Couture and Curses

by Danielle Garrett

I shrugged. “My parents thought I would grow into it, but I’m still waiting and I’ll be thirty-one next month.”

  “Well, at least they didn’t have to worry about you setting your house on fire or making the family dog sprout wings.” Meryl smiled and shook her head. “It’s a wonder any of us survived my toddlerhood.”

  I smiled. “With Harmony, my sister, you just had to be careful to ask what was being served at one of her tea parties.”

  Meryl laughed. “I’ll bet!”

  We reached an intersection and Meryl asked me for my address. For a moment, I considered asking her to drive us to the hospital for a quick visit with Aurelia before heading to my place, but I didn’t want to risk getting her in trouble with Caleb. She seemed like a sweet girl and didn’t deserve to get tangled up in the battle of wills between me and her boss.

  When she had the address, she made a left turn and drove on instinct. GPS signals and WiFi didn’t exactly work within the bubble of charms and protection wards draped over the secret city within a city. Things were changing slowly, and technology and magic were learning to cooperate, but it wasn’t yet a staple in haven life the way it was in the human world. Supernaturals still relied on newspapers and wall calendars and good old fashioned pen and paper as opposed to smart phones and tablets.

  An SPA agent like Meryl would have the Seattle Haven mapped in her brain from months or years or patrolling its streets, no GPS needed. Within a few minutes, we were across town and idling in front of my building.

  Meryl let out a low whistle. “This is a pretty posh building. What is it you do for work, again?”

  I laughed at her unabashed question. “I’m a wedding planner. I work for A Touch of Magic Events.”

  “Oh? I’ve heard of them before. My sister hired them to plan her baby shower last summer.”

  “That’s nice. I hope she was happy with it.”

  “She was.” Meryl smiled. “I didn’t realize how many details went into planning something like that. When it was all said and done, I was glad I’d been away at training and unable to throw the party for her. If left to me, I think the guests would have been underwhelmed by a few bags of chips, some BBQ, and a roll of pink and blue streamers.”

  Offering a reassuring smile, I said, “I’m sure you would have figured it out on your own.”

  Meryl pulled a face and then smiled. “Maybe.”

  “We can give your keys to the concierge and have them move the car into the underground lot,” I told her, opening my door.

  “Oh,” Meryl paused, her expression suddenly nervous. “I’m not really supposed to let anyone else drive it, government issued and all that.”

  “Oh. Okay. Tell you what, go ahead and park and then check in at the desk. I’ll let them know it’s okay to send you up.”

  Meryl hesitated and I flashed her a wry smile. “I’m not going to get kidnapped in the next five minutes. Caleb’s just being paranoid.”

  She relaxed somewhat, but still looked uneasy over the suggestion as I got out of the SUV and shut the passenger door.

  Honestly, what did she think was going to happen?

  Chapter 13

  I hurried upstairs, hoping Harmony would be home. I hadn’t seen her since our argument the night before. It wasn’t unusual for us to go a day or two without seeing each other. With the way our schedules were set up, we were passing ships in the night more often than not, but whenever we argued, the span between appearances seemed more pointed somehow. I wanted to make amends. Ramona’s murder had brought into sharp perspective just how short and unpredictable life could be. Harmony could grate on my nerves like no one else, but she was my sister and she deserved an apology.

  Patrick, my next door neighbor, sat outside his front door in a folding lawn chair. He had a pair of headphones on and appeared to be napping. What in the Otherworld?

  I cleared my throat. No response.

  “Patrick?” I called. “Paaaaatrick?”

  Finally, I took a step closer and poked him in the arm. He woke with a start, nearly toppling out of his chair. “Oh, hey, Anastasia! Sorry, was I snoring?”

  “Um … no … but what are you doing out here? Did you get locked out again?”

  Patrick was a bit of a lush and often came home in a stupor and forgot how to release the security wards on his own front door. I’d been his knight in fuzzy dragon slippers on more than one occasion.

  “Oh, no,” he said, swiveling around, as if only just realizing his surroundings. “I’m not locked out. At least, not on accident.”

