by Amy Boyles
“Oh, she’s a police pig. Can smell out bad people.”
Gosh, I hoped that stupid excuse work. The mayor appraised Pig and appeared impressed. “Well, sounds good. Make sure if anything strange happens that she’s on it.”
“Will do.”
The mayor turned to India. “Come, India, we must go talk to Vic. See if he’s interested in doing another dating game show after this.”
“Another one?” I said.
“Charming, the ratings are through the roof! If we could do a special once a month, with your expertise, of course, we’d rake in the tourists and the dough. After all”—she leaned in conspiratorially—“what’s good for Witch’s Forge is good for all of us.”
“Sure,” I said numbly, unconvinced.
I pinned my gaze back on the balloon. Frankie and Tex had been up there for about fifteen minutes. They were supposed to do thirty, tops.
A large shadow fell over me. “Beautiful afternoon.”
I glanced up to see Thorne looking casual in jeans and a button-down. His mouth curled into a relaxed smile.
I couldn’t stop a smile from spreading over my face. “It is a beautiful afternoon.”
“I hear tomorrow’s supposed to be gorgeous, too.”
“Is it?”
“Mmm hmmm. Thought maybe we could spend it together.”
“Are you off then?”
“I am.”
I folded my arms and pivoted toward him. “What if Witch’s Forge needs you?”
He bumped me playfully with his shoulder. “I think for one night the other guys can handle it. Besides, you’re off too, right? Frankie doesn’t have her date with Watts until day after tomorrow.”
I tapped my lips as if considering his offer. “That is true.”
He cocked a brow suggestively. “So what do you say?”
“Are you pinning down my schedule for our date?”
“I am.”
Butterflies flitted in my stomach. “Okay, then. I say yes.” Before Thorne could say anything else, I pointed to the sky. “How’re you enjoying watching Frankie date another man?”
“I’d rather she sink her claws into someone besides me.”
“She thought your date went well.”
Thorne raked his fingers through his hair and scowled. “I get the feeling Frankie would think almost any date went well as long as she was in control.”
“Ouch.”
He shrugged. “She’s not my type, okay. I’ve already made that clear.”
I watched as the hot air balloon swayed. “What the…?”
“What is it?”
I pointed. “Look.”
“That’s not supposed to happen.”
“No, it isn’t.”
The basket suspended from the balloon swayed again. I pushed the talk button on my walkie-talkie. Static crackled from the speaker. “What’s going on up there? Is everyone okay?”
No one replied. I shot Thorne a concerned look. “Can you fly?” I asked.
He shot me a pointed look. “I’m a vampire, not Superman.”
I shrugged. “I’m sure I don’t know the extent of your powers.”
“Vampires can’t fly. How’s that? You have a better chance of that than I do.”
Frankie’s voice suddenly pierced the speaker of the walkie-talkie. “Charming? Is that you?”
“I’m here. What’s happening?”
“There’s a wind. Some sort of magical wind. Oooh! It’s battering us. Came out of nowhere. We’re coming down.”
“Do you need to be whisked out?”
But Frankie didn’t answer. I watched as the hot air balloon slowly and turbulently sank until it reached the landing spot. As soon as the basket was secured, Frankie stormed out.
“I will never go on one of those again. Was that your idea of a joke?” she shot at Tex.
Tex’s face burned red. “No, ma’am, it was not. I had nothing to do with that occurrence up there. Now why don’t we sit and have a nice meal?”
The cameras still rolled while Frankie looked like she wanted to kill Tex. Her hair was a mess, and fire flared in her eyes.
“I don’t know why you’d want to harm me. But I think this date is over. I’m not sure you’re my soul mate after all.”
Tex’s face fell. “Please, Frankie. Can’t we have a nice dinner? I didn’t have anything to do with that balloon acting all wonky.”
Frankie eyed him disdainfully. After what seemed like a full minute of her studying him, she finally relented.
“Okay. We can have dinner. But no hot tub.”
“Lucky guy,” Thorne murmured.
My gaze darted to him. Our eyes locked, and we shared a quiet laugh.
When the date was over, I spent a little bit of time going over the details of Frankie’s next date with Watts.
She sat at her makeup station taking off her eyeshadow.
“And the mayor wants to make sure this date goes well so we’re going to start with dinner, like you did with Thorne, and then maybe a drive through the country before the hot tub scene.”
Frankie stared at her reflection.
“Does all that sound okay?”
She continued to stare.
“Frankie?”
Her lips trembled. “Charming, someone’s trying to kill me.”
I pursed my lips. “I mean, we’ve all been worried about you; that’s why Thorne was here tonight, to make sure nothing happened. Of course then the balloon went haywire. I’m sorry.”
“There have been attempts before,” Frankie said, “but none so insistent. The roses, the hot tub, the balloon. Charming”—her lower lip trembled—“I’m almost afraid to go through with it. To finish the show.”
My stomach tightened. The mayor was breathing down my neck about all the great PR the show was giving the town. The last thing Winnifred Dixon wanted was for this entire situation to blow up in her face.
