by Leilani Love
“Viktor, you startled her!” Eva exclaimed, a big smile on her face.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to check on you both. Don’t want another incident like we had with the younger two.”
Amy smiled at him, her hands behind her back. “It’s beautiful.”
Viktor looked over the fountain trying to see it the way Amy did. His father had told him it took a year for the sculptor to get everything just right. The sapphires in the dragon’s eyes were a very dark blue, matching his mother’s. They were just a shade darker than his. The detail was so good, he would pretend as a kid that the dragon broke free from its stone prison and chased him and his brother through the labyrinth. “Thank you, my mother loved it.”
“We’ve barely been out here an hour, not nearly enough time to get lost.” Eva said with a raised eyebrow.
Viktor narrowed his eyes, wondering what she was thinking. He couldn’t say, ‘I couldn’t stop picturing Amy out here, the urge to come out and see her so strong I gave in.’ So instead he said the first thing that came to mind. “I was trying to escape the house before Kassandra started calling me with party details.”
The look Eva gave him said she didn’t believe him one bit. “Would you like to join us? I’ve been letting Amy lead.”
Amy glanced at him before her eyes went back to the dragon. The sun danced on the long red highlights in her hair, accentuating the different shades of red in her hair. “Why not.”
He gestured for them to lead on, as he fell in step behind them. Amy was tall for a woman, just shy of six feet, he guessed. Unlike Eva and the girls, Amy’s body was slender. From sparing with her at the gym, he knew she was also muscular and graceful. Only partially listening, he heard Eva ask if Amy had chosen her classes yet. The background check hadn’t given a lot of information about her. There were a few gaps he was going to have looked into, but he wasn’t too worried about it.
Eva paused, looking back at him. Her arm came out and looped through his, pulling him forward. “If you’re going to come with us, the least you can do, is do it properly.”
Offering Amy his other arm, since he was now standing between them, he watched as she hesitated. When his blue eyes met her sparkling green ones, he knew she was thinking about that spark that happened when he had taken her hand at the gym. He watched as her chest expanded in a deep breath, before she gave in and slid her arm under his. As she put her hand on his arm, he felt a small current from her. Not as strong as the first time, but enough that she stopped for a moment, her eyes meeting his questioningly.
Pretending to ignore it, he continued, and she slowly began to step to their rhythm. “Eva, you ready for school?”
“I am, but I’m looking forward to the party more.” She looked at him, smiling a bit too brightly. “Are you going to bring a date?”
Viktor snorted. “No, why, do you want to be my date?”
Eva laughed. “Nope, I’m going by myself so I can check out all of your sexy friends.” Amy gestured to make a right up ahead. “Amy would you like to come? Viktor has really sexy guy friends I can introduce you to.”
Viktor stiffened. The idea of Eva trying to hook Amy up with someone really bothered him for some reason.
“Umm,” she whispered, biting her lip. “I’m sure your friend has a guest list already.”
“I’ll talk to Kat, don’t worry about it. It shouldn’t be a problem, right Viktor?”
Viktor cleared his throat. “I don’t see why it would. You should come, knowing Kat, it should be a good time.”
He could feel Amy stiffen when he mentioned Kassandra and wondered what that could be about, before she smiled at Eva and said, “Sure, that sounds great.”
Eva beamed at them both. “Great, we can go dress shopping tomorrow. Viktor, which of your friends should I introduce to Amy? We need to make sure they are nice guys, and really good looking, of course.”
Viktor felt his teeth begin to grind. “I don’t really know which one of my friends you would consider ‘hot.’”
Eva grinned. “Pretty much all the ones I’ve seen so far. Nothing like a sexy fling before school starts, and we have to study.”
Amy blushed prettily. “Viktor, I’m sure she’s teasing.”
Eva laughed. “Amy, trust me, all his friends are yummy. You definitely want Viktor to introduce you to one or two of them.”
