Curse Reversed

by Rebecca Royce

  Eleanor woke slowly. Her body was stiff. Mitchell’s arm pinned her to the bed, and he snored in her ear. He hadn’t done that before but maybe it had to do with the odd direction of his neck. She needed to get up, but she hated to wake him. If she could, she’d stay like this for the rest of her life. However long that was going to be…

  The smell of cooking food made her stomach grumble. Mitchell made a low sound in his throat before he exhaled and opened his eyes. He smiled at her, slowly. “Now, this is a nice sight to wake up to in the morning.”

  “Me looking probably disheveled and a mess?”

  He placed his hand on her forehead and left it there. “You looking rumpled like you had a night of sex with me.” His eyes twinkled. “Good morning, beautiful.”

  “I’m not the beautiful one in this bed. Mitchell, yesterday when you called me your girlfriend. Did you mean it?” She wasn’t lying about the beauty thing. There would never be a time that she would look at Mitchell and not be utterly shocked by the sheer physical perfection of him. For a person who presumably spent most of his time in a library reading, he looked like he spent all day working out. Her stomach rumbled. It would have to wait. He needed to answer her question.

  “Do you want to be my girlfriend?” He ran his thumb over her skin where his hand stayed on her forehead.

  She sucked in a long breath. “Yes. But when I become an ancient evil goddess, you can officially consider us broken up.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw, although when he spoke, but he kept his voice pleasant. “That’ll be my sign then will it? You suddenly becoming an ancient goddess?”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Yes, that’ll be the sign.”

  He threw the covers off him before speaking. “I’m going to go see what is cooking. I wouldn’t have thought of Stefan or Kim as cooks although they must eat somehow.” Mitchell dressed himself without moving, instead, spelling the clothes on. “I need coffee. That’s my addiction.”

  Good to know. “I’m actually hungry.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Oh, see? A night with me and you finally have an appetite.” He winked at her, and her heart swelled. Was there anything more adorable than this man? “Coming?”

  She pointed to the bathroom. “In a minute.”

  “Yep. See you out there.” He smirked at me. “It’s everything I can do right now not to pull down your blanket and see the luscious breasts I know you’re hiding.”

  Heat hit her cheeks, and she didn’t have to look at herself to know she was officially blushing. She watched his rear end as he left and didn’t feel the least bit bad about it.

  The bathroom mirror was not kind. She did her best to tame her hair and wished she had the kind of magic that she could instantly look beautiful with just a spell. Poof. She’d be gorgeous coming out of the bathroom. As it was, she settled for a little dusting of powder to clean herself up without having to take a full shower since she was, in fact, starving.

  Kim had thought to bring her clothes, and she quickly changed into them. A pair of leggings and a long white shirt that hit her thighs. They were pretty shapeless. Her grandmother must have purchased them at some point.

  She slipped on her shoes and headed out to see what was happening with the coffee and food situation.

  “Maybe it’s not my place to say anything, Mitchell. Maybe I don’t get to say this to you.” A voice she didn’t recognize caught her attention, and she stopped walking right outside the kitchen door. It was female, low, and clearly not Kim’s.

  Someone sighed. “Ava.”

  “No, seriously, Lawson. I need to say this,” Ava spoke again. “I get that you need projects. You’re good at them. I was one of them, I get it. Are you sure you want to go this deep into this mess? I’m not saying she doesn’t need help? She does for sure. Lawson can help her. Stefan, Kim. But you have no business getting involved in ancient messes.”

  Mitchell didn’t answer immediately and every second he didn’t ate at her soul. “Ancient messes are actually my specialty. That’s what I do, Ava. In case you never cued into that all the years we were together.”

  “Mitchell.” She sounded annoyed.

  “You guys know we’re not alone, right?” Lawson questioned, and Eleanor supposed that was her cue. She’d been noticed, somehow.

  Eleanor stepped forward. “Hello.” She put on her best smile, and her heart fell into her shoes at her first glimpse of the mysterious Ava.

