by R. A. Gates
them back. Apparently, Ivy’s jewelry
didn't sparkle enough for her.
Ivy jumped out of bed and
slammed the box shut, barely missing the
snoop's greedy fingers in the process.
“Hey, paws off.”
She didn't miss the glare the she-
wolf gave her as she brought the box
back to bed with her. Athena strolled
over to Ivy's closet instead.
Ivy stashed the box under her
pillow. “Just because I took the blame
for the rug last night, doesn't mean I have
a complex. He's just a kid.”
“He's a kid that screwed up and
deserved to be punished,” Athena said
while thumbing through Ivy’s meager
wardrobe of baggy jeans and oversized
t-shirts. She pulled out an extra-large
sweatshirt and held it against her,
examining it in the full length mirror.
The look of disgust on her face
reassured Ivy that the older girl wouldn't
be borrowing it anytime soon.
“My gawd, Ivy, you do know
you're a girl, right?”
“Give me that,” She yanked the
sweatshirt from Athena's hands. “And
for your information, I only help those
that
can't
help
themselves.
Mr.
McGregor would've seriously hurt
Danny if I didn't step in.”
“You can't save everyone, Ivy.
Danny's going to have to learn to take
care of himself or he'll never survive in
this world.”
“But, he's helpless. I couldn't
stand by and let him get hurt like that. I'm
not like you.”
Athena
growled
under
her
breath. “I don't want to see him hurt
either, but I understand that he'll never
learn
if
he
doesn't
suffer
the
consequences. He needs to figure out life
is hard.”
Ivy stood there, playing with her
leather bracelet. She wondered if the
woman searching through her stuff had
ever worked for anything in her life.
“Says the one who cons men into giving
her whatever her heart desires.”
“It's called survival, Ivy. And
I've served my time. It's not my fault
those men were stupid enough to think I
wanted anything more from them than
their money,” Athena ran her perfectly-
manicured hands through her barely
tousled blond hair. “I learned my lesson,
though.”
“Oh?”
“Stay away from the married
ones. Suspicious wives track every
penny and ask lots of questions.”
“I'll
remember
that.”
She
climbed back under her covers.
“So,
where
were
you
yesterday?” Athena sat at Ivy’s desk and
sifted through the papers lying on top.
“Do you mind?” Ivy asked,
motioning to her school work.
“Not at all,” Athena said as she
continued to snoop.
Knowing the only scandalous
information to be found was the B grade
on her last history paper, Ivy ignored the
invasion of her privacy and mumbled
from under the blankets, “I was at
school.”
“After that. You weren't home
when I came back to get my sweater.”
Athena found a notebook, opened it up,
and read the first page.
“I went to a friend's house.” She
yawned and closed her eyes, trying not
to let on how much Athena’s snooping
bothered her.
“Liar. You don't have any
friends.”
“Ha, ha.” She sat up in bed since
Athena wasn't taking the hint and cleared
her throat. “If you're looking for my
deepest, darkest secrets, you won't find
them in there.”
Athena closed the notebook and
tossed it on the desk. She examined Ivy
from across the room, to the point that
she fidgeted with the comforter. “I know
something scandalous happened to make
you hide out in Salmagundi. That's why
we're all here, right?” She leaned
forward in her chair. “This whole
boring, anti-social thing you do to keep
people away isn't necessary.” She
lowered her voice to a whisper.
“Because nobody cares.”
Ivy kept her face as neutral as
possible and didn't back down from the
older girl's challenging gaze.
After a long stretch of awkward
silence, Athena walked to the door, but
stopped in the entryway. “I almost
forgot, your boss called yesterday and
scheduled you for a double shift at the
diner today. You need to be there in an
hour.”
Un-freakin'-believable.
Ivy
grabbed her pillow and chucked it at
Athena's smiling face, but hit the closing
door instead. What a bitch.
Chapter 4
“How is the cream of pixie soup
made? You don't use that frozen crap, do
ya?” an old goblin with a gravelly voice
asked. He sat at the counter looking over
the diner's menu.