Viktor found himself frozen in place, waiting for her reply. She smiled politely, then shrugged, causing her body to brush against his arm. He couldn’t help but hold his breath, as that electric current between them became more noticeable. “Since I took a few years off, I plan on taking a full load, so no time to date.”
Viktor let out a slow breath, finding himself dreading the thought of having to watch Eva spend the night of the party trying to find a hook up for Amy.
Eva grinned. “Well, it’s a good thing the party is before classes start.”
Viktor shook his head, trying to change the subject. “Speaking of school, have you decided on a major yet, Eva?”
“No, every time I think I have one picked out I change my mind. I decided I’d take a couple of the core requirements while I figure it out.”
“What about you Amy,” Victor asked. “What’s your major?”
“I’m majoring in business. Since I hate working for other people, I want to own my own business.” Amy answered in a matter of fact way. When they researched her, they saw her class choices. She was going to be a full time student, taking the max amount of classes. A few of them overlapped with Eva’s schedule, but since they were prerequisites, he figured it might be a coincidence.
When they got to the end of the labyrinth, he removed his arms from each of the girls. “All right, I better get back to the house.” With a smile, he looked at Eva before glancing at Amy. She wouldn’t meet his gaze, so he said, “I’m sure I better get back to my office and my phone before Kassandra decides to invite everyone in the state.”
They both said goodbye, and he whistled softly as he walked back to the house. Not sure why it mattered so much, but he was glad Amy didn’t seem excited about randomly hooking up with someone from the party. Viktor went through the sliding doors to his office and groaned when he saw the light blinking on his phone. Why had he agreed to this party again?
Chapter 13
Eva smiled as she watched Viktor walk away. Before she left, Kassandra had mentally told her she had a feeling Viktor had reacted to Amy when she came into the room, and that she thought he might be attracted to her. Eva decided this would be a good time to try out some of her new skills. Kassandra was helping her strengthen some of her abilities, allowing her to utilize them when it came to other supernaturals. Humans were easy to read, but with supernaturals, she only heard their thoughts when their emotions were running high.
When Viktor showed up in the labyrinth, she had decided to test it out by teasing him. Amy blushed a few times, but she’d spent enough time with Viktor, to notice every time he stiffened up. She couldn’t hear his thoughts, but had felt his unease. He had definitely responded to her friend. Maybe Kassandra was right. The party would be a great place to play matchmaker and see what happened.
“So, how did you figure out the labyrinth so easily?” Eva asked, curious since they hadn’t needed to back track at all.
Amy grinned. “Viktor said there was a trick to it. I saw that the colors of the stones repeated except for the green. They only showed up on certain turns. Green usually means go, so…” She shrugged and started to blush when Eva smiled brightly.
“Wow, I never noticed that!” Eva said as she led them back to the house. “Want to go dress shopping tomorrow?”
“Sure, that would be great!”
Eva smiled. “Cool, I’ll see if Violca and Kati want to join us. I don’t think any of us have a fancy dress, and since the party is for Violca and Chase, she’ll need one too. I can’t wait to see her and Chase all dressed up.”
Eva drove Amy back to the hotel. She talked abou
t the party and what stores they should shop at the next day. After discussing times, Eva was sure her sisters would agree to go shopping after their gym class. The two girls hugged before Amy got out of the car and went inside. Eva started back to her own apartment. She glanced at the guards in her rear view mirror. They weren’t really a pain, but she was curious how it was going to work when school started. Making friends when you know what they’re thinking was hard enough. However, to have two guys with you, who looked like they should be playing professional football, didn’t seem like it was going to make it any easier.
As they looked through the dresses, Aithne was hoping to have her job done before the party. She didn’t want to get any closer to the girls than she already was. She really liked hanging out with Eva, and could easily see herself becoming close to Violca. She knew what she was going to do would hurt them, and hoped that since they were all so close, they would understand why she was willing to do anything to keep her sister safe.
