All That Glitters

by Dawn Ibanez

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright © 2019 Dawn Ibanez

  DEDICATION

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Other works in the

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  All That Glitters

  Dawn Ibanez

  Copyright © 2019 Dawn Ibanez

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher, at AP@DAWNIBANEZ.COM.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN: 9781691296583

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to my grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Owens. She is truly someone that has brought magic to those that have been blessed to know her. 102 years and still going strong. Love you Grandma!

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This past year have been a whirlwind for me. I wanted to take the time and express my gratitude for everyone that has stayed by my side while I shifted and learned to worry and care for myself as well as my family. Thank you for pushing me out of my comfort zone and getting me to focus on a story that’s snowballing into something fun for everyone. I thank you so much.

  PROLOGUE

  Celeste Dubois stared into her looking glass.

  Today, she wasn’t answering the calls of her sister witches in the bayou. Neither was she watching over her charges in the mortal realm. Today, she was shaking her head as she stared out over all the realms. There was a group of individuals who’d captured her attention.

  Villains.

  Celeste rolled her eyes. They were up to their usual shenanigans. Even though they were wicked, the evil doers had always held a special place in her heart. There had once been a time when she was considered a villain.

  Her mate as well. They both knew what it was like to be hated by those who didn’t understand. She and Rip had gone through many trials and tribulations.

  Some people said she was evil. Some said he was. Some said her use of dark magic was immoral. Some said the fact that Rip used to be a witch hunter was a reason she shouldn’t be with him.

  People loved voicing their opinions, but they never stopped to help. Nor did they try to find out what happened in your life to make you the way you were. Yes, she and her mate had done some wicked things in the past. That didn’t mean they couldn’t do better, be better.

  Luckily for her and her mate, they’d been given a second chance. An opportunity to change their wicked ways. And this time, they were doing things differently.

  This time, they were both following a positive path. Maybe that was what these people needed. A second chance. A do-over. She could grant them that. With a simple spell, she could erase their past transgressions.

  Only they would remember the crimes they’d committed. It would be up to them to do better this time around. It would be up to them to make better choices. Celeste smiled. Yes, that was exactly what she was going to do.

  Standing up, she left the room and went in search of Rip. It was time for them to take a trip. It was time for them to visit a few villains. This should be interesting.

  *****

  The door to his chamber slowly opened. He moved deeper into the shadows and watched the elegant woman wearing a vibrant green headdress and matching sundress. Behind her was a brute of a man. At least she hadn’t been dumb enough to come see him alone. Once the pair were fully inside his domain, a gust of wind pushed the door shut.

  Everything was cloaked in darkness. While it would only take a moment for his eyes to adjust, his unwelcomed company would never be able to see him. “What do you want?” he asked.

  An orb of light came to life over the strange woman’s head. He backed away from her and covered his face. Only she was bathed in a golden aura. Her brute of a companion stayed in the shadows. “I wanted to come see you for myself,” she replied. Her eyes zeroed on where he stood. “Rumpelstiltskin.”

  He hissed at her. “How do you know that name?” His hands ached to wrap around her throat. That name hadn’t been uttered in centuries. He wanted to keep it that way. “It was supposed to be lost in time.”

  She shrugged, uncaring of the centuries long secret. “None of that matters.” She turned in a circle as Rumpelstiltskin walked around her. Her bodyguard stayed just behind her right shoulder. “I wanted to propose something to you.”

  He stopped his circuit around the chamber. “You have a proposal? A deal?”

  “If you want to call it that. Yes.”

  “Get out.”

  Her perfectly crafted eyebrow twitched over her eye. “You don’t want to hear what I have to say?”

  He stepped closer to her. Not enough to enter the circle of light around her but enough to see the long unkempt fingernail he pointed at her. “You want something from me. You all always want something from me. Satella, Faust, Elena and now you. I am sick of paying everyone’s price.”

  “You haven’t even heard what my price is.”

  “I don’t want to hear it!” He waved his hand, and objects in the dark started to levitate. Before he could attack her, a hand closed over his throat and Rumpelstiltskin was pinned to the ground. The bodyguard was on top of him ready to crush his windpipe.

  The light that surrounded the witch brightened the room. “Rip, stop.” She walked closer to where Rumpelstiltskin and Rip were. She touched her bodyguard on his shoulder. “I expected him to be a little angry. He’s been thought a lot.”

  Rip’s eyes bore into Rumpelstiltskin’s. “Listen to what she has to say.”

