Love Potion #9

by Claire Delacroix

  Lilith didn’t like this at all.

  She folded her hands together carefully and held Sebastian’s gaze. “Tell me – if you hadn’t been arrested all those years ago, would you really have come back to me?”

  He smiled coolly and Lilith knew the truth.

  No. He’d never cared for her. He’d only wanted to seduce her. Her uncle had been right – and Lilith had been foolish enough to believe otherwise for much longer than she should have.

  Her blood ran cold at the realization that this man was still her destined companion for the rest of her days.

  “But see, baby, there’s wasn’t a lot of chance of my coming back, anyway.”

  Lilith blinked, almost having forgotten where they were. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I was caught red-handed, as they say.” Sebastian tapped his temple. “I remember it all now.”

  Red-handed? Horror rose in Lilith as she saw the truth in his eyes. “You did kill that widow!”

  Sebastian shrugged. “Hey, it was an accident. I didn’t mean to kill her, but you know, she liked it a bit rough.” He winked. “If you know what I mean. Things got a little out of control that night.” He shrugged again, supremely unconcerned. “Happens.”

  Lilith could barely choke back her anger. It was bad enough that Sebastian had taken her virginity, made her all sorts of promises, then gone to another woman’s bed. But he had killed that widow and still didn’t feel a pang of remorse.

  He was worse than pond scum.

  She had been an idiot to believe his lies.

  The worst part was that she had pined for this pathetic excuse for a man for almost six centuries. Mitch, now there was a man worth pining for.

  But he wasn’t the man destined for her.

  Lilith decided right then and there that destiny sucked.

  “Hey, Lilith, baby, you look like you could use some cheering up.” Sebastian leaned closer, his eyes gleaming. “And I’ve got just the medicine you need. What do you say to a healthy doze of Sebastian for breakfast?”

  “No!” Lilith bounded to her feet.

  Sebastian’s eyes flashed before he smiled with smooth charm. “Hey, you called me. I sure wouldn’t have come to this city all on my own. There’s nothing going here.” His eyes narrowed. “Besides, I heard that you said you were going to make it worth my while.”

  It didn’t help that he was exactly right.

  But Lilith still didn’t want to keep her word. She eased toward the door, intending to slide out the door. But Sebastian lunged to his feet to stop her.

  Lilith fled, ripping down the hall and to lock herself in the kitchen. Sebastian’s footsteps echoed behind. Lilith closed her eyes tightly and chanted a spell to make the lock hold, her heart nearly stopping when Sebastian jiggled the knob forcefully.

  The knob stopped moving and Lilith took a wary step back.

  “You can’t resist my charm forever, Lilith baby,” Sebastian whispered through the keyhole. “After all, it’s destiny.”

  But Lilith was already hauling her cauldron toward the stove, determined to conjure up an eviction spell. She had been such a fool. Somehow there had to be a way to make things come right.

  Lilith flicked on the radio so she wouldn’t have to hear Sebastian breathing on the other side of the door. She was encouraged to hear Gladys Knight singing about her lover taking the midnight train to Georgia. With every “he’s leaving” that the Pips echoed, Lilith tossed another pinch into the pot.

  She couldn’t conjure quickly enough.

  * * *

  Sebastian could have broken the lock. He was sure he could have picked it, but clearly Lilith needed a moment to think. Women were like that. But they always came around.

  Besides, a little pause in the action wasn’t such a bad idea.

  Because this wasn’t the way Sebastian had envisioned this deal. Not at all. Nobody had said anything about fighting off competition. Of course, that council hadn’t been prepared to listen much to Sebastian’s point of view, but he’d been sure that there was a little bit of something curvy in this deal for him.

  And that it – she - would be easy pickings.

  Clearly, though, Lilith was holding out on him. And she was going to keep doing so. Since that was completely contrary to her passionate response of several centuries ago, Sebastian guessed that the fault lay outside of her nature.