But I was a matchmaker and my loyalty lay with Frankie, even though no one liked her—at least Mama didn’t like her, and that counted for a lot.
“If you don’t want to go forward, you don’t have to.”
She plucked a makeup cloth from a container and wiped off her eyeliner. “When you saw my matches, did you see that any of them would want to harm me?”
“No, of course not.”
She turned to me. “Do you think you could?”
I smiled sadly. “No. I only see matches.” She was very worried, so I sat in an empty chair beside her. “Do you think it’s one of them?”
“Tex was with me when the balloon started swaying.”
“That’s true.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment, and when she did, Frankie said, “If I die, there’s something I want you to have.”
“You’re not going to die.”
She fired off a look that nearly made me wither. “I’m asking if you’ll take something.”
Mama had warned me not to take gifts from witches because of a prophecy. I already had water, air and earth magic. If I gained fire, it would be the death of all magic; that’s what had been foretold.
But there was also a thing among witches—if you were offered a gift, you had to take it. There were no two ways about it.
So I was cornered. Darned if I did and darned if I didn’t.
I figured I’d play it safely. “Mama doesn’t allow me to take gifts from witches.”
It was true and the only card I had to play. Frankie stared at me a moment before throwing her head back and laughing so hard people looked over.
“Oh Charming, that is something else. Come. There’s no need to be shy. There’s something I’d like for you to have in the event that anything happens to me.”
Crap. This would be harder to wiggle out of than a pit of rattlesnakes. “Isn’t there anyone else in your life you’d rather give it to? Stepchildren, for instance?”
I mean, she’d been married three times. Surely there was a stepchild in there somewhere.
&
nbsp; “No. There are stepchildren, but I don’t know any of them and they’re not exactly in the picture.”
“You don’t know any of them?”
Frankie shook her head sadly. “Douglas, my second husband, had three children before we married. They didn’t want anything to do with him or me. They didn’t come to the wedding, and I’m sorry to say our marriage was short-lived. So short-lived that Douglas died only a month later. Only two of his horrible children attended the funeral. Can you imagine your own child not coming to your funeral? What terrible people.”
Sounded like it. But, still. “Surely there’s someone else…anyone?”
Frankie shook her head. “No, I’m afraid not.” She pulled a chain from around her neck and held it out.
At the end of the chain sat a pendant shaped like a skull. “What is that?”
“It’s a shrunken head of an old witch.”
“Morbid.”
Frankie scoffed. “This is a relic filled with fire magic.”
“I don’t want it.”
The words ejected from my mouth before I’d had a chance to stop them. Frankie stared at me, mouth wide.
I hiked a shoulder to my ear. “Sorry. It’s just that there’s this weird thing and I’m not supposed to take gifts from witches.”
Frankie’s mouth turned into a sour expression. She stuffed the chain and the hideous skull back into her shirt and huffed. “I understand completely. If you don’t want the gift, I get it. Absolutely. I just thought I’d try to be nice.”
She opened a jar of cold cream and smeared a glob across her face before she rubbed it in. “Your mother and I have never gotten along. For some reason she thinks I tried to steal William, but that isn’t true. Ever since we were young, she’s hated me. I thought I’d try to be friends with her daughter.”
I nearly scoffed. Some friend. Frankie had hinted she knew I was interested in Thorne and yet she still threw herself at him.
Time to steer the conversation away from all this and back to the task at hand. “Frankie, if you’re just about finished, I can take you home.”
We left. The ride in the car was quiet, the necklace all but forgotten. As I turned the Cooper into the cluster of condos where Frankie was staying, she turned to me.
“Do you have plans tomorrow? I’d love to get together on our day off.”
Without thinking I blurted, “Thorne and I have plans.”
The air chilled as if all the heat had been sucked out. The hairs on the back of my neck soldiered to attention.
I pressed my lips together. “It’s not a date.”
Frankie’s gaze drilled into me. I swear if she could have bored a hole into my temple, I believe she would have.
“Not a date?”
I scoffed. “Oh no. Not at all. We’re just getting together to discuss some business.”
Frankie’s gaze washed from the tip of my head to my hips and back. Suddenly I regretted the toast and grits I had for breakfast that morning.
She opened the door. “I’m sure you are. I’m sure all you’re going to do is talk business.”
I didn’t know why I felt so guilty. Frankie had already been married three times. She had soul mates, or semi-soul mates coming out of the woodwork. It wasn’t like she was hurting for men.
“Good night,” she said coldly.
As Frankie walked away, my heart lurched. I suddenly felt sad for her. For all her talk and for how much she threw around her title of dame, Frankie Firewalker was lonely—lonely and sad.
I was glad to be nothing like her.
Chapter 8
“Are you all ready for your date?”
Mama just had to bring up the whole date thing, didn’t she? I wore a simple gold dress with silver jewelry, including the aquamarine heart, silver sandals and a belt. My hair was pulled up.
I didn’t know exactly where Thorne would be taking me, but I figured I might as well look as nice as possible.
“I guess I’m ready.”
I sat in front of my vanity, adding the last touches to my makeup.
Mama leaned against the doorframe, holding a cup of something. “Are you nervous?”
