by ERIN BEDFORD
“Miss Maxine.” Charlie appeared in the library door. “You have a visitor.”
Ian appeared in the doorway behind Charlie, his hands in his pockets and looking as delectable as ever. “Man, I thought my parents had a lot of books.”
I smiled from my seat in the library. “What are you doing here?” I threw my legs over the chair, planting my feet on the floor. I met him in the middle of the room, my arms going around his neck.
“I thought you might need some cheering up.” He brushed his nose against mine, his lips snipping at mine. “I heard about your dress. I’m sorry.” Ian’s hand slid up my waist and cupped my shoulders pulling me closer. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? Maybe in the clothing optional category?”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Well, I don’t think my grandmother would be too happy if I defiled her library.” I skimmed my eyes over the room, unable to help how my eyes landed on several potential surfaces Ian and I could get naked on. I still hadn’t forgotten about the piercing in Ian’s pants. My eyes dipped to the zipper of his pants and I was tempted. Oh, so tempted.
“Well, that’s what beds are for...” Ian drew out, but before I could contemplate those thoughts, he smirked. “However, I think I have something else in mind. Sadly, it requires clothes.”
Smiling, I cocked my head to the side. “Oh? Really? And what’s that?”
“Well,” Ian released me, taking my hand and leading me out of the library, “I figured since you already had a new dress, the only thing I could offer you is a little revenge.”
“Revenge?”
Ian led me to the front door, opening it to reveal his motorcycle. “What do you say? Want to go for a ride?” The way he said it made it clear he was talking about more than just the motorcycle.
“Sure, give me a second.” I held a finger up and released his hand. Running up the stairs, I ran to my room and grabbed my shoes. On the way back to the front, I came across my grandfather.
“Oh, good. I was meaning to talk to you.” My grandfather took his glasses off and gestured with them as he spoke. “This whole incident with your dress, and the catering—”
“And the music,” I reminded him with a grimace.
“Yes.” He inclined his head. “I hate to even bring this up, but I feel as if maybe someone does not want you to have this party. Can you think of anyone who would want that?”
I almost blurted out Sabrina but then stopped myself. Pressing my lips closed, I shook my head. “Nope. No one.”
“Hmm. Well, I’ll think on it. Your grandmother and I do have our fair share of enemies, but none that would care so much about something like this.” His eyes glazed over obviously in thought.
“Alright,” I drew out, my head turning toward the stairs. “Well, I have to get going. Ian’s taking me out.”
“Oh, yes. Yes. Of course.” He nodded, waving me off. “Have a good time. Don’t stay out too late. Don’t want you dragging your feet tomorrow.”
“I won’t and thanks.” I darted past him and down the stairs before my grandmother or anyone else could stop me. Grinning like a fiend, I accepted the motorcycle helmet Ian offered me and threw my leg over his bike. “So, where to?”
Revving the engine, Ian smirked over his shoulder. “How about a little breaking and entering?”
I stared at his back, a surprised laugh coming out.
I held on tight, enjoying the feel of the motorcycle between my thighs and Ian’s delicious abs beneath my fingers. There’s a reason guys with motorcycles are called bad boys. All that vibration and touching? It’d make a nun frisky.
By the time we arrived at our destination, I was more than ready to do that clothing optional thing Ian had suggested before. That was until I saw where we were. Madame Lace’s.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, climbing off the bike. I handed the helmet over to Ian and he turned off the bike.
Ian ran a hand through his hair, making it fall effortlessly back into place. I bet he used magic to get such perfect hair. “I thought you might want to find out who destroyed your dress.”
My lower lip pushed out, my brows scrunching together. “How are we going to do that? My mom told me Madame Lace outsources her security and it would take a day or so to get the evidence we need.”
Giving me a sly wink, Ian grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the building. “That’s the beauty of being a wizard.”
I snickered and let him bring me to the side door of the building where a door reading Staff Only stood. “So, do you know how to pick a lock?”