  “Huh?”

  “I have a colony of dust sprites and the exterminator said I can’t go in for the next six hours until the repellant spell wears off.”

  I stared at him, slack-jawed. “So, you’re just going to sit out here in the hallway for six hours?”

  Patrick shrugged. “When I made the appointment a week ago, Harmony said we could hang out to pass the time, but she didn’t answer the door when I knocked.”

  Guilt washed over me. “I’m sorry, Patrick. I’m afraid that’s my fault.”

  I reached up and whirled my finger through the pattern to release the security ward on my own door and then jerked my head toward it. “Come on. You can wait inside. I was thinking about ordering something for dinner. What sounds good?”

  Patrick got up, folded his chair, and leaned it up against the wall before scuttling into my living room. “Thanks, Ana. This is really cool of you.”

  “It’s not a problem. A little company might be just what I need.”

  “What happened to Harmony? You two aren’t fighting again, are you?”

  I stopped short of the kitchen and turned to look at him. “She told you about that?”

  “Sure.” He plopped down on the sofa, his expression blank. “It was a while ago, not too long after she moved in, I guess. I figured things were getting better though.”

  I sighed. “They were.”

  “You wanna talk about it? People say I’m a pretty good listener.”

  I smiled politely and then went into the kitchen. “How about we order some food first? My dinner plans got derailed and I’m starving. You hungry?”

  Patrick and I debated the merits of the local eateries and finally ordered enchiladas from some hole in the wall place I’d never even heard of before. Patrick was something of a foodie. He had an extensive rooftop garden on the top of our building and cooked with his own fresh, organic herbs and vegetables on a regular basis. When he went out to eat, he preferred eclectic and authentic over anything that even hinted at belonging to a franchise or chain.

  I made sure we ordered enough food for three in case Meryl wanted something to eat. When I hung up the phone, I looked at my front door and wondered what was keeping her. Parking could be a nightmare but the building had its own underground lot. With her SPA credentials, I couldn’t imagine she’d be denied a spot by the attendant.

  Shrugging it off, I poured two generous glasses of wine and sat beside Patrick on the sofa, leaving the center cushion as a buffer zone. He’d never expressed a romantic interest in me, though I’d wondered if he’d had his heart set on Harmony. The pair had hit it off not too long after Harmony’d moved in and they spent a lot of time together. Harmony assured me her side was purely platonic, but I wasn’t sure if Patrick had received the memo.

  “Any idea where Harmony would be if she’s not at work tonight?” I asked, swirling my glass.

  “I’m not sure,” Patrick answered, pensive as he stared into his own glass. “Maybe she picked up a shift and forgot to call. She’s like that sometimes.”

  I snorted. “Don’t have to tell me.”

  “What did you two argue about this time?”

  “I don’t even know,” I said with a heavy sigh. “Caleb and I were here watching a movie, and she burst in, talking a mile a minute about some club opening, and then spoiled the end of the movie. It was stupid. I don’t know why I got so worked up about it, to be honest.”

  “You’re fam
ily,” Patrick said with a shrug. “Grating on each other’s nerves is baked in.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, well in our case it’s twice baked and then charbroiled.”

  Patrick laughed and the levity of it surprised me. Despite being neighbors for nearly two years, we’d never spent this much time together before. A few late night—or, early morning, depending on how one looked at it—bail outs and occasional pleasantries in passing. That was it.

  I rationalized that because I spent so much of my time exchanging small talk, schmoozing, and talking on the phone making and changing reservations and placing orders, that in my personal life, I liked to keep talking and interaction to a minimum. Sure, I had my work friends. We made a point to get dinner once a month, every six weeks tops, but up until Harmony moved in, I usually came home to Peaches. I’d curl up with a good book or a true crime TV show before crashing out and doing it all over again the following day.

  Harmony’s arrival, as inconvenient and annoying as it was at times, had changed me, and as I sat there with Patrick, sipping wine and smiling, I realized just how much the change was for the better.

  “You want me to call her?” Patrick asked.

