Mad Magic

by Nicole Conway

  He looked away.

  “Eldrick, you have to know, I would never do something to hurt you,” I continued.

  “Not even after what I have already done to you?”

  Once again, we both got quiet.

  I didn’t know what to say. I could understand his side of things now, but he was right—it didn’t excuse what he’d done to me. He had robbed me of any security I should have had in my already messed-up life. My home was supposed to be my refuge, and he had turned it into my own personal hell.

  Suddenly, Eldrick put his big hands on my shoulders. He pulled me in, holding me firmly against his body. Before I could respond, I felt him press his lips against the top of my head.

  “Forgive me,” he murmured against my hair.

  I was too stunned to move, much less make a sound.

  “Can you? Would you?”

  “I-I …” It was as though someone had packed all my brains into a blender and hit frappe.

  He held me even tighter, squeezing me so hard I could barely breathe. “I understand now why your father did what he did. You are precious, indeed. I find you vastly less repulsive than the rest of your species.”

  “Thank you, I think.” My voice was muffled because my head was being mashed into his shoulder. “It’s okay, Eldrick. I’m not angry with you.”

  “Are you certain?” His eyes were wide and bewildered as he released me.

  “Yes.” I stepped back and gave him a smile. “You’re my friend. Whatever happened with those people before—as long as I’m alive, I won’t let it happen again.”

  His expression faltered, twitching for a moment as he glanced all around. Had I broken him? Or maybe he was having some kind of internal meltdown? Was he about to explode?

  Eldrick laughed.

  I froze, gaping as he doubled over and wrapped his arms around his stomach. He had the most beautiful, deep, rich laugh I’d ever heard.

  When he finally came up for air, his face was flushed and there were tears in his eyes. “Josie Barton,” he said my name like he couldn’t believe it.

  “Yes?”

  Eldrick leaned down closer, still chuckling under his breath. “You are the strangest person I have ever met.”

  Eldrick wasn’t enjoying watching any of the movies I had chosen so far. Big surprise there. Unfortunately for him, this was my apartment and I was going to watch whatever it took to get my mind off where Zeph might be.

  Sitting side-by-side on the couch, I was still glad to have his company—even though he was glowering at the TV screen with his lip curled. His noisy disgust was annoying, but it was helping to distract me from the way the hours were dragging by. My gaze wandered to the clock hanging in the kitchen again. Geez, where was he? It was well past midnight already, and Zeph still wasn’t home.

  Okay, no need to start panicking. This wasn’t abnormal. He’d always worked late shifts before we met, so I was probably being paranoid.

  “This is utterly ridiculous,” Eldrick complained.

  I threw a few kernels of popcorn at him. “Hush! This is a classic. Cinderella is one of the best love stories of all time.”

  “By whose authority? Why on earth would any faerie simply flutter in and grant this silly woman all her wishes for nothing? It makes no sense. And to make the spells only last until midnight? What good does that do anyone?” he protested. I couldn’t take him seriously when he had popcorn stuck in his hair, though. “If she’s supposed to be the godmother of this woman, why hasn’t she been helping her before this? And why does everyone keep singing? God, the infernal singing—it never ends.”

  “This was supposed to be fun, you know.” I sighed. “You’re ruining the story.”

  “This story was forfeit long before I was forced to endure it.”

  I shot him a glare. “Keep it up and we’ll watch it again.”

  Eldrick snapped his mouth shut. With his arms folded over his chest, he sank down into the couch and sulked. Just when I thought he’d given up, I heard him mutter under his breath, “Preposterous. A pumpkin is a terrible item to render into a carriage. The smell would be repugnant. This so-called ‘faerie godmother’ is obviously a hack.”

  I was debating on pouring the whole bowl of popcorn over his head when the front door burst open. Zeph staggered in, his shoulders drooping with exhaustion—or at least, it kind of looked like him. Something was off …

  His hair was short!

  It was still the same dark brown color, but it was trimmed and styled much shorter now.

  Zeph dragged his feet all the way to the couch and plopped down next to me with a loud sigh. “Why are you guys still awake? You have any idea how late it is?”

