by Cate Lawley
It was a relief on so many levels. No angry idiot chasing after Michael and me, so we wouldn’t be looking over our shoulders for the foreseeable future. And Don was just part of the equation. Minions were nasty little things. They hide under your bed and pee, drop crumbs amidst the sheets, and terrorize your pets. I could do without Don’s head-lopping or his nasty little minions and their dirty habits.
“You’ll let us know when he’s free?” Michael asked.
“No need.” Baba Yaga turned to bronzed Don. “He won’t be interested in either of you once he’s unfrozen. Will you, darling little Don?” And then she gave him another affectionate pat on the ass.
She turned the full force of her attention on us, and I tried not to cringe. With a predatory smile, she said, “We have a deal?”
I nodded, wide-eyed. “Don’t unfreeze Don. Got it.”
I’d have to be sure to update Dad, because he’d been the one hustling me back out to the country to make sure his colleague got unstuck.
And she was gone, just like that. Well, not exactly just like that. A purple haze floated in the air, and a tiny disco ball hung from Don's extended arm.
“What just happened?” I tapped the little shiny ball.
“I’m not entirely sure. For someone who outed your secret location, she seemed awfully content with you not falling into the arms of your estranged fiancé.” Michael gave Don a critical look. “You think she planned this somehow?”
“You’re kidding. Who could plan my unprecedented use of magic? I’m still not a hundred percent on how I did it.” I shivered. “And that crack of thunder when it happened. It was just creepy.”
“Hm.” He spun the little disco ball with a thoughtful look on his face.
I had to ask him. I couldn’t not ask him. So I asked. “When did you know?”
My heart must have been in my eyes, because Michael looked up and he grinned. He knew exactly what I meant. “I knew I loved you when I saw you thrown over Don’s shoulder. Probably before then, but that’s when it smacked me so hard in the face I’m surprised I didn’t see stars. How about you?”
My heart got all melty—and so did some other places. “Oh, I’ve had a lust-crush for ages.”
Michael crossed his arms. “You get a declaration of love. I get a declaration of lust-crush. Why do I feel like this is setting the tone for our relationship?”
I shrugged. But he was right and that wasn’t fair. Not with everything he’d done for me, been for me, over the last few days. I glanced at Don, and then took a few steps away from the glowering bronze figure that was my ex-fiancé . I dragged Michael with me, then pulled his head down and whispered a few words in his ear. A few lustful, loving words.
“Yeah, okay. That works.” And he was blushing. Which was just too adorable for words.
I nibbled his ear, then took a step back. With a naughty grin, I knelt on one knee. That earned me a chuckle.
“Will you, Michael Kelly, let me, Annabeth Smith, love you, adore you, and worship your body in scandalous ways until neither of us can move from sheer exhaustion?”
He laughed then tugged me to my feet. “I do. Absolutely. Preferably right now.” He scooped me up in his arms and delivered me to his car and drove like a bat out of hell back to what I will always think of as the love shack. Our love shack.
EPILOGUE
Patrick Kelly couldn’t help himself. He had to get a look at the bronzed demon in person.
And there it was, in all its bronzed glory, right in the town square. Some mischievous soul had hung a sign around the big demon’s neck: Lei me & I’ll bring you good luck.
“Fabulous.” Patrick snapped a picture. Couldn’t have too many pictures of a solid joke.
But the bronze itself was the cleverest piece of mischief. Credit where credit was due, young Annabeth could do some lively magic and had a bit of fun deep in her soul. He chuckled. He owed that girl a drink, even if she was twisting his son around her little pinky.
Which also made him chuckle. He could remember a time when Brigid had him just as ensnared. But then he sobered. Except Brigid was a good upstanding leprechaun woman, and he’d married her.
“Engaged to be engaged. What does that even mean?” he grumbled.
“It means they’re in love, and that should be enough for you, you stodgy old coot. Give it time. They’ll make their way around to it…eventually.”
Patrick knew that voice. He’d know it anywhere—it was That Woman. He turned to find Baba Yaga sitting on the bench next to bronzed Don. Baba Yaga, in all her colorful glory. The woman was an eyesore.
“And you’re welcome.” She pulled up her lace fingerless gloves.
“You…you’ve arranged this unholy match between a demon’s spawn and my eldest.”
Baba Yaga laughed. “Demon’s spawn? Please. You know you adore the girl—admit it. She has the soul of a leprechaun. You can see that as easily as I can. She just needed a little nudge to let her freak flag fly.” Baba’s eye wandered to the bronze’s rear, and she gave it an affectionate pat. “This is a clever piece of work, isn’t it?”
Patrick considered his options.
One child engaged to a warlock and on the cusp of marriage, another in an engaged to be engaged relationship, and, as much as it rankled to have his son tied into such an unsteady commitment, he had to agree that the two lovebirds were mad for each other.
Did he bemoan the fact that two of his offspring had wandered into foreign fields? Or did he celebrate the fact that they’d found love and happiness? His eyes narrowed as he took in the neon hues of Baba Yaga’s ensemble. Lycra tights, jelly shoes, and some odd dangly earrings—the woman was at least part lunatic. But maybe it was time to put this particular grudge on hold.
He planted himself on the bench next to Carol. He’d have to tell Brigid all about this. He might even get a reprieve from the sofa for his efforts.
“Now, I have three other boys,” he said conversationally. “Thomas, James, and Stephen. Good boys, all three of them, but not so sharp with the courting.”
Carol patted his leg. “I know, but they’ll have to wait their turn. I have another project I have to take care of first.” And Carol, Baba Yaga, gave the bronze’s rear one last appreciative look. “Unfortunately.”
Keep an eye out for Don’s adventures in love in the third Lucky Magic story!
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Cate Lawley
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About Cate Lawley
When Cate’s not tapping away at her keyboard or in deep contemplation of her next fanciful writing project, she's sweeping up hairy dust bunnies and watching British mysteries. Cate writes and lives in Austin, Texas (where many of her stories take place) with her pack of pointers and hounds. She's worked as an attorney, a dog trainer, and in various other positions, but writer is the hands-down winner.
Cate writes paranormal cozies (Vegan Vamp and Death Retired) and romance (The Goode Witch Matchmaker & Lucky Magic) as Cate Lawley and paranormal (Lost Library) & urban fantasy (Spirelli) as Kate Baray.
For more information, visit her websites : www.CateLawley.com and www.KateBaray.com.
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