singing a few weeks ago to get a treaty ratified for the goblins, but when it was over, he invited me to dinner.”
Sophia winced. “You didn’t.”
Minerva blushed. “I was hungry. It takes a lot of effort to maintain this figure.”
“So, you ate with him, and then, he seduced you?”
She fudged the details a little to make her seem more adventurous. It was silly, but she suddenly felt the need to be more than the seduced. “Well, we had sex on the table. I excused myself afterward and made a run for it. The goblins were bound by a geas, and I didn’t think he would be able to find me.”
Sophy chuckled. “You do stand out, and they track by scent and taste. Body and magic.”
Minerva grimaced. “I found that out when I did my research after the encounter. I haven’t run into a dragon in a business situation before. It caught me by surpri
se.”
Sophy thought about it. “Zemuel.”
Minerva had a visceral reaction. Her fingers spasmed, she blushed and her breath caught in her chest. “How did you know?”
“Only so many dragons in North America. He is the only one with mines and property that the goblins would be interested in.” Sophy chuckled. “I have worked with him before. He is a good sort, though he does like to collect mages around him. You would have gleamed like a diamond in sunlight to him.”
Minerva groaned while Sophy sipped at a bowl. That explained his fixation. Well, at least she hadn’t heard anything from him for the last few weeks.
They laughed, and Sophy gave Minerva some tips on how to handle a dragon with mating on his mind.
“You have to remember that he will be obsessed with the way you smell, the way you move and the magic in your body. If you are so inclined, you can drain power from him and he won’t even care as long as he gets what he wants.”
“So you are saying I should give in?”
“I am saying you already did, whether you knew it or not. If you truly connected with him, he isn’t going to let you go. They can get sex anywhere. Mates? Not so much.”
The proprietor was going around the coffee shop, reading cups and telling fortunes. When she got to them, Minerva smiled, needing the distraction. “Hiya, Jennifer. Business is booming.”
The woman who looked a lot like their friend Benny smiled. “You can’t beat the markup on coffee. Would you like a true reading?”
Sophy nodded. “Please.”
Jennifer raised her hand, and a server brought Sophy another cappuccino. “Cradle it in your hands and take a sip.”
Sophy she did as she was told.
When she put the cup down, Jennifer took it and focused on the foam and coffee.
“I see a man in your future, pure and impure. His mark is the spiral horn, but he fights his nature each day. Interesting. Another man with glowing power also calls to you, but he is driven by selfish desires and an urge to collect.”
Jennifer blew softly across the surface, raising one hand above the coffee to hold the steam and read it. “You want but can’t have. Desire but are rebuffed, and will not chase what you truly seek. You need a partner in all things, but the horned man is fighting you every step of the way.”
Jennifer handed her cup back with a sigh. “You are screwed.”
Sophy was startled into laughing. Minerva grinned; it sounded just like Benny.
Minerva’s coffee was in Jennifer’s hands a moment later, and Minerva’s grin faded.
“You are being hunted, and he will catch you. The gods will come at your call, but you will have to choose, sunlight or moonlight, love or family.”
Minerva blinked. “Right. Okay.”
“Oh, and he will be here in five minutes, so if you don’t want to deal with him, I would get going.” Jennifer winked.
Minerva was on her feet in a moment. She smiled at Sophy. “Sorry, but I don’t want to do this tonight.”
Sophy waved her off, and Minerva ran for it with as much dignity as she could gather.
Five minutes wasn’t a long time when she had parked three blocks away.
Chapter Eight
Minerva didn’t know where she was going to go. She didn’t want to go home. He knew where she lived.
She pulled over to the side of the road, and she called Lenora.
Emile answered. “Hello?”
“Hello, Master Ganger. This is Minerva. I was wondering if I would be able to use your wards today?”
“Is something after you?”
“Something, someone. I just need time to think.”
She waited while he spoke to his wife. At their proximity to each other, she guessed they had been having sex. In the Ganger household, it was not an unusual activity.
“We will put you in the new guesthouse. It should allow you the privacy you need.”
“Thank you.” She didn’t ask when the guesthouse had come into being. With as much magic as the Gangers controlled, they could have brought up a palace overnight if they wanted to.
“See you in a few. Lenora is dying to know what has been happening over the last few weeks.” He chuckled and the phone call ended.
It was with a sense of relief that she put her phone aside and got back on the road. She had a safe place to run to that he didn’t know about.
* * * *
The taste of Minerva’s body was in the air. He followed the scent into the café and ignored the odours of beverages that tried to cloud his senses.
