He licked his lips. “What’s a pretty thing like you doing here all by yourself?”
I glanced over my shoulder, pretending to look for someone. “Oh, I’m not alone. I’m here with my boyfriend.”
The man shrugged. “That’s cool. Want to dance?”
“I’m here with my boyfriend,” I repeated.
He raised his eyebrows. “Hey, I just want to dance I’m not asking you to marry me.”
“Excuse me, sir,” I said, maneuvering around him.
I got my water from the bar and looked for Jade and Keelie. I found them standing at the outer edges of a crowd who was focused on something at the center. Jade leaned on Mat’s shoulder. “Who the hell does she think she is?”
Keelie shook her head. “I think she’s gorgeous.”
Jade scoffed. “Are you kidding me? She looks like someone’s mother.”
Matt nodded. “Maybe, but that’s a MILF if I’ve ever seen one.”
Jade frowned and shoved him away.
I stood on my tiptoes to get a look at who was causing all the fuss. Sandwiched between a blond boy with shaggy hair and another with a purple mohawk was a woman dancing provocatively. Tall and slender, she whipped her long raven hair back and forth as she ground against them. The crowd cheered them on as they moved to the music.
The mystery woman wore a short silver dress like nothing else I’d ever seen. The garment sparkled, giving off its own light. It wasn’t until the woman threw her hands in the air and turned in my direction, that I got a good look at her face. Keelie was right, she was gorgeous. She had that rare kind of timeless beauty that I hadn’t seen in ages.
Her eyes locked into mine and my blood went cold. This wasn’t some random MILF who had wondered into the club for a good time. This was Snow’s stepmother, Queen Angeline.
14
I couldn’t breathe like I was underwater, suffocating. Every ounce of my being was screaming at me to get away from her. She was the reason I bore scars. This was the woman who had cursed me. I didn’t remember what I had to do to break the curse, but if she was here, she was here for me.
Keelie said something off to the side of me that I couldn’t hear or didn’t care about. I pushed my way through the crowd heading for the exit. I had to get some air.
I hadn’t thought about the witch in months. I had no idea where she was or when she would turn up, but I had always known she was alive and well somewhere. As far as I knew, the witches of the Crimson Coven were immortal. They could live forever unless someone murdered them.
Outside, after I passed the long line of people still waiting to get in the club, I leaned against the brick wall, trying to catch my breath. I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply and when I opened them, she stood before me. A gust of wind blew and her hair fluttered behind her, blending into the night sky.
“Hello, Ella. Long time, no see.”
I swallowed hard, knowing that running away from her would be futile. “What are you doing here?”
The queen smirked. “Don’t play dumb. It’s unattractive. You know very well what I’m doing here. I’m here to collect a debt. One that is long, long overdue. Do you have it for me?”
“No! I don’t even remember what I was supposed to do. It’s not like you ever gave me clear directions.”
She pursed her lips and looked me up and down. “You’ve been wasting your years away. Centuries even. Your curse could have been broken ages ago. How are those monstrous feet of yours?”
My stomach churned. She couldn’t be here. Queen Angeline was a horrible part of my life that was supposed to be over. “Just tell me what you want.”
“I need the girl’s heart. I need it now.”
That part I remembered. I couldn’t believe she was still going on about that. “I already told you. I wasn’t going to kill Snow or do anything to hurt her. I have no reason to.”
She stood so close to me that we were nose to nose. Queen Angeline didn’t like being told no. Everyone on the busy sidewalk went on about their business.
“The last thing you need to be worried about is that wretched Snow. I found her a long time ago, not long after you were banished from my palace. I cursed her just like I cursed you. Unfortunately for you, she was able to find an elixir and cure herself and now I can’t touch her.”
I swallowed hard. What did that mean? That Snow was still alive and well? “Oh, that’s great.”
The queen grabbed my arm and pulled me farther away from the crowd. “Don’t you understand anything, imbecile? Didn’t Merna explain this all to you?”
I shook my head.
“There are only eight elixirs. Eight cures for thirteen curses. That means that five of you who’ve been cursed are royally screwed. Snow has already claimed the first one for herself and now our perfect little princess is flitting about living her perfect life, so if I were you, I would worry about myself.”
“I’m just glad she’s all right.” That was the truth. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about Snow, where she was, and what might have happened to her. “I know you want me to hate her, you always have, but I won’t. I know you erased her memories to make her forget me and I won’t hold that against her. Snow was my friend. The best one I ever had.”
The queen scowled. “Is that so? You and everyone else think that Snow is so perfect, you think she’s so good. Do you have any idea what the cost is for a bottle of elixir?”
“What?”
“It’s the heart of a teenager. You must give the heart of a teenager to a Crimson witch and she will present you with a cure. That’s how Snow got hers, by giving my sister someone’s heart.”
I didn’t believe a word of that. “You are such a liar. Snow would never do that to anyone.”
“You’d be surprised what a person would do to save their own skin.”
My cell phone chirped in my clutch bag. It was probably the girls wondering where I was.