  My breath caught when he leaned over and suddenly laid his head onto my shoulder. I caught a waft of his smell as the stubble on his jaw prickled my shoulder.

  “I-I guess we just lost track of time,” I rasped.

  “Is that so?” He raised his head and squinted at me, his mouth puckered like he didn’t buy it. “Well, it’s way past your bedtime now, jailbait. Mine, too.”

  As soon as Zeph mentioned going to bed, my dark wolfish friend cleared his throat. He muttered something under his breath as he stood and disappeared into the guest bedroom. The door banged shut.

  “What’s up with him?” Zeph gave me a suspicious look. “You two been makin’ out? Did I interrupt?”

  I glared at him.

  “Oh I get it. He’s been trying to work up the nerve to hold your hand this whole time. For a prince, he doesn’t have much in the self-esteem department.”

  “Eldrick does not like me that way!” My voice cracked and my chest was tight and breathless as I shoved him off me. The fact that he would even suggest something like that made my blood boil. Zeph knew how I felt. He was taunting me on purpose—he had to be!

  “Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

  “Why would you even say that?” I looked away.

  “I was just kidding.”

  “Well, it’s not funny.” I got up and switched off the TV. My feelings were already raw, and learning about his curse certainly hadn’t helped soothe me any. What the hell was his problem? Why did he have to treat it like one big joke? Eldrick had seemed so sure that Zeph was in love with me. He’d acted like it should be obvious.

  I wasn’t convinced.

  I needed to hear those words leave Zeph’s lips before I would ever believe it. But as I stood there, looking into his indifferent stare, I realized … that might never happen. He’d just keep stringing me on, dodging the issue, and sending me all these mixed signals.

  Stomping back to my bedroom, I barely got inside the door when I felt a strong grip on my arm. Zeph pulled me to a halt, towering over me with a severe expression.

  “What’s the matter with you?” he demanded. “Did that prick say something bad to you? Did he threaten you? I’m serious, Josie. It’s one thing for him to mouth off, but I’m not gonna stand by and let him make you feel unsafe.”

  I tried to squirm away, but he wouldn’t let up. A hard knot burned in the back of my throat when I saw him shut the door behind us. As soon as he faced me again, his violet eyes meeting mine in the dim light of my bedroom, I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

  “Do you love me, Zeph?” The question tore past all my better judgment and left my lips before I could stop it.

  Pain flashed in his eyes. His mouth twitched, and he let go of my arm. “Don’t ask me that,” his voice was unsteady.

  “I deserve to know. So far, you’ve lied about every connection you have with me. Don’t lie to me again—not about this.”

  He began avoiding my eyes and backing away toward the door like he might try to bolt. When I grabbed at the front of his shirt to stop him, he winced and hissed out a string of curses like I’d stung him.

  When I drew my hand away, my fingers were dripping red.

  “W-what is this?” I pulled back the front of his coat to
see fresh blood running down his chest. The whole front of his shirt was soaked.

  “It’s not that bad.” He tried to turn away so I couldn’t see. “Honestly. It hurts like hell, but it’s not a big deal.”

  I pulled his coat off his shoulders to get a better look. I wasn’t sure what passed as a “big deal” in his world, but it certainly looked serious to me. There was a deep wound in his shoulder, right beneath his collarbone.

  My throat went dry. “You’re hurt!”

  “It’s not as bad as it—”

  “You have to sit down!” I shrieked. “Right now, sit down and don’t move!”

  I bolted to the bathroom and ripped all the contents of the cabinet under my sink out onto the floor. I snatched up a first aid kit, several towels, and wet a few washcloths before I ran back to the bedroom. My hands were shaking. I couldn’t stop it. There was so much blood. Was this even going to help? Should I just call 911?

  When I came back in, Zeph shot me that signature annoyed glance with his eyebrow arched. He sat obediently on the floor beside the bed with his shirt off, pressing it over the wound as a makeshift bandage.

  “Seriously, it’s fine,” he mumbled like I was wasting my time over nothing. “It’ll be healed up by morning. Calm down. You look like you’re about to have a heart attack.”

