He stared straight ahead. “Agreed.”
“Are they still watching us?”
“No.”
“Okay then.” Without a backward glance, she took a path leading away from the beach, leaving Bryce behind.
But not the sensation that something had just changed between them.
* * *
“You’re staring, again.”
Bryce switched his attention from the brunette across the room to the man sitting next to him. “How was your flight?”
Alex Hastings scowled at the half-empty glass in his hand. “That’s just cruel.”
“What, the peanuts didn’t do it for you?” Before the question even left his mouth, he caught his gaze drifting back to Darby.
He’d gotten too used to seeing her in fitted suits and the occasional skirt that offered a nice view of her legs. The navy piece of material she had wrapped around her body now showed off every curve, and was the sole reason he hadn’t moved from his spot at the bar.
She wore her chocolate-brown hair away from her face, except for the few stubborn strands that framed her cheeks, refusing to be contained. God, she was pretty. There was no denying that much, no matter how crazy she made him.
“When I get this cast off, you’re the first person I’m going to annoy the crap out of.” Alex smiled his way through the threat.
Bryce grinned right back at his friend. It wasn’t often he got to push Alex’s buttons. Usually the Tribunal warlock was too busy popping in and out of places with no more than a thought, supposedly to help keep the Calder, Lancaster and Hastings families from abusing their magic.
“That wasn’t your first flight, was it?”
Alex shuddered and finished off his drink. He pushed the glass aside and faced Bryce. “I don’t need to be plugged in to see right through you.”
Plugged in was Tribunal-speak for the telepathic abilities used by the three-member judge and jury every witch and warlock answered to if they abused their magic. Only a witch or warlock who possessed the rare ability to travel from place to place by thought alone—teleporting—could become part of the Tribunal.
“Are you going to tell me how you broke your leg?” Since magic and illness inevitably ended in disaster, Alex’s broken leg had forced him to travel by plane like everyone else.
“Nope.”
“You weren’t peeking in Violet Calder’s window again, were you?”
Alex snorted. “You’ve met her cop boyfriend. What do you think?”
“Since when do mere mortals intimidate you?”
“I say again, you’ve met her cop boyfriend/soon-to-be father of her child, right?”
Bryce laughed, then catching his attention drifting in Darby’s direction, motioned to the bartender for another drink. “Another for you?”
“Hell yeah. I need something to ease the cranial pressure.”
“Too many of us in one place, huh?” Not even a gift like teleporting was worth having to filter out the many thoughts of the magically inclined wedding guests, as far as Bryce was concerned.
Alex arched a brow. “Could be worse. My family could be here too.” He shuddered.
The Hastings were the polar opposite of Bryce’s family, pushing their twenty-four/seven magic use to the brink and held in check only by the Tribunal. Even though Bryce rarely used his own gift, thoughts of ever having his magic bound by the Tribunal made him shudder.
He took a drink, watching the room. Bree would be happy that everyone was at least being polite. By tomorrow night either the crowd will have given up on being cordial or they’ll be partying.
“I wouldn’t hold your breath.”
He glared at Alex. “No cheating, bro.”
For once Alex actually looked a little apologetic. “Sorry. It’s just easier to concentrate on your thoughts so I’m not getting bombarded by everyone else…” He tipped his head, staring across the room. “Jesus. What is she doing to that dessert?”
Bryce didn’t need to follow Alex’s gaze. “Now who’s staring?”
“You’re seeing what I am, right?”
Bryce toyed with his glass. “She’s enjoying her dessert.” Savoring, Darby called it.
“Enjoying it? It’s like she’s giving each bite a blow—”
Pushing to his feet, Bryce stepped into the path of an attractive redhead he’d seen talking to Bree earlier. “Have you met my friend, Alex?” He nodded to the warlock who was frowning at him.
The redhead shyly shook her head.
“I don’t suppose you’d consider doing us a little favor? He’s a little bummed since his broken leg is keeping him over here, away from the action. He fell getting his neighbor’s kitten out of a tree and I think he’s bored of my company.”
The redhead flashed a smile at Alex. “Did it hurt?”
Bryce slipped away from the pair. Halfway across the room, he spotted his father standing in the doorway at the back of the waterfront ballroom Bree and Finn were using for tonight’s rehearsal dinner and tomorrow’s reception.
Turning his back on his father, who hopefully hadn’t seen him, he dropped into the closest chair—and opposite Darby.
She slowly pulled her fork out of her mouth, but instead of asking him what he was doing, she merely shrugged and dug her fork back into her chocolate cheesecake. There was no use in trying to look away as she popped another bite into her mouth.
Darby was one of those people who enjoyed dessert almost as much as sex, or so she’d claimed once upon a time. Watching her lick and nibble the cheesecake, holding the flavor in her mouth before finally indulging in another bite and starting the whole process over again would have been considered torture in some countries.
After three mouthfuls, three painfully long mouthfuls, during which he seriously contemplated the pros of being a fork, she finally pushed the plate aside.
Thank god.
