by CY Jones
“Isn’t this place just lovely?” My brother says sarcastically as he steps out the cab.
“You have to admit this is a good place to run to if you’re hiding from the world. It’s a small town no one has heard of, three hours away from the nearest city. If Gadget wasn’t able to find her birth records, we would have never thought to look here.” Grumbling, Caleb marches off instead of admitting I’m right and I laugh behind him.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“I don’t know. It’s not like this place is super big, she has to be around here somewhere,” he answers.
“It’s big enough. I’m not going to walk around aimlessly until we spot her.”
“Well what do you expect to do?” He questions, stopping mid-step and I almost run into him.
“Fuck Cal, a little warning,” I grumble. Looking around at our surroundings, I see we’re right in front of a shop that says Jewels Cafe on the door. The smell of coffee calls to me like a siren to the sea, so I ignore my brother and step inside.
“What the hell Nolan?” I hear him say before he halts the door from closing in his face.
Strolling up to the counter, I give the bartisa a dazzling smile which she falls for hook, line, and sinker.
“How may I help you?” She says suggestively, making me feel like I could ask for more than just coffee.
“Amy, stop flirting with the customers,” a pretty, curvy redhead says, scolding the girl.
“Ahh Onyx, you’re no fun,” the girl pouts.
“Why don’t you start cleaning up the back? I’ll take it from here,” Onyx says to the girl, and she glares at the redhead before stomping away.
“I’m sorry about that, she’s new,” Onyx says, like that explains everything. This is such a weird little town.
“Right, I would like an ice coffee with a shot of espresso and a cream cheese bagel, and for my brother he’ll take a large coffee, black.”
Paying her, I take a seat at a table in the far back while my brother follows.
“Is this your grand plan? Sit in a coffee shop until Amethyst shows up.”
`“It’s better than your plan of walking around aimlessly until we spot the little witch. Besides, I got a good whiff of the redhead at the counter. She’s human. It’ll be easy to use our powers on her to get her to tell us about Amethyst and where she’s staying.”
Finally, Cal smiles as he sees the merits of my plan. This is a friendly enough town. One of those nosy ones where everybody knows one another and all their business. Why waste time walking around when we can just have someone tell us what we want to know? As expected, Onyx is the one to deliver our order and I don’t waste time as I stare deep into her eyes and ask, “do you know a girl named Amethyst?”
“Yes,” she answers already enthralled.
“Have you seen her recently or know where she’s staying?”
“I haven’t seen her, but rumors say she’s staying at her mother’s store with her boyfriend Aiden.”
Boyfriend. I thought Abraxious was her last boyfriend. She’s been here what, one day? Fuck, she sure moves fast. I can feel the fire in my eyes, and the girl shrinks back, breaking from my trance as I lose my concentration.
“I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her head. "I don’t know what’s come over me."
“Is everything ok over here?” A guy with blonde hair says as he looks Onyx over with concerned eyes.
“Yeah, sorry boss. I zoned out for a second,” she replies.
“Why don’t you go take a break and I’ll take over,” he tells her, and the redhead quickly wanders off.
“You know it’s illegal here to use your powers on humans out in the open?” Blonde dude says with a pissy look on his face.
“Sorry, my brother may have gotten a little excited and gone overboard. We’re looking for a friend of ours, and we’re not used to small town rules,” Cal explains, covering for me.
“Small town or not, I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to use your powers out in the open wherever you go,” he lectures, narrowing his eyes.
“Our apologies. Like I said we’re eager to find our friend,” Cal tells him.
“Well, I’m sure if Amethyst wants you to find her, she would have told you where she was herself. Now with that said, don’t use your powers on my staff, and stop asking about a girl that doesn't want to be found, or there will be problems,” he threatens before walking off.
“Well he was nice,” Cal says dryly.
“So what now?” I ask, ignoring his comment. “We know she’s staying at her mother’s store, but we don’t know where, and apparently there's a boyfriend to worry about. We can’t just nab her, and we already know our powers don’t work on her.”