Ivy had to concentrate on not
staring at all the hair sticking out of his
ears and nose. “Oh, no. Chef Bob only
uses the freshest ingredients. He made a
new batch just this afternoon.” She
leaned in close and whispered, “In fact,
their little screams as he dropped them
one by one into the pot still echo in my
head. Will I ever find peace?”
The malicious smile that spread
over the goblin's face made her shiver.
“Perrr-fect. I'll take a bowl,” he said,
licking his lips.
The dinner crowd thinned out,
along with most of her patience. It had
been a long day, and her whole body
ached. After two shifts, it was going to
take hours to scrub off the smell of fried
meat and onions that permeated her skin.
She was so ready to go home. Just one
more hour.
As she set the steaming bowl
down in front of the goblin, little wings
floating on the surface, the bell above
the door announced another customer.
Thane strolled in with a huge stack of
books in his arms. He set them down at
his usual table in front of the front
window and said hello to the other
waitress on duty.
“Hey, Thane. Read much?” she
asked as she walked over. She barely
caught a falling book before it slid to the
floor.
“When it comes to research,
there's no such thing as too much,” he
said, doing a double-take when she
stood closer.
“What happened to you?”
Her hand automatically went to
her neck. “Oh, nothing. I just tripped and
fell into the briar bush in our back
garden.” That was the story she dished
out all night to explain away the bruises
and scratches still visible from her fight
with her landlord. Picking up one of the
books, she thumbed through it, curious.
“The Bonehead's Guide to Curse-
Breaking. Seriously? Is this really going
to help wake Prince Sebastian?”
Suddenly, he threw his hand over
her mouth. “Shhh. Don't say that out
loud,” he whispered. “We can't have
people knowing what we're doing.”
“Why?” she asked, her voice
muffled under his palm. The clanking of
plates and boisterous voices throughout
the diner surely drowned out their
conversation. He was overreacting.
He removed his hand and
motioned for her to take a seat on the
opposite side of the vinyl booth.
Glancing around, he leaned over the
table.
“We
don't
want
someone
following us and claiming the reward for
themselves.” Not only was he a touch
insane, but paranoid, too.
She nodded her head and smiled.
“Speaking of reward, how much is the
city offering to solve the wards
problem?”
“$50,000. Split four ways, that's
twelve-and-a-half apiece.”
“Four ways? Me plus you, plus
Prince Sebastian equals three. Who's the
fourth?” The chili fries she had on break
churned in her stomach thinking about
who the mystery person was.
“Garren, of course.”
She dropped her head on the
table with a thud. “Of course.”
“I know he's not your favorite
person...”
She lifted her head and glared at
him.
“But he's one of the best wizards
with defensive magic I know. He's
undefeated in Wizard Duels and his
shields are practically impenetrable. He
can protect us from any Eradicators we
might run into.”
She huffed a humorless laugh and
crossed her arms over her chest. “I'm
more than capable of protecting us. We
don't need him.” She’d rather be a
midnight snack to a hungry vampire than
tolerate Garren.
“Oh, really?” He leaned back
and eyed her intently. “What can you
do?”
I can kick your ass. But she
couldn't give herself away . “Enough.”
Her arms dropped to her lap as she
looked away from his stare. He wasn't
going to back down and she really
needed that money. Karma wouldn’t quit
using her as a punching bag if she didn’t
do everything she could to keep Danny
safe.
Her boss already turned down
her request for a salary advance.
Apparently, he didn’t feel she was a
good enough waitress for the amount of
money she asked for. How was she
supposed to know boiled dragon eggs
explode in a fireball if not served right
away? His eyebrows grew back.
She sighed and fiddled with her
leather bracelet. “Fine. We'll split it four
ways. When do we leave?”
His face beamed as he smiled at
her. “You'll do it? That's great. We
leave next weekend, before spring
break. Oh, I brought something that might
make this whole thing easier for you.”
She
waited
patiently,
foot
tapping on the floor, as Thane searched
through the mountain of books. Unless
there was such a thing as True Love's
Handshake, she doubted anything he
found would make this whole situation
any easier.
He pulled a large volume free
and flipped through the pages until he
found what he was looking for. Pushing
the book forward, he pointed to a
portrait of a dark-haired man. Written
under the picture was Prince Sebastian's
name.
