Suddenly Spellbound

by Erica Lucke Dean

  He spoke to me as if I was an employee, and I didn’t like it. Guilt bubbled up from the pit of my stomach. I’d done this to him. I’d hurt his feelings. For the first time since I’d discovered I’d been put under a spell, I felt sorry for someone other than myself. “That’s nice, but I’m not sure I’m ready to meet her.”

  “Too bad. I’ve been sent to collect you.” His stony facade cracked along the edges, and a bit of annoyance spilled out. He scowled as he eyed me from head to toe, lingering just a little too long on the neckline of my silk tank. “You might want to change. Mum isn’t fond of the way you Americans dress. Either way, we’re expected in ten minutes.”

  “Fine.” I tossed the cookies onto the table and grabbed my phone before storming out of the room with a huff. “You do realize we’ll never make it across town in ten minutes at this hour, right?”

  I didn’t expect him to follow me, so when I spun around to find him directly behind me I gasped, drawing in another lungful of his delicious scent.

  My visceral reaction seemed to thaw him, and his signature smirk made a brief appearance. “Traffic won’t be a problem.”

  I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t say another word. He just stood in the doorway of my room, staring me down like I was a double-chocolate lava cake topped with mint chip ice cream and a heavy dose of whipped cream. His intense gaze made me squirmy. “Stop looking at me like that.”

  His brows came together in a tight furrow, and he tilted his head to the side. “Like what?”

  I caught my lower lip between my teeth and held it while I studied his lost expression and cleared my throat. “Like you can’t breathe without me.”

  He brought his mouth within a whisper of mine but didn’t kiss me. Instead, he feathered his lips against my ear. “I can’t.”

  The resulting shudder ran from the top of my head down to the chipped pink polish on my toes.

  He brushed against me as he stepped back and gave me a wink. “Now, go on and get dressed. My mother hates to be kept waiting.”

  Chapter 17

  The inside of my makeshift closet looked as disjointed and out of sync as I felt. After moving out of Jack’s townhouse, I hadn’t bothered to sort or organize my clothes. I’d just shoved them into the first open slot I could find alongside Chloe’s overflow. Her Dolce and Michael Kors mingled with my various off-the-rack brands and thrift store finds. Gucci meets Goodwill.

  Finding something to wear would be an almost impossible task. I had no idea what Liam’s mother expected of me or if I wanted to live up to her expectations. Dad made it seem as if she held my future in the palm of her magical hand. I had my doubts, but until I met the woman face to face, I had no choice but to believe him.

  With a quick game of eeny meeny miny moe, I grabbed something of Chloe’s—an Alexander McQueen white crepe maxi dress with three-quarter sleeves, a modest slit up the side, and a jewel neckline that wouldn’t show even a glimpse of cleavage. I did a quick change then pulled my red hair into a tight bun, securing it with a few pins. I finished the outfit off with a pair of sensible white flats, shoes that would have brought Betsey Johnson to tears but wouldn’t slow me down if I had to make a run for it.

  I dumped my purse on the bed, plucking out my favorite lip gloss, a pack of cinnamon Tic Tacs, and my debit card, and stuffing them, along with my phone, into a white quilted Marc Jacobs clutch. With one last peek in the mirror, I headed out to face the music.

  Liam looked up when I opened the door. “Ivie, you…” His mouth dropped open, and his eyes followed every contour of my body from head to toe.

  I shifted from one foot to the other, uncomfortable with his meticulous inspection. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

  “You look…” He tried again then shook his head and took my hand, gripping it a little too tightly in his. “Hold on, and whatever you do, don’t let go.”

  The first thing I noticed was a prickle of static running over my skin. The fine hairs on my arms stood on end, and a steady current of air rushed around me, giving me goose bumps. The hallway shimmered in and out of focus, and I felt as though I floated in a pool of lukewarm water. Just as I was getting used to the weightlessness, I was jerked off my feet and pulled into the dark.

  My stomach lurched as the sensation of being rolled into a tight ball and turned completely inside out hit me. Somehow, I resisted the urge to regurgitate half a box of Thin Mints, swallowing down lump after lump that crawled up my throat. I snapped my eyes shut and tried to scream, but the vacuum swallowed up the sound. Then as quickly as the out-of-body experience started, it stopped.

  “We’re here.” Liam squeezed my hand then released it.

  I opened my eyes on the elegant lobby of the St. Regis hotel. Giant crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, sending dancing light over the shiny hardwood floors. We stood beneath one of two sweeping staircases, out of direct view but still in the open. But the breathtaking view had nothing on the excitement threatening to burst out of me.

  “Will you teach me how to do that?” I beamed at Liam, my pulse still thrumming in my veins.

  He bit back a grin of his own. “Do what?”

  I dragged him behind an enormous planter and lowered my voice to a whisper. “Disapparate.”

  Liam laughed. “You’re adorable when you’re excited, but I think you’ve been reading too much Harry Potter. Disapparate isn’t even a real word.”

