by Mia Harlan
“It’s not cursed,” Julian snaps, ignoring him. “She would never do that. This is my mother we’re talking about!”
“Your witch mother?” Chase asks.
“I’d have to agree with Julian,” I say, because I cannot picture his sweet, kind, caring mother cursing our cafe. Or anyone, for that matter.
“Even though she’s a witch?” Chase asks.
“She didn’t do this!” Julian shouts, holding up the plant for emphasis. But I’m no longer focused on the gorgeous, blooming purple flower. Instead, my eyes lock on something shiny sitting on the dirt inside the pot.
“Um, Juli?” I reach for whatever it is.
“What, Bean? Now you think that Mom would...” he trails off as I hold up the small, glowing pebble. “Oh hell.”
“I guess that mystery is solved,” Chase says pragmatically.
“No. It’s not. Because that definitely wasn’t there when Mom gave us the plant.”
“Are you sure?” Wes asks as he stares down the pebble in my hand.
“Pretty sure I would have noticed if it was,” Julian says sarcastically. “And Mom would never do this. I don’t know who would.”
“That is a good question.” Wes turns to me. “Is there anyone who would want to hurt you, little bear?”
“No one.” I shake my head. “Well, maybe Minerva.”
“Mini wouldn’t hurt you!” Julian comes to her defense. Of course he does.
“She’s the only person I know in Silver Springs, other than you, and she hates me. If anyone would want to hurt me, it’s her.”
“You’re wrong about her, Bean. But even if she hated you—which she doesn’t—she’d never try to drive us out of business.”
“You mean she’d never try to drive you out of business,” I grumble.
“Us, Bean. Plus, what would she have to gain? We’re not competitors, and she doesn’t have the space or equipment to make the drinks we do. If we closed down, where would she get her afternoon latte?”
“Fine. You’re right.” Not about the lattes. Those are just an excuse for her to talk to Julian. I’m not sure she even drinks them. But if she ran us out of business, Julian would leave Silver Springs, and she wouldn’t want that. “I just can’t think of anyone who would do this to us.”
“A rival cafe?” Chase suggests.
“Are there any rival cafes around here?” Wes asks absently as he stares at the pebble. “The only coffee I can find is at the convenience store, and it’s not pleasant.”
“I know. That’s why we opened our cafe in Silver Springs.”
“No competition,” Julian agrees. “Only person remotely interested in this place is that land developer, and it wouldn’t be him.”
“What land developer?” Chase asks.
“From the Blue Moon Pack!” I exclaim. “We got several letters from him offering to buy this place. But why wouldn’t it be him, Juli? He’s offering to pay almost twice what this place is worth. Maybe he’s resorted to sabotage.”
“I don’t think so.” Julian glances across the street, towards Minerva’s Bakery. “He made the same offer to Mini and a few other shops on Main Street. And none of them have cursed pebbles.”
“Oh.” I frown. Partly because Julian talked about the land developer with Minerva and not with me. Partly because that means we’re fresh out of suspects.
“So what do we do with the pebble?” Julian finally asks.
“Aren’t you the witch?” Chase frowns at him.
“So that somehow makes me an expert on pebbles?”
“Doesn’t it?” Wes demands, pulling out his phone.
And now all three of them are snapping at each other. Great. Just great. I sigh. “Isn’t there a magic object disposal here somewhere?”
“Is there?” Chase looks at Julian.
“How would I know?” my best friend demands.
I rub my temples.
Wes types something on his phone. “Just waiting for a confirmation, but it should be taken care of.”
“Taken care of how?” Julian asks suspiciously.
“I booked us a Cleanly Den witch. She handles magical spills.”
“What’s a cleanly den witch?” Julian asks.
“I haven’t read anything about den witches,” Chase adds suspiciously. “And I read a lot.”
“The Cleanly Den is Wes’s cleaning service,” I tell them. “Do you guys think we should also call the police? Just in case.”
“Don’t worry, Ambear. We’ve got protocol in place to contact the police.”