Ian rolled his eyes. “Humans.”
“Hey,” I poked him in the rib, “I resent that. My best friend is a human and I can’t help it if I don’t know. Just use a spell or whatever before we get caught.”
I eyeballed the empty parking lot, expecting someone to jump out at us at any moment yelling, “Gotcha.” Aris didn’t seem bothered, but that wasn’t really a relief. That ball of light was about as useless as a g-string.
“Aren’t there like alarm spells for this kind of thing?” I gestured at the building.
Ian glanced over his shoulder from where he stared at the lock. “Yes, which is why I need to concentrate. Shush.”
I pursed my lips, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched him. After a few moments, I got tired of waiting. “Are you done yet?”
“Shh.” He held a hand up the universal sign to be quiet and then, not a second later, cursed. “Fuck.”
“Can’t break it?” I asked, raising a brow. “I thought you were in the Dark Arts program. Isn’t that all about doing crap like this?”
Ian stood. “No, it’s not. It has nothing to do with breaking locks or laws or any of the stuff you think it is. Regardless, I’d be able to break this spell if I had the right tools.”
“I thought you didn’t need to pick it?” I couldn’t help the smug grin on my lips.
“I wouldn’t normally, but it seems Madame Lace is a bit more paranoid than the average witch.” He scratched the back of his head. “She locked the door with an anti-thief spell and normal locks. I can’t magic it open with a simple spell. It has to be unlocked and dispelled at the same time.”
I frowned, my eyes scanning around the door and landing on a very obvious rock on the ground next to an empty coffee tin being used as an ash tray. I grinned, moving toward it.
“No way,” I muttered to myself. Picking the rock up, I turned it over. I found the latch to the bottom of the hide-a-key and pushed it open. Pulling the key out, I turned back around and held it up. “How much you want to bet this goes to that door?”
Shaking his head in disbelief, Ian inched back over to the door with me. “Okay, so I have to do the spell at the same time you turn the key. We have to be perfectly in sync or we’ll set off the alarm.”
Taking a deep breath, I shifted into position. Sliding the key in, Ian stood behind me, his body heat on my back as he prepared to do the spell. His mouth sat at my ear, his hot breath on my skin. “Feel for magic.”
As soon as he said the words, I could feel the tell-tale sign of magic, brushing my skin and running down my arms. It took a quick detour to caress my inner thigh, making me giggle before moving down my arm and into the hand holding the key.
Just before he spoke, I felt the magic slip out of my hand. “Now.” I turned the key and held my breath half expecting the alarm to sound but all that I heard was the door lock clicking.
“See? We make a great team.”
We pushed the door open and quietly snuck inside the building. It was dark and kind of creepy with all the lights off. The mannequins standing around in the back made it even worse, like they would come alive at any moment.
“Ugh.” I shuddered. “So, weird.”
“What is?” Ian looked over at me, his hands holding a pair of garters.
Rolling my eyes, I snatched the garters from his hands. “Stop touching stuff, you pervert. I mean the store. It’s disturbing like this. Like s
omeone’s weird idea of a haunted house.”
An arm slid around my waist and I was jerked against Ian’s side. “Are you scared? You can hold onto me. I’ll protect you.” His magic slid down my arm and flicked my nipple.
Flushing, I pushed him away. “Knock it off. I thought we’re here for revenge? I’m not screwing you in here, so you might as well get it out of your head.”
Pouting, Ian dropped his arm. “Fine, ruin my fun.” He strolled through the back room, his eyes searching around. “We’ll need to cast a spell to see the unseen.”
“Huh?”
“You do want to know who messed up your dress, right?” Ian peeked over his shoulder.
I nodded.
“Then do as I say.” He clapped his hands together the sound echoing in the room, an unsettling silence falling over the area. “Close your eyes.”
I started to do as he asked but then paused. “You’re not going to do anything weird, are you?”
Ian rolled his eyes. “Ye of little faith.”
Sighing, I did as he asked. “Now what?”
