All That Glitters

by Dawn Ibanez

  Kalina shook her head. “I want an answer. Right now. What did you mean?”

  Carly grabbed Kalina’s hand. “What’s going on with your hair?” she asked in a whisper.

  “My magic does this sometimes.” Kalina moved to pull her hand away from Carly, only to have her friend adjust her hold to her arm instead. “Carly.”

  Carly leaned closer. “Mom was there, okay?” She pulled away long enough to look into Kalina’s eyes. “We can explain what happened, but you need to come inside to listen. Please.”

  Kalina looked at the three people around her. They were the closest thing to a family she ever had. But she had no idea who they really were. She nodded and let Carly lead her into the two-story house. “I have no idea what’s real anymore. You know that, right?” she asked.

  Carly sat her on the sofa and looked into her eyes. “We love you. That’s real. You matter to us. That’s real. Just listen to what Mom has to say. Then I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. Okay. Just hear her out.”

  Kalina nodded. She looked around the room. Family pictures decorated the mantle. And she was in almost all of them. Tears came to her eyes as Reese and Alex came into the living room. After meeting with Esme, Kalina felt her anger and confusion leave her. “You knew, didn’t you?”

  Reese sat on the coffee table and touched Kalina’s slowly darkening hair. “I was supposed to be there when Jessica died. It was going to happen within days. But it was my first assignment back in the field after having Carly. I saw what she was doing to you, and I just didn’t understand it. She was hurting you. You were such a brave little thing. It was just a normal thing for you. No matter how sick you were, you never blamed her.” Tears ran down her face as she took Kalina’s hands.

  Kalina couldn’t tell who shook worse. “I knew my dad didn’t like magic. What would he have done if he knew what she was doing?”

  Reese shook her head. “No child should have to think that way. And that last time, when you blacked out, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I made the magic lash out and kill her. You had nothing to do with it.”

  Sobs erupted from Kalina. She remembered feeling a pair of arms cradle her. She had wanted to believe Jessica knew she made a mistake and held her for one last time. But with this piece of the puzzle, she knew it had been Reese. “And you’ve watched over me ever since?”

  Reese nodded. “I told Alex everything. If our superiors find out what I did, I could be executed for going rogue. I didn’t report my involvement in her death. But I did tell them what she had done to you. I asked to be placed as your guardian. They argued that I shouldn’t be anywhere near you, at least until the night you were kicked out of your home. I followed you to the cemetery and sent Alex and Carly to get you.”

  “You took me in to protect me?”

  Alex sat on the arm of the sofa. “You wanted to be normal so badly. And, so did Carly. It made sense. And the pair of you latched on to each other so fast. We didn’t have it in us to ruin your happiness.”

  “Did you know about Faust?”

  Alex stood and started to move around the living room. “Faust is bad news. He’s a demon that enters bargains with others. He grants their wishes as it were, and in turn, they hand over their souls.”

  Kalina wanted to be ill. “Deals with the devil,” she said lowly.

  Alex nodded. “He’s where the expression came from.”

  “Like I said before, he thinks he’s my father.”

  Carly whistled. When Kalina looked at her, she smirked. “That could explain the growth in your magic.” She then frowned. “What happened to your necklace?”

  Kalina shook her head. “The stone was chipped in the fight with Xian. Ryan said it was a power dampener. Daddy Dearest said it was a demon seal. Either way, when I get upset, my hair goes crazy until I can calm down to change it back.”

  “I like it,” Reese said.

  Kalina chuckled as she leaned back on the sofa. “I also met a former queen named Elena. She has a mirror with the soul of my great-great-great grandmother. I think. I don’t know how many greats are in there.”

  Reese’s smile disappeared. “I don’t think I like these new people you’ve been hanging around with,” she said. She stood and made her way to the kitchen. “If you’re talking about the Elena that I’m thinking of, she’s one of Faust’s henchmen. Or henchwomen. For eternal beauty and the death of her stepdaughter she swore her soul to him.”