“Do you think she fucked him too? I mean, he was awfully protective of her,” Cal surmises about the blonde dude who ruined my plan.
“Who cares,” I mutter. I’m pissed, I know. I shouldn’t care who Amethyst fucks, but strangely I find that I do.
“You do apparently. That’s why you lost your shit as soon as the girl said she has a boyfriend,” Cal teases, making me want to throat punch him.
“Whatever, we should find somewhere to stay and figure out a plan,” I say annoyed. Sometimes it sucks being a twin. Cal knows me better than I know myself. Letting it go, he nods his head in agreement. We both polish off our drinks, and I leave a tip for the helpful waitress on the table for her trouble. As we walk out, I could feel the blonde’s eyes on us all the way out the door. I don't know if he fucked her before or not, but Amethyst is mine and I’ll find my girl.
Amethyst
The last couple of days have gone by quite smoothly. I was able to find everything I needed, and by next week the shop will be open for business. Well, almost everything has been taken care of. Thanks to my wicked grandmother and my aunt, her trusty sidekick, no one has applied to work at the store. It looks like for the time being I’ll be running the place myself, but I don’t mind. It’s not like I have anything else better to do. Well, most of the time I don’t. Right now, I’m taking a walk with my new bestie. She just showed up at the shop, gifting me a new pair of shoes and asked if I want to go for a walk. Can you guess what color the shoes are? If you guessed white, then you are a winner.
“It’s so cold here. Why is that?” Ruby asks as we pass the park.
“It’s mid-November in New York. It’s expected to be cold. You’re lucky it’s not snowing,” I tell her and she visibly starts to shake while making the cutest face.
“Snow is beautiful, but I’m not a fan of the stuff,” she huffs.
“No one is except little kids, and overly happy adults who take the holiday season way too seriously.” You know what I’m talking about. The overachievers who go all out decorating their houses until you can see their house shining from space like one of the seven wonders of the world, those people. As soon as I mention the holidays, Ruby’s face falls, and her bright grey eyes start to shine.
Hey, what’s wrong?” I ask, leading her over to an empty park bench.
“It’s embarrassing,” she answers, swiping at a tear.
“No judgement here. You can tell me anything. That’s what friends are for.”
She’s so quiet I didn’t think she was going to answer, but right when I’m about to tell her she doesn’t have to tell me, she blurts out, “I miss home.”
“There's nothing embarrassing about that.” When we started our walk she told me about what sent her to Earth in the first place, and why she’s still here. I have to admit her story is like no other. If it weren’t for the crestfallen look on her face, I would have laughed, because it was some funny shit. Like Ashton Kutcher’s Punk’d or America's Funniest Videos material.
“I hate to admit it, and if you tell anybody, I will deny it and curse you to the fiery pits of Hell, but sometimes when I was feeling my lowest in New Orleans, I would miss home.”
We’re both quiet as we sit around, gazing out at the beauty surrounding us. It’s a comfo
rtable silence while we both reflect on our pasts. Ruby is an odd ball for sure, but she’s starting to become a really good friend. Like yesterday. We had a Xena Warrior Princess marathon, and she got so into it, that she took her halo off and imbued it with what she called the Light of Heaven, and used it like Xena’s chakram. It was a very interesting thing to see for sure.
“You don’t think your family will be happy to see you no matter what size your wings are? They are your family after all.”
“Well, you said your family isn’t accepting because you don’t fit their idea of perfect. Angels and humans aren’t that different,” she points out. Dammit, she had me there. While bonding, I told her about my terrible family and their recent attempt to try to take over my store. It felt good confiding in someone, and not keeping everything bottled up inside. I didn’t think she’d take my life lesson and turn it back on me.
“Fuck them. You have me now, and I don’t care what size your wings are. It’s how you work them that matters the most,” I tell her with a wink.
“Work them how? Do you mean flying?” She questions, making me laugh.
