Charmed in Vegas: Bad Potions

by Michelle Fox

  McAllister snorted. “You’re a fool, Aidan.

  “What would you suggest I do?”

  “Fight for her. If you love her, if it is true love, then find a way to make it work. Don’t run away like a thief in the night.”

  Aidan shook his head. “I don’t have time to go see her. The Lady is waiting for me.” He gestured to the mirror that served as a portal to Fairy at the end of the bar. Sure enough, the Queen stood ready, flanked by two of her honor guard, a smile of happy anticipation on her ruby lips. A low-cut gown in purple velvet hugged her full curves, hinting at the bountiful delights underneath. Normally Aidan would’ve been hard at the thought of spending a night with the Queen, but now he couldn’t fathom how he was to survive it. How could he go on without Marion?

  With slumped shoulders, Aidan stood and made ready to cross over to Fairy.

  “I can take a message to her, if you like.”

  Aidan looked back to McAllister. “Tell her it’s for the best.”

  “There’s not enough mead on this green earth that would convince me it would be a good idea to pass that message on. Why don’t you try again? Preferably, something that won’t get me killed.” McAllister leveled a stern gaze at his friend.

  “I don’t know. What can I say? My heart is bound to her, but my body is honor-bound to the Queen. If I can find a way to come back, I will.”

  “That’s better. Now a little syrupy lovesick puppy-talk and you’ll be all set.” When Aidan just looked at him, McAllister sighed in exasperation. “You know, I’ll love you forever, every day we’re apart is torture, that kind of stuff.”

  “That sounds good,” Aidan said, relieved.

  “What?”

  “What you said.”

  “Oh, so now I’m doing all the dirty work?” McAllister glared at Aidan.

  “You’re so good at it.”

  McAllister preened at the compliment. “Comes from having three wives.”

  “I thought they all left you?” Aidan asked.

  “Don’t get insolent with me. I was wooing the Queen back before you were born.”

  Aidan took a step toward the mirror portal and stopped. Looking back to McAllister, he said, "You know, except for the curse, I never said anything that upset Marion. What do you think that means? I say the wrong thing all the time, but not with her. Why?"

  McAllister shrugged. "Maybe you've finally figured out how not to be a sod-ass? If so, the Lady will be thrilled."

  In the mirror the Queen waved impatiently. Aidan could delay no longer, not without risking her displeasure. “I have to go.”

  “Then do it, but don’t forget your heart, Aidan,” said the pixie, his expression solemn.

  Aidan stepped through the mirror thinking it was all very well to be told to follow one’s heart, but the practice was much harder than the theory.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Marion looked up at McAllister from where she sat on the couch, eyes brimming with unshed tears. She'd been expecting Aidan, not his pixie friend bearing bad news. “So he’s gone?”

  “Aye.” McAllister nodded, adjusting his tie. He's switched out the Elvis jumpsuit for something more upscale, but his pink hair flopping on his head like wilted cotton candy meant he couldn't quite pull off the look.

  “I see.” She looked down at her skirt, regretting the effort she'd made to look pretty. Her ex had wanted her too much, Aidan didn't want her enough, but she'd been stupid enough to believe it could happen.

  The pixie flexed his wings, a nervous twitch."He did not want to go, you understand. He had no choice.”

  “Uh-huh.” Marion grabbed a tissue and dabbed her eyes. “Will I ever see him again?”

  “I can’t say. It’s hard to make promises when the Queen is involved.”

  “Thank you for letting me know.” Anger surged through her when she thought of how Aidan had disappeared in the night without even a simple goodbye.

  “He would’ve come himself, but he did not have time. When the Lady calls, you go. That’s just how it is with her.”

  Marion gave a bitter laugh. Oh to be a Queen where no one dared displease you, let alone break your heart. The fact was, the elf had a cell phone. He could have called. It would have taken less than a minute, but he couldn’t be bothered. That hurt more than anything. Even the elf-giant, Dougal, had taken a moment to say goodbye before returning to Fairy and he wasn’t supposedly in love with her. He’d also sent her a picture of Eric with his new Eros Fey ‘wife’. Marion might’ve felt a twinge of guilt at Eric’s circumstances, but his wide smile showed obvious enjoyment of his circumstances, despite the chain around his neck.

