“You know what, Mercutio? I think that went pretty well, all things considered.” I lay a hand on Mercutio’s fur. Wet?
I pulled my hand up and saw blood.
“Is that your blood?” I sighed. “The vet’s going to think I’m not a very good pet owner. Lie down, okay? And try not to bleed too much. Right after I get my locket, I’m going to get you some medical attention.”
I turned on the radio. “Robert Earl!” I yelled, slapping my thigh happily. “Don’t that just beat all? My favorite singer on the radio when I’m feeling so good.” I crooned along, “They got a motel by the water, a quart of Bombay Gin. The road goes on forever and the party never ends.”
Mercutio cocked his head at me.
“Well, I know that he sings it better than me, but I love this song. And we escaped instead of getting eaten. Doesn’t that make you feel like singing?”
It didn’t seem to, but I went right on, hoping he’d join in.
Chapter 23
I don’t know why I don’t wear more black eyeliner. Smoky eyes are sexy. I smeared some red lip gloss on my lips as I swung the wheel and pulled into Johnny Nguyen’s driveway.
“Come on, Mercutio,” I said, opening the passenger door. The cat hesitated before getting out, but he finally did.
I knocked on Johnny’s door, and Rollie answered.
“Nice lip gloss, but what in the world is happening with your feet?”
I came to the right place. “Exactly. I need a makeover, real quick like.” I pushed past him into the house.
Mercutio hissed slightly before following me in.
“Your cat, I take it. Does he bite people?”
“Not so far as I know, but he does sometimes do stuff that surprises me. Johnny?” I called, walking back to the bedroom.
Johnny looked up groggily from a pile of fuchsia pillows.
“Hey there. I’m going to rescue Edie, and I want to look good doing it. Can you help me?”
“Huh?”
“She’s always better dressed than me, and she’s dead for cryin’ out loud. For once I want to show up and impress her.”
“Oh. Can wait to the morning?”
“No.”
“Oh,” he said, rubbing his eyes.
“Hey,” I said, spotting a pack of Kool cigarettes on the nightstand. “Can I have one of those? It’s been so long since I smoked.”
“When you smoke, Tammy Jo?”
“Well, actually never. So you see my point? I’ve been good for twenty-three years. I’m entitled to one cigarette without a federal case being made.” I picked up the pack and tapped one out. I popped it between my lips and fired it up with a match.
“Now, I need a dress. I’d like something short with fringe. Black would be good. Can I use your shower?”
“I didn’t know Duvall had any good drugs in town,” Rollie said. “Who on earth is your supplier?”
I took a long drag and only coughed a couple of times. Not bad for my first time. “This has to be like really quick. Can you get him up please?” I said to Rollie, nodding at Johnny.
“You are a pushy little thing.” He looked at Johnny. “The girls in Dallas will go crazy over her.”
“I’m not pushy. I said ‘please.’ ” I marched into the bathroom, puffing away on my cigarette. I twisted my hair up into a towel to keep it dry. Definitely not enough time to shampoo it. I set my cigarette on the corner of the sink and stripped out of my clothes. I took a fast, hot shower and went back to smoking while I dried off. Cigarettes really do taste good. No wonder people are willing to get cancer to smoke them.
I marched out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. If Zach could walk around in front of strangers in a towel, so could I.
Rollie and Johnny went to work on me and fifteen minutes later I was dressed to kill. Too bad I’d lost my gun.
“You gorgeous,” Johnny said, fluffing my hair as Rollie put a third coat of mascara on me.
“Forget this town. Let’s take her to New York and make her a supermodel.”
“She not tall enough.”
“She’s what, five-seven? Kate Moss is five-seven. And Kate’s a crazy drug addict, too. Our little redhead will fit right in.”
“Can I have another cigarette?”
“No, you not smoke,” Johnny scolded.
“Hmm. Can anybody say gateway?” Rollie said.
I looked myself over in the big mirror. Fringed green beaded minidress, gemstone encrusted gold shoes by some Italian shoe designer whose name I couldn’t pronounce, and five pounds of the sexiest makeup ever worn by anyone in Duvall, except maybe Rollie himself.
“This dress is the berries,” I said with a smile.
Rollie gasped. “I haven’t heard that expression since Cool Cal was president.”
“Huh?” I asked, cocking my head.
“Calvin Coolidge. He ran the place about eighty years ago.”
“Hmm. Well, wish me luck. I’m going to get our ghost back. And anyone who tries to stop me is going to get a mascara wand jabbed in his eye.”
“Good luck, Tammy Jo,” Rollie and Johnny said.
Mercutio and I zoomed across town, not having to run over any werewolves on the way. I could feel the pull of Edie’s spirit. My tor spell was working like gangbusters.