“Here’s the deal, Ella; your time is running out. You either bring me the heart of a girl named Scarlett Radcliff, or your feet will remain scarred forever and you will remain stuck in your age. Not only that, I will obliterate that loser you’re shacking up with.”
My blood boiled. “You can threaten me all you want, but not him. He has nothing to do with this.
The queen grinned. “I’ll take him out in one foul swoop and not even think twice about it.”
With that she took off down the sidewalk. I watched her disappear while I thought about Brayden. I would never be able to live with myself if anything ever happened to him. And who the hell was Scarlett Radcliff and why did the witch want her dead? More importantly, how was I supposed to find her and kill her?
I hurried back inside before Jade formed a search party. Matt told me they had gone to the bathroom. I found them there, touching up their makeup.
“There you are,” Keelie said as I joined them in front of the mirror. She was reapplying eyeliner. “Where’ve you been?”
I pulled out my lip gloss. “I felt a little hot, you know with all the people and the moving around. I just needed to get a bit of fresh air.”
Jade snapped her clutch shut. “Anyway, I found a cutie for you. He’s waiting for you at the bar. He seems to have potential, aka, money.”
“Jade,” I began, but she pulled me out of the bathroom. “He’s here on vacay, that means he’s splurging.”
Mr. Wonderful was waiting outside of the restroom and I couldn’t help but notice how cute he was. “So, this must be Ella.” He had an English accent which made him even more attractive. “Can I buy you a drink?”
“I have a boyfriend,” I blurted out and Jade nudged me in my side.
He laughed and looked around. “I’ll buy him a drink too.”
I thought about Brayden working hard delivering pizzas. Would letting a guy buy me one drink really hurt?
All I wanted to do was forget about the queen and that whole encounter. I envied how Keelie and Jade got to lead carefree l
ives. They didn’t have to worry about curses or evil queens being after them or horrible burns on their feet that they had to keep covered.
All they had to worry about was keeping their grades at a C average so their rich daddies wouldn’t cut them off.
I shrugged. “All right, one drink.”
He flashed me a dazzling smile and offered me his arm. I looped mine around his and allowed him to lead me to the bar. “My name’s Christoph by the way. I’m here on holiday.”
I didn’t need to know any of that.
Christoph ordered a sparkling water for me and we took a seat at the bar so I could rest my feet. They were slightly burning and I was sure the encounter I’d had with the queen was the reason for that.
Christoph chattered on about what he’d been doing since he’d come to the states, but I barely listened. Maybe if Brayden and I weren’t together I would have given him a chance. We took a couple of obligatory group photos for Jade’s Instagram, danced a bit more, and then called it a night.
Brayden was already home when I got back to the apartment at around 2 AM. I expected him to be lying in bed in his tank and boxers since he had gotten off an hour earlier, but he was still fully dressed in his uniform, sitting on the edge of our bed, scrolling through his phone.
I tossed my clutch on our tiny dinette table. “Hey, Babe.”
He didn’t return my greeting or even smile like he always did when I came home. We hadn’t seen each other all day. “Have fun tonight?” he asked bitterly.
Was he upset because I had gone out with the girls? “Kind of. I would have much rather have been spending time with you.” That was the truth.
Brayden scoffed. “Right.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re a liar. I think you would rather be doing what you were doing tonight. Partying with rich guys looking for my replacement.”
My jaw dropped. “Bray, what the hell are you talking about?”
He held his phone out to me. I took it and sat on the bed beside him. He was looking at Jade’s Instagram page which was flooded with pictures of us from the club, including a few where Christoph had his arm around me and we looked very much like a couple. The caption read: My girl can really pick ‘em, huh? #foreignhottie. I gulped. Dammit Jade.
“Babe, I promise you this isn’t what it looks like at all.”
Brayden stood and paced the room. “I don’t want to hear it, Ella. I knew this was going to happen when you started hanging out with those rich girls. They were going to talk you into leaving me and dating rich guys like they do.”
I stood and tried to place my hand on his face but he brushed it away.
“Brayden, I would never leave you for anyone.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You don’t even see how you are, Ella.”
“What does that mean?”
“How obsessed you are with material things we can never afford and that fake, lavish lifestyle. I see you online looking at pictures of huge houses and designer bags all the time. I used to tell myself that you’re really into me and you don’t care how much we have as long as we’re together, but I’m starting to believe you’re searching for a guy with a much bigger bank account than I have.”
He had never said anything so hurtful to me. Brayden was making me sound like some greedy gold digger. Sure, I would love to be rich. Who wouldn’t? It was a whole lot easier than being poor. And when you’d already had a taste of living in a palace, it was kind of hard for anything else to live up to that, especially a one-bedroom efficiency.
“Brayden, I don’t know where all this is coming from. Sure, it’s rough for us sometimes, but I don’t complain. I do what I have to do to make ends meet. When I told you I would live with you in a cardboard box, I meant that. I took a picture with some random guy in a club. So what? I don’t even remember his name.”
Brayden’s face softened. I wanted so badly to tell him about running into the queen, but that would really push him over the edge. He was always so patient with me and my issues, but there was no way he would understand my real past and where I came from.
“Fine, but still. I don’t want you hanging out with them. Those girls are entitled and selfish and superficial and that’s not you.”