  McAllister cleared his throat, breaking her reverie.“If I may give you some advice?”

  Marion shrugged her shoulders and sniffed back tears.

  “If it’s really meant to be, love will find a way. That’s how it’s been for me three times now.” Compassion shone in the pixie’s eyes.

  “I hope you’re right.” She took another tissue and blew her nose. Much to her irritation, she was succumbing to an ugly cry. “It’s not like I didn’t know this was a possibility.” She just hadn’t thought it would hurt so much. Tears washed down her cheeks and her lips quivered uncontrollably.

  McAllister patted her shoulder, his wings fluttering in distress. “Hold it together, lass. Hope is not lost yet.”

  “You should go,” she said not wanting him to witness her breakdown. “Thank you for coming.”

  He nodded and raised a hand to stop her when she moved to stand. “I’ll show myself out.”

  When he was gone, Marion pulled a pillow over her face to muffle her sobs. How was it her love life was such a constant disaster? The only answer Marion could think of was that she was bad at love. Maybe that was why her love potions didn’t work, it wasn’t for lack of love, just simply that she was hopeless.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Aidan drank the last of his mead and surveyed the banquet table. The Lady had welcomed him with open arms and complete forgiveness, declaring his return a cause for celebration. If she noticed his lack of enthusiasm, she made no mention of it. She was so busy showering him with attention and gifts, he doubted she’d had a chance to stop and think.

  It wasn’t that he was rude. He said thank you as prettily as he could. He bowed, kissed her hand, held doors, rushed to serve her, just as he had before, but there was no joy in it. No flirtatious anticipation. The Queen was beautiful and a passionate lover, but his heart was no longer hers.

  So far he’d managed to stay out of her bed through cunning and outright manipulation, but sooner or later, he would run out of distractions. Sex with the Queen could not be avoided forever.

  Next to him, the Lady laughed in delight as a troupe of jugglers finished their performance. Dancers shimmied onto the floor, seamlessly taking over the stage and the orchestra began to play a sensuous melody full of high, sweet notes singing counterpoint to a deep harmony.

  The Lady reached over and clasped Aidan’s hand in hers. “Oh how I love the music of Fairy. Did you miss it?”

  Aidan nodded. He had...until he met Marion. Now all he missed was her.

  “I was beginning to worry that you would never return. I hadn’t thought my curse was so challenging.”

  “Perfection such as yours is hard to attain.”

  “Ooo, very nice, Aidan. Such an improvement. Stick out your tongue, I want to see if you’ve gilded it.” She leaned in and kissed him, her tongue darting between his lips. “You taste good, too,” she said reaching to stroke him through his pants.

  Aidan flushed at her bold attention, a dark dread beginning to roil in his stomach.

  The Queen kissed Aidan again and whispered in his ear, “Come. I tire of this banquet. There are other delicacies upon which I would feast.” She stood, and taking him by the hand led him from the ballroom to her chambers.

  With a wave of her hand, her gown disappeared, leaving her naked before him. Cupping a large breast in her hand
and caressing its cherry tip, she waved her other hand and Aidan’s clothes disappeared. Despite his reservations, his body still responded to the Queen’s beauty. His shaft was rock hard.

  She beckoned. “Come. I've missed your touch.”

  Aidan walked toward her, his heart heavy in his chest. He teased her nipples to hard peaks with his thumbs and kissed her ruby lips with as much passion as he could muster. The Queen for her part, was an ardent lover as always. She caressed him in sensitive spots, heightening his pleasure with her experienced touch.

  With a sigh she turned to face the large mirror against the back wall of her bedchamber. Wiggling her bottom suggestively against him, she said, “Look how beautiful our natural forms are together. No one looks quite as good on me as you.”