“You’ve got a protocol in place? Are cursed pebbles that common here?” Chase asks.
“First time I’ve heard of one. But we’ve been booked at a crime scene or two.” Wes holds up his phone. “Confirmed. It’ll take Zoe about a half hour to finish up her last house and get here, so we should probably head inside.”
“Shouldn’t we clean up the glass first?” Julian raises a quizzical eyebrow.
“No point,” Wes tells him. “Just leave the pebble outside the cafe, and no one will come near it. When Zoe gets here, she’ll cast a cleaning spell and fix the door, too.”
“That sounds easy.” Julian grins. “Do you think once it’s gone, we’ll finally get customers?”
Which is when it hits me. If the cursed pebble is scaring people away, getting rid of it will mean people start crossing the street and coming near the cafe again. Which means the cafe is saved.
“Thank you, Wes. So much.” I try to throw my arms around him but he backs up, his gaze glued to the cursed pebble. “Right. Sorry. Where should I put this?”
I glance at his mom’s potted saffron, but Julian shakes his head. “No way.”
“Okay, got a better idea?”
“How about over there?” Wes points at a pot with a green, leafy thing that’s got pretty yellow flowers.
“Works for me,” Julian says.
I shrug and drop the cursed pebble inside.
Chapter 9
AMBER
The moment I let go of the cursed pebble, big, strong arms envelop me.
“That’s better.” Wes’s words rumble through his chest and reverberate against my back. He rubs one rough cheek against my neck, and I try to spin around in his arms to get closer to him, but Wes holds me in place.
“Should we head inside?” Julian asks pointedly.
“Yeah, let's.” I quickly pull away from Wes.
Should I just tell Julian that the bear shifter and I are mates? I could do it now, but one glance at Chase and the heated way he’s looking at me, and I decide it can wait. At least until the Cleanly Den witch is done here, and I can talk to Julian privately. “How about we make some pumpkin spice latte samples? For when this place gets cleaned up?”
Julian, who’s ahead of me, trips over the front step. Wes grabs the back of his shirt, pulling him upright, and Julian lets out a loud curse.
“You’re welcome?” Wes shakes his head. “Watch your step, Ambear.”
“I see it.” Considering it’s the same step that’s been there since the day we moved in. “Do you guys want anything to drink before I get started on the PSLs?”
“Can I talk to you first? Alone?” Chase takes my hand in his. His touch is almost a caress. His hand is soft and smooth and gentle, and my breath catches in my throat.
“Is it about the curse?” I ask, though it’s hard to think when my attention is focused on his hand.
“Nope.” Chase gives me a huge grin. “Upstairs?”
“Really, Bunny? Trying to get her in bed already?” Wes chuckles.
My cheeks flush, and then what I just heard finally sinks in. “Wait... bunny? As in bunny shifter?”
Chase grins and nods. “And I wasn’t going to show you my carrot. I save that until the second date.”
Wes snorts.
Julian takes a protective step toward me. “I don’t think she should be talking to you alone,” he says.
“It’s okay, Juli.” I turn to Chase a
nd look him up and down. “Are you really a bunny? Like a soft, fluffy, tiny...”
“I draw the line at tiny.” Chase’s grin turns predatory, which is odd considering that in animal form, he’s actually prey. “First of all, there is nothing soft or tiny about me. Or my carrot. And as for fluffy, I manscape.”
“I don’t think you should be talking to Bean about manscaping.” Julian frowns. “Or carrots.”
“I think I should.” Chase suddenly advances on me until we’re standing toe to toe. “The thing about bunny shifters,” he says, his voice so deep and gravelly that I feel it to my toes, “is that we can keep going, and going, and going.”
His words send a wave of heat through me, even as my cheeks flush.
My heart thunders in my chest.
I try to think of something, anything, to say, but my mind draws a complete and utter blank.
Then, before I realize what he's about to do, Chase captures my lips with his. Right in the middle of Jewels Cafe.
A wave of pure lust courses through me, igniting my veins. Every inch of me burns with awareness. I have to fight the urge to throw myself at Chase and beg him to never stop.
