by ERIN BEDFORD
I had to beat Beth Ann. Not only for me and Ian, but for Callie. Beth Ann couldn’t win this. She wouldn’t win this.
As I zoomed past a ball another one that had been nowhere near me flew in my direction. I did a quick tuck and turn to miss it just in time. I suspected Beth Ann had a hand in that but didn’t have the time to contemplate it before I was having to dodge another one.
Beth Ann and I were neck and neck at the end of the final obstacle, even though Beth Ann had been cheating the majority of the time. I couldn’t prove it of course but it would make winning all that much sweeter.
The last stretch of the race was a straight-up rush to the bottom where the finish line waited. The plunge would put us at breakneck speeds, gravity helping our magic along, and I had to be quick to pull up in time or else I would smash into the field just before the finish line. My heart raced and fear rose in my throat, but when Beth Ann’s cackling laughter hit my ears, I pushed that fear down. My brows furrowed, and my lips pressed in a tight line as I shoved a bit more magic into my broom, giving it all I had.
Aris screamed in my ear as if I didn’t know that I was racing toward my doom. Beth Ann was either smarter than me or less determined as she slowed her descent before I did. As I rocketed past her, I only had a second to bask in the fact that I was winning before I had to pull up or break my face on the ground.
Wind pushed against my face as I pulled up on my broom. It felt as if I were making taffy in the way the broom held back as I tried to bring it up to be parallel to the ground. My heart jumped into my throat as I barely made it. Then I was passing the finish line and the crowd was going wild. I could barely hear them over the thudding of my own heart, and I swore that I’d gained a few gray hairs after this whole thing. But I’d won. I’d beaten Beth Ann. Even with her cheating. I’d won!
Chapter 18
Valentine's Day was almost upon us, and that meant the second game was to be shortly after. I could say that I was more nervous about this one than the last. Especially since it would be a partnered event to go along with the holiday, and my partner was none other than Ian Broomstein.
"Are you going to tell me where you were?" I asked Ian for what felt like the millionth time since the first game. I shifted in my seat at the restaurant we'd gone to for Valentine's day. Since I had four men in my life, we had to handle things like this in a different manner. Sometimes we did a group outing, and other times depending on if it was wanted, we did separate dates, one for each man. This time around, I had been the one to request to see them each separately, not only to re-solidify my love for each of them but because I wanted to talk to Ian alone.
Since the first game, we hadn't had much time alone. Either one or both of us were busy with school or something else would get in the way. And when I said something I meant, someone: Beth Ann. Everywhere I turned, there she was, making a nuance of herself. We'd even tried to hide away in his bedroom but not long afterward someone would come calling on Ian in desperate need of his help with something.
It was really starting to piss me off.
But today she couldn't have him. Today was my day. I had plans for each of the guys this week, one date a night based on each of our schedules. Tonight was Ian's night.
Ian glanced up from his steak, his lips tugging up at the edges. "I told you. I got caught up in work, that's all."
I hummed and lifted my wine glass to my lips. I didn't want to think that Ian was lying to me, but I knew he wasn't telling me the whole truth. It made my stomach ache to think of what he might be keeping from me but no matter how I tried to word the question, I'd always get the same vague answer.
"I'm just sorry you missed my glorious victory. You should have seen Beth Ann's face when I beat her." I offered him a smile and tried to put our date back on track.
Though I had won my race against Beth Ann, the thrill of it had been short-lived on the back of Ian still not making an appearance for Aidan's, Dale's, and Paul's races. The guys dominated the field, each of them winning their races without a problem. Of course, they weren't up against their nemesis, so I'd say that put things to their advantage, not that they needed it. I couldn't stop watching them as they moved through the obstacles as if they were nothing. Each of them was like a knight on a gallant steed with how at ease they were on their brooms. If only Ian had been there.
"I heard." Ian grinned and picked up his phone, shaking it slightly. "I even saw it. Your mother made sure to record it and has been showing any and everyone how great of a racer her baby girl is after only a semester of lessons."
I flushed in embarrassment. "Oh, Morgana. She sure does latch onto something, doesn't she? I'm just surprised it was her and not my grandmother. She's more likely to take out a television spot just to broadcast it to the whole magical world."
Ian and laughed as we continued to each our meal. The restaurant we had chosen this time was a human one. The decor was all decked out for Valentine's day over the usual Italian atmosphere. The smell of freshly baked bread filled the room, and the lights were dim above with flickering little candles on each table inside of a fishbowl center centerpiece.
"What are you thinking about?" Ian cocked his head to the side, his dark hair falling in his eyes. I wanted to reach out and brush it back with my hand, so I did. Ian caught it and kissed my palm before releasing me.
I sat back in my seat and sighed. "I love the magical world, but I was just thinking that I do miss human things."
"Really? Like what?" Ian asked as he cut into his steak once more. I watched his fingers as they moved, a mesmerizing combination that made me want them on my body instead.
"The simple act of using a fork and knife to cut your meat over using a spell, for instance," I began. Ian paused mid-cut to look at me curiously. I gestured to a waiter passing by. "The way an actual person takes your order rather than the dishes taking control." When Ian frowned, I quickly added, "Not that there was anything wrong with it, but it does make me nostalgic for my old life. There were things that the magical world does better, but there are also things that you all take for granted."