  Aidan paused from where he was kissing the nape of her neck and looked up to see their reflection in the mirror. His heart skipped a beat. He recognized his own reflection, but the woman he had wrapped his arms around wasn’t the Queen, it was Marion.

  Before he could stop himself, he said, “Marion.”

  The Queen stiffened in his arms, a dark look crossing her fair face. “Marion?” She snapped her fingers, “Mirror, show me what he sees.”

  The mirror flickered and showed the Queen a petite woman with blonde hair and brown eyes. Nothing like the Queen’s dark-as-night curls and violet eyes.

  She turned to Aidan with a frown. “What is the meaning of this?”

  Aidan kneeled. “I beg pardon, Lady.”

  “Who is Marion?”

  Aidan bowed his head, avoiding the Queen’s gaze. “She is the woman who fulfilled your curse.”

  “You have feelings for her?” Her voice was sharp.

  Aidan remained silent, reluctant to say anything that might incriminate him.

  “You are wise to say nothing, but the mirror has already betrayed you. It has shown me your heart’s desire and it is not me.” The Queen’s voice caught and she turned her back on Aidan, head bowed. “Leave me.”

  “Lady?”

  “I said, leave me. Before I do something you will find painful and I will later regret.” She picked up a vase of flowers and dashed it to the ground, a stony expression on her face.

  Aidan stumbled to his feet and fled.

  Chapter Twenty

  “So you’re a witch, I’ve always been curious about witchcraft. You know, my great grandmother had some magical talent, but this was back before you could study magic in college.” Darren prattled on, oblivious to the glazed expression in Marion’s eyes.

  This was the third blind date Raven had forced her on in as many weeks and they’d all been so excruciatingly bad, Marion was seriously considering joining a nunnery.

  Sure, Darren was cute, with artfully windswept blond hair and gray-green eyes, but he also talked nonstop, even when there was food in his mouth. And he was fascinated with magic—unhealthily so. Marion was in a mood to indulge him and finish their ridiculous, going-nowhere-fast date.

  With a bright smile, she interrupted him, “Would you excuse me, please? I need to use the restroom.”

  “Of course.” Darren said with a polite smile.

  Marion grabbed her purse and ducked into the women’s restroom. Quickly digging through her bag, she found the invisibility charm she’d made the week before with Professor Snooks’ help. The professor had survived Eric’s attack and had since been mentoring Marion, a relationship both women enjoyed.

  With a sigh, she muttered the word that activated the charm. Whether Darren ever figured it out or not, tonight he was going to experience real magic.

  Once she was confident the charm had taken effect, Marion strode out of the restroom and the restaurant. Darren never even noticed.

  Thank the Goddess for magic.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Aidan spent several days lying low in the servants’ quarters, sneaking food from the kitchen when he was hungry, and filling his time reading books he smuggled from the Queen’s library. As far as he could tell, the Queen wasn’t looking for him. She hadn’t set the Hunt on him either, which was a good sign. There might be hope of salvaging the situation. Perhaps if he wrote a suitably romantic poem coupled with a custom piece of silver jewelry, he might ease her anger.

  Resolved, he made his way into town and visited the silversmith. Together they designed an elegant pin with intertwining hearts that the craftsman promised he would have ready the next day. Aidan then went to the local tavern where he imbibed mead freely and applied pen to paper, struggling to write a suitable testament to the Lady’s beauty. The only problem was, for every verse he wrote, it was Marion he pictured.

  By the next day, he'd downed enough mead to fill a pond and had something he thought would pass muster, even if he’d written it with another woman in mind. Stopping at the silversmith’s, he picked up the pin and made his way back to the Queen’s Court where his discreet inquiries revealed she was abed with a sickness.

  Concerned that he might’ve caused her harm with his heart’s betrayal, Aidan rushed to her chamber where the Lady lay, peacefully, sleeping under thick covers.

  Aidan watched over her while she slept, working out in his head what he would say when she woke. They had parted on bad terms and he didn’t want to raise her anger again. He noticed the mirror they had used was gone. Perhaps destroyed by the Lady in a fit of rage, or simply taken somewhere else until she could bear to look at it again.

