by Cherie Marks
With a quick wave of her hand, she stirred up some protective magic and aimed it at her body, but her head snapped up and watched as the spell spun away from her and headed straight for the giant rose that seemed to be the focus of the entire garden. She repositioned herself on her bottom to watch what would happen, feeling anxiety claw at her insides. This wasn’t going to end well. That much she knew for sure.
In an instant, she ducked low as she heard a door from the house open into the garden. Footsteps fell heavily along one of the quartering paths, and a tense feeling of fear began to bloom in Ivy’s chest. She felt frozen and panic made her head throb.
Should she stand up and make whoever it was aware of her presence? Should she try to crawl out unnoticed? As if she could.
She watched from beneath a bush as a set of muscular legs passed her hiding place, headed straight for the section of the garden that seemed to garner the most attention.
“What the hell?”
Shit! She felt sweat dotting her brow and winced at the shouted expletives that filled the garden, followed by a weighty silence.
“Who’s in here? Show yourself!”
There was not going to be an undetected escape now. She just needed to own up to whatever damage she’d done, get her golf ball, and get out of here.
Bracing herself for the blast she was about to catch, she stood up slowly and dusted herself free of dirt and gravel while trying to maintain eye contact with his fiery gaze.
“You? What are you doing here?”
She met the dark-eyed gaze of the crazy golf cart driver who had nearly mowed her down earlier today. Her jaw slipped down as she took another quick glance around. Was this Speedy’s garden? Had she seriously crossed into a Twilight Zone of some sort? One that was actually a version of Dante’s Inferno, spiraling ever closer to her eternal punishment?
Dramatic much?
“I...I lost my golf ball.”
He stared at her as if her head had just transformed into that of the ugliest, grossest bug he’d ever seen, and, if she wasn’t mistaken, he looked like he really wanted to squish her.
“You lost your...are you kidding me? Does this look like part of the golf course?”
“No, but...I have to get that particular ball back. It’s important.”
He looked at a loss for words for all of about five seconds before his eyes narrowed, and he pointed at the magic now swirling around the giant, red flower beside him. “What did you do to my rose?”
“Nothing. I mean, I didn’t try to do anything. I was trying to put a layer of magic between my skin and the gravel on the ground while I crawled around and looked for my ball.”
He reached out a hand to push through the glow around the rose, but a zap caused him to jerk his hand back. He tried a couple more times, once with both hands, but he couldn’t get through.
His angry gaze swung to her once again. “What have you done?”
“I don’t know.” She stepped cautiously toward the rose and tried to reach through the magic, but the sting that accompanied the small shock made her pull back quickly and put her fingers to her mouth.
“This...this is the only thing that matters in the world to me, and somehow, you’ve taken it away from me.”
“Maybe it will fade. With a little time.”
“That’s your answer? Maybe it will fade?” He ran a weary hand down his face before raising his voice and shouting, “I want it removed! Now!”
Ivy backed away quickly and turned to run toward the gate.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Away from here. Away from you, you maniac!”
As she reached the gate, she heard his footfalls crunching on the gravel behind her. His hand grabbed her upper arm and turned her to face him.
“You don’t just get to walk away from this. Do you realize the havoc you’ve wreaked on me? On everyone around me?”
She pulled her arm free. “I just wanted my golf ball.”
He stared at her as if she were speaking gibberish. With a shake of his head, he lifted his hands and spoke, “Then, you leave me no choice.”
As he let loose some sort of spell, she felt the magic overtake her, and she stumbled through the gate, feeling a nearly irresistible urge to return and give him a piece of her mind. Instead, she let her fear carry her away from him, away from his garden, and away from her hole-in-one good luck charm.
She glanced back, but he was gone, and the gate was shut behind her.
Chapter 5
ZAYN SAGGED AGAINST the cool bricks of the wall, feeling the rough texture grab at his shirt, and scrape him through the cloth.
He was screwed. They were all screwed. He looked around at the wonderland he’d built here. It had felt protected from the outside world and untouchable by the evil that lurked inside him, but he should have known. It had only been a matter of time before his past caught up to him. He just hadn’t expected it to come in such an attractive, albeit, havoc-wreaking redhead.
“Zayn? What’s all the commotion out here?”
He glanced up at the soft, brown eyes that never failed to soothe his chaotic soul, but he couldn’t seem to feel anything except pure and utter despair. He tried to form the words, but he could only slump against the wall, working his jaw, completely speechless.
He’d have to leave. He couldn’t put Franny in danger. He couldn’t put any of them in danger. But where would he go? Was anywhere safe?
She stepped in front of him, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he swallowed hard. He cleared his throat and said, “It’s over, Franny.”
“What’s over? What are you talking about?”
“The rose is useless to me now. I can’t even touch it. How am I going to live with this inside of me now? I’ll destroy everything.”
“Slow down. It can’t be that bad. Just tell me what happened.”
He explained about the woman he’d almost maimed with the golf cart, her appearance in the garden, and the magic barrier that now swirled around the garden rose. His rose. The one that kept the beast at bay. He couldn’t access it now at all.