  Kalina remembered the portrait in Elena’s home. The little girl Ryan warned her to not ask about must have been her stepdaughter. Kalina wasn’t too sure she ever wanted to go see the witch again either.

  “Times change,” Alex said.

  “Dad!”

  He held his hands up. “Not saying what she did was right. As a matter of fact, I’m not defending any of Faust’s people. But you can’t judge someone by something they did several hundred years ago.” He shrugged. “Killing a teenager is frowned upon now. Back then, if you had your period you were an adult. Kill or be killed. That was the world.”

  Carly shook her head. “I can’t believe you just said that.” She looked at Kalina. “We need to keep you away from her, and that Xian chick.”

  Kalina smirked. She had a feeling her next piece of news wasn’t going to go over well. “Xian was going to help train me with Ryan.”

  Carly’s eyebrow twitched. “We are going to keep you away from Gold too.”

  “They’re trying to help.” Kalina said softly. She played with the edge of the top Ryan made for her. As much as she wanted to believe he wanted what was best for her, she couldn’t shake the feeling he was hiding so much from her. “He was going to take me to get a new pendant when Faust showed up.”

  Carly rolled her eyes. “And where was he going to find this new pendant?”

  Kalina couldn’t stop the smile that crossed her face. “Venice.”

  “Oh, they have some of the best sarde in saor and baccala’ mantecata. You really need to try it,” Reese said.

  “I don’t think Kalina running off to Venice is the right time to put in a food order dear,” Alex replied.

  Kalina looked at Carly for a moment before they both started to laugh. “It’s not like that,” she said. “Ryan just wanted to go and get a new pendant. But Faust completely flipped out when he saw that I had one. So, I doubt we’ll be going to get one.”

  “Can I go on record and say that I really don’t like this Faust guy?” Carly said. “He can’t just show up out of nowhere and say what you can and can’t do or have. You’re not a child.”

  “To him I am.”

  “To him she is,” Alex said at the same time. He shrugged when they both looked at him. “Faust is old. Like, was there when the Bible was written old. Someone like that, won’t think of Kalina as anything other than another thing to be collected until she does the impossible.”

  “What’s that?” Kalina asked.

  “Prove that she’s stronger.” Reese cursed softly and turned on the water. “Damned carrots.”

  Alex went into the kitchen to help her. Carly moved around and wrapped her arms around one of Kalina’s. “I don’t like it when you’re mad at me,” she said.

  Kalina laughed. “I don’t like being mad at you.” She rested her head against Carly’s and sighed. “But I was hurt. And confused. I shouldn’t take that out on you. And I also wanted to protect you.”

  “Protect me? I’m a death dealer. I’ll be fine.”

  “I didn’t know that part, did I?” Kalina countered. “All I knew was that my best friend, who I didn’t know could do magic, suddenly threw herself into a fight that could have gotten her killed. What was I supposed to do if you did it a second time?”

  “Okay. I guess I see your point.” Carly reached forward and grabbed her ever present deck of cards. She kept her arm linked with Kalina’s as she started to shuffle them. “So, what are we going to do about Gold?”

  Kalina frowned as she thought about Ryan. His world was dangerous. I
f she read between the lines, he was dangerous. But there was something that reached out to Kalina. Something that made her feel safe and in control. She sighed as Carly held up a card. “Seven of diamonds.”

  Carly showed her the card. She placed it on the table and shuffled what was left in her hands. “You’re going back to him, aren’t you?” She held out the deck and let Kalina pick up the first card.

  She showed the card to Carly. “Jack of Hearts.” Kalina looked at the card. It was the Jack of Hearts. Her shoulders fell as she placed the deck on the table. “I guess so.”

  Carly heaved a heavy sigh. “Then I guess we should show you a few tricks so you can get out if he takes you someplace unsavory. You know, like Venice.”

  “Really Carly? Are you sure you’re not just jealous you don’t have some hot guy ready to take you all around the world?” It felt good to tease her friend again. It felt even better to know the Harts all had her back whenever she needed them.