"I see." Ian placed his utensils down and laced his hands in front of him. "Do enlighten me."
I gave a small coy smile as my fingers found the neckline of the dress I'd worn for tonight. It was a deep burgundy number made of satin and lace. The straps were a few inches thick, but the neckline dipped so that my cleavage was displayed in such a way to pull the eye to it.
With a low, sultry voice, I murmured, "Like the simple act of taking your lover's clothes off. More often than not when we’re with each other, we’re in such a hurry to get to the main event that we never slow down long enough to even take the time to know each other’s bodies. To unwrap each other, one part at a time, enjoying the unveiling as much as the act itself." I paused my eyes locking with his heated ones. "You have to admit there is something sexy about it. The waiting."
"Yes, there is." Ian swallowed thickly, taking a drink of his glass as his eyes followed my hands as I touched my neck and shoulders. "I wouldn't be hard pressed to say no to doing some things the human way. All you had to do was ask."
I smirked and peered up at him from beneath my lashes. "Well, then, I guess that means we need to practice... to make perfect, you know."
Almost knocking his cup off the table, Ian's hand jerked into the air and he croaked out, "Check!"
The rest of this week was filled with dates from my other boyfriends and each of them ended in a similar manner. Dinner or a movie and then a night of lovemaking, each of us unable to get enough of the other’s bodies. We didn't always do it in my room. In fact, I tried not to when I could because of Trina, but some of the places we did it in weren't exactly...legal.
"What is that smile on your face about?" Dale asked the morning of the second game, his own lips quirking up at the edges. He was helping me prepare my potions for the final game. We were set up in the potion’s lab where the administration had their floating camera moving around th
e room watching each group to be sure we weren’t cheating. Dale was only allowed to hand me things not instruct me in any manner. This was a test of how well I could brew a potion after all.
At his question, I bit my lip and ducked my head. "Nothing. Just remembering earlier this week when we..." I trailed off, letting him fill in the blanks as I continued to put the ingredients in the potion I was brewing.
Dale handed me the next item on my list, crushed frog's brain, and then snuck up behind me, his mouth skimming my ear to avoid being overheard. "You mean when I took you into the Headmaster's office and bent you over the back of his desk? Is that the event plaguing your mind?"
I grinned despite myself and nodded. "Yes. That." I tried to focus as I measured out the precise amount needed for the potion, but it was hard with Dale's hot breath on my ear and his hands teasing my hips. We were in the potion’s lab where the rest of the contestants for the second game were preparing so it wasn't like we were alone. We couldn't just reenact the other night right here and now, no matter how much I wanted to.
"If you're worried about getting in trouble, we won't. I covered our tracks and the Headmaster doesn't use modern technology like cameras, only spells. Spells that I have access to." Dale brushed my hair away from my neck before nipping lightly at my neck. He reached over me to grab the ladle just before the cauldron started to boil. "Don't let it burn."
I turned my head toward him with a scoff. "Am I doing this, or are you? I believe it's my potion, and if you help too much, they'll think I'm cheating." I nodded my head toward the judges walking around the room to make sure no one was breaking the rules.
The second game consisted of two parts. The first part centered around potion-making by the first member of the team. These potions would then be used by their partner to navigate the second part of the event, an obstacle course with far greater dangers than flying a broom through a hoop. We’re talking things like walking through fire and getting across a pool of Piranhas.
The real challenge was that the team members couldn’t communicate. The second team member had no idea exactly what each potion would do or how it would help them navigate the course. It turned the event into a combination of potion-making skills, foresight, trust, and knowledge of your partner. Since Ian and I were lovers, we should have a slight advantage in that department. Most of the other teams had only known each other a short while, and none of them were involved the way we were. My only main concern was whether or not Ian would show up this time.
"Fine, fine." Dale released me and stepped back, holding his hands up. "I won't help. I'll just sit over here and watch you."
I arched a brow at him as I poured the potion into the vial and popped the cock into it. "If you keep undressing me with your eyes, I won't be able to make this next potion right, and you could risk me killing Ian."
Dale snorted and crossed his arms over his button-down shirt. "Like you could mess up an invisibility potion."
"Shhh," I reached over and smacked him on the arm as my eyes went to those around us. While the obstacle course was the same for every team, what potions we brewed to beat it were up to each brewer. I didn't want to give the other teams an unfair advantage by overhearing my own plans.
"And I could, you know." I pointed out with narrowed eyes. "Maybe I overcook it, and it doesn't work at all. Or I add too much nitrate, and it works for only ten seconds rather than the full time he needs."
"You worry too much. That won't happen." Dale adjusted his safety glasses so he could fix his regular ones beneath the strap of the glasses, making his hair poke out in funny angles. "You wouldn't do anything that might harm Ian."
I snorted. "I wish I could say the same thing for him."
"What do you mean?"
As I chewed on my lower lip, I shook my head. "Nothing. Just a thought I had."
"Max," Dale reached out a hand, "tell me."