“Reach out with your magic now. Imagine it is like a blanket of power touching every inch of the room. Search for what you need. Something to tie the person to your dress.” I reached for the ball of light inside of me then flattened and stretched it, pushing it out around me. “Now, open your eyes. What do you see?”
Blinking, I slowly peeked out from beneath my lashes. The room was coated in yellow light, almost so bright that it hurt my eyes. I skimmed around looking for something, anything that would link someone to the destruction of my dress. “I don’t... wait a second... what’s that?” I pointed a finger at a single glowing red strand of string, which was standing out from the rest of the yellow light. No, hair. I pushed past Ian and bent down to pick it up. “How will this help us?”
Ian plucked the hair from my hands and dropped it into a tube of liquid. Where the hell had that come from? I didn’t get the chance to ask, my eyes focused on the liquid as he swirled it around the hair inside swimming around. Before my eyes, the contents of the tube changed colors from clear to dark blue.
“As I suspected.” Ian closed his eyes and bopped his head.
“What?” I grabbed the tube from him. “What did you suspect?”
“That it was a witch.”
“Well, duh.” I shook my head. “We are in a witch shop. And besides, a guy would never bother to mess with my dress. They aren’t that vindictive.”
“You know a lot of guys?” Ian arched a brow, making me blush.
“Well, no, not really, just, you know. Guys are usually pretty upfront when they don’t like someone. They’re not likely to go around sabotaging someone like this.” I waved a hand around the room. “But seriously, we went to all this trouble just to find out something I already knew?” I blew out a hard breath. “Lame.”
Ian snatched the tube back from my hand. “Don’t sell me short yet. I’m not done.” He uncorked the top as I curiously watched on. Holding his hand out, he poured the contents into his hand, and then blew on it. The liquid transformed into a cloud of air, floating around in the air before us.
“What’s that?” I gaped at the cloud.
“Just watch.” Ian placed his hand on my head and forced my head to face the cloud. The inner part of the cloud warped, the gassy insides converting into an image of a person. “There.” He lifted his hand off my head. “There’s your answer.”
I gaped at the cloud, not believing what I was seeing. “M...Monica?” She’s the one who ruined my dress? But why?
Chapter 17
I couldn’t feel my tongue. I’d been sitting at the breakfast table for over ten minutes, and everything I’d put in my mouth had no flavor.
Eggs? Nothing. Toast? Nada. Even my coffee went down without my usual need for cream and sugar. I blamed it on the stress of it all. It had hindered my ability to process any information today.
Today. It was today. In a few short hours. My coming out party.
The day I would be announced to the magical community had come, far faster than I had expected. Okay, so that was a lie. It had been beaten into me every day since the day I agreed to have a coming out party.
With one disaster after another causing all kinds of havoc on my life, it wasn’t hard to remember the whole point of it all.
All my problems had been fixed. The food was being taken care of by Aidan’s parents, who I hadn’t even had a chance to meet yet. I couldn’t really picture what they would look like. The only adjective I could think of was... tall. One or both of them had to be huge to have a kid like Aidan.
I wondered if they were quiet too, or if he was quiet because they were loud? Also, did they have the same powers as him? Like was it hereditary or was it some rare ability that only one in a million magical babies acquired? It probably wasn’t a good idea to ask about it right off the bat though.
Dealing with parents wasn’t hard for me, not usually. Jaron’s parents had been pleasant. I mean they weren’t the Brady Bunch, but they weren’t rude by any means. Callie’s parents were divorced so they were always on their best behavior when I was over with Callie, each of them trying their hardest to buy their daughter’s affection. Of course, Callie bathed in the attention and gifts. Sometimes those gifts passed onto me, and who was I to look a gift Gucci in the mouth?
I figured I’d meet the Templars when they came to set up for the party after lunch. I just hoped Aidan was there to make it a bit less awkward. Or, wait, would that make it even more awkward?