She
studied
the
charcoal
drawing, tracing the outline of his nose
with her finger. A small bump sat on the
bridge where it might have been broken
when he was younger. Dark hair fell
about his face to rest on broad
shoulders. Her finger drifted lower,
running along the curves of his full lips.
He wasn't smiling, but she was drawn to
his mouth anyway. But what really held
her attention were his eyes. A crease ran
between his brows, as his black eyes
bored into hers from the page. It was as
if he was deciphering her thoughts as she
stared at his picture. She shuddered and
tore her gaze away.
“I thought if you saw him, you'd
feel better about what you had to do,” he
said.
She glanced at Sebastian's mouth
again,
not
feeling
disgusted,
but
strangely intrigued. He wasn't movie star
handsome, but striking, in a brooding
sort of way. A small thrill sparked
through her veins and she shoved the
book back. “He may not be a troll, but
that doesn't make him any less dead.”
“He's not—”
“Cursed. Whatever.” She waved
his argument away. “So, how old was he
when he was... you know?” Prince
Sebastian appeared rather young in the
picture; older than her seventeen years,
but still young. Of course, it could've
been drawn years before he was cursed.
“He was twenty-five. Young,
right? Especially when you consider all
the discoveries he made. He was a
genius. Did you know—”
The bell over the door rang
again, and she slid out of the booth to get
back to work. “Sorry, duty calls.”
Anything to get out of hearing mind-
numbing facts about potions and potion
masters.
The excitement that sparked in
his eyes, as he babbled on about Prince
Sebastian, died out when she got up. He
tried to smile it off, but it was a weak
attempt.
Guilt gripped her heart as she
watched her cousin fumble to open a
thick book in order to save face. “Hey,
I'd love to learn more about the guy I'm
going to make out with. Can you lend me
one to read?”
His eyes lit up again as he
handed her the book with the charcoal
picture. “This one has the most
information about his life outside his
lab. Nothing about Leviena, though. I'll
bring you one of her diaries, if you want
to read about that.”<
br />
She nodded and took the book.
She plastered a smile on her face to
greet the new customers. It dropped
when Garren and his entourage walked
in.
“Serving wench, your services
are
required.
Post-haste.”
Keith,
Garren's best friend, played Othello in
last year's school play and ever since
then he thought he was a professional
Shakespearian actor. He snapped his
fingers at her and led Morgan and
Bonnie to a booth.
“I've gotta talk to Thing for a
minute. Be right back,” Garren said to
Keith. Thane stiffened at the nickname
Garren and his friends used for him.
“So, is she going to do it?”
Garren asked, tilting his head in her
direction.
Making herself stand a little
taller, she narrowed her eyes at the
annoying boy. “She has a name, and
she's standing right here.” She just
agreed to this crazy scheme and already
he was on her last nerve.
Garren turned to face her and
cocked his head to the side. After a
moment of silence passed between them,
he caved. “Well?”
She nodded once.
A look of excitement flashed in
his eyes. “We'll need to go to Irene's
tomorrow to buy some supplies for the
trip, but my car's busted again, so we
can't—” He stopped talking and stared at
her. “What happened to your neck?”
“I fell. You were saying?”
“It's a good thing I'm helping on
this quest, or you'd both end up falling
into some deep, dark hole, killing
yourselves.” He ran his hands over his
face and sighed. “I'm going to have my
hands full keeping you two alive, I just
know it.”
“Get—to—your—point,”
she
said through gritted teeth. Between her
and Garren, only one of them was going
to make it back alive.
“We can't use my car, so we'll
have to use yours,” he said to Thane,
who had risen from his seat to stand next
to her.
“Mine's no good. My mom's
borrowing it for a few weeks,” he said.
Both boys regarded her, as if she
was going to volunteer the use of her
imaginary car.
“Sorry, but we won't all fit on
my skateboard.”
“What about Mr. McGregor's
car? I know he'll be out of town
tomorrow to sell a bunch of crap with
my dad. We'll just borrow it and be back
before they are. No problem,” Garren
said with a shrug.
It felt like a lead weight dropped
in the pit of her stomach. Mr. McGregor
would kill her if she took his car without