  I knelt down in front of him, frantically opening the kit of medical supplies. My vision blurred and I kept dropping things.

  He grabbed my chin and turned my face toward him. “Hey. Look at me. I’m fine, okay? You’re hyperventilating.”

  There was so much blood on his shirt … Nothing about that was fine. “B-but, Zeph—”

  “I’ll talk you through it. Get one of those washcloths and clean it out. You’re gonna need some of that rubbing alcohol, too. It’s a puncture, and it’s pretty deep, so be sure you pour a lot on there.” He explained each step in a calm, even voice. It was soothing, and I found myself able to concentrate as I cleaned his wound.

  “Who did this to you? I thought you said you were at work?”

  Zeph flinched, and his thick arms tensed up when I poured the alcohol into his wound. “I wasn’t lying about that, believe it or not. A couple of biker gangs always pass through the bar this time of year as one of their regular watering holes. They know Hank pretty well, and they get rowdy once the booze starts flowing. We have a hard time keeping them under control. And tonight, they picked a fight with some of the local idiots. I just got caught in the crossfire while I was tryin’ to break things up.”

  I pressed a warm washcloth against the cut. “Remind me to slap Hank for this. He shouldn’t be using you like his personal muscle. You’re a bartender, not a bouncer. There are people out there who are trained for this kind of thing. What did they stab you with?”

  “A broken bottle. And hey, it’s not like I care. I regenerate quickly. Better they stab me than someone important.”

  “You are important!” I began layering thick cotton bandages over the puncture. “Hank is going to get it, I swear. You just wait till I get a hold of him. What would I do if something happened to you? How am I supposed to—”

  “Seriously, you need to take a few deep breaths,” he interrupted. “I’ve been cut up way worse than this. It’ll be fine.”

  I seethed quietly as I finished wrapping his shoulder in layers of gauze. It wasn’t a professional job, but it was the best I could do. I was already reciting what I would say to Hank the next time I saw him, muttering it through my teeth like a madwoman.

  Zeph laughed.

  “It’s not funny!”

  “It kinda is,” he snickered. “I know plenty of fae who would like to put a bullet between my eyes just for spite because they know it wouldn’t kill me—it’d just really hurt. Simple human weapons usually won’t do much damage, and most fae heal up fast anyway.”

  I sat back on my heels, staring down at my hands. I could see pink traces of his blood under my fingernails. He was always teasing me, always playing stuff off like it was one big joke. Now was not the time for that—not when I’d just been wrist deep in his blood. My heart wrenched. Was that really how he felt about me? Was I just one big joke to him?

  “Josie.” Zeph’s voice was serious again. “What happened while I was gone? What did Eldrick do? You were fine before I left.”

  “He didn’t do anything,” I whispered.

  As we both fell silent, I forced myself to look up at him again. His expression caught me off guard. It was like a terrified little boy about to face his worst nightmare. I’d never seen him so vulnerable.

  “Eldrick told me about your curse,” I confessed. “About how you challenged Fir Darrig, and how only delivering the vessel to him by the next Singing Moon will save your life.”

  The child-like vulnerability vanished. His eyes flashed. “That nosy little jackass. Can’t mind his own damn business! Has to pilfer around in mine every time I—”

  “It’s true, then?” I said quietly. “You’re dying?”

  Zeph’s anger dissipated. He wiped one of my cheeks with his thumb. Until then, I hadn’t realized tears were running down my face.

  “Stop that, princess,” he scolded me gently as he wrapped his rough, warm hand around the back of my neck. He pulled me closer until our foreheads bumped against one another. “Don’t cry for me. It’s not fair. Do you have any idea how hard I’ve worked to try to make you happy? Even if I did a shitty job at it.”

  “I won’t let you die, Zeph,” I promised. “I’ll kill Fir Darrig myself, if that’s what it takes.”

  “Keep saying stupid stuff like that, and you’re gonna get me in big trouble.” I could hear a smile in his voice.

