by Shona Husk
“It’s not a curse…plus Peyton would’ve sensed that,” Oskar said.
“She doesn’t have magic. But there is magic around her.” Peyton studied the chalk cloud. “Maybe she’s under a spell?”
Mason nodded and reached out. The approximation exploded, sending dust to the edges of the circle, but it couldn’t cross the threshold. That wasn’t normal either. Someone didn’t want them finding anything else out.
Mason wiped the dust from his face and dropped the circle. “She may not be a witch, but she isn’t human either. I’ll send Noah to have a look at her.”
“I’ve known Alexis for years. She doesn’t have a demon.” He wished he sounded more certain.
“You said she’d recently changed.”
“People do that. She got sick of me not doing anything.” He was sick of himself for much the same reason. His life had been on hold for too long.
“You’re involved whether you want to be or not.” Mason folded the map. “I think it’s best you stay the night, to be sure. Oskar and I will have a look at the cats.” He drew in a breath and studied Peyton with a stare that went far too deep. “You don’t remember a life without magic, are you sure you want to lose a sense just to spite Her for letting you keep the bite?”
That was the true test: could he actually walk away from magic when it was part of him?
Alexis wiped the sweat off her face and peddled slower. The gym was too warm. Next to her, Bethany was furiously peddling as she read her book. Alexis hadn’t been able to focus on a word of hers. The way Peyton had drawn back like she tasted of vomit was etched in her mind.
“Hey, have you had any changes since the weekend?” Alexis didn’t want to use the word magic in case people decided to eavesdrop.
Bethany glanced up. “Huh? Oh, nope. Not even a bite. I swear, I’m invisible to men.”
“What about the others?” Alexis gave up pretending to peddle and took a drink. She was sweating like she was coming down with the flu. That might explain why she’d been feeling a little odd this week.
“Jayne asked her gym crush out. He said yes, so I guess that’s a win.”
That was going to happen, magic or not. Men never said no to Jayne.
“What about you? Still lusting after Mr. Lawyer Pants?”
“Yeah, I asked him out.”
Bethany stopped peddling. “What?”
“I needed to do something, and he was never going to make the first move.” She hoped it wasn’t the flu, she wanted that dinner with Peyton on Friday…unless he’d now decided he was no longer interested. Was she a terrible kisser? Is that why nothing has gone past a few dates. How mortifying. Why had no one ever told her?
“That seems to be going around. Did he accept?”
Alexis nodded. “Yeah. I also decided to apply for that PA job. What’s the worst that could happen? They tell me I don’t have enough experience?” But if she got the job, she’d have more money and she could move out of her shitty apartment. Although if she did go back to school, she’d have to stay there to save money.
“Wow… Do I know you?”
Alexis smiled. She couldn’t remember why she’d always accepted what was offered and never reached for more. Reaching was fun, it was an adventure. “Maybe something did happen the other night.”
“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head when you fainted?”
She’d forgotten about that. She touched her head but there was no bump. She’d remember if she’d hurt herself. Her heart was beating fast and she could barely breathe. “Why is it so hot in here?”
“Are you all right?” Bethany closed her book and looked at her like she’d turned purple.
“Just hot.” She hadn’t turned purple…but in the mirrors she was flushed and bright pink. She got off the bike, needing to be near the fans and the cool air. She lifted her ponytail so the air could sweep over the back of her neck.
Her body thrummed with need that no amount of exercise could cure. If Peyton had come home with her, she wouldn’t have been here working up a sweat on a bike. Her lips twisted into a smile. He would be hers. She’d make sure of it. The rush of knowing made her gasp. That wasn’t like her at all. A little part of her realized but the rest of her didn’t care. For the first time in her life she didn’t care what other people thought or expected. She wanted everything. And she wasn’t prepared to wait for it to arrive.
Bethany walked over and put her hand on Alexis’ forehead. “You’re burning up. I think you should go to the doctor, get a checkup.”
Who had the money for that? “I’m fine. Just hot. Maybe getting the spring flu.”
She drew away, annoyed by her friend’s fussing. “I might head home.”
The walk in cool night air would be nice. It was only three blocks.
“Let’s get changed and we can share a cab.”
“It’s fine. I’ll walk.” Alexis wiped the bike and picked up her drink bottle.
“Walk? It’s nine at night. You’ll get mugged.”
She’d be fine. She knew she’d be fine. So she left Bethany standing there and walked out of the gym. The cats were waiting outside, melting out of the shadows like grey ghosts.
Nothing would happen to her while they were around.
She walked and they followed their queen. A purr formed in her throat and she pulled the hair elastic out to let her hair flow over her shoulders. She felt like a warrior, like a…goddess.
Chapter 6
Noah messaged and asked when Peyton was available—Noah knew enough to not show up and demand a meeting. He was also smart enough to show up ten minutes early so Alexis would have to get him a coffee while he waited in the reception area. Ben Campbell’s death hadn’t been announced yet. Maybe no one else knew.