A familiar face was sitting at the end of the trail, but it was not the woman he was after.
He walked right up to Minerva’s chair. “How much did I miss her by?”
The blonde simply smiled and sipped at her coffee. “Have a seat, Zemuel.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Sophia DeMonstre? I haven’t seen you since you were a teen.”
“I know, but you make an impression.”
When he sat, the chair creaked. He picked up the cup of coffee that Minerva had left behind. He flicked his tongue out and scowled. “I missed her by minutes.”
“You did. She was out of here like a scalded cat. So, why are you stalking her?”
He flicked his bat-like wings and smiled. “She’s mine. She’s perfect and she is mine.”
He could see her judging his appearance and coming out with a favourable opinion, but she still set him straight.
“I know that you think so, but she is her own being first. Remember that when you deal with her. She is also powerful enough to take any appendages you have and turn them into innies.”
He smirked. “I will keep it in mind. How goes your hunt for a mate?”
She flicked an imperceptible glance toward another table and shrugged. “I have only started.”
“What about that mage?”
“Alaneus? He is after my pedigree. I need someone who can be a partner.”
“Ah, interesting. That is a tall order. Your family has grown more powerful with every generation.”
She smiled. “We aren’t up to dragon standard, but we do all right.”
She paused for a moment before she changed the thrust of the conversation. “I might start looking in the elves. They usually go after blondes with weirdly long lifespans and consistent youth.”
He tried to imagine the hyper woman with a sober, eternal elf. It was an odd picture. “Invite me to the nuptials. I would like to see what you consider to be a good match.”
She raised her bowl to him. “Keep me posted if you catch Minerva. She’s a quick one.”
He sighed in frustration. “I know. Her trail is gone now. She knew I was coming.”
She wrinkled her nose in amusement. “There’s a seer here. So, yeah, she knew.”
He grimaced. A moment later, a cup shattered in the hands of a woman doing a reading for an extranaturally handsome man.
The woman looked at Sophy with wide eyes.
“I believe that is my cue to leave. I do apologize, Zemuel. All the ladies seem to be running out on you tonight.”
“My ego can take it. Have a good night, Sophia.” He reached out and kissed the back of her hand. He could taste the magic of her ancestors in her skin.
She blinked and smiled. “That never gets old.”
“Good to know. Nice to know I still have moves.” He winked and inclined his head. He sipped at the bowl of something that could have been coffee in a world made of sugar, and he leaned back on the creaking chair.
It had taken two weeks to get Matthias to allow him in his territory, and he was only allowed to find Minerva and leave. The king’s new assistant had promised to intervene on his behalf and buy him some time, but he knew why the vampire didn’t want him to remain for any significant period of time. If he created a nest, he would be bound to the land and that would mean Matthias would have to share power with him. It was not a situation tha
t would appeal to either of them.
The frazzled woman with the broken cup sat at the empty chair. “Would you like a reading?”
He looked her over. She was brunette, petite and had the stamp of magic on her. It was peculiar; it was enforced from without and didn’t bloom from within. She had been cursed with magic.
“If you could.” He wanted to watch.
She nodded and flicked her hair over her shoulder, exhaling onto the surface of the liquid, and it heated again. Curls of steam rose and she caught them, examining them carefully. “You are looking for Minerva.”
He blinked. “I am.”
“You can find her if you ask politely.” She flicked a glance at him, and her eyes spun with quicksilver.
“Would you please show me where I can find Minerva?” He leaned forward eagerly.
“It is not me that you must ask. Go to the home of the Gangers and ask for Minerva there. They are as close as family to her, and you would not be able to find them from the air. Knock and ask and be polite.”
The woman shivered and smiled at him. “There. Heated it up for you.”
He smiled in return. “Thank you. Do you have Wi-Fi?”
“Of course.”
He pulled out his phone, and he looked up Dr. Emile Harcourt Ganger. Through cross-referencing, he found an address from fifty years ago, and he smiled, swallowing the last of the coffee before he left the café with a few hundred dollars on the table.
He returned to the car that Matthias had provided and gave the address to the driver.
“The Ganger home?”
“Yes.”
He sat on the edge of his seat as the car rolled forward. It was not a traditional mate hunt, but if Minerva were the prize, he would do whatever it took.
The moment they turned onto the drive, he could feel the protective spells, the wards and the ancient magic.
The dowager house had a number of vehicles out front, but the sleek black vehicle continued to glide along until it was in front of the worn stone steps of the Ganger home.