Then I drove straight up to Bryn Lyons’s gate.
“Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Will you just look where we are?” I said to Mercutio while checking out my lip gloss in the rearview mirror. “So Mr. Tall, Dark, and Gorgeous was in on it all along. No wonder he was at Georgia Sue’s instead of at the mayor’s party. Well, don’t you worry. He’s not going to outsmart me again.” I pressed the security buzzer.
“Yes?” the security box said.
“Steve, is that you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Tammy Jo here. Is he home?”
“He is.”
“Can I come on in? Pretty please?”
“Are you alone?”
“Just me and my kitten, Mercutio.” Mercutio looked at me. I took my finger off the buzzer. “What? You’re seven months old. That makes you a kitten,” I whispered. “And we’re trying to seem nonthreatening.”
The gate slid open.
I grinned. “Say what you want about the guy, Merc, but I like that Steve. He’s always been on our side.” I drove up to the house and shimmied out of the driver’s seat, liking the swish of my fringe.
I opened the door, catching a faint smell of bleach in the air. Who the heck had been cleaning at this time of night? Bryn was coming down the stairs but stopped when he saw me.
“Hello.”
“Hello yourself,” I said.
He looked as gorgeous as ever, but better. His blue eyes were super vibrant, like a bolt of electricity had lit them up.
“How’d your night go? Were you struck by lightning or anything?” I asked.
“No, you?”
“Nope, but I think I did cause an earthquake. Did you feel it?”
“Actually, yes.” He came down the rest of the stairs and walked over, stopping when he was only a few inches away from me. “Did you go to a party afterward?”
“No, just got cleaned up. My feet were kind of muddy. You know how I like that dirty magic.”
His mouth quirked into a smile that made my heart pound. The lying, thieving bastard from the forbidden families list. Why did he have to be like a movie star, except better looking?
“Do you smoke?” I asked.
“No.”
“I’d like a cigarette.”
“Can’t help you with that. What else can I do for you?”
I leaned forward. He smelled like sandalwood soap and magic. I licked my lips. “Have you had any luck recovering your watch? Your this-doesn’t-go-with-my-Zorro-costume Rolex?”
“I knew which watch you meant, and no, I haven’t gotten it back.”
“Maybe I should cast a spell to try to find it. I’m really getting the hang of my powers.” Sort
of.
Bryn raised his eyebrows. “Is that so?”
“Yeah. I defeated a bunch of werewolves single-handedly.” I glanced over toward the door. “Well, Zach’s car and Mercutio helped a little.”
“You shouldn’t be casting spells you don’t understand. It’s reckless.”
It wasn’t as much fun when Bryn wasn’t flirting and looking at me like I was dinner, so I decided to get down to business. “Where’s my locket?”
“I don’t know.”
He was lying. It was around somewhere, but his power was interfering with my Edie-reception. I needed to put his power out, or to steal it. I smiled at the thought. Wouldn’t that just fix his little red wagon? And then I’d be strong enough to find my locket, heal Zach from the werewolf bite, and probably cure cancer.
I took a couple of steps forward and put my hands on his chest. Power sizzled between us like a Fourth of July sparkler.
“I think we should work together on a spell to banish the werewolves. Want to make some magic with me?” I whispered.
Bryn stared into my eyes, his lids drifting to half-mast. “What I want . . .” His voice trailed off, and he pressed his lips against mine. He tasted like peppermint schnapps and dark chocolate.
I slipped my arms around his neck, my fingers into his hair, and pulled his power right up to mine, wind and earth, mingling just like they’re meant to.
He kissed me like the last bit of oxygen in Texas was left in my lungs, and he wanted it. He pressed me up against him, and I let my body melt on his, sharing that heat.
He broke the kiss, drawing in a long breath and licking his lips. “You’re not yourself,” he said in a husky voice, curled with passion and power.
“Whoever I am, do you want me?”
“Be careful what you offer.”
The corners of my mouth turned up, not afraid of the game. “Been careful most of my life. Not my turn anymore. Maybe you should be careful,” I challenged.
He let me go slowly, rubbing the excess gloss from his lips with his thumb. “Caution is not what interests me.” He looked me over, making my whole body tingle. “But I’ll give you a chance to think. I’ll go upstairs alone. You can hide in the guesthouse until whatever you’ve done is undone. Or you can come to my room, and see how that turns out,” he said and went up.
I started to follow, but Mercutio hurried over to the stairs and lay across the bottom one like a big feline doorstop blocking my path.
“Hey now, you heard him dare me.”
I stepped, and Merc stood when I had one foot over him. I had to grab the rail, but still managed to crash-land on my butt on the second step. I glared at him, and pulled myself up.
“Don’t be a flat tire. I’m just interested in some button shining,” I said, but I bet he knew I had more than close slow-dancing in mind.