“Come clueless one. Let me walk you back to your store.” On the way back, I regaled her on the importance of variety and how buying shoes in a color other than white will be good for business.
After dropping Ruby off, I decide to head over to the cafe. I needed a caffeine fix if I was going to make it through the rest of the day. As soon as I get to the shop, a warm hand grabs my arm and I’m turned around into a hard body.
“You,” I cry, pushing whichever twin this is away.
“Well hello to you too,” he grumbles in a deep voice.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask, taking a step back.
“We did tell you on the bus we were here for business and pleasure,” he answers. “By the way, I’m Nolan. You look a little confused,” he teases.
“I didn’t ask,” I huff. Stupid vampire thinks he knows me just because he spent a couple hours with me on a bus. “Well, nice seeing you again,” I lie, stepping away from him and into the cafe, which of course, he follows me into.
“What’s the rush? I thought you’d be happy to see us again,” Nolan says, once he catches up.
“Look,” I huff with my hands on my hips. “I don’t know what the deal is with you two, but I’m not buying it. You tried to use your freaky powers on me on the bus, and when we first arrived here in New York. If you’re here on behalf of my ex, then you’re wasting your time. I will never go back to him, so you might as well cut your losses and leave before you suffer the same fate as him, or worse.”
“Amethyst, are you ok?” A familiar voice says behind me and I groan.
It can’t be him. What the hell? Today is just not my day. Turning slowly, I chant over and over in my head, ‘please don’t be Aiden, please don’t be Aiden’. No such luck when the scowling face in front of me is indeed, Aiden. With a growl, he pulls me to him in a total Alpha male move, and I’m tempted to push him away, until I see the identical pissed off faces of the twins. No, it’s best I stay here right now until the coast is clear, and I can play Switzerland once again.
“Who the hell are you?” One of the twins growl. Yes, I have lost track of which twin is which that fast. Hey, it totally happens. I bet new parents with identical twins get their babies mixed up all the time.
“I’m her mate. Who the fuck are you?” Aiden counters.
“We’re her friends,” twin A answers.
“Friends?” Aiden laughs. “You guys didn’t look too friendly.”
“Well. maybe you should get your eyes checked, wolf,” twin B growls.
“Why is it everytime you two come to my cafe you’re causing trouble?” Julian questions as he walks over.
“You know these two?” I ask Julian doubfounded.
“Not really. They came in here the other day asking about you and using their powers on my human staff,” he explains, and I turn my ire back on the twins.
“Really? You two just don’t know how to keep that shit to yourself. It’s a simple rule. Keep your hands, feet, and powers to yourself,” I lecture the two assholes like they’re five.
“What about my dick, sugar? Do you want me to keep that to myself as well?” Nolan says. I know it’s Nolan from the nickname, and oh my jewels, my panties just got wet.
“Don’t ask my mate about your dick,” Aiden growls. I could tell he’s like one point two seconds away from shifting right here, in the middle of the cafe with jewels knows how many humans watching. I wonder if the wards put around the town keeping humans from seeing the freaky things we supernaturals do, will prevent them from seeing that. Maybe they’ll think he’s a giant disability dog or something. I don’t know how in the hell the wards work, and shit, I’m rambling again.
“Why don’t you all go take a seat in the back and work your shit out?” Julian suggests. If he thinks he’s helping me with my problem, he isn’t. In fact, the turd just threw me under the bus. “I’ll bring you guys over some refreshments in a minute. On the house, of course.”
When the guys start shuffling to the back, I turn to Julian and whisper yell, “don’t think free food and drinks will keep me from hexing you.”
Laughing, Julian just waves me off. What the hell? I was totally scary just now. Maybe I should have added my crazy eyes to make my threat more effective. As if remembering I’m part of their conflict, Aiden stomps back over and grabs my hand, pulling me to the booth they chose in the far back, well away from the front and public view, because of the placement of the corner wall. And to add insult to injury, he cages me in the booth so I’m now sitting in between the twins and himself with no way to get out.