  I pushed my forehead harder against his. “You’ve been nothing but trouble since you first broke down my door.”

  “Yeah. I guess that’s true.”

  Closing my eyes, I drank in the silence as we sat together. He was so close. So why did it still feel like he was worlds away? I had to cross that distance, somehow. I had to find some reason to touch him.

  “What happened to your hair?” I ran my fingers through it. Wearing it shorter changed his whole appearance. It suited his squared features and sturdy jaw line much better.

  “Hank happened,” he muttered sulkily. “He said it was this or a hairnet. I’m not wearing a hairnet.”

  I giggled, teasing his bangs so they stood straight up. “I like it. If not for all those tattoos, you might pass for a respectable member of society now.”

  Zeph glanced at his bare arms in surprise, as though he hadn’t realized the tattoos made such a difference. I couldn’t keep my gaze from following the swirling, colorful designs that covered the skin from his wrists all the way to his pectorals—the shapes of flowers, koi fish, thorny rose vines, and feathers.

  Suddenly, I realized—once again—he wasn’t wearing a shirt. His chiseled physique was beyond intimidating.

  “You don’t like them?” he asked as he ran a finger over one of the marks on his bicep. It was shaped like a big green vine covered in red-tipped thorns.

  My face flushed until I could feel my ears burning. I opened my mouth, but nothing would come out. Like them? Um, yes. I did. All teasing aside, they were unique and beautiful—just like the rest of him.

  He began carefully sliding his hand down his arm. That eerie musical sound, like the faint chiming of bells, softly echoed through the air. My skin prickled. A shiver ran up my spine, spreading tingling warmth all the way to the tips of my fingers. I was completely captivated as he wiped away the tattoos on his skin like they were nothing but marker on a dry erase board.

  With a flourish of his fingers, Zeph began running his hand back over his arm again. The chimes echoed through my bedroom, whispering over my skin and making me shudder. The motion of his hand left a trail of new designs on his skin—more intricate and colorful than ever before. They seemed to move, all squirming against one another for space until at last, they froze
in place.

  My lips parted as a skipping breath left my lips. I knew this was magic. It was the most intensely beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

  “What’s that look for?” He smirked and flicked the end of my nose playfully. “You’re blushing again. Even your big ole ears are red.”

  “I don’t have big ears!”

  He chucked while he tugged on one of my earlobes. “You totally do. Like a baby cow or something.”

  “Stop that!” I tried to swat his hands away.

  It didn’t work. Zeph seized both my arms in his strong hands. He pulled me closer and closer, a dark, mischievous glint in his violet eyes.

  My pulse raced, and I couldn’t look away.

  “Like I said,” he growled deeply as he yanked me down onto his lap. “You’re gonna get me in big trouble.”

  As he slid his hands from my arms to my waist, I got the feeling I was the one who might be in trouble. I was straddling his lap, trying not to freak out. I couldn’t stop trembling. Every inch of me was flushed and extra sensitive at the places where our skin touched. Blasts of his hot breath puffed over my neck and his hair tickled my cheek.

  “I must scare you.” I could feel his lips brushing the skin right under my ear. “Is that why you’re shaking? Or are you just trying to tempt me? That’s a bad idea, you know.”

  I bit down on my bottom lip and closed my eyes.

  His voice grew softer. “My willpower isn’t that great.”

  Zeph hesitated. I felt his body tense for a second. Then he kissed the side of my neck. His warm lips pressed against my skin, sending waves of tingling adrenaline blooming through my body. My hips instinctively moved against his. His warm, musky scent saturated my nose.

  I gasped as he began twisting his fingers into my hair, holding the back of my head and bringing me so close that I could feel his chest moving with every word he spoke. “You have no idea how …” I could hear the conviction in his voice, but before he seemed able to finish that thought, he suddenly pulled away. “We can’t do this.”

  I was still in a daze. “Do what?”

  He twirled a finger, gesturing to how I was sitting on him. “This. All of this, right here. You’re too young, I’m too old, and I’m damn sure your dad wouldn’t like it. Get up. You’re supposed to be in bed.”