  It was that guy net door. He’d been playing in Sebastian’s pond while Sebastian was otherwise occupied. It wasn’t pertinent that Sebastian had had no intention of seeking out Lilith before the council intervened.

  He was here now- an entire ocean away from civilization as he knew it – and if nothing else, Sebastian wanted what he had come all this way to get.

  He was owed.

  He’d give Lilith time to calm down, then come back and win her over with a healthy measure of his undeniable charm. Sebastian grinned to himself.

  She’d forget that jerk next door in nothing flat.

  Sebastian slipped out of the house with a whistle on his lips, confident that no matter how Lilith tried to barricade against his return, he could get back into that house.

  Guaranteed.

  * * *

  17

  The Star

  Andrea couldn’t hide from the fact that she was disappointed. Eight days into her cruise and she still hadn’t met anyone even remotely interesting.

  Could Lilith have been wrong?

  The worst thing about that would be that it would prove Mitch’s skepticism right.

  She hated proving Mitch right - mostly because it happened too often.

  Andrea sighed and took her new swirly blue dress from the tiny closet. She held it up to herself and smiled for her reflection. Tonight was the night Andrea was to sit at the captain’s table, although she really wasn’t excited about the prospect.

  She was tired of old women and men who couldn’t dance, honeymooners staring into each other’s eyes and children bored to death after days at sea. She was tired of bingo and skeet-shooting and buffets that only seemed to be cleared to make way for another lavish meal. She didn’t want to sunbathe anymore, or learn to play shuffleboard, or be marched through an island village in a convoy of tourists. She didn’t even want to languish on an endless beach.

  Andrea wanted to dance. She flicked the hem of the skirt and considered the prospect of having her toes trodden upon yet again. She hadn’t seen a single man on this ship who seemed to have a talent for dancing, much less one as interesting as Lilith had promised.

  And Andrea had had a good look. She pouted at the possibility that Lilith was mistaken, the reflected gesture reminding her so much of Jen that she laughed aloud.

  That made Andrea feel better. She’d do some shopping for the kids tomorrow - as though they needed more souvenirs of her trip than she had already acquired. Watching Mitch growl about them getting spoiled would mitigate the disappointment of seeing him proven right again.

  Andrea chuckled to herself at the prospect. “If you don’t play, you can’t win,” she informed her mirror image sternly and hung the dress on the bathroom door with purpose. Andrea hadn’t gotten this far in life by sitting in a corner and feeling sorry for herself, and she wasn’t going to start now.

  And she was going to go out with a bang. Partner or no partner, tonight, Andrea was going to dance - and dammit, she was going to sparkle.

  * * *

  Andrea swept into the dining room with every bit of her usual style and grace. She smiled at the maitre d’ and accepted his arm, her chin held high as she was led to her seat. It was a perfect evening for romance: the chandeliers glittered like starlight and the band was playing marvelous music. The crystal tinkled, there was a low murmur of conversation.

  Despite herself, Andrea felt her anticipation rise. She was reminded of nights spent dancing to big band music at Casa Loma with her second husband - well, not actually with him. Walter had always escorted her, then sat with a drink and watched others twirl And
rea around the floor. Walter knew she loved to dance and had been quite philosophical about his own inabilities.

  The memory made Andrea smile.

  She thought then of her first husband, Bernard, and the way he compelled the younger partners in his law firm to waltz with her at least once at every Christmas party. Those were parties! Glittering fêtes at the Park Plaza or the Royal York, either hotel more than competent at elegant little canapés and conjuring the perfect festive mood.

  Like the one tonight.

  Andrea took her seat and thought of Nate. Now, there was a man who had stolen the key to her heart and never surrendered it again. He had been the only one who wouldn’t encourage others to dance with her, a regular old bear when it came to keeping Andrea by his side. She had loved him so much, she just didn’t mind. On a night like this, he would have ordered champagne, commandeered a table in the corner, and bent his attention on making her laugh.

  Yes, Nate had been a wonderful man.

