by Amy Boyles
“And it was love at first sight between us?”
“No. I tried to scratch your eyes out.”
“Oh.” I reeled back. “That doesn’t exactly sound pleasant.”
“It wasn’t. Not for you. But Axel was there and he calmed me down. He wanted to give up on me, but you convinced him that I was worth it. That you could see a diamond in the rough, as you called me.”
I nudged his shoulder. “And I guess you’re pretty loyal to me.”
“Let’s just put it this way, when you were crying about your love life, whose shoulder was it that got soaking wet?”
“Yours?”
“That’s right. It was me who put it all in perspective for you, helped you to see the truth that you needed at the time. You and Rufus have something special. So do you and Axel, but for some reason you chose Rufus over him.”
My stomach knotted.
“I’m not going to say it was easy. And it sure as heck wasn’t easy on Axel. He went a little werewolf after you dumped him. Thought you’d be together forever. I guess we all did.”
Ratchet’s gaze filled with sadness. “But in the end I think you made the right choice. I mean, you made the choice that was right for you.”
“And the unity ceremony? I understand it was my idea.”
“Of course it was,” he said.
“But why?”
Ratchet cocked a brow. He shook his head in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t even figure out why you would bond yourself to Rufus?”
“No. Other than the fact that I love him.”
“Don’t you get it?”
I shook my head.
Ratchet scoffed. He dropped to the floor and paced. “You really don’t see it. And I thought I could be dense sometimes.”
“Thank you. That’s not exactly a compliment.”
“Don’t look to me to blow sunshine up anyone’s butt.”
“Good to know,” I murmured.
Ratchet eyed me. “You know, when we met, I fought you, hard. I didn’t want to go with you, and I sure as heck didn’t want to stop eating those doughnuts. Axel didn’t like me, but he trusted you, your sixth sense. You used to trust yourself, too, but after the Head Witch Order arrived and Rufus confessed his feelings, all that changed.”
He scratched his chin. “Something about that guy messed with you. It was like you saw all the possibilities of life and you were freaking out about mating with Axel. Not that you had. Still,” he said bitterly, as if that had been an arduous process.
Which I suppose in hindsight it had been, as it had taken me forever to finally accept the whole mating-will-change-things-between-us scenario.
“When Rufus told you how he felt, you finally admitted feelings that you’d been carrying. I knew you had them. It was obvious. But it was also like Rufus gave you the okay to be with him.”
Ratchet paused. The weight of his words had started to crash on me, adding a certain heaviness that made my chest constrict. I felt like I had that stupid corset on again.
“You stopped trusting yourself, which bothered me. It was almost as if you used Rufus as an excuse to leave Axel, leave what you were so afraid of. Which I never understood. But anyway, you turned to Rufus with open arms, and of course he was glad to have you. Elated. It killed Axel, and he’s dealing with things as best he can, given the circumstances. But it was when Rufus asked you to marry him that you said you wanted the ceremony.”
I scoffed. “Well, that was a long-winded way to get back to the beginning of the conversation.”
Ratchet nodded. “Yes, it was. Gave you some time to get to know me, too. You wanted the unity ceremony, I think, because—you’ve never told me this, but I know you just about better than anyone. You wanted it because you don’t trust that you’re supposed to be with Rufus. Not one hundred percent. I know this because I believe…”
He had me on pins and needles. “You believe what?”
His eyes filled with sorrow. “I believe that you’re still in love with Axel and you’re afraid that if you wind up with Rufus, that you won’t truly love him, so you’re doing all that you can to make sure that doesn’t happen. That your feelings for Axel don’t get in the way.”
Well, that was a shock. I sat for a minute, digesting what Ratchet had told me.
He clapped his hands. “Now. You ready to go downstairs and grab some grub? I’m starving.”
Chapter 11
I sat beside Rufus at dinner. Across from me sat Cordelia and, on her left, Axel. Sherman sat by Amelia while Betty and Garrick each sat at the head and foot of the table.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room, and I prayed someone would break it soon.