  “So?” All the more reason to use it, as far as I’m concerned. Most of what I knew about witchcraft and sorcery came from a youth spent reading and rereading the Harry Potter series, followed by more than one weekend of binge-watching all eight movies with Jack. And the more I found myself submerged in the reality of it, the more I realized reality was far stranger than fiction.

  “We call it siubhal-ama.” The words rolled off his tongue in what I assumed was Gaelic.

  I opened my mouth to repeat what he’d said but changed my mind. “You can call it whatever you like. I’ll call it disapparating. And you really need to teach me. Soon.” I thought of all the places I could go once I’d mastered that little trick: Paris, Rome, this little burger joint in the worst part of town. I could be in and out before anyone had a chance to harass me. My mouth watered at the thought of a juicy double bacon cheeseburger.

  He leaned in close enough to kiss me but pulled back before our lips touched. “I promise I will, but right now, we need to get upstairs. If I know my mother, she’s already sent out a search party.”

  “Why didn’t you dis—transport us straight to her room?”

  “The clan put a block within the hotel. Other than a few sputters here and there, the only places magic works are the lobby and the ballroom. That’s where—” He didn’t finish the thought, but the way his eyes tightened as they swept over me made me afraid to ask.

  As soon as we stepped off the elevator, we were greeted by a welcoming committee: three hulking Scotsmen in authentic regalia. I couldn’t help gawking. I’d seen men in kilts before—my father was known to don one on special occasions—but I’d never seen men of this stature wearing red-and-green tartan kilts with white knee-high socks and black buckle shoes. None of them wore shirts, just matching sashes emblazoned with the McDougall family crest that barely covered their impressive chests.

  My face flamed as I continued to stare. I wanted to ask Liam why they dressed that way, but I didn’t dare.

  “Afternoon, Liam.” The tallest of the three men shook Liam’s hand. His fingers had to be as thick as fence posts.

  “Good to see you, Callum. I didn’t think you and Finn would make the trip.”

  “Aye, we were supposed to stay home, but your mum insisted.”

  Liam nodded but didn’t interject.

  “So who’s the lovely lass with you? Is this her?” A man with dark hair and a thick
red beard stepped forward.

  “Aye, Duffy. This is Ivie.”

  “Good to see ya, Ivie.” Duffy gripped my hand in his but didn’t squeeze. Instead, he brought my fingers to his lips and kissed my knuckles. He stared into my eyes and gave me a look that made my blood run cold. “Glad you could make it.”

  “Okay, boys. Time to step aside. I’m sure Mum is tired of waiting.”

  “Oh, you can say that again.” Callum barked out a laugh, and the other two joined in. “Go on in. The door’s unlocked. She’s waiting for ye.”

  I followed Liam into the empty parlor. A fire blazed in the stone fireplace, and an old black-and-white Cary Grant movie played on the flat-screen TV with the sound muted. The pillows from one of the two overstuffed sofas had been rearranged. Half of them spilled onto the floor. A glass of red wine sat untouched on the cocktail table. But there was no sign of Liam’s mother.

  “Is this the right room?” I whispered, and even that seemed too loud.

  “Mum?”

  “Is that mah darling boy?” Marion McDougall’s breathy voice called out from the bedroom in an accent so thick I could barely understand her.

  Liam reached out and took my hand—to steady himself or me, I wasn’t sure. “Aye, ’tis.”

  The woman who stepped out of the bedroom both shocked and intimidated me. She would’ve been about the same age as my parents, but unlike my parents, who looked every bit of their ages, the years had been kind to her.

  Like her son, she had thick raven-black hair—though hers hung in loose curls just above her shoulders—without a wisp of gray. She had delicate features and a fine bone structure with curves in all the right places. But it was her mesmerizing crystal-blue eyes—the exact color of her dress—that trapped me in their depths from the moment they locked on to mine.

  “Well, as I live and breathe.” Marion seemed to glide across the floor as she closed the distance between us, her feet barely touching the floor. She reached for Liam’s free hand but never broke eye contact with me. I was like a fly caught in her web. “If you aren’t the spitting image of your father.”

  I opened my mouth, but my voice failed me. I had to clear my throat twice before I could make a sound. “We have the same eyes.”

  “That you do.” She cupped my cheek in her cool hand, and I felt the power humming below her skin. “And the same stubborn streak, so I hear.”

  Heat shot up from my chest to my hairline, and the overwhelming need to flee pulsed in me.

  Liam cleared his throat. “I saw Callum, Duffy, and Finn when we came in, but I’m assuming the others are here too. Where are you hiding them?”

  Marion removed her hand from my face and turned toward Liam with a chuckle. “They’re playing tourists.”

  With the connection between us broken, I sucked in a quick breath, my first real breath since she’d come into the room.

  “Though I have no idea what the draw is.” Marion shot another icy glance my way. “I’d sooner finish our business here and be gone. But despite what some may say, I’m not a monster.”

  A chill cut through me. I had the distinct feeling Marion McDougall was every bit the monster people claimed her to be.

  My phone buzzed in my bag. I did my best to ignore it, but no sooner had it stopped than it started up again.

  Her lips curved up in a polite smile, a gesture far too chilly to be genuine. “Are we keeping you from something, dear?”