  Andrea blinked back her tears and smiled at her dinner companions as they exchanged introductions. Directly opposite her was a very handsome man of about her age, one who Andrea had not seen about the ship as yet. His green eyes twinkled, seeming to hint at a joke only he could discern. An equally handsome wife sat at his side, turning her wedding band around and around her finger as she leaned against her husband and whispered anxiously in his ear.

  A pair of elderly sisters from Paducah sat beside them, a besotted young couple beside the sisters stirred themselves long enough to confess that they had just been married on the last island. A retired librarian named Ethel, whom Andrea had already met and whose wry jokes she quite enjoyed, slid into the seat beside Andrea with a smile.

  “Lovely, isn’t it?” Ethel asked.

  “Wonderful,” Andrea agreed, consciously masking her disappointment.

  Because the Captain himself greeted them all from behind his chair, his presence finishing the seating. Ethel had already confided that the Captain was happily married, that his wife would be joining him for the next circuit of the cruise.

  Andrea stared at her salad plate and recalled Lilith’s assertion that she would not immediately recognize her soul mate, that he would seem unavailable. Well, barring the possibility that Ethel was hiding her true sexual identity, or that the Captain had a liking for women twice his age and was prepared to risk his wife’s opinions on the matter, or that the handsome wife would suddenly drown in her lobster bisque, it didn’t appear that Andrea’s destined lover had troubled to show.

  Well, Ethel was good company.

  Andrea turned to the friend she had already made on this trip and - quite deliberately, very defiantly - sparkled.

  Andrea was in the act of declining another waltz with a man who seemed to have a rare gift for stepping hard on her toes, when a smooth British accent interjected.

  “Perhaps I might have the honor of this dance?”

  Andrea turned to find the man from her table with the sparkling green eyes. “Nigel Farnsworth,” he reminded her, with a slow smile. “I’ve made it my personal duty to dance with every lovely lady from our table this evening. Would you indulge me?”

  Andrea’s gaze flicked back to the table. “Your wife won’t mind?”

  Nigel’s lips quirked. “She might if I had one, but I don’t.”

  Andrea frowned. “But you were sitting - “

  “With my sister. Widowed a year ago and moping ever since.” He glanced back to the table himself and the twinkle faltered. “I was hoping this cruise might cheer her a bit, but so far, no luck. She’s spent most of the cruise sulking in the cabin and insisting I remain with her.” He looked back to Andrea, his expression rueful. “I had no idea the cabins would be quite so small.”

  Andrea giggled despite herself. “You’ve managed to escape.”

  “And only just.” Nigel smiled, his eyes twinkled and Andrea’s heart skipped a beat. “One must make the most of one’s opportunities. Shall we?”

  “Of course,” Andrea said and took his hand. The band struck up a waltz and Nigel swung Andrea out onto the floor with the grace of a man who had been dancing from the cradle.

  Andrea sighed with delight. “You can dance,” she murmured.

  Nigel chuckled. “Let me guess - your toes thank me.”

  Andrea smiled at him. “Every single one of them is charmed.”

  Not to mention a good part of the rest of Andrea. He was a devastatingly good dancer, guiding her effortlessly through the throng of inexperienced dancers, leaving the perfect distance between them, moving so gracefully and so in tune with Andrea that she felt as though they’d been dancing together forever.

  And he wore a very sexy cologne.

  “I must confess,” Nigel murmured moments later ‘that I’ve been shamelessly eavesdropping on your conversation with your friend.” His voice dropped low, his accent making Andrea’s bones melt. “You must tell me where the most intriguing woman on this ship has managed to hide for an entire week.”

  Andrea laughed at his compliment. “Not in my cabin.”

  “Nor in mine, clearly.” The corner of Nigel’s lips tweaked. “It seems I missed more than the shuffleboard tournament.”

  Andrea looked into the twinkle of his very green eyes and couldn’t quit catch her breath.