  The look in Carly’s eyes said the same, even if her words didn’t. “I hope he takes you to Venice Beach.”

  CHAPTER 11

  He watched her from the shadows. She danced in the firelight. Hair the color of the sunrise floated around her as she did her best to summon the pixies that she believed would help her out of the problem her father created.

  She twirled. Her skirts flying around her knees. The spell the Travelers gave her wouldn’t work. They left out the fact that she would have to dance in puddles of innocent blood, not water. Everyone always thought the fairies and pixies were kind benevolent creatures that would dole out favors when asked.

  The reality was the opposite. They were hellspawned warmongers.

  But he was here. He would make her tell him what troubled her. He would help.

  Because she gave him a piece of bread when he had been starving.

  Her gasp brought him out of his musings. She stood staring at him. Her hair wild around her head as she tried to catch her breath. “What are you doing here?”

  “I mean no harm,” he said pulling his hood up higher. She would want nothing to do with him if she saw what he really looked like. “I wanted to be of assistance.”

  She continued to watch him. Her dark brown eyes focused on him as she cautiously walked forward. “I know you.” She reached out for him only to flinch when he moved further away. “You roam the streets looking for scraps.”

  He roamed the streets looking for her. “I have no need for your food.” She gifted him once, and he had been enamored ever since. “I want to repay a kindness.”

  She shook her head. “There is no need. I will be dead by the week’s end.”

  Not if he could help. “Why would you say such a thing?” There were rumors in the winds. Shadows all spoke of the lies her father told. But he needed to know the truth.

  “My father has always said we are from a line of witches. And he is convinced that we can spin gold.” She turned away from him and went back to the fire she danced around. “The king has heard his lies and has also come seeking a bride. If I do not spin gold for him, he will kill both me, and my father.”

  He understood why the young Traveler girl wanted him to come find her. He would have to find a way to thank her. “You will not die,” he said confidently.

  “I doubt you have a say in the matter.”

  “Dancing in the firelight won’t call the pixies. And they wouldn’t grant you the magic to do what you need to.” He went over to her. “Goblins have the kind of magic you seek.”

  Her large eyes turned skeptical. “How do you know this?”

  He snatched up a handful of grass and dandelions. As he crushed the items together, he pulled the magic in the air around him. Once he was done, he held up three small strands of gold. “Because I know,” he said softly.

  The surprised expression on her face turned joyous. “Can you teach me?” she asked. “What else do you know? Can you fly?”

  “There are many things I can do. Some of them I can show you, others I can’t.” He placed the strands of gold into her hand, careful to keep his own shrouded. “There is some magic that is better left hidden.”

  She clutched the strands close to her breasts. “I will never forget your kindness Sir Goblin.”

  He was no knight. “Call me Rumple. Please, my lady.”

  She smiled. “If only you call me Satella, Rumple.”

  *****

  “Ryan?”

  He thought he wouldn’t hear that voice again. Not after missing it for a month. Ryan felt Pizazz jump onto his chest as he woke up. He looked across his bedroom and saw Kalina standing there. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, but there was one lock that remained bright pink. She wore a pale green sundress with a denim vest over her shoulders.

  “You’re back,” he said.

  She shrugged. “I learned how to portal.” She then gestured to her hair. “There are a few strands that refuse to change back to normal, but everyone keeps telling me it looks good.”

  “It does.”

  “I don’t want to be some puppet of Faust’s.” She looked into his eyes. Ryan felt something in his chest lift. For eons, Satella had been his measuring scale for beauty. But standing his room, Kalina destroyed that notion.

  “Agreed.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I thought you worked for him.”

  Ryan frowned before snapping his fingers. The walls and doors all became covered in a faint sheen. When Kalina looked at the walls, he moved to get out of his bed. “Have you seen a sound barrier?” he asked.

  “No.” She reached out but stopped just short of touching it. “Dad talked about one. But yeah. No.”

  Ryan stood and the boxer briefs he wore were replaced by a pair of low-slung jeans. He walked over to her. Once he was within reach, he held out his hand.