Darby frowned at him then reached for her napkin. “I have some on my face, don’t I?” She wiped at the corner of her mouth. “And be honest. Our truce covers this kind of thing.”
He poked at the table’s floral centerpiece, one he’d been roped into helping to arrange ten minutes after he’d arrived yesterday. Even his younger brother, Aaron, had helped. The resort looked after everything, but Bree had wanted to put her own finishing touch on a few things.
When Darby noticed him sneaking a glance over his shoulder, she leaned forward. “You’re not hiding from Dante, are you?”
Hide from one of her hard-assed, overprotective brothers? Not a chance. “Your brother is probably too busy brooding over something to have stuck around here any longer than he had to.”
She almost managed to hide her smile. “He’s not that bad.”
“Weren’t you the one who told me he once spent three straight days staring at his ceiling, contemplating why his girlfriend dumped him?”
“He was fourteen.” She laughed, and then, seeming to remember who she was with, stopped and reached for her drink. “So if it’s not Dante you’re avoiding, who is it?”
“My father, actually.”
He didn’t miss the tension that tightened her shoulders. “I didn’t know he was coming.”
“Neither did I.” He’d been counting on the fact his father had sworn he wouldn’t attend a business meeting between a Lancaster and a Calder, let alone a marriage ceremony. When both Bree and Aaron had confirmed their father wouldn’t be coming, he’d thought he was in the clear.
A woman with long black hair and a wild floral-print dress dropped into the chair next to Darby. “You’re not going to believe which Lancaster I just made piss on himself.”
Darby choked on her wine as Riley Calder glanced over at Bryce.
“Oh look, my favorite Lancaster of all. Rip any witnesses a new asshole lately?”
“It’s been slow actually and probably not half as rewarding as getting someone to urinate on themself.” He leaned forward. “Don’t leave me in suspense, though, who was the lucky bastard?”
Riley scrunched up her nose. “Your cousin Reginald.”
That’s all he needed to hear. Reggie had likely deserved whatever Riley had done to him and then some. To hear his mother tell it, Reggie’s magic was bound by the Tribunal on a regular basis for some juvenile stunt or another.
“Seems he had a bit too much to drink,” Riley continued. “He decided he should use the veranda outside as his own private urinal.”
Darby cringed. “Not in public.”
“Next closest thing. Pulled down his zipper right next to me and tried to piss over the railing. Such a shame the breeze changed direction all of a sudden.” Looking satisfied with herself, Riley leaned back. “If you look any more disapproving, Bryce, you’re going to need surgery to get that stick out of your ass.”
There was zero point in mentioning that not everyone in the room knew about the bride’s and groom’s magical sides. Like the Hastings, the Calders weren’t nearly as concerned as they should be about someone noticing the suspicious glow from their amulets.
Magic would only protect them so much if the government or any other agency discovered what they could do and was determined to find a way to harness that kind of power for themselves.
Bryce stood. “I think that’s my cue.”
Darby looked like she was going to say something, but only reached for her wine.
Not seeing his father by the door any longer, Bryce took a chance and stepped outside, sticking to the right side of the veranda. Hopefully, well away from where he imagined his cousin had made an ass out of himself.
Bree had probably been counting on the wedding location to stop Reggie from accepting the invitation. Even Bryce’s father wouldn’t have supported inviting their wayward cousin. The risk for embarrassment trumped even his sense of family obligation.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
Bryce tensed at the sound of his father’s voice. He should have stayed with Darby and Riley. “Not now, Dad.”
“Do you know how hard I’ve worked?”
Better off with Darby, Riley and Dante. Bryce had been counting on not having this conversation with his father until after the wedding. Just like he’d been counting on having a couple of days to figure out how to break the news that he’d left his position at the DA’s office.
“How hard you worked?” Bryce faced his father.
Thomas Lancaster may have been three inches shorter, but anything he lacked in stature, he more than made up for in arrogance.
“And here I thought that busting my ass day and night played a significant role in my career.”
His father stiffened and glanced around. “You’re right. Maybe this isn’t the time.”
Bryce wondered if he should be grateful for their audience or suggest taking their conversation elsewhere so they could get it over with. Unfortunately, he knew his father wasn’t going to accept his decision, no matter how long they spent talking about it.
As stoic as ever, his father stared at the bottom of his empty glass, managing to convey his disappointment without even meeting Bryce’s eyes.
Bryce had anticipated as much, but not the gnawing ache in his stomach that came with letting his father down. “I didn’t think you were coming.”
“I may believe your sister is making a colossal mistake, but Sabrina is still my daughter.”
“So it’s more about keeping up appearances.”
Something that could have been hurt flickered across his father’s face.
Bryce let out a breath. As hard and disapproving as their father could be, he did love Bree. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know you’re under a lot of pressure, but don’t you think quitting your job may be premature?”
Since it was a rhetorical question, Bryce didn’t respond. Bree had enough to deal with without getting pulled into more family drama in the middle of her rehearsal dinner.
From somewhere inside the ballroom he heard laughter. Darby’s. He glanced inside and saw her talking to Bree and Finn.