“Amethyst, you have to be the most interesting person I have ever met. Didn’t you just skip out on a boyfriend in New Orleans after turning his dick purple? Now all the sudden you have a mate. Please tell me how that came about.”
“That is none of your business Caleb,” I spat out at the same time Aiden yells, “you turned some dude’s dick purple?”
"I didn’t turn his dick purple. It was purple with a green mole, but that’s not the point,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Look, not that it’s any of your business, I had a good reason to hex the asswipe. He was cheating on me with like half the state of Louisiana, not to mention I hexed him after he hit me, so yeah he deserved it,” I huff, folding my arms in front of my chest.
“He hit you,” all three of them yell.
“Yes. Didn’t I say he totally deserved it? Anyways, that doesn’t explain why you two are here.”
“We’re here on business,” Nolan answers vaguely.
“And as I told you, I’m-not-going-back-with-you, so you can just leave and tell Abraxious he can kiss my ass.”
“We don’t work for Abraxious,” Nolan says, exasperated.
“Yeah, we don’t even like the fucker,” Caleb concurrs.
“Then why are you here?” I repeat, which didn’t matter because they still continued to stay tight lipped. “You know what? Don’t tell me." I’m starting to get tired of these two. We keep going in circles like a dog chasing his tail and getting no results. Ignoring them, I turn my ire on Aiden. I know they won’t tell me the real reason why they’re here. If they’re not working for Abraxious, then it’s for someone else, but I have no doubt they’re here for me. “And you. I’m not your mate. Stop telling people that.”
“Yes you are, sweetheart. The sooner you get that through your thick skull, the sooner we’ll be fucking and populating the world with our beautiful mixed babies.” Fuck, he’s such a cocky shit. He’s so sure I’ll lay down and open my legs for him like a trained pet, but between you and me, my ovaries totally went into overdrive at his words.
“Don’t count your babies yet. She said she’s not interested,” Caleb mocks.
“And she told you two to take a hike, yet you’re still here,” Aiden counters.
What the hell? Now they’re arguing and giving each other deat
h glares. There’s enough testosterone pumping in this corner to choke a horse. Where in the hell is Julian with our drink and can mine come with two shots of bourbon?
“Why don’t we skip the dick measuring? I don’t know why you two are here, but if it’s something dealing with me, you’re better off leaving and saying you didn’t find me. And Aiden, I may be your mate, but you’re not mine. See, argument solved, can I go now?” I whine.
With that said, three pairs of eyes turn to me with murderous glares, and I shrink back just a little bit.
“Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?” Aiden asks, running his hand down his face.
“And exasperating,” Nolan agrees.
“And fucking difficult,” Caleb concurrs with the rest.
“What the hell? Are you three actually agreeing on how much I’m not falling for your shit?”
Right when I’m about to slide under the booth and crawl my way out, Julian chooses that moment to bring our drinks.
“Here’s a large coffee for you, black,” he says, sliding the cup in front of Caleb, “an ice coffee for you with a shot of espresso, a green tea for the wolf, and a pumpkin spice latte for my favorite witch.”
Frowning at my drink, I look up at Julian confused. “You made a mistake. Do I look like a basic bitch to you?”
“It’s a special recipe I made just for you. I wanted you to try it,” he says nonchalantly. Then he goes and gives me a hopeful smile, and I’m putty in his hands. Why the hell can’t I stay mad at this guy?
“Fine,” I sigh. Looking down at my drink. I stare at the purple web design on top and think it’s an odd choice for a fall drink, but he did say he made it just for me, so maybe that’s why he chose the color purple. Plus, it really is pretty the way it blends into the drink like a work of art. Picking up the cup, I take a small testing sip. As soon as the liquid hits my tongue, I groan in pure bliss. This is the best drink I have ever tasted in my whole life. It’s nice and warm, the perfect thing to ward off the chill outside, and it goes down my throat nice and smooth, like a fine wine.