“You’re a genius,” she exclaimed, accepting his gift.
With a happy grunt, Freddie settled himself back at the kitchen table with his books.
Dipping the vial into the mixture, she inserted the cork, trapping the precious drops inside before wiping off the excess with a nearby hand towel. Unfortunately, she took too much time busying herself with tying it around her neck and forgot about turning the heat down on the stove.
Oily smoke began to roll from the pot. A hint of panic began to worm its way into Ella’s mind. She tried pulling it from the eye and waving off the fumes. It was too late. The brew had taken on a life of its own. Backing away slowly, Ella almost made it across the room before a giant fireball shot out and blew her off her feet. Her body slammed into the wall behind her, and her head spun as the room plunged into darkness. She tried hard to stay conscious, but the blackness pulled her under. Luckily, it didn’t claim her for long. Someone was shaking her. It took a couple of tries to pry her eyes open. They refused to obey her mind. Her throat burned and her stomach churned at the horrible smell hanging in the air. The smoke detector squawked loudly, reverberating off the walls and causing her head to pound even harder. She absently noted Freddie whimpering in the corner, but Ella’s gaze remained locked on the man attempting to keep her awake. His broad muscular chest was bare. A long, dark braid fell over one shoulder as he leaned over her. Black wings stood out from his back, blocking out the room behind him. His silver eyes held a hint of concern as he checked her over for injuries.
“Am I dead?” Ella asked, when she could think of no other reason for an angel to be attending her needs, even if he was a dark angel.
“I do not believe so.” His deep voice was so musical she wanted to touch him to see if he was real. “Do you feel dead?” he asked, sounding curious.
“You have wings,” she explained. As the words left her mouth, the giant black wings disappeared from sight. Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, Ella tried to grip ahold of reality. When she reopened her eyes, she found the same sexy man leaning over her, only now a tiny fairy stood on his shoulder staring down at her as well.
“Holy smidgeon shot, Samuel, she’s gonna have a real shiner under that left eye,” the pixie observed. The foot-tall woman was wearing an all-leather bright-orange outfit. She seemed concerned about Ella’s well-being, and for some reason that made up for wild clothing.
“I must’ve really hit my head hard,” Ella noted. The pair nodded their agreement. “It hurts, so I’m going to assume I’m not dead. I mean, you don’t hurt after death, right?”
Both the fairy and the hot stranger shrugged while maintaining the same lost look.
Ella made a move to sit. Unfortunately, Freddie chose that moment to strike. She watched in horror as he snatched ahold of the pixie, shoving her into his mouth. Tiny legs kicked out in every direction as he fought to chew. She was too strong and wrestled to get away. Sexy Stranger sprang into action, snagging her by one ankle. He tugged, popping her free from inside Freddie’s mouth. The sound reminded Ella of a cork bursting out of a bottle of champagne. Freddie howled at the loss of his snack. Ella stared, transfixed, at the mysterious man. He was every bit of seven feet tall and wore only a black kilt that hung to his knees. A black tattoo of wings covered his bare back. They moved in time with the muscles flexing with his every motion. He was arresting. She recognized she should attempt to pull herself from the floor, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him long enough to do anything except stare. Fortunately, a bright flash filled the room. The foot-tall pixie became a full-grown woman around five-two. She was dripping wet and looked pissed as hell. Her anger focused on Freddie, giving Ella the drive she needed to move. Jumping to her feet, she placed herself solidly between the whimpering Freddie and the pixie obviously bent on killing him.
“Please don’t hurt him,” Ella begged. Although the woman was shorter than she was, Ella felt sure she also possessed a great deal of magic. The last thing Freddie needed was another damn curse.
The pixie’s green eyes flashed dangerously. One of her wings tilted at an odd angle. She spoke between clenched teeth. “He licked me and not in the good way.”
Ella’s mouth twitched despite the situation. She had to force herself not to laugh since she didn’t think it would help the circumstances. Sexy as sin seemed to have no such qualms. He snorted once and then roared with laughter until he was steadying himself with one hand on the counter.