“No,” I lied. “Why would I be nervous? I’m just going out on a date with a vampire.”
She nodded. “Drink this.”
I glanced at the teacup. “It smells like licorice. What is it?”
“Just something to soothe you.”
“No thanks. I’d rather have all my wits about me than to have drunk some sort of crazy potion.”
The door suddenly widened and Rose appeared. “Thank you, House. I swear, if we ever leave this town, I’m getting myself a magical house. There’s just something so nice about the fact that it makes room for you before you even arrive.”
Pig trotted inside. “I’m not taking Pig with me, if that’s why you came up.”
Rose fluffed her hair. “Heavens, no. I was just going to say that Pig took the potion earlier today. See how happy and relaxed she is?”
Pig rolled onto her back and wiggled right and left, scratching her back.
“That is not going to convince me.”
Mama shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
The doorbell rang. I bolted straight up. My heart fluttered in my throat. Heat crept up my neck, and my hands dripped with sweat.
“He’s here.” I started to hyperventilate. “Here. He’s here. What do we do?”
“Get a grip, Charming,” Rose said. “You’ve been out with him before.”
“But not like this. Not when it’s actually a real thing. And all that.”
Mama swirled the cup. “Sure you don’t want a little of this? It’ll help your nerves.”
I glared at her. “Just figures you’d show up with a remedy. One I don’t know how it will affect me.”
Rose scoffed. “It’s not like you’re going to start trying to kiss him or anything. I mean if you did, that might be okay. I don’t know. A vampire might see that as an invitation to drink your blood. Which you might want. I mean, if Thorne asked to drink my blood, I’d let him.”
It was too much talk, and I was much more nervous than I expected.
So before Rose could say anything else, I plucked the cup from Mama’s hand, threw back my head and tossed down the contents.
It tasted sweet. And very much like licorice. “Yuck.”
I wiped my mouth. The doorbell sounded again. Mama smirked. “I’ll get it. We wouldn’t want to keep our guest waiting.”
Rose collected Pig, and the three of them went downstairs to accost—I mean welcome—Thorne.
I smoothed my dress. The potion made my lips tingle. I ignored it and waited until I heard Thorne’s voice before I headed downstairs.
He looked amazing in a blue shirt and blue suit—no tie. I knew I wasn’t dressing up too much when I chose my gold dress.
His eyelids flared when he saw me and I smiled. The heat that I had felt earlier dissipated, and I felt confident and ready to go.
Thorne greeted me with a smile. “Charming. Are you ready?”
“I am.”
“You two kids have a great night,” Mama said.
“Oh, there’s only one kid there,” Rose corrected. “Thorne’s probably two hundred years old.”
He glanced bashfully at the floor. “Not quite that old.”
“Well, you could be,” Rose said cheerfully. “There’s nothing like the older man/younger woman combination.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m probably still a younger woman to you as well, aren’t I?”
“No comment.” I grabbed Thorne and dragged him from the house. I waved to my family. “See you later.”
As soon as the door shut behind us, I turned to him. “You haven’t told me how old you are.”
“It’s good to see you, too,” he teased.
“Sorry.”
He opened the car door for me. “If you want to just cut to the part of the date where I tell you all my deep dark secrets, we can.”
&nbs
p; I slid onto the seat. “Where’s the fun in that?”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
The cabin smelled of him—musky with almost a citrus hint to it. The headiness of the smell made me suck air. I couldn’t just sit and think about Thorne. Not all about him. I’d lose focus, forget what was going on. Ask him to kiss me.
I definitely didn’t need to do that. Last time Thorne and I were in a situation that might have led to a kiss, he declined, said I wasn’t ready.
I had a feeling that wasn’t the way this night would go.
I crossed one leg over the other and bobbed my foot to get rid of the last of my nervous energy. “So. Where are we going?”
His lip coiled into a devilish grin. “You’ll see.”
“Oh, I will, huh?”
Within minutes we were climbing the side of a mountain. The sun sank fast. Yellows and pinks burned bright in the horizon.
We reached a clearing where a waterfall sat. A table for two had been erected.
I held in a breath. “What is this?”
Thorne winked. “It’s how vampires do dinner.”
“And I figured I’d be stuck eating from an empty plate.”
Thorne scowled, and rightly so. I nudged his shoulder. “I’m kidding. It’s amazing.”
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
I nodded. “Starving.”
He braked the Jaguar and pushed the ignition button. “Let’s eat.”
When I was half into my steak and lobster, I glanced up at him. “How did you do this?”
The sound of the waterfall splashing was like music. Birds chirped and the sunset was gorgeous—colors smeared like a painting across the sky.
“I have friends who are wizards,” he said casually.
Thorne’s steak had been served bloody as they come, and he ate small bites here and there.
“Do you like eating food?”
He shrugged. “It depends on the company.”
“So you’re doing this for me.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Our gazes locked, and my cheeks flamed. The potion had done a lot to calm me, my nerves, but when tension with a man reared its head, my body responded.
I picked at my wineglass. “It’s just…does it bother you that I’m a witch?”
“Should it?”
I hiked a shoulder and didn’t answer.