“You’re thinking too hard,” my grandmother’s voice interrupted my thoughts. She stared at me over her teacup from her side of the table. “You’re going to make yourself break out. It runs in the family. One ounce of stress and our skin revolts against us. It’s rather unpleasant.”
I gave her a weak smile. “Sorry, just worried about what else could go wrong.” I held my tongue and didn’t tell her that I suspected Monica behind it all. No need to bring it to light if I didn’t know for sure.
“Well, don’t. You have faced several problems already and came out more or less on top.” My grandfather sat down his Daily Scribe on the table in front of him. The front page had an image of both of them with me sitting between them. The reporter had stopped by yesterday for the coming out announcement. If I’d known it was going to be on the front page, I might have smiled more.
Fortunately, my grandfather was right. Besides, the food, the music was being taken care of by Trina’s older sister, Belinda. My dress had been saved by cousin Addy and was currently sitting up in my room with so many magic wards on it, the White House would be easier to break into.
Addy was staying at my parents but would come to help me with my hair and make up a bit later. She said something about not wanting to face the dragon before she had to. I deciphered dragon as my grandmother. Why did Addy think grandmother was a dragon?
“I need quite a bit more tequila to tell that story,” Addy had told me when I’d asked.
Unfortunately, while my ducks were moving into a dutiful line, my biggest issue right now was my eyelids. I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night. I kept thinking about Monica and why she would want to mess with my dress. I didn’t have to guess how she knew about it. She had seen me in the dress with Sabrina. Did Sabrina make her do it?
God, I was tired. If my hand weren’t holding my face up, I’d fall nose first into my plate. The last thing I needed was a bruised nose to go with my drooping lids.
“After breakfast, we should go to the ballroom and supervise the decorations,” my grandmother continued as if everything had already been decided. “If you let those know-it-all goblins set everything up, you’ll end up with the chandeliers on the dance floor and the ice sculpture on the ceiling.”
“Goblins?” I arched a brow, thinking I was too sleep deprived to have heard her right.
“Oh, that’s right.” My grandmother put her teacup down, patting her lips with her napkin. “You haven’t met a
ny goblins yet have you?”
“Uh...” I tried to recall my recent encounter with goblins and could only remember the feel of Aidan’s fingers thrusting deep inside of me. I hide my heated face behind my coffee cup, shaking my head. “Not really no.”
“Well,” my grandmother stood from her chair, “I will let you in on a little secret. The best way to deal with them is to not.”
“Huh?”
“Come with me.” She crooked a finger, and I climbed to my sock-covered feet. I hadn’t even bothered to dress properly, just yoga pants and baggy t-shirts. Of course, grandmother had given me a once-over with a disapproving glower but kept her mouth shut as far as commenting. She was probably too happy that the party was finally here to pick at my outfit.
I allowed grandmother to lead me through the dining room and into the hallway. We went past the library and into the long hallway I’d already gotten lost in five times. There were so many doors that it wasn’t hard. I couldn’t imagine how it was going to be for the party tonight.
“Is everyone going to come this way?” I asked as we made our way into the ballroom.
My grandmother had been right. The room was already full of life. Goblins, the short creatures like the ones from Aidan’s house raced around the room, each of them with different things in their arms. Flowers. Plates. Even a live swan. It squawked at us.
“Make sure you put that out in the yard.” My grandmother waved a hand at the goblin and then turned back to me. “The hallway will be spelled, so the walk is shorter. We wouldn’t want the guests to get lost, now would we?”
I chuckled along with her. Then she was on the move again. Socks sliding across the floor, I had to take small steps to keep myself from falling on my ass. Thankfully, my grandmother’s attention was on the flower arrangements and not my ungraceful steps.
The ballroom was everything I had imagined it would be. Large columns led up to a vaulted ceiling. The dome above had been charmed so that during the day it showed a painted ceiling full of laughing and dancing cherubs actually moving around on the ceiling, and then turned transparent at night. Several large chandeliers floated unchained to the rafters, their gleaming jewels turning slowly in a circle.