“Why did you let her leave? Maybe she could remove the barrier?”
He released a weighty breath and ran a weary hand through his hair. “I didn’t...exactly...let her go. I used magic on her.”
“You did what? Zayn, you know you can’t do that. I know I don’t have to remind you what happened last time.”
He threw up a hand to stop her tirade. “Yes! Yes! I know. You definitely don’t have to remind me.” He lifted his gaze to meet hers. “I don’t know how, but I released just enough. For once, I felt in control of the magic.”
“What do you mean, Zayn?”
“I mean, I hit her fully, and she lived.”
Franny looked thoughtful for a moment. She glanced at the seeming wind that was visibly spinning around and around the rose, and then she turned her focus back to Zayn.
“I think it means something is changing. The conditions are right for something that I thought would never happen for you. Somehow, though, we need to get her back here.”
“Well, that’s just it. I used my boomerang spell.”
Suddenly, Franny smiled. “Ah, I see. Try as she might, she won’t be able to resist returning back to the garden. How long do you think she can hold out?”
He lifted his gaze to the sky and shaded his eyes from the blazing noonday sun. “She’ll be back tonight. Of that I am certain. I just have to be ready for her. Once she’s here, she’s not leaving until the rose is restored to its normal state.”
“And if she can’t?”
“Then, she’ll be my prisoner here until she can...or...until I can’t stay any longer.”
Franny looked heartbroken at just the thought of him leaving. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
FLINT WAS STANDING in the distance, waving at her. He jogged over, her golf bag slung over his back.
“Where have you been?”
Ivy slowed
her own pace and looked nervously over her shoulder.
Picking up on her anxiousness, Flint scanned the area around them. “Everything okay?”
As she worked to catch her racing breath, bending at the waist and bracing her hands on her wobbly knees, she nodded. “It is now.”
“Did you find your ball?”
Ivy shook her head back and forth. “It’s gone. I won’t get it back.” But, even as she said the words, the urge to return to the garden was strong. She had to work to keep her feet firmly planted in place and not begin a path right back to where the worst man she’d ever met waited to lambast her some more for not fixing something she had no idea how to fix.
“Well, we need to get back into the game. I’m surprised no one has been here to penalize you for a delay.”
Yet, even as the words drifted on the slight breeze blowing her ponytail across her neck, one of the course officials pulled up in his golf cart and made it clear that she would receive a stroke penalty for slowing the game down. Just what she needed.
With as much efficiency as she could muster, she dropped a ball—another stroke penalty—and hit her next shot.
It was an uncharacteristic shank to the right, which given the frightening experience she’d just had, she wasn’t surprised. But when the next two shots were also duds, she began to worry that something was seriously wrong.
By the time she’d made it through the fifteenth hole, she’d racked up ten strokes from start to finish, including the penalties. Her lead was blown to smithereens. And she barely made it out of the rest of the round.
As she slammed her putter into her bag and slung it over her shoulder, she started for the clubhouse, Flint right behind her.
“Ivy, wait up! What happened to you back there?”
She didn’t turn around until he yanked her backwards by her golf bag. Ivy hated that tears began streaming down her face as she faced her cousin.
“I asked you a...,” but he didn’t finish as he rushed to embrace her. “What’s wrong, Ivy-wivy? Why are you crying?”
But she couldn’t put her overwhelming frustration into words suddenly. What was wrong? Nothing and everything. How did she put the swirl of doubt and devastation into a form that made sense to anyone?
She couldn’t think of anything to say until she blurted, “I lost my hole-in-one golf ball.” Her sobs continued, gaining strength.
“What? How? Where is it?”
“It’s in Speedy’s garden. I hit it there.”
“You hit your...that was your good luck charm? Why would you do that? And who is Speedy?”
“The...the...the guy who nearly ran over...me...with the...golf cart.” She spoke between hiccupping sniffles.
“Wait! Is that where you were? You were in his garden?” His anger was building. “What did he do to you?”
“Nothing!” She began to get herself under control as she saw Flint was losing his. “I mean, he yelled at me, and maybe threw a magic spell my way, but he didn’t hurt me physically.”
“He used magic on you?” Flint grew redder and the hair on and around his face began to sprout, along with the hair on his arms and legs. His words began to get garbled as his nose elongated into a snout, “Bwat kin of maggggic?”
She threw her hands up and smoothed them quickly over his arms, doing her best to calm him, but it was too late. Before her eyes, he transformed completely into a bear and his paws hit the ground with a heavy thud. She backed up as he swung his head back and forth, growling loudly with his mouth wide open, thumb-sized canines exposed.
“Now, look what you’ve done.” Ivy wasn’t sure if she was talking to Flint or herself. Her frustration was off the charts. Ever since she lost her hole-in-one golf ball, everything had been going from bad to worse in the blink of an eye, and it was all she could do now not to break down in a torrent of tears.
