by A. W. Cross
“Yes, my dear. We are trapped here by an enchantment placed over us by your mother. It hasn’t been as hard as it may seem. Helping your father raise you has been a pleasure that I would have never experienced, and it is my joy.”
My body felt like it had turned to stone. There was so much all around me that I’d never noticed. Then I snapped my eyes open wide. Mrs. Potter said we.
“Carson? Is he . . . too?” I pointed at Mrs. Potter, unable to form the word.
She nodded. “Though not like me. He’s a genie. He’d been on a joint task force working with the fae, so he has a lot of different stories to tell!”
“That I do,” Carson said as he strolled up to us. “I’m sorry this has happened to you. Let me see.” He leaned over Mrs. Potter to see my reflection in the mirror. “Well, that might take some getting used to, I’d think, but it’s not so bad.”
“Not so bad? I’m a monster—some kind of beast!” I cried, returning my gaze to the reflection. Carson stood to the side enough that I couldn’t see his genie form.
“You’re not like that except in the reflection. As long as you stay in human form, it will be fine.”
I started to feel a little better about that, but then I remembered what the woman had said. The transformation would be complete by dark tonight. I snapped my attention to the windows. “What time is it?” The skies were just beginning to streak with pink.
“It’s 7:30, why?” Carson asked.
“The woman said,” I stopped myself. “She said I couldn’t say, I think. Or maybe it was just to the one who I have to do something for.”
“That’s why you’ve been sounding so strange? I wondered why you suddenly turned into one of your trivial friends. Whatever enchantment or curse was placed on you won’t have the same restrictions for us. Try telling us what she said,” Carson said with Mrs. Potter nodding along.
“I’ve tried to remember it exactly, but I was so stunned at the time.” I closed my eyes to concentrate and it was as if the woman was there again, her voice clear inside my head. “By day your beauty will conceal your intellect within simple speech, and each night your selfish pride will manifest in beastly form. Your reason and appearance will reveal your character without as it is within until such time as you are willing to make a personal sacrifice for another. One that causes them to see the beauty you hold on the inside through kindness, generosity, and humility. Only then will your bonds release. However, the one who benefits must believe in the goodness of your heart on their own without persuasion. Through your actions alone you must prove the changes in your heart.”
I’d remembered it all, like it was burrowed into my mind. I swallowed hard, trying to keep down the contents of my stomach as the room spun around me.
“There, there, dear. It’s not as bad as all that. It’s just at night, then. You can get through that. You’ll have the days to find the Oracle. Then you can release the spell,” Mrs. Potter said trying to calm me down.
“Perhaps it would be better to stay inside for the evening. You can leave for the estate in the morning,” Carson stated.
“Thank you. Both of you,” I said. My reflection flashed in view as I turned toward the stairs.
No wonder Daddy kept that ugly mirror.
I stood by the side of my car as I waited for the gas tank to fill. I’d never driven out into the country and didn’t know how long my tank would last, so I’d decided to top it off. Actually, I’d never driven anywhere outside the city. I smiled to myself and enjoyed the morning that was already shaping up to be hot and humid.
A fluttery feeling squirmed in my middle, halting my peace. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched a man trying to act casual as he sat on a bench in front of a strip mall across the street. I frowned and tried to think if I’d seen him before. I had a rising suspicion I had, and it sent chills down my spine.
Slipping the nozzle back into the holder, I tightened the gas cap and did my best to seem as natural as possible. Hopping back into my seat, I turned on the bug, and let the rumble of the little engine roll through me as I pulled out of the station.
How does one drive casually? I thought and chuckled. I was probably being foolish, anyway—or maybe not.
Sophia had tried to make it sound like it was just a trinket, but if it was valuable enough to breakup a marriage and keep her away from me all these years, then she probably wanted to make sure I’d get it. She’d barely given me time to look before when she came by again, of course she’d not want to wait for two weeks.
Fear manifested with a vengeance when I spied the man—now wearing sunglasses but who was clearly the same man—pull into traffic behind me. The dark muscle car wasn’t very subtle. There was no way my bug would ever outrun him.
I drank down a gulp of water from my bottle and put it back into my bag next to the rose. Was it possible whoever sent that thief hired someone to follow me? Maybe it wasn’t Sophia. I’d thought the thief was just a junkie, but as I’d talked it over with Daddy and Carson, it had been clear that he’d been after the censer, too.
There was something about an old grudge between Daddy and someone he grew up with, but he wouldn’t elaborate. He thought with the news of him being in jail, it might have caused the man to make a move.
I knew Daddy was more involved with the crime syndicate than he wanted to say, but I didn’t care. He’d sort it all out. At the moment, however, I had to worry more about the thug behind me.
The light up ahead turned yellow, and instead of going straight as I needed to, I turned right, down a side street. I gunned the gas, but before I could turn the next corner, the car was behind me again. Even if I could outrun a supercharged muscle car, the puttering sounds of my engine were very distinct and rattled against the buildings. All he’d have to do is roll his window down and hunt me like a shark in the ocean.