  This was the woman Mitchell loved. She was stunningly beautiful. Of course she was, why wouldn’t she be? And she might have been an idiot to have thrown him over but that didn’t negate that she was the kind of woman who would always have the attention of everyone in the room.

  She was small, petite, but curvy at the same time. Her hair was red, like sunsets, and her eyes were so blue they were practically violet. Her clothes were flawless, dressed in expensive black pants and a white turtleneck that showed off her pale skin.

  Eleanor had never in her life been so acutely aware of how poorly she compared to another woman in the looks department.

  “Hey, this is Eleanor St. Vincent. Ellie, Lawson and Ava Abramowitz.” Mitchell walked over, placing a glass of orange juice in her hand.

  Ava cleared her throat. “I apologize. We were discussing you, and I shouldn’t have done that without you here. It’s one of those situations where everyone is going to be talking about you for a while, I suppose, but still it was rude.”

  Okay, and she was nice, too. She owned when she made a mistake. Of course she was. Eleanor looked down at her feet for a second. Come on, she willed herself. You know how to do uncomfortable. You know how to manage it.

  “Oh, trust me. When you’re the crazy St. Vincent girl, you’re used to being talked about.” She faked a smile. “I hardly noticed.”

  Lawson held up a box. “Donuts. To say I’m sorry. I knew Stefan would get you. And you’ll want to eat these instead of what Kim cooked. Trust me.”

  “I heard that,” Kim shouted from somewhere nearby.

  “I really am sorry.” Ava pointed at the donuts. “They’re good donuts. He’s sorry he locked you up in that wretched place I just learned existed.”

  Lawson set the box of donuts on the table. “I have to be able to tell my bosses I put her away if something were to happen. What takes place after that is not so much my problem.”

  A plate appeared in front of Eleanor, landing with a thud. There were eggs, bacon, and a donut on the plate. She looked up. Mitchell’s back was to her. He’d fed her without even looking at her. This was what he did. He took care of people. And Eleanor had, to quote Ava, dragged him into her mess. Sure, they’d had sex, but what else was he getting out of this relationship? He could probably have sex with any number of people. Loads of them. He’d had sex with the gorgeous redhead in the room at one point.

  Stefan popped into the room. “Mitchell, you missed a class yesterday.”

  He turned from the fridge. “Oh, that’s right. Yes. Whoops. I’m sure I’ll hear about that. How do you know?”

  “Your parents are on the news. They think you’ve been kidnapped.”

  “What? Damn it, they’re so worried these days. I… fuck. That popping thing you do, it’s just moving the atoms right?”

  Lawson rounded on Stefan. “Did you teach him that?”

  “No.” Stefan laughed. “But he’s really smart and powerful. I’d say he figured it out.”

  As if to demonstrate, Mitchell popped from the room, leaving her standing there with Stefan, Lawson, and Ava. Eleanor looked down at her plate. “So, what brings you guys here?”

  “Lawson thought I could help. I do more than stick my foot in my mouth, I swear. I’m an earth healer. I might be able to stop some of what is happening to you. We’ll see. Hope that’s okay?”

  Eleanor laced her fingers together. “Sure. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  Stefan waved his hand and a screen appeared. A woman was on view. Ava sighed. “Mrs. Sharpe. Is it because she’s wo
rried or because she wanted screen time?”

  That was Mitchell’s mother. Yes, Eleanor could see the resemblance. She had the same dark hair and shape of the eyes.

  “And after all he’s been through, we need the public’s help to locate him. He wouldn’t just disappear.”

  The scene changed and it showed instead a picture with a date from several years earlier. Mitchell held hands with a woman Eleanor didn’t recognize. He was talking to an entertainment reporter about why he cancelled his wedding.

  “Look, people change. Relationships change. Ava just wasn’t the one. Would you want to marry her?” He scoffed.

  Eleanor stared at the screen as Lawson pulled Ava against his side. She felt terrible for Ava to hear that but what was the matter with everyone in the world? How had they not known he was hexed? His eyes were wrong. All the life was gone. All the kindness. All the ways that he snapped to attention. He was… wrong.

  Ava must not have been a very attentive fiancée.