“Great steaks, Garrick,” Betty said. “They’re even better than when I cook them in the cauldron and add liquid smoke.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“I think Sherman here can cook, too,” Amelia said.
Sherman dropped his knife. It hit the table. He grasped for it and managed to knock over his water glass. “Oh!”
Garrick pointed to the glass and righted it with magic before any of the liquid spilled out. “So you can cook, huh? What sort of things?”
There was no mistaking the tightness in his voice. Garrick glared at Sherman, and in response Sherman’s cheeks reddened.
“Oh, I don’t know. I can cook fish, ramen. That sort of stuff.”
“So no grilling,” Garrick said in an accusatory voice.
“No,” Sherman meekly admitted.
“Cordelia loves grilled food,” Amelia said.
My jaw dropped. What was she doing? Seriously? This wasn’t the plan. The plan was for everyone to stick to their own lane.
Stay in your lane, Amelia, I wanted to shout.
Garrick shot Amelia a tight smile. “I seem to remember that she does.”
Amelia dropped her chin to her palm. “Don’t any of y’all think it’s weird that we all just sort of swapped boyfriends?”
The room became eerily silent except for Ratchet. “Here we go.”
“I don’t think it’s strange,” Cordelia said quietly. “Sometimes things like this happen. It’s no big deal.”
Amelia broke her cornbread in two and slathered butter on it. “I think it’s strange. Take Garrick, for instance.”
Garrick’s expression fell. “Take me how?”
“Well,” Amelia said, “before you and Cordelia broke up, you never even looked at me.”
Garrick laughed as if that was the best joke he’d ever heard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I noticed you before. But I was already committed to Cordelia.”
“Nope.” Amelia popped a wedge of cornbread in her mouth and chewed. “That’s not true. When the two of y’all first met, it was pretty much love at first sight. I’d say”—she twirled her fork around in thought—“that once she ended things, you saw me as sort of a substitute Cordelia.”
Garrick shook his head emphatically. “No way. That’s not true.”
Betty glared at Amelia. “What’s this all about, kid?”
Amelia shrugged. “I’m just noticing some things is all. And that’s one of them.”
Betty pointed her knife at Amelia. “Keep it civil.”
“Yeah,” Cordelia added, “you don’t want to shake things up. Not things that aren’t supposed to be shaken, that is.”
Amelia sucked her teeth. “I’m not so sure some things aren’t supposed to be shaken.” She pinned her gaze on me. “And let’s take Pepper.”
“No,” I warned her. “Let’s not take Pepper.”
But Amelia didn’t stop. “You’re about to get married to a man who once tried to kill you. Kill you. Or if not kill you, suck your powers away and use them for himself. I would say that’s a huge change of heart. Wouldn’t you?”
Instinctively I grabbed Rufus’s hand and squeezed. I wouldn’t let Amelia mess things up for me. I still wanted to return home. I would play this game, I would do everything I was sup
posed to but I knew that part of me would always be Axel’s and no matter what, even if I was under the influence of seriously powerful magic, that wouldn’t change.
And the Pepper I’d replaced knew that. That was why she’d made sure that the ritual occurred. There was no other explanation for it.
“I love Rufus,” I said, even though it broke my heart to say it in front of Axel. “Plus it looks like everything has turned out well. Axel and Cordelia are in love.”
“Yes, we are.” Axel took her hand and kissed the inside of her palm. “Very much in love.”
Amelia zeroed in on our cousin. “Is that right, Cordelia?”
Every eye turned to Cordelia. Crimson tinged her cheeks. She opened her mouth to speak, but Garrick cut her off.
“Why don’t you just tell us all what’s really on your mind, Amelia?”
“Why don’t you not and say you did,” Betty said.
Amelia shrugged. “All I’m pointing out is that there’s a lot of weird stuff going on. That’s all. I mean, I love all of y’all, but it seems like we’re all forcing things a bit, don’t you think?”