  Kalina smirked and stepped closer to him. Her eyes drifted shut as he cupped her cheek. “You’re supposed to be teaching me magic.”

  “You ran away.”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  He smiled and waited until she opened her eyes. “Yes. I probably would. But you could have called.”

  “I had some things to process.”

  Ryan nodded as he stepped away from her. “I’ve been doing some thinking as well.” He went to his closet and found a shirt. “We need to find a way to get rid of your father.”

  She shook her head. “Let’s not call him that. I have the Harts. They are the best parents a girl could ask for.”

  He looked at her. There was no way he could stop the smile that crossed his face. “You made up with your friend.” He picked up the comb on his dresser and ran it through his hair. “Did she teach you to portal? Or did her father?” As he placed the comb back on the dresser, he shook his head. “No. Let’s stay on topic. I have been trying to see how we can be rid of Faust.”

  “It won’t be easy,” Kalina went over to a chair in the corner and sat. “From what I’ve been able to find out, demons aren’t that easy to kill.”

  “No. But there may be a way to trap him.”

  Kalina nodded. “The amulet. He called it a demon seal.” She watched him as he continued to get dressed for the day. “Is there a way we can go to the person you were going to have make one for me, and have him make it for Faust instead?”

  “To be completely honest with you, I don’t know. Merrick and I have not had the best relationship. There’s a better chance he’ll try to bind my magic and kill me before he helps us.”

  Kalina smiled as she stood. “I’ll protect you.”

  Ryan looked at her. For a long moment, they simply stared at each other. They then laughed. Ryan could feel himself falling for her more by the moment.

  And he could also feel Satella’s curse tightening its noose around his neck.

  *****

  Kalina went to Ryan’s side. She walked out of his apartment a month ago. Since then, she stayed hidden with the Harts. She learned more about her own magic and started to gain the con
fidence that seemed to ooze off Ryan. “But seriously, there are some things we really need to talk about.”

  He looked around the room. “Do I need to leave the barrier?”

  “When I left, your friend Jasper approached me.” She frowned as she folded her arms around her body. “He was pretty creepy, but Dad---Alex Hart---got there before things went sideways.”

  “I can kill him for you.”

  Kalina looked at him. Even though his tone was playful, the look in his eye was totally serious. She had been warned. If she was going to return to Ryan Gold and his world, she would have to be used to their bloodthirsty ways. “Would you believe Dad already offered?” she said. When Ryan looked at her, she tilted her head to the side. “What?”

  “If you don’t want me to kill him, why tell me?”

  “Because there’s something he brought to my attention.” She stood toe to toe with him and looked into his hazel eyes. “I let you get away with entirely too many liberties. The hand holding and touching. You are always within reach.”

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  That was the question Kalina had been asking herself the entire time she was gone. “What am I to you, Mr. Gold?” she asked in a whisper.

  Instead of the grin she was expecting, he frowned. “I won’t play this game with you, Kalina.” He walked across the room and touched the sound barrier. As it dissipated, he opened the door.

  She waved her hand and snapped her fingers. Another barrier rose in the room as the door slammed shut. “Answer my fucking questions Ryan. What am I to you? A chore? A stray? Some poor doe-eyed witchling you feel sorry for? What?” They stood on opposite ends of the room. Kalina was desperate for answers while he stood there stoic. No trademark smirk. No teasing glances. She felt her stomach twist as she slowly started to realize he wouldn’t answer her. Her eyes lowered to the floor. “Fine,” she whispered.

  In the next instant, Ryan was across the room and she was held tight against him. “I don’t know what you are to me, but I would destroy cities to make you happy.”

  His voice was a growl as he tilted her face to his. She didn’t fight him as he covered her mouth with his own. Kalina’s own hands found purchase in his hair as he devoured her. The twisting in her stomach stopped as everything around her felt as if it were spinning. His tongue licked at hers as he walked her back to the wall. She felt her face warm as he started to trail opened mouth kisses down the column of her neck. “Acceptable answer,” she panted.