  Everything froze around her as she studied Nigel’s smile and realized belatedly that everything was just as Lilith had said. Andrea hadn’t guessed that Nigel was available, although she had noticed him immediately. And he could dance, there was no doubt about that. She liked the glint of humor in his eyes. She liked how trim he was. She liked the stylish cut of his tux and the tang of his cologne. She liked that he was worried about his sister.

  And she liked that he had finally put his foot down.

  Andrea stared up at Nigel and her heart seemed to have stopped beating. It suddenly felt as if someone had tied a great big ribbon around her heart and knotted it tight.

  It felt as though, one more time, a man had stolen the key to her heart while she wasn’t watching. There was a glint of determination in those green eyes and Andrea knew with complete certainty that Nigel wouldn’t surrender that key without a fight.

  She liked that just fine.

  The music changed and Andrea arched a brow at her partner. “Dare I hope that you can tango?” she asked, fully certain of what the answer would be.

  Nigel feigned an aristocratic scoff. “What man of substance cannot?” Then he winked, flicked Andrea into a perfect spin, and they were off.

  They merengued and they waltzed and they polkaed until Andrea was sure there were holes in the soles of her shoes. They laughed and they talked and they didn’t even notice that nearly everyone was wandering off to bed.

  Because they danced some more.

  When the band finally called it quits in the wee hours of the morning, Andrea peeled off her shoes and Nigel cast off his jacket. He snagged a bottle of champagne from the maître d’ along with a pair of flutes and they laughed as they escaped into the moonlight like naughty children. The bubbles were delectable, the conversation was lively and his puns were horrible.

  When the sun painted the horizon pink, Nigel and Andrea were still slow-dancing barefoot on the upper deck. The tingle of champagne bubbles lingered on their tongues, and Nigel hummed “The Blue Danube” into her ear. As she watched the last star fade into the morning sky, Andrea knew there was nowhere else she wanted to be.

  And that was before Nigel kissed her.

  * * *

  18

  The Moon

  Lilith leaned against the hall door to listen.

  Nothing.

  She turned the key carefully and eased open the door to the foyer, half expecting Sebastian to pounce on her.

  Still nothing.

  She strained her ears and couldn’t hear a thing.

  “Sebastian?” Lilith waited and called again. She could feel the house breathing all around her, hear distant sounds of children playing out
side.

  But no hint of her unwelcome guest. She couldn’t even sense his presence, and she had before, as soon as she stepped into the house.

  Could Sebastian have left, without imbibing of her special brew?

  That would be almost too good to be true. Lilith picked up The Fool card from the floor and peered into the living room. Relief surged through her at that room’s emptiness. She ran upstairs, checking every corner, but already certain what she would find.

  He was gone.

  For now. Lilith wasn’t about to believe that he had abandoned her for good, not as easily as this.

  And there was no telling when he would come back. Lilith stepped into the living room and made to put the card back in its place, chiding herself for being so unwelcoming to her destined lover. Sebastian must have some good qualities.

  It looked as though she was going to have lots of time to find them. Lilith grimaced, then froze when she noticed how many of the cards had turned over during her stay at Mitch’s house.

  The Death card was the last one she had seen turned up, and much to Lilith’s relief, they had clearly moved beyond that point. She pulled up a chair and stared at the cards, hoping for a guiding light of some kind.

  Temperance was the card after Death, the woman on the card in the act of mixing water and wine, of combining two vastly different elements to create something new. Temperance didn’t always herald the creation of something good, Lilith knew. There were many different issues to be balanced when this card appeared, volatile elements to be combined, and the result could tip either to wine or vinegar.

  That made her think of the argument she and Mitch had had this morning. There was more to that story, Lilith guessed, but things certainly hadn’t fallen from their lips in any sort of coherent manner. Hurt was like that - it tipped the scales in favor of misunderstanding.

  Lilith pursed her lips and eyed the next card, not even interested in touching it. The Devil. She could make a pretty good guess whose arrival that card heralded. And it was a card that indicated physical temptation, an all too evident reminder of how all of this had started so many years ago.