“You,” he said, sounding as if he was choking. “Your wings,” he tried again. He giggled. “You got eaten. HAHAHA!”
His laughter was contagious. In spite of Ella’s best efforts, she found herself joining in at his final words. He made her getting eaten sound so naughty even the pixie snorted.
Clearing her throat, Ella made a valiant attempt to keep the laughter from her voice. “If you’d like, you can take a shower here. I’m sure I can find you something to wear.” Even as she said the words, Ella wondered what she could loan the fairy that wouldn’t crush her wings.
The pixie turned her shining eyes in Ella’s direction. To her great relief, there was no longer any anger in her gaze, only merriment. “Nah,” she said on a shrug. Then, in a move resembling a dog, she shook all over. Magically, she was set to rights, appearing as if nothing happened.
The gorgeous man, having caught his breath, stood to his full height once more. Wiping his eyes, he held out his hand to her. “I am Samuel, and this is Tam,” he tacked on, nodding in the fairy’s direction.
As Ella’s hand was swallowed by his much larger one, electricity surged up her arm. She resisted the urge to make sure her hair wasn’t standing on end.
“I’m Ella, and this is Freddie,” she added, nodding in his direction as Samuel had with Tam. The funny thing about their introduction was, neither one of them spared a glance for the other’s companion. Their eyes remained locked on one another. Neither one of them attempted to pull away from the other’s hold.
“Awk-warrrd,” Tam sang out when the moment went a minute too long. Ella reluctantly pulled her hand away when Freddie grunted in agreement.
“I’m very grateful for your assistance,” Ella told them both, scrambling for something to say. “How did you know I was injured?” Did fairies and shirtless men come to people’s aid during magical disasters? Somehow, she doubted it, since no one had volunteered to help Freddie, except Ella, of course... lucky her.
Casting his eyes around the room, Samuel searched for an excuse. His gaze landed on the window. Spotting a huge stone angel in the distance through the curtains, he said the first thing that came to mind. “I was visiting the grave of a friend when I heard the explosion.” He nodded as if trying to punctuate his words. He had to force himself to stop before she began to wonder who he was trying to convince that his excuse sounded plausible. Her head turned in the direction of the window.
“You were at the cemetery,” she repeated as if testing the explanation on her tongue. “Wearing only a kilt?”
Rocking back on his heels, he clasped his hands behind his back. “Well, it is very warm today.”
Ella’s eyes latched onto his chest and seemed to lose focus as she nodded at his excuse. “Yes, it’s very warm.”
When she clutched the neck of her shirt and began fanning it open as if seeking more air, he suggested, “Maybe you should take off your shirt too before you get the heat exhaustion.” When Tam snorted at his words, he smiled innocently.
“It’s not fair,” Ella grumbled.
“I know, right?” Tam agreed, drawing herself up to her full height. “Why can’t we take off our clothes to catch a breeze? I mean, men’s nipples get hard too, but we can’t show ours off. What’s up with that?”
Freddie grunted his approval. His head bobbed up and down as if ready to picket for feminine rights.
With the drama subsiding, the putrid stench of burnt potion began to penetrate her pores. A rush of horror ran through her. This sexy man could smell her stink.<
br />
“It was nice of you to check on me. Come again soon.” She wanted to smack herself at the stupid statement as she rushed the pair to the door. However, she didn’t slow her step. They needed to leave. Wrapping her fingers around the knob, she tugged twice before realizing it was locked. She quickly twisted the dial. Her hand froze at the loud click. How did they get in? Catching the flicker of Tam’s wings out the corner of her eye, she shrugged and threw the door open. No doubt, Tam had used magic to flash them inside.
“It was nice meeting you. Thanks for not killing Freddie. Sorry he made you all wet. I mean, licked you.” Ella really did smack her palm against her forehead this time as Samuel chuckled. She immediately regretted it. “Ow.”