With proof that he was indeed following me, I returned to my route. I had a full tank of gas, and if he wanted to follow along for a while until I figured out what to do, I guess that’s what would happen. After a while, he turned, and it seemed he’d given up. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe I had been paranoid, after all.
My focus returned to the drive through the countryside, which was pretty. I’d never been on a long drive before, and it was peaceful. At least, until I turned onto Highway 298 and picked up another car tailing me. It wasn’t the same car, but it was just as obvious, though this one stayed farther behind.
Not long after, I saw a shabby-looking mechanic shop up ahead. It did motorcycle repair according to the sign, which gave me no reasonable need to stop there, but maybe the man would keep going. I slammed my foot on the accelerator and gained a little more distance.
I skidded a little too hard into the gravel parking lot next to a row of tall green arborvitae and hurried to get out, grabbing the rose before I slammed the door. I nearly ran into the counter when I rushed into the building. The sticker covered glass door hadn’t allowed me to see that the lobby was only about four feet of space. It was also filthy.
The place must have been around since the fifties, and no one had ever used a mop. One ratty chair sat under the front window. I spotted a candy dispenser that was half filled and probably also came from a different era, and a water cooler rounded out the decor. The high blue counter held a couple of large books and a silver bell. I tried to think of what to do. Should I leave and try a different place?
Before I could decide, a man walked out from behind some shelving, wiping his hands on a dirty towel. He had a quizzical expression as he stared at me.
“Can I help you?”
9
Stella
I smiled, my cheeks quivering from the effort to appear genuine.
“Um, yes.” I straightened my shoulders. I wasn’t sure if it was to help my nerves with the man outside or the new one inside. He was stunning. Tall, probably only eighteen or twenty, with broad shoulders that proved there were a lot of muscles under the tight black t-shirt he wore. His dark br
own hair fell in a little wave over his brows that were set over a pair of stormy gray eyes.
A smirk spread across his lips, and I snapped my attention back to why I was there. He waited for me to explain what I needed. At this point, sounding like a fool wouldn’t be because of the curse.
“Yes, I . . . Uh . . . Need a part.” I nodded. Yes, that sounded smart.
Mechanic guy let out a breathy chuckle. “Okay, anything in particular, or should I just pick one?”
I stared at the counter and swallowed hard. My throat felt like sandpaper, so I excused myself for a moment to get a cup of water from the cooler. When I glanced out the window, however, I saw the black car ease into the parking lot. Thankfully, the window was so full of advertisements, posters, and stickers it would be hard to see me standing inside.
Ignoring the cooler, I rushed over to the half door that separated the front from the back work area. It was locked with a slider from the other side that I struggled to get open. I could only use one hand as I held the rose in the other. The man behind the counter watched the car in the lot and my frantic actions before he opened the door for me. I barely had time to dive behind the counter before the bells hanging from the glass door bounced with the entrance of the man who’d followed me.
The handsome mechanic moved protectively close, and a rush of something molten swirled my insides. Books of all kinds of mechanical mumbo jumbo lay askew on the shelves behind the counter as I grabbed the edge to steady myself. My pounding heart made it hard to hear past the rush in my ears.
“Hi there. What can I help you with?”
The silence extended uncomfortably long, but a shift of feet told me the man moved closer to the counter. “I’m looking for the girl who drives that car.” The voice was gruff with vapors of malice. All business, and that business was dangerous.
“What do you want with her?” mechanic hottie made it seem as though he was angry, not nosey. My heart skipped a beat, and I tried to scold it but couldn’t. Though something about his voice tapped at the back of my brain.
“I just need to talk to her.”
“Well, that’s my sister’s car, and you just missed her. She needs me to do some work on it for her, and she borrowed one of my bikes to go home.”
Wow! He was smooth.
“Did you want to leave a message for her?” Suddenly, I was pressed against the shelving behind McHottie’s jeans. “Hey, off the counter, buddy. If you don’t have a message, you need to leave.”
“Your sister, you say?”
“That’s what I said. And I don’t think I like you, so why don’t you just decide to forget about her and not let me see or hear from you again.”
The scary man snorted, and I could feel the creepy seeping through the counter. I heard footsteps followed by the chiming of the bells against the door. The pressure against me released.
“Stay there for a few minutes, and I’ll tell you when he drives away.” The sound of his low voice rumbled through me, but it also triggered a memory. One of a low voice demanding that I show him where my father kept a certain antique. It was the thief!
He pulled a book from the shelf near my face and looked through it as if he was researching something. Suddenly fuming, I clamped my mouth tight and kept quiet, but when the other guy was gone, this one would get a piece of my mind.
I heard the tires on the gravel as the car started moving and then heard the plink of metal as rocks flew into the side of my beautiful little car.
“Hey!” I shouted as I leapt to my feet before he’d given me the ‘all-clear’ signal. I stared out the window, and when I turned back to my left, I was face to face with the man who’d helped me—and had also tried to rob me.
I turned away with a jerk because he stared at me with a slight grin, and it displayed a dimple in his cheek. The mask he’d worn had covered his face the night before.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. No! I needed to stay strong.