His father followed his gaze. “Your sister has always been rebellious.”
“Don’t turn her marrying Finn—”
“A Calder,” his father put in.
“—into some kind of act to get back at you.”
“She’s never forgiven me for not accepting her first marriage.”
Bryce set his glass down with enough force to catch his father’s attention. He knew he should walk away. Nothing would come from taking his own frustrations out on his father because the man only saw things in stark black and white.
“That wasn’t about you either. Her best friend was dying and she made him happy until the end.”
“And then she ran off to Europe for months.”
“Your feud with the Calders has nothing to do with Bree falling in love with Finn.” As much as Bryce worried about whether their marriage could survive the tension between their families, he knew how crazy in love his sister was.
“My feud?” His father’s voice sharpened.
Bryce opened his mouth to point out that this really wasn’t the place for one of his the-Calders-are-trouble speeches, but he recognized the stubborn set of his father’s jaw and knew there would be no stopping him.
His father at least knew to lower his voice. “I don’t need to list the grievances over the years to prove the Calders cannot be trusted. You know as well as I do that sooner or later one of them will use their magic at the wrong moment and it will be up to us to clean up the mess.”
“The Hastings use magic far more often and yet I’ve never heard you worry they’ll expose us.”
“Danny Calder and his kids have chosen to work in a field that can be heavily scrutinized. How many times has your own office used their private investigation firm over the years?”
“Dad, you made it.” Ignoring the tension, Bree squeezed between the two men and gave her father a quick hug.
Bryce had expected her relationship with Finn to further strain the one with their father. Instead, she’d grown more tolerant of him—as long as he wasn’t criticizing Finn and the rest of the Calders while she was around.
“Mom was looking for you. I think she’s with Adele at the bar.”
That was all it took for their father to excuse himself. He probably intended to save his wife from Bree’s future mother-in-law.
Bree waited until their father walked away before speaking. “He looked like he was gearing up for one of his magic-doesn’t-make-the-man speeches.”
Bryce laughed. “You could tell that from inside?”
“It’s the only topic that really makes the vein on his forehead pop out.”
Their laughter was drowned out by a hearty burst of it from inside. Darby stood just inside the doorway, leaning against her brother and laughing hard at something he’d said or done. It probably involved tripping someone.
“It’s not too late to cancel,” he teased.
Bree punched him in the arm. “Finn makes me happy.”
Bryce didn’t argue, a little too distracted by the smile on Darby’s face. Smiling wasn’t something Darby did a lot of when their paths crossed. He’d forgotten how captivating it was.
“You’re never going to tell me what happened between the two of you, are you?”
Taking the glass from his sister, he drained the contents.
“You once told me that it was a mistake to lie to Finn about who I really was. Is that what happened with you and Darby? Did you lie to her?”
He gestured inside. “I think Finn is looking for you.”
“Maybe it’s not too late,” Bree began.
Bryce pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head. “Darby and I called a truce. A forty-eight-hour truce. Day after tomorrow we’ll be right back to hating each other.”
As if she knew her name had been mentioned, Darby glanced in their direction. Her gaze landed on him, lingering a little longer than he expected before she looked away.
“You sure about that
?” Bree asked, then joined some of her friends who’d flown down for the wedding.
Turning away from the party, he leaned against the railing, staring across the water at the distant lights of another resort up the side of the mountain.
More than once he caught himself sneaking a glance inside. He wasn’t stupid enough to kid himself when it came to Darby. He knew exactly where he and Darby would stand when they went back to their regular lives, regardless of what his sister wanted to believe.
In the meantime, though, it couldn’t hurt to be friendly. And if sticking closer to Darby also gave his father a reason to maintain his distance for the rest of the night, great.
Decision made, he was halfway across the small ballroom when he spotted her at the bar with her back to him, standing next to Riley. He nearly changed his mind about talking to her until he saw his father look like he might break away from the small gathering of Lancasters in the corner to seek him out.
Darby and Riley it was.
“So what’s going on with you and Bryce?”
At the mention of his name, he stopped.
“Nothing,” Darby answered.
“You two have been friendlier.” Riley made it sound like her sister would be better off writing to prison inmates.
Darby shrugged. “We called a truce for Finn and Bree’s sake. That’s all. He’s still an ass.”
Okay then.
Bryce shoved his hands in his pockets and walked in the other direction.
CHAPTER TWO
From the corner of her eye, Darby spotted Bryce walking away. She frowned, then mentally replayed the last minute of her and Riley’s conversation.
Shit.
She shouldn’t care, let alone feel even a smidgen of guilt at what he’d overheard. Without a doubt he’d called her worse, and yet… Shit.
Riley caught on and shrugged. “At least he won’t be staring at you anymore tonight.”
Darby frowned. “What?”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”
Staring? At her? Doubtful. “He’s probably just annoyed because he thinks I tripped him earlier.”
Riley arched a brow.
“Finn.” It was all the explanation required.
“Ah.” Riley waved to the bartender.
Must Be Magic (Spellbound Book 4) Page 2