  I considered his offer, my lips twisted to one side.

  The doorbell buzzed and I jumped up to answer it. “That’ll be our dinner!”

  Purse in hand, I opened the door only to find Meryl, not the takeout driver. I frowned and dropped my purse back on the entryway table. The SPA agent hadn’t come empty handed though. Somewhere between the parking lot and my condo on the sixth floor, she’d found a clear vase filled with white and purple roses. “What’s this?” I asked, gesturing at the arrangement.

  “ I went to see the concierge like you said, and there was a delivery guy waiting ahead of me. When he said he had a delivery for you, I stepped in and offered to bring it up.” She looked down at the arrangement. “Were you expecting these?”

  I shook my head. “I was expecting enchiladas.”

  Poking through the foliage in search of a note, I carried the bouquet into the living room. Patrick whistled. “Those are nice! Though I was hoping for chips and salsa.”

  “There’s no card,” I said, fishing through the stems to double check I hadn’t missed it during my slow shuffle back into the room. “I mean, I assume they’re from Caleb, but it’s so late. What flower market is delivering this hour?”

  “Um … hello?” Patrick said, leaning over slightly to look past me.

  I glanced over my shoulder and realized Meryl was still standing awkwardly in the doorway. “You can come in,” I told her. “We ordered enough food for three. Uh, Patrick, this is Meryl. Meryl, Patrick.”

  “I’m with the SPA,” Meryl said, sweeping into the room. She closed the door and checked the security peephole. “What’s the ward?”

  From the kitchen, I called out the spell and the magic chimed to let us know the door was secured. I filled the vase to the brim with water and added in a little pinch of some powder my friend Holly Boldt had sent along with a delivery of flowers she’d sent to celebrate my promotion to wedding planner. She said the powder was an invention she’d come up with in partnership with the local florist and was supposed to double the life of floral arrangements. I’d pointed out that a florist shouldn’t want the flowers to last longer as it would effectively cut business in half. In any case, the stuff worked, and the small container was likely enough to last me half a decade.

  “Maybe they missed the delivery during their regular route and circled back around to drop them off?” Patrick suggested.

  Frowning, I carried the vase to the dining room and placed it on the table, adjusting it back and forth before finally leaving it alone. “Maybe,” I replied. “Just seems strange. Whenever Caleb sends flowers, he has a note and he always makes a point to ask if I received the delivery. He ruins his own surprise more often than not.” I smiled and then wrapped my arms around myself.

  Something about the arrangement felt off.

  “So, are you a friend of Caleb’s?” Patrick asked Meryl in a conversational tone.

  “He’s my boss,” Meryl answered.

  I could feel her eyes on me. “Anastasia, are you—”

  Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered and a needling sensation prickled at the bare skin on my arms. My stomach churned as my gaze ping-ponged around the living room.

  A howl of wind gusted in from nowhere, drowning Meryl’s voice, and then the shadow man stood before me. He didn’t have eyes, but I somehow felt seen all the same. A low rumble filled the room. “Ramona was warned. And now, you have been too. Stay out of my business, Anastasia, or you’ll end up like her.”

  As quickly as it appeared, it vanished, leaving me shaking so hard my teeth knocked together.

  Chapter 14

  I was still shaking when Caleb arrived at my condo with a contingent of agents in tow. “Ana!” he called, racing forward. I wobbled as I stood from the sofa where I’d sat, being plied with tea by a nervous Patrick. Caleb wrapped me in his arms, apparently not caring that his agents were looking on from a couple feet away. His hand cradled the back of my head. “Are you all right? Did you black out?”

  “No,” I whispered, then cleared my throat and tried again. “No, not this time.”

  “Good.”

  Meryl appeared at Caleb’s side, her hands linked together in front of her. “Boss, I don’t know what to say.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” I insisted. The young agent had been beating herself up over being the one to bring the flower arrangement into my home. Both Patrick and I had assured her she couldn’t have known, but we couldn’t shake her tail-tucked demeanor.

  “Please,” Caleb said, a pained look on his face as he addressed Meryl, “just get her some water or something.”