"He's hiding something. I don't know what, but I know he is and I'm afraid..." I let out a long sigh and rubbed a hand over my face. "I'm afraid it's something his parents pushed him into, and it's going to get him hurt or worse killed."
Dale bobbed his head in response. "I know. I've seen how he's been lately. We all have, but Aidan’s also in the Dark Arts, and he doesn't seem all that worried. So, I would think that you shouldn't be either."
"But he missed the first game. He loves races. Paul and Aidan said so." I shook my head and swallowed down my emotions. "I just don't know what to do. What if he doesn't show up today? What do we do then?"
Dale soothed his thumb across my hand and lowered his voice, "Then Paul can take his place. I can't because I’m here as your brew assistant, and you made the potions for someone of Ian's size, not Aidan's."
I nodded in understanding. "Paul would have to do it. They won't work on anyone else."
"So, don't worry about the game,” Dale reassured me with his voice and his touch, and I found myself calming a bit. “Just get through this bit, and the rest will fall into place. You'll see."
As I finished up the next final potion, I tried to keep my nerves under control, but worry gnawed at my stomach, and I couldn't help but feel like Ian wasn't coming. Not to this game or the next one. That gut feeling told me more than anything else that something was wrong. I just didn't know what yet.
After I finished the potions, Dale helped me clean my station and gather them up to take out to the course on the athletic field. Each bottle was labeled for each contestant so there wouldn't be any mix-up as to the order of use.
Dale had told me one time someone had tried to cheat and use someone else's potion, but it ended up backfiring on them because the potion was made for a woman and the drinker was a man. There were many different factors to consider when making transformation potions, and one of those was the sex of the user. You’d think magic wouldn’t carry so much about biology, but in some ways, magic and science were really closely connected. The guy ended up in the hospital for a week and obviously didn't finish the game or any other one. No one else has tried to cheat in that manner since.
The crowd was just as wild as it was for the first event. My parents and grandparents had shown up once more and this time since I wasn't actively taking part in the second game, I could sit with them and cheer Ian on. However, when I approached the stands and saw Aidan sitting there with them a pinched expression on his face, I knew my predictions for the day were coming true.
"Let me guess..." I drew out my words heavy with annoyance. "Ian was busy."
Aidan grunted, his arms crossed over his chest. He kept his pale blue eyes on the field where Paul was already down there, preparing to take part in the coming event.
I sighed and flopped down next to him. "What's going on with him. Aidan? Surely, you know something."
Aidan's eyes didn't waver from the field for a few moments, but eventually, he cracked and his gaze moved to me. There was a sadness there, and a degree of guilt that I didn't like. He knew something, I could tell, but whatever it was, he wasn't going to tell me, I could see it in his face and the way he wanted to say something, but he was holding back.
"I promised," Aidan mumbled low enough that I barely heard him. "A magical binding. I can't... I can't tell you."
Scowling with frustration, I placed my feet on the metal bleachers in front of me and leaned my elbows on my knees. "God help me the day I ever learned about magic."
"Oh, honey," Mom wrapped an arm around my shoulders from behind. "You don't mean that. Magic can be a pain sometimes, but it's not all that bad. Is it?"
I gave my mom a weak smile, patting her arm until she let me go. "No, Mom. It's not all that bad."
"The game's about to start." Dad gestured toward the field, his hand full of popcorn that he popped into his mouth seconds later. "So, I get what's going to happen, but how do you tell who won? I mean, several of them could win by the end, right?"
Dale sat down next to me at that moment, sans protective glasses and his auburn hair returned to its usual messy
mop. "This event doesn’t just depend on one team. The points are tallied based on how many students from each school wins their matches, then whoever has the most points by the end wins."
"What if there's a tie?" Dad asked, his calculating eyes scanning over every inch of the field. That archaeologist part of him was documenting each aspect of the culture around him like the scholar that he was. I had no doubt that, before long, he would be trying to get permission to write a book or at least a report on the magical community if he hadn't already.
Dale shrugged. "It hasn't happened yet. The last game is usually the deciding factor in it all."
"Why's that?" I asked as I turned my gaze from Paul on the field to Dale.
With a grin and wink, Dale bumped his shoulder against mine. "You'll see. Now watch." He gestured toward the field as they lined up the contestants.
Unlike the first game, two people from each school were on a team. I had argued that Paul should have done it with Ian since he was the potions major but Paul claimed I knew my brother’s mind better than he did. Since they hadn’t been exactly talking to each other until this last year I guessed that was true.
"Were they mad that Ian wasn't here?" I asked Aidan as I looked away from the first obstacle. This was an easy one. Find a way over or through a raging wall of fire that spread across the middle of the field horizontally. No spells could be used just the potions the partners made beforehand.
Aidan shook his head. "No, Paul dealt with it."
I hummed. I had a feeling that a lot of the animosity between the two brothers before I had come along had to do with Ian leaving Paul to clean up his messes. If it was a bad habit Ian was falling back on, I'd have to make sure it was remedied quickly. I couldn't have them fighting, or it wouldn't work for us. I wasn't sure my heart could take choosing between them.