  Poor Mitchell. He’d lost the love of his life, and he hadn’t even known it was happening. Now she was here in the room, his mother was on television, and he had to deal with Eleanor’s situation.

  Kim floated toward her, landing on the ground. She nudged her with her shoulder. “El, you okay?”

  She nodded. “Sure. I’m fine.” Kim was far too tuned in. How on Earth was she supposed to work out all the things that were happening in her heart if she couldn’t muse about her situation without anyone noticing? Being on display was not her natural state.

  Stefan raised his chin. “I’m going to go get Sebastian and Trident. Then we’re all going to go see where your mother died. I think that’s the best course of action.”

  “Okay.” She picked at her eggs. Lawson had been right. They were terrible. Still, she chewed and swallowed, grateful anyone had cooked and that Mitchell had given them to her. Stefan popped from the room.

  Ava came around the corner. “I… I really am sorry.”

  Stefan popped back. Wow, that was fast. She blinked. The Enforcers, and ex-Enforcers, were amazingly fast. She shook her head to clear it.

  “Thank you for your apology. I accept it. I… Well, I’m thinking that I can’t ask any of you to help me with this.” She really couldn’t. “I don’t know any of you, really. This is my problem. I’ll have to find a way to fix it. I mean, I know you two are here,” she looked at Stefan and Kim, “because you’re being paid to be. But helping me when I’m under the influence of that power and doing this are two different things. I heard what you said to Mitchell, Ava, and I think it applies to everyone here. I am a project, and a big giant mess.”

  Ava winced, but Eleanor couldn’t bring herself to feel badly about what she’d said. “Lawson, if you would turn your back I’m going to see to it that I’m put somewhere a little less awful than that doorless safe-house but where I still can’t hurt anyone. And if I do succumb,” this time she looked at Trident, “please come and split open my head.”

  Sebastian looked around. “Where is Mitchell?”

  “He had family business.” She turned to Kim. In the other woman’s eyes she saw recognition. Yes, Kim got it. This was what a person did when faced with this kind of adversity. She wouldn’t put other people at risk to handle her problems. “Would you take me somewhere, please? Unlike Mitchell, I’ll never learn how to pop in and out of places. It was nice meeting you, Ava.”

  Stefan rubbed his eyes. “Do it, Kim. We can’t force her to stay here.”

  “What are you going to tell Mitchell?” Ava asked.

  “That he should listen to his ex and not get into such a big giant mess.”

  Lawson leaned against the wall. “She really didn’t mean to do this. She misspoke or carelessly did. But she came to help. Not to dissuade you from taking any assistance or to make you think that people shouldn’t want to be there for you.”

  Kim took Eleanor’s hand. “Where are we going?”

  “Prestige.”

  Security had tightened since the last time Eleanor had been there and that was what she was counting on. If the Enforcers could make a house that couldn’t take any magic inside of it except for their popping in and out then certainly the doctors could create a room like that. Maybe she was being taken over by an old witch who wanted her body. Well, that woman, if she managed to actually do that, could go right ahead.

  She’d live her life locked in a room and that would be that.

  Before Kim left her, she handed her a note she quickly scribbled to Mitchell and asked her if she’d deliver it. The other woman’s eyes teared up. “Tell me this isn’t all happening because Ava said something so profoundly stupid about you being a mess.”

  “She wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t kind. But… I get it. She cares about Mitchell.”

  Kim put her hands on Eleanor’s shoulders. “Girl, yes she does. I’ve gotten to know her quite a bit. She’s kind, to a fault. Try to remember though that she didn’t know your guy was hexed. For a year. She and Lawson, they get each other. She and Mitchell? They never did. I think you do get him. He is going to flip his lid at me.” Kim scrunched up her nose. “But I’ll do it. Don’t take too long to change your mind about this. Stefan is going to get in trouble with that Trident guy. There’s no way the two of them have let this go.”

  And just like that Kim was gone.

  Eleanor sat down on her bed. She had a window. A ginger ale. All the reading material she wanted. The only thing she didn’t have was a future.