He pressed my legs, trying to get me to turn back, but I wouldn’t. I was motivated like it was a hundred-and-five-degree day and the only snow cone in the state was upstairs.
When I got around him, he darted down the step and sauntered toward the kitchen. I smiled, satisfied with my victory.
I walked up, having a flash of memory. I saw the fringe of my dress swish and my feet in patent-leather shoes kicking up and outward. It sure wasn’t a two-step.
I held the banister until I could see again. My locket waited for me, and I wanted it. But I couldn’t tell whether it was upstairs or down, inside the house or somewhere on the grounds. I decided it didn’t matter. After I shorted out Bryn’s power, I’d find it easy and dance the Charleston to celebrate.
At the top, I slipped my shoes off and let them dangle from my hand, enjoying the feel of the soft carpet almost as much as the feel of the mud earlier in the night.
I leaned against the doorway and tapped my knuckles on the door. He opened it and smiled at me, all glossy black hair and blindingly beautiful face. He leaned toward me, but I stopped his lips with a fingertip.
“I’ll have a drink.”
“Of?”
I looked him over. “What have you got?”
He pulled me into the room, and I kept moving until the length of my body was pressed to his. He laughed softly then kissed me. My toes curled in the carpet, and the shoes dropped from my fingertips.
I could feel the room, particles buzzing by, atoms dancing, electrons orbiting, and every bit of energy seemed focused on where our bodies touched.
He tasted so good, more delicious than food, more necessary than water. I licked his tongue, and his hands pressed my back, fusing us together.
I leaned back finally, dragging my mouth free of his. “About that drink?”
“Are you toying with me, Tamara?”
I watched his blue eyes glitter, fascinated as ever by them. “Yeah, like it?”
“Very much,” he whispered. He went to a piece of furniture with a cabinet top and opened it. There were decanters of golden brown liquor the color of sun-kissed skin. He filled a pair of crystal glasses and walked back to me. He handed me mine and then tipped back his, draining it in an instant.
I sipped, the liquid all fiery smooth, like him. He set his glass on the bench at the end of the bed, then dropped to his knees in front of me. I looked down at him as I sipped some more.
He put his hands on my bare thighs just where the fringe stopped. The touch was warm and intimate, but his hands were still. “Where did you get this flapper dress?”
“From Johnny.”
“Of course,” he murmured, bending his head. He ran his tongue between two columns of hanging beads, setting my skin ablaze. He kissed me, sucking on the skin lazily before leaning back. “I’m going to buy you a lot of dresses from him.” He didn’t look up and make eye contact. It was like he was having a conversation with my legs.
“When?” I asked, trying to draw his attention up.
He shrugged, still focused on my legs. “Whenever I feel like it.” He ran his lips over my knee then upward as his hands slid under the dress. “You have the most amazing skin.” His fingertips caught the edge of my panties and slid them off my hips, down, down, down to my ankles. I stepped out of them and walked away from him, dipping my tongue into the mostly empty glass. I stood at the edge of the bed, staring up at the skylight. The black sky was dusted with glittering stars, seemingly ready to rain down on us.
I felt the power first, then felt his body touching mine. He leaned and his mouth was near my ear. “Did you walk away from me to see if I’d chase you? I can end the suspense. I always will,” he whispered. My body hummed, making my head swim.
I heard the fabric slide off his skin and closed my eyes, feeling him take the glass from my hand. He turned me toward him and drew us onto the bed.
“How do you feel about roller coasters?”
I opened my eyes, seeing his face just above mine. “Never been on one.”
He smiled softly as he slid the edge of my dress up. “Hang on.” He didn’t move fast, but time seemed to be lost. One minute I was one person, aware of the world around me. The next, he was inside me, part of me, and the world closed in and slammed through me.
Our hearts beat like a drum in my ears, pounding under my skin, then I was like a peach he’d bitten into, dripping juice, bursting with flavor. I tried not to be torn apart. Something tried to turn me inside out, and I wrapped my arms and legs around the only bit of the solid world still left.
I tried to hold the power. I wanted him to share it with me.
Energy exploded in the room, fire and water, searing, quenching, and I fell and fell and fell.
Bryn roared. Glossy with sweat and blazing with energy, his aura glowed white-hot, and I had to close my eyes or go blind.
“Stop,” I whispered hoarsely, but I doubt he heard me.
My body was slack, burned up and drowned at once. I heard him fling open a door and turned to see him on the terrace. He stretched his arms out and shouted a spell, cursing into the night. The house shook with a countershock, and the lights flickere
d and went out.
I lay limp and exhausted, but in the distance I heard him laugh. He sounded so happy it was near impossible to be sorry I’d lost the power struggle.
Would-Be Witch Page 21