  Once the man’s weight was off, Rumpelstiltskin sat up. He looked at his hands and felt them begin to tremble. Being in the dark with his appearance was one thing. The light was another. His scaled green skin and yellow nails disgusted him. “Faust said I reneged on our deal.” He looked up at the witch and her bodyguard. “After being human for so many centuries and then being returned to this… Forgive me if I don’t want anything to do with your proposal.”

  The witch knelt in front of him. “What if I told you the price was a child?”

  “What?” Rip asked.

  Rumpelstiltskin fought not to growl. “What game is this?”

  She shrugged again. “I know what happened to you. Everything that happened to you. I will give you the opportunity to make things right for yourself. You will have your own happily ever after. And the only thing that I ask is that you name your first daughter Celeste.”

  Rip’s breathe left him. When she looked at him, he frowned. The witch turned to Rumpelstiltskin with a smile. “Did you think I meant
something else?”

  “You knew I would!” He stood and pulled at his greasy hair. “And you know I won’t have a child. Satella made sure that I would be a laughing stock. She nearly destroyed me.”

  “That’s what a mother does when she tries to save her child.”

  “There was nothing I could do.”

  The witch tangled her hand with her bodyguard’s. Maybe they were more than simple woman and protector. “You have your offer. Your happily ever after can be within your reach. All you have to do is promise to name your firstborn daughter Celeste.”

  He grabbed a goblet and threw it across the room. “I am tired of deals!” he shouted. “Who are you to want this from me?”

  She straightened. “I am the Eternal Witch, Celeste.” She smiled as she took in his stunned expression. “You’ve heard of me.”

  “You were a myth.”

  “Says the goblin.”

  He shook his head again. “Why me? After everything I have done.”

  She nodded. “That’s exactly why I chose you. After everything you have done, you deserve as much happiness as anyone else. Maybe even a little more than most. Think of it as paying it forward. And you don’t really have to name your daughter after me. It would be a nice thank you though.”

  Rumpelstiltskin gestured to his body. “Look at me. You really think someone would want to have a child with this?”

  “Do we have a deal?”

  He looked from her hand to his own. He reached down and wiped his palm against the tattered cloth of his pants. “Deal.”

  Celeste shook his hand. “When you wake up, you’ll be Ryan Gold again. But you will be the only one to know you are repeating time. Try to do something different this time. It will be your last.” He opened his mouth to ask another question, but she started to chant.

  His eyes became heavy as he listened to her words. He couldn’t understand what she was saying. In all the centuries he lived, he never encountered this sort of magic. Rumpelstiltskin felt his body fall back. But before he fell to the floor, his world tilted and went black.

  CHAPTER 1

  “Another one?” Ryan sipped at his wine. The woman across the table tapped her nail on the table. He didn’t care how impatient she became. They both knew he would only allow her to go so far. “Do you realize you’re going through apprentices at a rate of new one every six months? The other witches will start to get jealous.”

  Elena waved off his comment. “The last few have been weak. You’ve said it yourself. They have potential but no training. No real magic to back up what they’re needed for.”

  He knew where this was going. “I don’t take on students anymore. You know this.”

  “He’s willing to pay. He even knows who he wants. All you would have to do is teach her how to harness her magic.”

  She didn’t have a clue. Everyone always thought all you had to do was take some poor unsuspecting mortal in, teach them a little hocus pocus, and then instant witch. But there was always more to it.

  “He can’t afford me,” Ryan said.

  Elena snapped her fingers. The plate in front of Ryan changed. A hideous goblin-like creature was on his knees in front of a shadowed figure. “Everyone starts at the bottom, Ryan. Even you.”

  The scene continued to play out. The creature created a ball of light in his hands. When he lifted the ball, the figure in front of him touched it. The creature fell over and screamed in pain. His green skin paled to a warm beige. The greasy black hair lightened to chestnut brown.

  Ryan’s expression was bored as he looked at Elena. “Is there a point in going down memory lane? Or are you just trying to make me cause a scene?”

  She leaned forward. Her blouse revealing just enough of her cleavage to show her silver studded bra. Even though she knew her charms wouldn’t work on him, she still tried. Her sexuality was so much a part of her; it was both sad and hilarious. “My point,” she started, “is that you need to get with the program. Otherwise, you may see your past coming back to haunt you.”

  Ryan kept his expression as blank as possible. He knew what she wasn’t saying. If he went against their wishes, he would be a goblin again. If he played along, they would leave him be. He shook his head, knowing what his answer would have to be. “Not possible.”

  “Face it, Goblin, you aren’t the one in charge. You never were.” Elena placed a business card on the table. “This is where she works as a candle maker. Train her and bring her to him.” As he stared at the card she stood. “You won’t like the consequences if you don’t.”