Peyton finished up the call he was on. He didn’t want to rush but was eager to know what Noah did or didn’t see round Alexis. That he had a friend checking out the woman he’d wanted to date for the last two years—she wasn’t his girlfriend yet—didn’t sit well. It was underhand at best. While this use of magic wasn’t for him, it was another thread he’d have to break to be free.
Alexis had put in her application for the PA job, so at least he wouldn’t be working with her soon. He wouldn’t be able to write anymore blood contracts without magic. Had that letter of reference been his last act as a witch? He rubbed at the healing cut on his thumb, not sure what he’d do if he couldn’t reach for magic when required.
The flowers Alexis had put in his office a week ago were still fresh, even though he was sure they should be wilted by now. Maybe tossing the flowers should be moved to the top of his to-do list. Though he couldn’t imagine that conversation going well when Alexis noticed they were gone.
Alexis had become quite fiery. His lips turned up as he opened the door. He shouldn’t be liking her new attitude, it was some kind of warning sign, though for what he didn’t know. It was no magic he was familiar with.
“Mr. Kelly?” Peyton played his role of talking to a new client. And Noah had been playing his. He wasn’t sitting in the chair near the side table. He was standing with Alexis having a chat about the painting on the wall.
Noah turned, a crooked grin on his lips and a cup of coffee in his hand.
A flicker of jealousy raced through Peyton. His skin prickled and his teeth moved in his jaw in a most unsettling way—that was the worst part of shifting. For a moment he thought the hellhound was about to tear free of the suit. He drew in a sharp breath and pressed his teeth together. He shouldn’t be jealous of Noah. Noah had a girlfriend and had finally pulled his life together. He was glad his friend was finally happy. He deserved to be.
And so did he.
He hadn’t been happy in too long.
Alexis turned her smile on him and it went from polite to dazzling. Noah could charm the skin off a snake, but he wasn’t making a play for Alexis. Noah glanced between Peyton and Alexis, said something to her to make her laugh, then strolled over.
Noah of
fered his hand and Peyton shook it.
“Glad you could come in.” He meant that. The sooner this thing was unraveled the sooner he could get his life back.
“Glad I did.”
Peyton shut his office door. “What did you see?”
“Flowers?” Noah walked over and touched the petal then rubbed his fingers together.
“Alexis brought them in last week. They should be dead by now, right?”
“Yeah.” Noah blinked. He’d described being able to see demons as losing focus and going crossed eyed until they appeared. He could do it with a spell in a blink. Demons were everywhere. Most of them too busy sucking the life out of their victims to be any trouble. “They have the same weird aura Alexis has.”
“Not a demon?”
“No. Which is a good thing,” Noah added in a hurry. “But it’s something.”
Peyton sat. He knew it was something, he could almost taste it. “What?”
Noah scanned the office, looking for something before sitting. “I don’t know.”
Peyton tipped his head back to stare up at the ceiling.
“However, I do admire your restraint in not going after her.”
Noah considered waiting five minutes after meeting someone he was interested in restraint. “That’s not a compliment coming from a recently reformed alley cat.”
Noah shrugged. “I wasn’t insinuating you’d sleep with her because you’re like your father. For what it’s worth, when Mason talks about him he sounds decent enough.”
“He was, to everyone else.” His family was an inconvenience he’d never planned on having. “Everyone here knows what he was like. I’m not him and I don’t want to be compared to him.”
“Then why even work here?”
He’d asked himself the same question so many times, but the honor of the family name had been drilled into him. The firm had a place for him, all he’d had to do was step up. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the money or the respect that came from being Bob’s boy. “He was still my father.”
Noah considered him for a moment with that odd dislocated stare before blinking hard. “You have the aura too.”
Peyton leaned forward. “If you don’t know what it is, you’d better start describing it so we can figure it out.”
“A demon is like a shadow that clings. Alexis has a kind of golden glow about her, like she swallowed a sun. You have strands of that around you, and it clings to the flowers too.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Maybe it’s more like pollen dust on you, but it’s in strands…or currents.”
“So the magic is binding me to her?”
“Not that strong. Relationships form ties, and this feels like that but looks different. Maybe because you’ve both been holding back, something has happened.”
Peyton pressed his lips together. “Then it would’ve been gradual. This was sudden. I said goodbye to normal Alexis on Friday and hello to this version on Monday.”
Noah frowned. “But she is still herself? She’s not a totally new person.”
Her clothes were a little less buttoned up and bland and her lips a little more red. “Yes. Though a little bolder, she made the first move.”
“Well someone had to.”
Peyton leaned back and shook his head. “Is it magic?”
“Yes. Though I wouldn’t have said it was bad.”
“You did see the murderous cats out the front?”
“That I can’t explain, only that they are being drawn to Alexis. But like you, they aren’t being controlled.”
Even though he wasn’t being controlled, he didn’t like the idea of being bound up in magic he couldn’t properly sense. Had the kiss been what had created the ribbons of magic around him? “Maybe it would be best if I didn’t date her.”