I thread my fingers through his soft hair and moan into his mouth seconds before I remember one very important detail. The fact that we aren’t alone. Wes is directly behind me, so close I can feel his heat against my back, and Julian is standing next to us, almost within reach.
“Let her go,” he orders, and next thing I know, Chase is being yanked off me. Not by magic, but by a very angry Julian who’s got his arm wrapped around Chase’s bicep.
“There’s no reason to get jealous,” Chase tells him. “You can go next.”
My heart nearly stops. When Julian turns to look at me, I suddenly can’t breathe. My lips feel swollen from Chase’s kiss, and my eyes drift down to Julian’s lips as wetness pools between my thighs.
Behind me, Wes clears his throat and moves closer. He presses up against me, until I feel a rock hard bulge pushing up against my lower back. When he places two huge hands on my thighs, pulling me further into him, I can’t help it. I moan.
Julian’s pupils dilate. His eyes drift down to my tight nipples, and I crave his touch. A part of my brain reminds me that this is my best friend, the one who only stares at my lips when they’re bleeding or I have something caught between my teeth.
This time, though, his eyes fill with desire. He takes a step forward, his eyes locked on my lips, and I can barely breathe.
“She’s all yours,” Chase says softly, and the gruff timbre of his voice and the way it cracks tells me he wants this. He wants to watch Julian kiss me.
Wes growls, but I don’t think it’s in protest. The bulge at my back grows, which I didn’t think was possible—a testament to the fact that he’s just as into this as I am.
Julian takes another step forward. He’s never looked at me like this before, not even when he thought I was Minerva. That was desire, sure, but this... this is hope and need and everything I’ve ever dreamed of.
He takes another small step forward, and I start to tremble. “J-Juli?”
“Don’t call me that,” he orders.
“Julian,” I quickly amend. I need him to kiss me more than I’ve ever needed anything in my life. Years of longing. Years of wanting. Needing. Praying to every god and goddess we’ve read about in schoolbooks. Years of hoping. Dreaming. They all explode in my chest until time stands still. Until all I can think about is Julian kissing me.
Which is when he stops.
He actually stops.
Then, he steps back, his eyes filled with horror.
Horror. At the thought of kissing me.
“No! I can’t let this happen.” He shakes his head. “It would be wrong.”
“Wrong?” I barely manage to get the word past the lump in my throat.
“Yes, wrong! So very, very wrong.”
“But why?” I ask as one fat tear slowly slides down my cheek. “Is it because I kissed Chase?” And because Wes is behind me, his hands still on my thighs, his hard cock pressing into my lower back?
“Yes! No! I’m so sorry I did this to you, Amber. I didn’t mean to. You have to believe me.”
“Did what to her?” Wes's arms slide from my thighs and wrap around my waist in a protective hug. I let myself sink into him, because right now he’s the only thing keeping me upright.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart.” Chase moves closer to us and wipes away my tears.
“Start talking, Witch,” Wes adds, his words ending in a long, drawn out growl.
“It was a mistake. I cast a spell, but I never meant for something like this to happen. I swear, I didn’t.”
“Something like what?” I whisper, not sure I want to know.
“This.” He gestures from me to Wes, to Chase, and then back to himself. “I was at the library looking for spells to bring in customers when I saw it. I wasn’t actually planning to use it, it sort of just happened.”
“What did you do, Juli?” I demand, my voice stronger, even as fear grips my heart.
“I cast a spark.”
“Which is what?” Wes growls.
“It’s supposed to get someone who already likes you to notice you as more than a friend. Just a tiny spark. That’s all.” Julian wrings his hands together. “And I.... I cast it on the pumpkin spice...”
“And then I drank it,” I finish for him. Because suddenly, it makes perfect sense.
Julian, asking Minerva if she wants to try the very first latte. Julian, casting the spell. Julian, his eyes filled with desire as he looked at me when I’d shifted into Minerva.
“I didn’t mean to turn it into a lust spell. I swear I didn’t. I was upset, and it malfunctioned, and...”