  She made me squirm, and I debated lying and pretending the situation didn’t make me all kinds of uncomfortable. But in the end, I coughed up the truth. “Actually, if you wouldn’t mind, could I have just a moment?”

  “Of course.” She motioned for me to carry on, and I took advantage of the reprieve to dig my phone from my borrowed clutch.

  I had two missed calls and a text from Jack. I brought up the messages and held in the sigh as I read what he’d said.

  Jack: I miss you, sweetheart. Can’t we just leave all this craziness behind and run away together? Please? I’ll go to the ends of the earth if it means I can keep you with me. I love you so much.

  Tears welled up in my eyes. Jack still loved me. He still wanted me. And I was stuck in the presidential suite at the St. Regis with Lady Macbeth and her spawn. With my back to Liam and his mother, I tapped out a quick reply.

  Me: I love you too! I want that so bad. You have no idea.

  Marion cleared her throat. “Ivie, I think we need to get a few things straight.”

  I spun around with my thumbs still hovering over the keyboard.

  “You seem to be laboring under the misconception that you have any say in what happens to you.” She plucked the phone from my fingers and exited the screen without reading it then slid the device back into my bag and zipped it shut. She took my left hand in hers and fingered my engagement ring. I’d gotten so used to wearing it that I’d almost forgotten I had it on most of the time. “It’s time for you to sever your ties and accept your fate.”

  I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence that she used the same words my dad had. I wished my father were there to explain. “I-I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I can do that.”

  Her eyes flashed with a white heat, and a barely perceptible tremble shook her delicate hands. “This is not a debate. You will complete the binding ceremony. Instinct tells me to demand it be done immediately, but I promised my son I would give you time to settle your affairs first.”

  “Settle my affairs?”

  She waved a hand. “Say your goodbyes. Tie up loose ends. Whatever you feel the need to do. I’ll give you one day. Twenty-four hours. But come this time tomorrow, you will be bound to my son and honor the promise made to me over three decades ago.”

  Three decades ago? I didn’t understand what she meant by that, but there was no mistaking the demands she was making of me now.

  “What if I don’t? I was engaged to another man when I met Liam. I made a promise to him first.”

  “I don’t care about your petty promises!” She moved with the grace of a cat, capturing my face in one hand as her voice rang in my ears. “Your family owes me a life, and I will collect it. Make no mistake about that, little girl. I. Will. Collect.”

  Her slight form blurred in and out of focus, then she quickly pulled herself together and backed away with a smile, leaving me shaken.

  My legs wobbled beneath me. If Liam hadn’t grabbed hold of my arm, I might have collapsed to the floor.

  “Liam, be a dear and tell Finn to have my dinner sent up. I’m positively famished.” She kissed Liam’s cheek then turned to leave the room as if she hadn’t just shattered my entire world into a million tiny pieces. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, Ivie. Don’t be late.”

  After disapparating us back to Chloe’s, Liam followed me wordlessly into my room and sat on the edge of the bed while I paced in front of the window. “I’m sorry. I know this is difficult for—”

  “No!” I jabbed my finger into the air as if I could stab him from across the room. The tears that had threatened to fall all day finally broke free, rolling down my cheeks in a steady stream. “Don’t you say that. You don’t get to say that to me. You have no idea how I feel. You’re not in my head. Or my heart. You can’t possibly understand.”

  He stood and took a step toward me then stopped as if he’d changed his mind. He was treating me like a fragile doll, and I hated it. “You’re wrong. Since the first moment your soul touched mine in that spell, I’ve felt what you felt. I’m sorry the incantation was interrupted. I’m sorry your heart was left torn between two loves, but believe me. I do know how you feel.”

  “Then how can you force me to walk away from him?” I didn’t bother to wipe the tears. I just let them fall. What was the point if my heart was breaking? “If you know how I feel, you must know how much he means to me.” />
  “I do.” He dropped his eyes to the floor. “But I also know you mean that much to me.”

  “Then let me go.”

  He raised his head, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. “I can’t do that.”

  I turned my back on him. I couldn’t bear to look at his face anymore. The blue eyes I’d grown so fond of reminded me of his mother. “Get out.”

  “Ivie, wait.” He closed the distance between us and reached out to me.

  “No!” I shrugged away from him and hurled my borrowed clutch at his chest. It bounced off with a thwack. “Get out! I want to spend my last twenty-four hours with the people who aren’t trying to destroy my life.”

  “You mean Jack.” When I nodded, he gritted his teeth and ran a hand through his dark hair. His patience seemed to have run out. “Fine. Go see Jack. Say your goodbyes. But don’t do anything stupid. My mother doesn’t make idle threats.”

  A bitter laugh bubbled out of me. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted him to feel every bit of my gut-wrenching pain down to the bottom of his soul. “Let her retaliate. I don’t care what she does to me anymore.”

  “It’s not you she’ll hurt.” He spoke so softly I almost didn’t hear him.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Liam dropped onto the bed again, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands. He stayed like that for a long time. Then he picked up his head and locked his eyes with mine. “Ivie, if you cross her, my mother won’t punish you. She’ll punish the people you love.”