  But then she’d never had that, not really.

  She could be sure no one would die because of her.

  A rattle on the door woke her in the middle of the night. She opened her eyes. Were they coming to take her vitals? The door banged open, and Mitchell stood there, holding keys in his hands. He closed the door behind him with a thud. Eleanor turned on her light by snapping her fingers.

  “How…”

  She never got to finish her question. He answered it. “I popped over here and stole the keys.”

  “You stole the keys?”

  He stomped over to her, bent over, and kissed her hard. The embrace was somehow both adoring and punishing. He was pissed. She could taste it on him.

  “I come back and you are gone? You took yourself to Prestige? Then I can’t get in to see you because you have secluded yourself like you’re some prisoner they have to keep away from the general population?” He got down on his knees. “Ava keeps breaking down in tears. Kim is devastated and Stefan is trying to understand ancient wall writings with Sebastian. Trident is missing. All I can do is think about getting to you.”

  She touched the side of his face. “It must be so hard to see Ava cry. I mean, I know she’s not yours anymore but that has to be hard. The thing is I…”

  He took her hand. “Well, I don’t like seeing anyone cry. I’m not great with tears. Not specifically Ava.” He narrowed his eyes. “Are you worried about her?”

  “She’s the love of your life.”

  His eyes widened. “I really hope not.”

  “You love her. You wanted to marry her. That’s a one-time thing. I get it. If you hadn’t been hexed you’d be soul bound and that has to burn every time you see her. I…”

  Mitchell interrupted her again. “Why didn’t I marry her? We were together since we were kids. I waited and waited to propose. Why did I do that? I’m not a guy who doesn’t act. Sure, I was getting degrees, but we didn’t have to sit around and wait. Why did I do that?”

  Did he expect her to know? “I don’t know.”

  “Because in my heart I knew I loved her, but she wasn’t forever. And she clearly knew it, too.” He got off his knees and sat down next to her on the bed. “So whatever it is that is making you hung up on Ava, you can let that go. I am unable to think of anything but this gorgeous brunette who doesn’t believe I can save her.”

  She jolted. “What?”

  “Which part of that confused you?” He kissed the side of her neck. “The hung up part
or the part where you keep acting like I can’t save you?” Mitchell breathed against her neck. “You smell so good. I think I’m addicted to you.”

  She moved back just enough to look in his eyes. “The part where I don’t believe you can save me?”

  “That part.” He pinched her chin. “You wouldn’t have run off if you believed. You don’t. I get it. I haven’t made enough of a case to you. Part of you thinks of me as just the guy you met in here. So let me tell you all of my qualifications.”

  She got on her knees. “Mitchell, you really don’t have to.”

  He breathed out. “I would have graduated high school at sixteen, but I didn’t want to leave my girlfriend.” He held up his hand. “Don’t get all mushy like that’s a good thing. It was not. But tell that to a sixteen year old regularly having sex. Okay, I did college in two years. Could have been less but they wouldn’t let me take thirty credits over the summer. Then I got started on my doctorates. I can speak any language I set my mind to learn. I like old stuff. Older the better. I am the leading expert on ancient runes which you may or may not know are Germanic. But that doesn’t mean that I am not qualified to take on Alurmic. I can. I’ve already started.”

  She put her hand on his hand. “Mitchell…”

  He was clearly not done. “There aren’t problems I don’t solve. I always win. Do you understand? You aren’t the problem. You are the end game. Getting this out of you? Getting it fixed? I want to do that for me. See? I’m selfish. Because I get that out of you and then I get to have you all to myself without sharing you with an ancient being. I’m competitive. A little bit selfish. Okay, maybe more than a little bit.”

  She tried again. “Mitchell…”

  “If I can’t do it, I’ll find someone who can. I will put up with Lawson and Ava showing up when I am on cloud frickin’ nine after being with you if that helps. I don’t give two shits. Means to an end. You are the end. Do you understand? I forgot I was all of these things. I’d gotten caught in the web of believing I was too damaged to be me anymore. That was bullshit. You sat down at my table and you saved me.”