  He sat by her side through the night. She lay so still, so silent, he once leaned over her, listening for her breath. At dawn, she finally stirred. She yawned and looked at him with bleary eyes.

  “Aidan, is that you?”

  “Yes, Lady.” He kneeled before her.”Lady, I must beg—” he began, but she shushed him.

  “Not now, Aidan. It’s too early for the conversation we need to have. Leave me to bathe and we’ll meet later this afternoon in the garden.”

  “Yes, my Lady.” Aidan bowed, but before he left, he set the box with the pin next to her pillow.

  ***

  In the garden she bid him walk with her, two of her guard trailing after them. They stayed far enough behind that they couldn’t overhear their conversation, but close enough to watch the Queen’s back.

  “So, you fell in love with a mortal witch.” She plucked a purple rose from a nearby bush and held it to her nose, inhaling deeply.

  “Yes, Lady,” Aidan said.

  “Yet you came back to me.”

  “I am honor-bound to do so.”

  “But I do not hold your heart.” She tossed the rose onto the lawn, the petals scattering in the wind.

  “No,” he said, unable to bring himself to lie.

  Her hand went to the pin he'd given her, fingers tracing its delicate design. She'd fastened it right over her heart. Closing her eyes, she retreated into herself for a long moment. Then, with a sigh, she said, “I free you of your obligation to me.”

  “Lady?”

  “I do not want the body without the heart. I have to be able to trust my honor guard. There must be no chink in my armor. If you are not wholly mine, you are a weakness my enemies can use.”

  Aidan bowed his head. “I have failed you.” And Marion, he added to himself silently.

  She laid a hand on his arm. “No, Aidan. Don’t think that. It’s true I’ve always preferred you to some of the other guard, but this is where our paths part. There is no honor guard without heart.” She gestured to the end of the stone path they’d been following where the air shimmered with magic, a portal to the human realm. “I will miss you.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him gently on the cheek. “Now go.”

  “Lady, I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

  She smiled at him and fumbled to unfasten the pin. “Here, take this.”

  “It’s yours.”

  “No, it’s not. It’s hers. Take it with my blessing. Be happy, be well.” She pressed the pin into his hand and wrapped his fingers around it.

  Aidan’s throat clogged w
ith emotion and he struggled to find the words to express his gratitude. The Lady had taught him everything he knew about women and the guard had made him a man. He would’ve never met Marion or captured her heart without them. Unable to find the right words, he settled on a hug instead, sweeping the startled queen into his arms.

  She laughed and kissed him on the cheek again. “Go, before my selfish nature reasserts itself.” With a gentle push, she shoved him toward the portal.

  Aidan stepped through the portal and blinked in the dim light of the dance club he had first met Marion in. Sun streamed in from windows set high on the walls, illuminating the scuffed dance floor. Aidan barely noticed his surroundings as he made a beeline for the front door. All he could think about was finding Marion.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Marion aimlessly flicked through the cable channels, watching as a succession of images flashed across the screen. Raven was out with friends, leaving Marion to wallow in her depression in peace. A depression that involved a lot of chocolate as evidenced by the pile of candy wrappers on the side table next to the couch.

  She’d never anticipated how bad the downside of love could be. It felt like someone was hacking out her heart with a spoon. A task she wished them well at because, as far as she was concerned, she was better off without one.

  She just wasn’t cut out for romance. Sure the broken wrist and bruised neck Eric had left her with had hurt, but the intangible pain of Aidan’s abandonment was worse. Much worse. There was no surgery to fix it. No police to put the source of her pain in jail. Although she was now convinced there ought to be a unit devoted to heartbreak justice.

  The idea of falling in love again with someone else, made her stomach roil. Or maybe that was just a side effect from too much chocolate. At that last thought, Marion put down the chocolate bar she’d been about to open and pulled the afghan on the back of the couch down around her shoulders. Settling on a made-for-TV movie, she lay on the couch and let the screen work its mind-numbing magic.