“I’m not forcing anything,” Ratchet said. “The only thing I’m forcing is a great meal down my throat.”
Betty raised a glass of sweet tea. “Here, here. Let’s all enjoy our meal and”—she shot Amelia a pointed look—“let the rest of it go.”
The table settled into quiet until Sherman spoke up. “Pepper, are you excited about going to work for the High Witch Council?”
I cleared my throat. “Oh, I guess so. I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be doing. And I’m a little nervous about giving up my store.”
“It’ll be fine,” Rufus whispered. “She’ll be ready,” he directed to Sherman.
“Why don’t you let her speak for herself,” Axel said quietly.
Everyone stared at Axel. My real fiancé hiked a shoulder to his ear. “It just seems that if Pepper wants to say it’s fine, she’ll say it’s fine.”
Rufus’s jaw tightened. “Of course she will. It’s just that the two of us have had this conversation a lot. And we’d both decided this would work out for the best.”
“Then why not let her say it?” Axel prodded.
I could feel Rufus tense. “Of course it will be fine. It’s just a lot to get used to. That’s all.”
“See?” Axel said. “Was it so hard to let Pepper speak for herself?”
Rufus kicked back his chair and rose. “Is there something you’d like to discuss with me, wolf? Something private? Maybe something we should take outside?”
“Boys,” Betty warned. “Not here. Not tonight. Choices have been made. Destinies set. Fighting won’t make a difference.”
“No,” Axel said, “there isn’t anything I want to talk to you about. I just want to make sure Pepper has her own voice. I mean, obviously she does or else she wouldn’t have dumped me for you, but I hate to see that voice be swallowed by someone else.”
Rufus sneered. “For your information, I’m not swallowing anything.”
“Good to know.” Axel lifted his fork. “Now. Why don’t we all get back to enjoying this delicious meal?”
Rufus stared at Axel for another beat before glancing down at me and letting the tension melt away. He righted his chair and sat.
My gaze darted to Cordelia, who cocked an eyebrow as if to say, We’ll never have another one of these get-togethers again. I couldn’t agree more. This evening hinted at disaster. I only hoped it didn’t get worse.
That’s when Amelia spoke again.
“All I’m saying is, what if there was an alternate universe? One where, I don’t know, Sherman and I were dating and maybe Garrick and Cordelia were still together and maybe Pepper and Axel never broke up. In fact, what if it was Pepper and Axel’s wedding we were about to celebrate and not the one to Rufus?”
Betty’s face became bright as a beet. “But that’s not what we’re celebrating. We’re celebrating Pepper and Rufus.”
Amelia hitched a shoulder. “I know. I’m just saying there are other possibilities out there.”
Garrick wiped his mouth and tossed his napkin onto the table. “That would never happen.”
Now Garrick had the ball in his court. He shook his head. “Cordelia isn’t ready to get serious about anybody. It didn’t matter who it was. I don’t mean anything bad, Axel; all I’m saying is that we disagreed on some of the major issues of our relationship. Things that couldn’t be resolved with space and time. Things that meant we could go no farther.”
“You pushed me where you shouldn’t have pushed me,” Cordelia said. “If you’d only been patient, things might’ve been different.”
Anger flared in Garrick’s eyes. “We’d dated plenty long enough to be committed to each other. You just didn’t want to do it because you had reservations about me.”
She shook her head. “I never had any reservations about you. I was only afraid because the idea of moving any faster scared me.”
“And I was ready,” he argued.
“And I wasn’t,” she shouted.
Cordelia glanced around the table with an embarrassed expression on her face. She clutched her silverware and took another slice from her steak.
“It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. You can’t change the past. All you can do is move to the future. Besides,” she murmured, “I’ve decided my issues aren’t anything anymore. That if the right person was asking, I’d be willing to go the extra mile for them.”
“Thank goodness for that,” Ratchet said sarcastically. “I thought we’d never make it out of fantasyland in this meal.”