  His gaze traveled up her body. When Ryan looked into her bitter brown eyes, he adopted his usual flippant demeanor. “I normally don’t condone violence against women,” he said. He raised his glass to her in a toast. “But I would happily strangle you with your own intestines.”

  “We want the girl Ryan.”

  “And people in hell want water. What is your point?”

  Any playful mannerisms she had fell away. “Do I have your compliance or not? If you’re too chickenshit to train the witch, then I’ll find someone else.”

  Ryan snatched the card up. His fingers itched to tear the piece of cardstock to shreds. But he knew where that path led. He looked at the name on the card and tried to put a face to it. Kalina Benton was the owner of Starlight Candles, a small shop in the city. “Tell him this one is going to cost him. A lot.”

  Elena’s smile resembled that of a snake’s. “He doesn’t care about the cost. You know this. He just wants the girl.”

  And Ryan didn’t care about that. He wanted to be done with Faust and his minions. Ryan placed cash on the table and stood. Their eyes clashed, and Ryan knew that one day she would have to face her own demons. “I almost feel sorry for you,” he mumbled. When her eyes narrowed, he moved away from her. “Your usefulness will only last but for so long.” When she scoffed, he reached up and caressed her face. “Remember, beauty fades.”

  She grabbed her glass of wine and threw it at his face. With a wave of his fingers, the red wine levitated in mid-air for a moment before falling to the carpet. “He’ll be calling you soon.”

  He laughed as she vanished from sight. Elena was always easy to rile up. Especially when it came to her looks. Ryan would have to make sure whoever this Kalina Benton was, she would be able to handle Elena. If the girl became a danger to Elena’s position in Faust’s ranks, the poor thing would have an even bigger target painted on her back.

  *****

  Kalina Benton pulled up to the back entrance of her candle shop and quickly got out of her van. The summer temperatures hadn’t been kind to her works of art. She opened the back door to the building and started to empty out the boxes of stock she tried to sell.

  “Need help?” Carly called from the front.

  “No, I got it.” Kalina frowned as she looked at the six boxes in front of her. “The craft show was a bust. No one wanted to buy candles. At least not today.”

  Her best friend came to the back of the shop and pinned the curtain open. “That’s what happens.” Carly went to help Kalina empty out the van. “No one is really thinking about burning anything during the summer. If you want to make a killing, let’s have a few year-round but mostly focus on the winter holidays.”

  “Aunt Angie said the same thing,” Kalina replied. She stacked the boxes on top of each other and pushed them deeper into the back room. “But all of these candles are getting out of control. I need to get rid of some.”

  “Then stop making them. Easy solution.” Carly carried in the last box and placed it with the others. “Find another way to burn off your magic. Because these candles aren’t going anywhere for a while.”

  Kalina rolled her eyes and went out to the van. Of course, someone who didn’t have any magic would think it was as simple as using a little magic here and there. It was a long argument between them. Everyone wanted her to use her magic, but she knew the dangers. Neither of her aunts were there when magic consumed her mother. Every now and agai
n, she would wake up at night fearing she would go down the same path.

  Carly appeared at the back door. “Are you done? You’re letting all the AC out.” She stepped back and waited for Kalina to come back into the shop. “Have you ever thought about potions?”

  “Too close to poison,” Kalina said. She went to the small kitchenette and went into the fridge. “One wrong ingredient, and I’m killing someone instead of making him fall in love.” She pulled out a cold bottle of water. “When I make candles, I put healing magic in each one. No fuss, no muss. Can’t sleep? Have indigestion? Have that dream where you have to pee, and no bathroom is around? All worries soothed away.”

  “It sucks that we can’t use that as a selling point,” Carly said as she went to the front of the store. She picked up a pen and clipboard. “Maybe we can. Relaxation candles. Throw in enough herbs that people will think you’re using natural ingredients, and when it catches on that they actually work, people will start coming back for more.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to work.”

  “Those hacks with the crystals get away with it.”

  Kalina sighed and reached for the necklace she always wore. She adjusted the stone charm before letting it fall back under her shirt. “Those hacks have already been vetted by other witches. If I start marketing my candles as some miracle healing agent, I’m going to come under scrutiny. The last thing I need is to bring a mark against the Benton name.”

  Carly frowned as she went back to scribbling on her clipboard. “Fine, you win.” She was silent as she drew on her pad. “I had a new idea for designs. These cards can go with your lilac and honey candles.”

  Kalina felt a weight lift from her chest. Carly loved Starlight Candles almost as much as she did. But Carly’s heart was with designing playing cards. She didn’t know if she could make a full business with it, but she was always trying to create cards specifically for Starlight. “Are you going to let me see the sketches, or do I need to wait for the samples to come?”