“No worries, chicky. If I had a dime for every time a zombie tried to eat me . . .” A line appeared between Tam’s brows as if attempting to figure the amount in her head.
Samuel reached out, snagging Ella’s hand. Lifting her fingers to his mouth, he touched his lips to the back of her hand. “You would have exactly ten cents,” he told Tam while holding Ella’s gaze.
Her knees went to jelly. She was also fairly certain she sighed, but her hearing failed at the touch of his lips against her skin.
“Come again,” she repeated. Okay, she officially needed an idiot muzzle.
A roguish smile touched his mouth and a wicked glint lit his eyes as if he knew exactly the effect he was having on her. “I look forward to coming here...soon.”
Ella was still blinking at the spot where he’d been, ten minutes after the door closed behind them.
“Wow.”
She was in so much trouble.
CHAPTER THREE
“I’ve been thinking about Freddie,” Randall said as soon as Ella walked through the door. Relieved he didn’t mention how she was ten minutes late, again, she seized hold of the topic.
“Really, how so?”
Randall pushed his glasses up his nose with his middle finger, in the way that always made her feel as if he was flipping her the bird. He inspected her more closely. “You have a black eye.”
“I. . .” she started, but Randall interrupted her.
“You’re also ten minutes late and have Freddie with you.” Although he left out the “again,” it hung in the air between them as surely as if he’d screamed it out loud.
“It won’t happen . . .” she began. Randall’s eyebrows shot to the ceiling. “You were thinking about Freddie,” she reminded him.
There was something about Randall’s eyebrows. They left her feeling thoroughly chastised as if he’d spent fifteen minutes lecturing her, except it was in a facial hair language only she could understand.
“Well then,” he said, letting her off the hook. He moved to his worktable, waving for her to follow him. “Take a look at this.”
Randall’s workstation seemed more like Dr. Frankenstein’s lab than an apothecary. Glass tubing ran from vial to vial. Pink and blue fluids met halfway to form a purple bubbling brew. Once, Ella thought she caught sight of an old black cauldron in his office before he’d quickly ushered her out. She hadn’t forgotten it.
“What am I looking at?” She asked as she came to stand at his side.
“It’s a new concoction.” His voice took on a lecturing tone. “To cure Freddie,” he added.
Ella’s heart sank. There’d been a time when she thought she could cure Freddie through medicine as well. Disappointment lay at the end of that hope. “Freddie’s not infected with some disease,” she reminded him. “I’m afraid only the witch who cast the spell can undo his condition. That day will never come,” she added, disappointment lacing her words. Selena Smoke had been a vengeful woman. Even if she were still alive, to break Freddie’s curse, she wouldn’t have done so. She would’ve relished every day Freddie spent suffering. Ella felt as if her only true hope was to become equally as powerful as Selena had been. Only then, possibly, she could create the perfect potion for Freddie.
A tiny tinkle of bottles moving against one another was all the warning they had before several glass vials went crashing to floor. Sharp rainbow-colored shards flew in complete disorder. Ella spun in the direction of the sound. Freddie traced the tiled floor pattern with the toe of his shoe, appearing every inch the guilty child.
“Perhaps we could try it out,” Randall suggested, sounding tired and desperate. Although Randall proposed doing almost exactly what Ella herself had been trying to do ever since Selena’s death, she still scoffed. Randall’s work originated from science while Ella’s was based more on magical properties.
“You’re not giving any of that crap to my sweet baby,” Ella snapped as she waved Freddie away. Snatching up a nearby broom, she angrily swiped it across the floor. Even though she knew Randall was trying to help, and he could fire her at any time he liked, she was not about to let him experiment on Freddie.
“Your sweet baby is destroying my shop,” Randall exclaimed as another glass vial tumbled to the floor.
“Look, Mr. Cruz, I know your heart is the right place, but as Freddie’s guardian I can’t allow you to treat him as your own personal test subject.”