Then, she nearly did lose it as he turned back toward the course and loped away, a determined tilt to his bear-chin. She knew without asking where he was headed. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d torn down every brick of the wall surrounding the garden. “Come back, you big furball!” But he kept on moving, and she let out a frustrated growl of her own. One thing was for sure—he was going to get in so much trouble, they would kick him out. And then what would she do?
“Fine! Get yourself in trouble! It’s not like I need my caddy or anything.” Not to mention, it wasn’t like she didn’t have enough to worry about already. Might as well add on the possibility that she could lose her best friend when she needed him most—big, furry jerk that he was.
Unless...maybe she could go back to the garden. If Flint busted through the wall, she could have another go at finding her golf ball. Maybe if they were quick enough, they could be in and out in less than five minutes. Since all of the problems began when she lost the golf ball, she could only conclude that finding it would put an end to all of their sudden misery.
And her desire to go back to the garden had nothing to do with the fact that everything inside of her felt like it was magnetized and the garden was made of the shiniest steel. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt an incredible pull to get back to the place where all her issues started.
She didn’t question the urge any longer. With finality, she signed her scorecard, placed her clubs into the trunk of her car, commandeered a golf cart, and headed back toward the siren’s call of Speedy’s garden.
She just hoped Speedy had something better to do than wait around for her to return.
Chapter 6
HE HAD BEEN EXPECTING her.
What he hadn’t expected was the bear shifter that paced just outside the garden gate. He had a feeling that there was a connection between the golfer and the shifter. Was it something romantic? Why did he care? And why did the idea of the woman being unavailable bother him so much?
She slipped up to the shifter and ran a reassuring hand over his back. The bear stopped pacing and gave some deep, guttural vocalizations as he threw his head back and forth. Zayn watched as she leaned down and spoke low into the shifter’s ear. The bear gave one final bellow and sprinted for the woods, leaving the woman alone.
As he expected, she went straight for the garden gate, and Zayn knew it was time. He waited until she was inside the walled garden before he made his way from his deck to the back door. He watched her unobtrusively from the French doors that led outside from his home. She wandered around, staring down at the ground, and he couldn’t help but note the gracefulness of her movements. She’d removed the hat she’d been wearing earlier and her fiery, red hair drew his gaze as the slight breeze in the garden blew the loose curls around her face into dancing coils. He had the strangest urge to pull on one to see how quickly it would spring back into place.
Her perfect profile moved in and out of shadow as she crossed the garden in a grid pattern, and he watched the deep concentration play over her face while she scrutinized the area.
He knew what she was looking for, and he also knew she wouldn’t find it out there. He glanced over his shoulder to the mantle over the tiled fireplace. Balanced carefully and hidden behind a decorative clock Franny had placed for what she said would add ambiance was the white orb that he knew she sought. For now, he would leave it in its place. Once she’d restored his rose, he’d give it back to her. It would be an even trade, and he didn’t see how she could argue with the soundness of the plan.
After about thirty minutes, he stepped out of the door and into the garden. She was all the way across the courtyard, near the far right corner, so she didn’t hear him as he made his way toward the fountain in the center.
She’d seemed to give up spotting it from an aerial view and had sunk down to the ground to crawl around among the low-lying vegetation. He stood with his arms crossed and let her continue to search. She seemed so determined to find the golf ball, and he had to wonder what was so important about this particular ball. Most golfers left them without a second thought, but as he watched her move around the garden, h
e saw the determination in her perfectly formed features.
Good! The thought hit him just as she swung her search in his direction and glanced up at his waiting figure. If she wanted the ball badly enough, she’d work her hardest to give him what he wanted.
“Um...I know this looks bad...but give me a chance to explain this time...please.”
Zayn extended his arm and motioned with his hand for her to come to him. He watched as she visibly swallowed, stood slowly, and inched forward until she stood in front of him, hesitantly meeting his gaze.
He folded his arms again and stared into her jade-colored eyes without speaking. They were such an unusual shade with full flecks of gold mixed in to mimic light reflecting off of a field of green. He didn’t want to look away.
“Look, I know we didn’t exactly hit it off earlier today, but I assure you I never meant to mess up your rose in any way.”
Over the wafting scents of the gardenias, hyacinths, and peonies, he inhaled a mixture of vanilla and jasmine. It was downright delicious, and he felt a strong desire to take in deep breaths of it. He knew immediately that the aroma was coming from her.
“Say something. What can I do to make things right?”
“Do you want your golf ball?”
“Yes! Do you have it?”
“I do.”
She waved a hand in the air impatiently. “Can I have it?”
“Yes.” He glared over her shoulder toward the magic flying in circles around the rose. She glanced in the direction he was looking and had the good sense to duck her head in contrition. “Fix my rose and the golf ball is yours.”
“Wait! What? You definitely have it?”
He nodded.
“Great! Listen, I have this tournament, and without that ball, I don’t think I have a shot at winning. How about we make a deal? You give me the ball as I play the next three days of the tournament, and at the end, I’ll come back here and do everything I can to fix what I’ve done.”
He didn’t think she was going to like what he had to tell her, but he thought it better to get it over with and not drag it out any longer.