Garrick threaded his fingers together and propped his elbows on the table. He stared at Cordelia and then glanced at Amelia, who was whispering something to Sherman.
Garrick picked up his plate and rose. “I’m done. Anyone want dessert? I believe Betty made a cobbler.”
No one said anything, and it didn’t seem to matter. The energy in the room had soured. Garrick disappeared into the kitchen.
Cordelia glared at Amelia. “Aren’t you going to talk to him?”
Amelia looked confused. “Why? I wasn’t the one who got into an argument with him about our past relationship.”
Cordelia looked horrified. She quickly glanced at Axel, whose expression was unreadable.
“Well, somebody better get in there and talk to him,” Betty snapped.
Axel dropped his napkin on his plate. “I’ll do it. Man to man.” He winked at Cordelia. “That’ll help.”
When Axel disappeared into the kitchen, Rufus chuckled uncomfortably. “I would say I’d help, but I’m afraid the wolf and I might end up breaking dishes.”
“No one expects you to run in there,” I said. “It’s okay.”
Betty’s gaze landed on Cordelia, Amelia and I in turn. “Is everyone finished with dinner? They should be out soon with the cobbler.”
We nodded and she magicked our plates away. “Pepper, how do you feel after partaking in the blood part of the union?”
I squirmed. “Well, it felt good.” I sensed Rufus’s gaze on me. “It felt great, actually.” I grabbed his arm and braced it against my chest. “Perfect. Like this was always meant to be.”
Ratchet coughed as if to call bull crap on my statement. I fired off a look of warning to him.
Cordelia clapped her hands. “So who’s ready for dessert? Can’t wait to taste it.”
A moment later Garrick and Axel entered with dessert plates piled high with peach cobbler and ice cream.
Betty spooned a heaping serving toward her mouth. “Can’t have cobbler without ice cream, I always say.”
I dug into my food, too, happy for the distraction from an otherwise fully loaded meal.
When it was over, I walked Rufus onto the porch. He raked his fingers through my hair and kissed my forehead.
“Only a few more days until we’re married and we can leave all this drama behind.”
I took his hands in mine and smiled up a
t him. “Yep. It’ll be so soon.”
The unity potion was working again, tugging on my emotions and making me forget all about anything but Rufus.
He pulled me into an embrace. “The next ceremony tomorrow will join us even more.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Me neither,” he murmured in my hair. After several seconds he sighed and released me. “Until then.”
I smiled and looked up at him. “Until then.”
He walked down the steps and, with a flourish of magic, vanished. I stood for a moment, leaning against a post and petting Jenny the guard-vine.
The voice that came from the side of the porch, the part drenched in darkness, surprised me.
“Interesting conversation tonight.”
I turned and smiled at Axel. “Yes, it sure was.”
He took a step forward and landed in the middle of a moonbeam. Light illuminated his face, making his flesh appear milky.
“Do you have a minute?” he asked. “I’d like to speak to you.”
My heart drummed as I replied. “For you? I sure do.”
Chapter 12
“What did you think about that? What Amelia said.”
Axel took another step forward and rested his forearm against the column beside me. He stared at the night sky as if he was speculating on the greater questions of the universe instead of asking me what I thought about our relationship.
Which was what he was asking, wasn’t it?
His musky scent wafted up my nose, and I inhaled. Oh, how I wanted to wrap myself in it, in him and inhale deeply.
But the thought warred with my feelings for Rufus, which were blooming inside me like a rose.
“Which part that she said?” I asked, trying to bide time.
“The part about how in another place we might all have ended up with different partners.”
I shied from the conversation. “Why did we break up, you and I?”
He scoffed. “You want to go through that again?”
I folded my arms, warding off a chill that swept over the porch. “Did I give you any warnings, I mean? Anything that suggested I wasn’t happy?”
He looked at me then. For the first time since I’d arrived, I felt the full weight of his animal stare. The primal beast inside Axel wanted to leap from him and take over. I felt it with every bone in my body.