“For what? Barging into my shop and hiding from a hitman? Eh, no big deal. Happens all the time.”
I huffed. The proximity between us had become uncomfortable, and I needed to move. My back was against the wall, and he stood between me and the exit to freedom.
“Thank you for playing along.” I spat the words and had enough sense to glare. “Why did you call him a hitman?”
The guy stared at me for a moment longer than necessary then turned his focus to the book he’d pulled out. “Let’s just say, I’ve come into contact with one or two in my lifetime. My family isn’t from the same side of the street as you.” He seemed to square his shoulders and faced me. “I’m Ben, by the way,” he said, holding out his hand.
I shook it reflexively. “Stella.” At an awkward standoff, I peered around at the rest of the shop. Beyond the open shelving Ben had come from were a couple of disassembled motorcycles propped up in the center of a large workroom. Counters lined the walls and rolling carts for what appeared to be tools stood around the bikes. The far wall had a large roll-up garage door with a small regular door next to it.
Until I could get out of the trapped space and had a clear line to an exit to run away, I decided to wait to tell him that I knew he’d been the thief. “So, I should probably go.”
He raised a brow, then dropped his gaze to the floor. He made a noise as he scratched his head behind his ear. “I don’t know if you should leave just yet. That guy was a pro.” He glanced at me then beyond me to the clock on the wall above my head. “If you want, you can stay here for a while to make sure he doesn’t come back. I just live upstairs. You can hang out there for a while where it’s more comfortable. That way, if he does come back, he won’t see you through the windows. If he sees your car still here, maybe he’ll believe he had the wrong girl and you really were my sister.” A wide grin split his face, and dimples added their touch to both sides.
I swallowed hard and rested my hand casually on the counter. A man that may or may not be a hitman outside; a man who was definitely a thief inside. My choices couldn’t be worse. I glanced at Ben. Despite the fact that he’d broken into my house, he seemed the more trustworthy option.
“Okay, but just for a bit until I know the coast is clear. We should stay down here. I’ll sit somewhere out of the way.”
Ben tried to hide a smirk. “Whatever you say. I don’t know if I have anywhere that won’t get those shorts dirty.”
I peeked down at myself and realized I’d worn my white shorts to go with my floral tank. My wedges weren’t going to be good for running away from anyone either.
“I’ll take my chances.”
“If you’re cool with it, I am.”
I followed Ben around to the backside of the bookshelves into the space where he obviously did his mechanic duties.
Along with all the tools and motorcycles I’d already noticed, one wall was made of floor to ceiling shelves. They were packed with boxes, more tools, and a variety of items. The entire bottom row was filled with black tires.
I should have been terrified that a stranger was luring me into a building filled with so many items that could kill me, but I knew that after dark, he wasn’t the only threat any more. Not after what I’d done to my room the night before.
Ben grabbed a plastic crate and tipped it upside down in the corner behind the bookshelves and next to the bench wall. He then pulled a couple of orange towels from a drawer. After he laid them over the crate, he pointed to it.
“That’s the cleanest place I can make, and I don’t think you’ll be seen from there.”
I tried to smile, but I felt the way my nose crinkled as I ambled over.
Ben looked away and snorted.
There was a motorcycle propped up on another crate. It didn’t have a front wheel, and it looked like it could fall over at the slightest touch. Ben sat down on a rolling stool in front of it and started fiddling with some loose cables.
The place was filthy and smelled like grease and dust. “What do you do here, anyway?” I asked to brea
k the silence.
Ben glanced over his shoulder at me with a quizzical pinch to his brows. “Work on bikes.” He poked the tool he held toward the motorcycle in front of him as if to prove his point.
“I can see that.” I rolled my eyes. Leaving this place couldn’t come too soon. “Why? It must not make very much money.” If it did, you wouldn’t have tried to rob me!
“It does better than you might think. You shouldn’t judge so quickly based on appearances.”
I flicked my brow. “The way things look always point to the truth. If the outside isn’t cared for, the inside can’t be either.”
I watched the knuckles on Ben’s hands go white as he gripped the tool. His shoulders tensed, too, and I couldn’t help but smile. He’d come into my home and terrified me. He deserved to have his flaws pointed out.
“Can you get me some water? I can’t go out there, and I had to run for my life before I got some.”
Ben stopped working and stared over the top of the bike. I watched his shoulders rise and fall twice before he let the tool clatter to the floor. The stool rolled away and banged into the dirty cabinet doors under the bench behind him as he stalked out to the front.
When he returned, he shoved the paper cup toward me. I took it from him with a smirk and a shrug. He could take it as a thank you if he wanted.
Ben moved closer to me, and I leaned back. “Will there be anything else, Princess?”
My breath hitched, and all my bravery sank into my toes. The smug expression on his face told me what I feared.
He recognized me from his attempted burglary as well.
10
Ben
“We should talk,” I said.
Stella leaned backward still clutching that silly vase. “Are you going to hurt me?”
I scrunched my brow and jerked upright. “Never.” How could she ever think something like that of me? Then again, the only way she knew me was as a thief. Knowing that, I suppose her fear of violence wasn’t much of a stretch.