  “She really couldn’t have known,” I said, lowering my voice once Meryl had scooted off.

  Caleb nodded. “I know.”

  Commotion at the front door sounded. “Stace! Caleb! Tell them to let me through!”

  Harmony. My heart jumped.

  Caleb turned away from me and gestured at his agents. “She’s fine, let her through.”

  Harmony skidded into the room, her shoes sliding on the wood floors. Her peaches-and-cream complexion had drained of all its usual color, making her red lips look vampy by contrast. “Stace?” she squeaked.

  “I’m okay,” I said. She surged forward and crushed me in an embrace that could almost rival Caleb’s even though he likely had a hundred pounds—and some pretty serious biceps—over her. The fragrance of her perfume comforted me and my trembling stopped. “I’m so glad you’re here,” I said into her hair.

  She nodded, a small sob breaking free as she clung even tighter.

  When we broke apart, I turned back to face Patrick, who stood awkwardly off to one side, his palms flat against his thighs. “When did you call her?” I asked.

  “He didn’t,” Caleb interjected.

  I glanced at Harmony and she nodded. “Caleb called when he was on the way over.”

  My heart tripped, skipping a beat, and I smiled gratefully at the man I was falling for a little more each and every day. “Thank you.”

  He inclined his chin and then signaled for his agents. “Knapp, take Patrick’s statement. Posen, search the apartment. Ruiz, take a look at the bouquet. See if you can find a trail or signature of whatever kind of magic this is. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”

  The trio of agents snapped into action and Caleb led me to the kitchen. Meryl handed me a glass of water and I took it with a weak smile. “Thank you.”

  Caleb jerked his head in the direction of the living room. “Agent Miller, a word.”

  They exited the kitchen and Harmony opened the cupboards, searching for something, her brows furrowed. “Do you need anything, Stace? Maybe tea would be better than water. Where’s that stuff Holly sent? It smells like tar but really takes the edge off.”

  I shook my head. “I’m okay. Really
. It was just a bit of a shock.”

  “Just a bit?” Harmony repeated, brows practically in her hairline.

  I tried to smile, but it wavered and fell away quickly.

  “Here it is!” Harmony announced, pulling a ceramic pot from the back of a cupboard. “I’ll put some water on.”

  I didn’t argue.

  Caleb returned after a few minutes and tucked an arm around my waist. “I’d like to move you to an SPA safe house until we get to the bottom of these attacks.”

  “Is that really necessary?” Harmony asked.

  Caleb’s eyes roved over the kitchen, as if expecting a chupacabra to fling itself out of a cupboard.

  I followed his steely gaze, wondering if it were possible. Well, not the chupacabra part, but was there still some remnant of the shadow man lingering in my home?

  “Would I still be able to go into the office?” I asked.

  Caleb’s jaw tightened and I had my answer.

  “I can’t afford to miss any more time,” I told him. “CeeCee only has a couple of weeks left. I have a million things to do before she leaves and I’m stuck with Kait.” I frowned, realizing how petty it sounded. Apparently, the upside to being hunted by a magical boogeyman was that it threw my other grievances into perspective.

  “I’ll arrange a protective detail,” Caleb said after a moment. He returned his gaze to mine, apparently satisfied the kitchen cupboards weren’t concealing danger. “If you agree to let them accompany you to work and any events, then I’m more or less comfortable letting you leave the safe house.”

  “Can I have Meryl?” I asked.

  A hint of a smile tugged at his firm lips. “I should have known you two would hit it off.”

  “I like her, and after this whole thing, I think she needs a win,” I said.

  Harmony held up a finger. “Sorry, but who are we talking about?”

  “One of my junior agents,” Caleb replied. “She’s a former SPA warden. I had her accompany Ana home tonight.”

  “Ah.”

  I looked past him to the scene in my living room. Patrick was on the sofa, giving his statement to one agent while the other two prowled around, casting wards and spells over every inch. “Why isn’t she here now?” I asked, shifting my attention back to Caleb. “Maybe she could see what’s going on here.”