Aithne overheard Violca mention to Eva, that Chase was going out of town for a few days. She almost swore. That would be a few more days she would need to spend with them. Since she had their schedules pretty much memorized, after they finished dress shopping, she hoped to just say she had some other plans, then simply show up at the party. But the question was, how to ‘accidently’ run into Chase while he was away from the house. He was the only one who didn’t have a set schedule.
“What about this one?” Lost in her thoughts she looked to see Eva holding a long red evening dress with a slit up the side that went almost to the hip.
“Wow, that will look amazing on you.” Aithne grinned.
Violca stepped out of the dressing room with a very nice fitting black dress. The top hugged her generous breasts perfectly, and the skirt flared out at the hips.
“Damn sis, Chase is going to take one look at you in that dress, and keep you at his side all night.”
Violca blushed. There was no doubt that Violca and Chase were in love with each other. Aithne could understand why her two sisters were obsessed with trying to find it. Unfortunately, her sisters had a distorted view of what true love was. Their idea of true love was based on only the superficial, how handsome a man was and how good he could provide for them. Chase and Violca would continue to love each other, no matter what they looked like or how much they had. That was true love.
Kati pulled out a green dress. “Amy, this one would look perfect on you.”
The girls all agreed and pushed her toward the dressing room. She laughed, grabbed the dress and stepped into the dressing room. The dress itself was emerald green on top and had thin gold strands woven into it. Along the bottom, you could see the gold flaring out on the edge of the dress. Trying it on, Aithne ran her fingers down the material. The slit on one side showed her leg only when she walked. Stepping out of the dressing room, she felt nervous, but the girls all stopped and stared at her.
Aithne fidgeted for a second before Eva finally spoke up. “You look so beautiful.”
All the girls approved. “You have to get that one, you will be one of the prettiest girls there.” Violca said, then laughed when Eva pretended to be mad at her comment.
“Hey, I haven’t even tried on my dress yet!” Eva retorted.
Aithne looked at herself in the mirror, trying to see herself the way they did. The dress clung nicely to her small breasts, dipping down just enough in front to give the hint of cleavage. She smiled, with a backward glance at Eva. “I’m sure you’ll be a knockout in that dress. Go try it on while I take this off so I can pay for it.”
Eva grinned and they both headed into the dressing room. Carefully Aithne took the dress off, and put it back on the hanger. Her stomach quivered as she briefly wondered what Viktor would think when he saw her in it. She shook that thought from her head, and reminded herself that she was here for a job. When it was over, she would be gone and they would definitely hate her. She would probably need to disappear for a while, as there was no doubt that they would come looking for her.
Being immortal, she’d made lots of friends over the years. But, every ten or so years, she had to move so people didn’t notice she wasn’t aging. Aithne felt closer to the witch sisters than she had with anyone else in a very long time. With a sigh, she plastered a small smile on her face and walked out just in time to see Eva stepping out of her dressing room.
The red dress hugged all her curves, emphasizing her breasts and the flare of her hips. Taking a step forward, Eva’s shapely leg came out of the slit, and Aithne’s fake smile, immediately turned into a real one. “Eva, you’ll knock them dead.”
Eva’s smile brightened before turning to her sisters.
Violca shook her head, making a tsking sound. “You’re all grown up, aren’t you?” By the look on her face, Aithne guessed she was picturing Eva as a little girl.
“All right Kati, we all have dresses, it’s time to find one for you.” Violca announced. “Since we’re all wearing different colors, I was thinking something blue, to bring out your eyes.”
Kati’s cheeks turned a bright red before she quietly said, “I don’t know, maybe I should just stay up stairs and watch the girls.”
Eva looked at her. “No way, sister of mine, you have to come and hang out with us. Besides, this year is your senior year, so this will be practice for when you start going to the school dances.”