“Just this once,” Randall pled. CRASH! “Please?”
Ella cringed but stood her ground. “No.”
KABOOM!
A tiny explosion shook the store. Black plumes of smoke came billowing through the room. Coughing, Ella waved a hand in front of her face in an attempt to clear the air. Randall’s hair stood on end, making him appear as if he’d stuck his finger in an electrical socket. Soot covered one side of his face. His eyes shined angrily in her direction through the dirt.
“Just this one time,” she agreed without giving Randall the chance to kill her.
***
New Orleans, while relatively young compared to him, was a city of flavor. Supernaturals often came here to visit or live openly since the unusual was the ordinary here. Cruz Apothecary blended nicely into the scenery. Unfortunately, Samuel was beginning to realize, even in a town such as this, he was an oddity. Several people openly gawked as he weaved his way through the crowded streets. He was on the hunt for a beautiful witch with blonde hair. He wouldn’t be able to rest until he knew she was really okay. The putrid smell hit him first, but then he spotted the door of the medicine shop. Someone had propped it open by cramming a shoe beneath it. Underneath the stench of burning chemicals, another scent carried on the breeze. His woman was inside. He didn’t question how he knew she would belong to him. The instincts that saved him during many battles had never failed him before. This was no different.
The life threads connecting people with or against their wills strung the walls of the palace where he lived. He knew how to recognize their intangible signature. Ella was the thread twisting with his.
The narrow doorway was barely wide enough for his shoulders. He also had to duck as he stepped through to keep from hitting his head. Despite the tight fit, the sight of Ella’s gorgeous legs as she stretched up onto her toes, straightening the contents on a shelf above her head, made it worthwhile.
She didn’t notice his arrival. He held his silence for a minute, enjoying the show at leisure. He’d seen beautiful women before, hordes of them to be exact. Ella glowed from the inside. For someone such as Samuel, someone who lived his life as a prisoner of duty, she was a beacon of warmth begging him to come inside her embrace. He seemed as if he’d only known the cold before looking into her eyes.
***
“I find all I must do is follow the smoke and there you are.”
Ella covered her eyes at the sound of Samuel’s voice. There was no way he was standing behind her. It couldn’t be happening. Slowly turning, she dropped her hands to find the same sexy and shirtless man she’d met the night before.
His long, dark hair fell in a braid over one shoulder. The only difference today was he wasn’t barefoot. Instead, he wore a black pair of combat boots.
She made an involuntary “mhmm” sound. His eyes twinkled, but he didn’t call her o
ut on it. Clearing her throat, she forced her hormones back under control.
“I didn’t do it,” she said, feeling a strange need to clarify the point.
His mouth twitched, and he brushed his fingers over it as if attempting to wipe the laughter away.
“There are a great many flammable materials here,” he said after a moment. “I was worried about you,” he added, answering her unspoken question about his visit.
“I have a black eye,” she said idiotically. Well, didn’t she sound as if she had some form of fucked up Tourette’s? The smile, which threatened to show itself earlier, burst to life at her words.
“Really?” he asked. “I would’ve never been able to tell underneath all the soot.”
A rush of horror ran through her. “No.” Hurrying from the room, she yelled over her shoulder, “Don’t move a muscle!”
Throwing open the bathroom door, she stared at her reflection.
“Oh my God.” The horrified whisper fell from her lips at the first glimpse of herself. Her face was completely black, with the exception of her nose. Inexplicably, it had been spared. Her hair stood on end in several spots. Something unidentifiable had dried to a hard crust on her chin. Turning on the hot water, she scrubbed at her skin until it was red but clean. A loud bang reverberated from the walls. She snatched some paper towels from the holder to dry her face. Randall shot from the back room, streaking past the open bathroom door in his rush to investigate. Ella followed in his wake while still patting her face with the towels. She knew that, for once, Freddie wasn’t to blame, so her eyes immediately sought out Samuel. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stood exactly where she’d left him, seeming unnaturally still.
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