I gave him a peck on the cheek. “You know me better than anyone. That means you should know that nothing happened tonight.”
He did know me better than anyone, yet he didn’t know my greatest secret.
15
The following Monday Keelie and Jade showed up at Bookington’s in the early afternoon. My shift had started at 8 AM and I was envious of how they were able to roll out of bed anytime they wanted and were free to spend the day how they wished. No ten-hour work shifts and then grocery shopping with coupons at Wal-Mart for them.
The girls followed me as I walked around the store with my inventory gun scanning merchandise. Keelie absent-mindedly picked up a book as if she would ever read it. “Yesterday Jade and I went to a pool party at this fancy exclusive hotel. It was the best party of the season. You should have seen the guys. I mean . . . we would have invited you but you know how you are about your feet.”
“So, what’s up with you and Jack?” I asked to change the subject.
She beamed. “Jack is the love of my life. All couples go through their ups and downs but when you’re truly in love, you get past it.”
“Speaking of that,” I said, narrowing my eyes at Jade. “Thanks for posting those pics on Instagram. Brayden flipped out.”
Jade smirked as if she’d wanted that to happen. “Your man wouldn’t be so insecure if he’d step up his game and make some money. It’s not my fault he’s got competition out there.”
I straightened my shoulders. “He doesn’t have to compete with anyone for me.”
Jade and Keelie rolled their eyes at each other. They hated me talking about my feelings for Brayden but they would just have to live with it.
After thirty minutes passed, Jade was lying on the floor wearing headphones listening to music while Keelie thumbed through an art book full of bare-chested men, rating them on a scale from one to ten. It was then that Lionel, my boss, came storming from his office.
“Excuse me Fric and Frac, but if you’re not going to buy anything, please leave. Ella needs to work.”
Jade stood and threw her hands on her hips. “Seriously? We are your most loyal customers. We come in this store every day and help keep you guys in business. I hear things aren’t going so well for bookstores, especially non-chain mom-and-pop book stores like this.”
Lionel pressed his lips together. “Out.”
Keelie sighed, slamming the art book shut and leaving it on the floor. “Fine. It’s boring as hell in here anyway. We only came to keep Ella company.”
Lionel picked up the book. “Ella doesn’t need to be entertained. She’s here to work and the next time you read a book, you’ve bought it. Look at the spine now. The book looks used.”
Jade scoffed. “Like somebody’s actually going to buy that book. We could buy lots of books, Lionel, if you were nice to us. Anyway, we have places to be, so we’re leaving.”
Keelie hurried behind her as the two of the teetered out in their six-inch heels.
As soon as they disappeared, I muttered an apology to Lionel.
“Ella, you have a job to do and that’s not to come here and hang out with your friends.”
“But I don’t hang out with them. I do everything I’m supposed to do. I can’t help it if they come in the store. Besides, sometimes they do buy stuff.”
Lionel straightened a few books on a shelf that were perfectly fine. “Yeah, aside from Starbucks, I think one time the tall one bought a pack of gum.”
I grabbed a stack of books that needed reduced price stickers and carried them over to the front counter. “You should be happy. They give the allusion that people actually shop in this store.”
Lionel gasped and put his hand over his heart but he couldn’t hide hi
s smile. “Just for that you get to close by yourself tonight. It’s supposed to rain so things should be quiet around here.”
I sighed. “Fine.” I would much rather spend the rainy night home snuggling with Brayden, but we could use the overtime pay.
That night the store stayed as empty as we expected. Every now and then someone would venture in for a hot drink from Starbucks and pretend to browse through books so they could stay warm and dry as they sipped their coffee. Then they would leave without buying anything.
The thunderstorm turned out to be worse than I anticipated and being alone in the store extremely eerie. I jumped at every boom of thunder, praying the power wouldn’t go out.
One minute before closing, just as I reached beside the cash register to grab the keys to lock the door, the bell above the entrance jingled and a short woman hobbled in wearing a canary yellow slicker with a matching hat.
“I’m sorry mam, we’re closed.”
She bent over and unbuttoned her slicker. “I’m sorry. I only need a moment of your time.”
“I’m sorry. I have to lock the doors now. It’s store policy.” I felt bad that the woman had ventured out into the horrible storm for nothing. “I suppose since you’re already technically inside you can make a quick purchase. Do you know what you’re looking for in particular?”
She walked over to the counter and faced me, removing the yellow cap from her head and shaking out her curls. “Yes. You.”
I gasped at the familiarity of the round face, button nose, and flaming red hair. No matter how much time had passed, I would never forget her. “Merna.”
16
Tears welled immediately in both of our eyes. This was the woman who had raised me through most of my childhood years. The one who had been kind enough to take me in after the night she’d found me in the woods. I hadn’t seen her in ages—literally.
“What are—what are . . .” was all I could say before running around the corner and letting her wrap me in her arms. Her hugs felt the same as they always had, warm, soft, and comforting. After a long time of squeezing, I pulled away from her. “I can’t believe you’re still alive after all this time.”
Forever Ella: The Everly Girls Book 2 Page 9