“Maybe it would be best that you did so all the excess…” He waved his hand in the air. “…burned off.”
“You really think it’s caused by unresolved feelings?”
“I have no idea. Only you can work that one out. All I know is it’s not demons so not my problem.” Noah stood and glanced at the flowers again. “I would ditch the flowers. They’re being kept alive by magic.”
“By Alexis.”
“Possibly…”
“Is she under a spell? Did someone do this to her?” And to him? His jaw prickled and he was sure extra hair was pushing through.
Noah lifted his hands. “Settle, pup, I can see your hackles rising. No. It’s coming from her.”
“I’m not sure it was worth clearing a spot in my schedule to see you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see myself out.”
Alexis looked about for her coat then remembered she hadn’t worn one. While she couldn’t walk all the way home, she planned to get off the subway early so she could enjoy the night air. She didn’t need to go to the gym if she could walk home.
Peyton stuck his head out his office door. “Did you want to get coffee before you head home?”
“That depends on how long you’re going to be.”
“Five…ten minutes tops. I’ve just got to finish this call, but I didn’t want you to slip out.”
“I’ll wait.” She sat on the edge of her desk and pulled out her phone.
Bethany had messaged several times wanting to make sure she was still alive after walking out of the gym. She’d replied and Bethany had kept up a steady stream of messages all day. Her concern chafed. Had Bethany always been so over protective?
There was also a missed call from her mother. After listening to the message her mother left, she couldn’t be bothered calling her back. She typed a text instead, agreeing to come around on Thursday for dinner. She should get her father a birthday present. Though what did one get for a man who’d never really lived? He’d worked the same job for forty years before being made redundant. They scraped by on her mother’s child care wage and his ride share work.
They’d be horrified if they knew she’d not only applied for a better job, but she was also looking at going back to school. She hesitated. Did she really want to go to their house for dinner? Why not take them out instead? They wouldn’t be able to harp on at her in public, or at least not as much. She deleted the message and retyped it, asking them to come to dinner, her treat. No need to buy a present then. She smiled to herself. So clever.
Her parents needed to get out a bit more. Do something instead of limping through. A few risks never hurt anyone.
Peyton reappeared. “Ready?”
“Yes. So is this a date or just coffee?”
He almost broke step but made it to the elevator before responding. “It can be a date.”
Can be… Did that mean he didn’t want it to be? “You’re still holding back.”
Had she waited too long and pinned her hopes on a man who’d never commit to her?
“I think we should get to know each other a bit better. This can be the pre-date date.”
He was planning something. She could see it in his face. “We’ve worked together for over two years.”
“But I don’t know if you like cats or dogs.” He motioned her in first.
“Cats.” Who didn’t like cats? They were smart and independent and feared nothing. They ruled the street with claw and fang.
“Dogs. See? We need to talk about something other than contracts and meetings and whose turn it is to put on morning tea after the monthly staff meeting.”
“It’s your turn in May.”
“Thanks.” He was sure it would’ve come up in his calendar closer to the time. “Do you not want to get to know me outside of the office?”
“Yes. That’s why I invited you over.” And he’d declined. What kind of man did that? He’d even brushed aside her kiss. Maybe he wasn’t as interested as he’d appeared. Maybe he only liked the allure of forbidden fruit and now that she was making herself available she was no longer desirable. Rage bubbled and her fingers curled. She hadn’t waited this long so he c
ould slink away.
He leaned against the mirrored wall. “I like to get to know a woman before I commit to waking up in her bed.”
The door opened. “Who said anything about you waking up in my bed? I only invited you over to mess up the sheets.”
She sauntered out before he could reply.
“Touché.”
She tossed him a smile over her shoulder. “Where did you want to go? Chain or boutique?”
“There’s a nice place around the corner a bit. Don’t tell anyone but it’s where I sometimes escape to when I need to get out of the office.”
“Do I need to book you an out-of-office meeting once a week so you can hide in the coffee shop?”
He smiled. “No. But if I have a lot of reading to do, sometimes it helps to be away from the usual distractions.”
And for a moment she thought he meant her.
“Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?”
Alexis glanced at her bare arms. “No. I don’t feel the cold all the much and it’s so nice to be out of the office. I really need to call maintenance about the heating.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s been getting hotter in there all week. By Friday we’ll be getting cooked alive.”
“I haven’t noticed.” His eyebrows had knitted together and he was doing that worried look again. “Do you feed the cats at lunch time?”
“No.” She didn’t need to look behind her to know there were fifteen of them behind her, all in that perfect shade of blue grey. “I don’t know why they are gathering.”
Peyton made a small noise that could’ve been disbelief or agreement.
He pushed open the cafe door. It was half full and smelled divine. “Would you like cake with your coffee?”
“Of course.” This was a pre-date date so she was going to do it right.
She ordered a regular coffee with a piece of chocolate pecan pie and Peyton ordered a large coffee with carrot cake. He paid with a tap of his card, then led the way to the snug corner table.
“This is like skipping straight to dessert.”