“It’s not a lust spell,” Wes says. He suddenly lets go of me, and I spin around to find him staring at me, his face twisted in horror. “It’s a mating spell.”
“A mating spell?” Julian looks between us.
“Amber’s my mate. Or... I thought she was.”
“Thought?” I whisper.
“And she’s my mate, too,” Chase says softly.
“Except she’s not really, is she?” Wes demands.
At his words, my heart shatters, and I take a huge gulp of air.
“I—” I try to string some semblance of words together, but I can’t.
“I didn’t mean to do this, Bean. I swear! It was supposed to get you to notice me.”
“Me?” I demand, my tears suddenly replaced by burning hot rage. My chameleon magic activates. I shift into Wes and glare down at Julian with my hands clenched into fists. Then I shift again, this time into the bouncer, my thick eyebrows drawn and my thin lips pursed as I scowl down at the one guy I thought I could trust. Then, I shift for one final time, turning into Minerva. “Do you mean me, or do you mean her?”
The way Julian’s eyes widen as he looks at me—at her—is my undoing.
“Minerva?” Julian cries. “Why would I ever cast a spell on Minerva?”
“Because you like her?” I shout back. “Not that you needed a spell, because she obviously likes you back!”
“She does not! Not in that way. She’s like a sister to me.”
“Yeah, sure... sister.” I cross my arms in front of Minerva’s much larger chest. “I guess that’s why you cast your spark!”
“Not on her,” Julian insists. “On you!”
“Who’s Minerva?” Chase interrupts. He looks a little bewildered, and quite frankly, I don’t blame him. “And why do you look like... well... that?”
“That is Minerva!” I snap, gesturing at my Minerva body and then shifting back. “The whole reason this is happening!”
“For the last time, I didn’t cast the spell on Mini! I cast it on you!”
“Sure you did.” I swipe away some tears. More than anything, I want to believe him. But I don’t. Not even a little. “It’s the spell talking, Juli! The same spell that made Wes and Chase fall for me. The same spel
l that made me fall for them.”
“You fell for me?” Chase asks.
“So it was just the spell?” Wes narrows his eyes on me. “None of what we shared was real?”
“How the chameleon should I know?” I narrow my eyes right back. “I’m not the one who did this!”
“Oh, you’re a chameleon,” Chase adds unnecessarily. Because unlike the rest of us, he’s clearly unaffected by all of this. Then again, why should he be? He only just met me. He’s not the one whose heart is breaking.
“How could you do this to me, Juli? To our friendship. To all of us. How could you even think about taking away someone’s free will like that?”
“I wasn’t trying to take away anyone’s free will. I swear, Bean! The spell was supposed to last a second. Just a spark. A moment of attraction. Then you could choose if you wanted to act on it.” Julian runs a hand through his hair. “But I’ll fix it, I promise. I’ll go back to the library. I’ll find that book. And I’ll undo this spell!”
“Undo it?” I whisper.
And then it really, really hits me. That none of what happened today was real.
Every moment since I drank that pumpkin spice latte was fake. The hot kiss Chase and I shared. The way we connected the moment we met. Wes’s claim that he and I were mates. The magical afternoon we spent together. That one split second when Julian looked at me with fire in his eyes. Not at Minerva. At me. And now Julian’s sudden insistence that the spell he cast was meant for me and not her.
Because if there’s one thing I know, it’s that Julian has never, ever loved me. Not like that.
Without another word, I turn and race up the stairs that lead to our apartment.
“Amber, wait!” Julian shouts, chasing after me.
I think I hear another set of footsteps. Maybe two. I don’t care.
I throw open the apartment door, which we always leave unlocked—it’s not like we’ve ever had any customers to worry about—and dash to my bedroom.
Footsteps thunder behind me. Maybe it’s Julian, or maybe it’s Chase or Wes. All I know is I need to get away.
I dive into my room and slam the door shut behind me. The second after I twist the lock, the doorknob rattles.
“I never meant to hurt you,” Julian shouts. “You have to believe me.”