Kati shot her a look that clearly said she didn’t believe her. Eva blew Kati a kiss before heading back to the dressing room to change. In the meantime, Aithne set out to help Violca find a dress that would suit Kati. Violca pulled out a simple, yet elegant, sapphire blue dress. “Try this one on Kati.” When Kati began to fidget, Violca leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Please, for me.”
Sighing, Kati took the dress to the changing room. By the time she finished putting it on, Eva had returned and they were all waiting for her. Kati looked a little nervous, but the dress was perfect. Since she was younger, the dress was simpler, and not as clingy as the ones the others had chosen. Still, Aithne could see Kati would become a beautiful woman.
“That’s the one!” Violca announced.
“Perfect.” Eva said, looking at her sister fondly.
Kati squirmed, but agreed and went to change. When Kati returned, they all paid for their dresses and headed over to the shoe store. Aithne wasn’t used to a ‘girl’s day out’ and found herself enjoying it more than she thought she would. After the shoes were bought, the girls decided to splurge and get ice cream. Aithne tried not to laugh when she noticed the look of discomfort on the guards faces when the girls gave them their bags to hold.
“I suppose you’re wondering about our entourage?” Violca asked after having caught her glance at the guards.
Aithne shook her head, then with a smile said, “No, not really.” When Violca raised an eyebrow, she laughed. “Okay, maybe a little, but I don’t want to pry.”
“There have been a few family issues with Viktor, so he and Chase just want to make sure we’re kept safe, since we’re living with him.” Violca said before waving to the guards.
“Better safe, than sorry.” Aithne responded with a small smile.
“Exactly.” Violca said between bites of ice cream.
After they finished, Aithne politely turned down dinner at the house, not wanting to get any more attached than she already was. She also needed time to come up with a plan to get Chase alone, and away from the house. Since he wasn’t single, she couldn’t ask him on a date. This job was going to be a little harder than her normal ones, and her sister was going to owe her big time.
Chapter 14
Viktor heard the sound of laughter coming from the front door. Stepping out of his office and into the hall, he shook his head when he saw his guards walking by him with their arms full of dress bags and items from the girls shopping trip. He knew his guards well enough, that even though they looked annoyed as hell, each one of them had formed an attachment with the sisters. They would f
eel guilty if anything happened.
Coming out, he was surprised to see Eva without Amy, since he knew Amy had gone shopping with them. In that moment, he found himself a bit disappointed she wasn’t there. “Looks like you guys had a successful trip.”
Violca grinned. “We did. For a small town, they have a lot of nice little shops.”
Viktor smiled, thinking that since most of the people in town were supernatural, the shops tended to have a lot of customers with money. His people loved to shop and have a great time. With their long life spans, most of his people were fairly wealthy and loved to splurge. Maybe Kassandra was right, and his people really did need to unite by him throwing a party. He hadn’t thought of it since his parents had passed away. The first year, it was just so hard. After a while though, he should have, but then his brother had started the revolution and his concentration was on trying not to let that get out of hand.
“Should I assume you guys bought out the stores?” Viktor chuckled.
Eva gave him a dry look, and Kati shook her head.
“Really? Cause the guys sure looked weighed down when they walked by my office.”
Violca rolled her eyes. “We each just bought a dress and a pair of shoes to match.”
Eva grinned. “I know I teased Amy, but she’s really going to look amazing at the party. Viktor, I hope you have a few single friends to hook her up with, it would be a shame for that dress to go to waste.”
Violca smiled. “Everyone’s going to look fantastic, but her dress did look as if it was made just for her.”
Viktor cleared his throat, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. He wondered what she would be wearing. She was already hard for him to resist wearing a pair of jeans, with her hair down. He wasn’t sure how he’d handle his attraction when she showed up in a body clinging dress. Plus, Eva seems determined to set her up with one of his friends, which caused his dragon to come just a bit too close to the surface. Running his fingers through his hair he said, “I’m sure you’ll all look amazing and Chase will keep you extra close that night, Violca.”
