“Have at it.”
“Oh, and can I borrow a bathroom and some clothes? He really needs a bath.”
“Of course.” He grinned. “Take whatever you need.”
I leaned over the desk and hugged him. “Thank you, Pops.”
Chapter 25
I wasn’t the greatest cook. Okay, I sucked at cooking, but I was at least proficient enough to put some ground meat in a pan and slap it on a bun. I got him some chips, a pudding cup, and a large glass of ice water too. When he finished it all, he was still hungry, so I made him a banana split. That finally satisfied him.
“You are amazing,” he said when he sat back in his chair.
I resisted the urge to blush. It dawned on me after I put the cherry on the banana split I could’ve used magic and made him a meal truly deserving of a prince. Too late now. “Thanks,” I said, putting the empty bowl in the sink and rinsing it.
He got out of the chair and came around, taking my hand. “I guess we need to go confront my father and brother.”
I waved a hand in front of my nose. “First, I think you need a bath.” If I had to be around him, he needed to smell tolerable. Also, I wasn’t ready to give him up just yet. I hated to admit it, but I enjoyed being around him. He gave off a quiet, kind aura. Without a doubt, he and I would be friends. Plus, he knew my real mother. Despite myself, I wanted to learn more about her. “You’ll make a stronger impression if you don’t look like that.” I indicated to him and he chuckled.
“I suppose you’re right.” He allowed me to pull him toward the bathroom.
He began unbuttoning his shirt.
I shifted uncomfortably. “You got it from here?”
“I’ll manage.” He laughed as he closed the door.
After a moment, I thought of something and knocked. “Hi,” I said when he opened the door.
He watched me with what looked like amusement in his eyes.
“Remember to hurry. Your brother, uh, Lawson, is around. He was helping me look for you. He could be back anytime, ‘kay?”
His eyes went dark. “He’s here?”
I nodded. “When Mizrabel told me to seek the glass lyre he insisted on coming.”
Leo gritted his teeth together. “Got it. I’ll hurry.” He shut the door. I sat and leaned against the wall next to the bathroom, crossing my legs, waiting.
Quilla appeared in front of me and sneezed. She wore a bright yellow dress with red and purple accents. Her hat was black, along with her tights. Her shoes were a shimmering red. “Cinderella,” she said, touching her nose to mine. “What’s going on?”
I swallowed and shot a sideways glance at the bathroom door. “N—Nothing. Just waiting for Leo to finish his shower.”
She leaned her ear against the door. “There’s definitely something going on. I can sense these things.” She put her hands on her hips. “Tell me. It’s better if I know. Maybe I can help.” She sneezed again.
I pulled a tissue from my pocket and handed it to her.
She waved it away, sniffling. “I don’t need that.”
“You sure?” I asked, covering up a worried laugh.
“Psshhhh.” She sneezed again. “A—Are you sure everything is alright?”
“Yes, Quilla. Of course.” I heard the water shut off. Crap. Crap. Crap. “I’m going to do a spell here in a sec. You better vanish before I give you a sneezing fit.”
She pondered what I said, but only for a moment. “Fine. Tell Leo I said hello, won’t you?”
“Of course I will.”
“Okay. Bye.” She disappeared, leaving behind a sparkle of magic.
Leo opened the door. He was obviously naked, his bottom half covered by the door. He was lean and extra pale but still handsome… I tore my eyes from his glistening chest and met his grinning face.
“Where are the towels?”
“Just a sec.” I ran to the linen closet and grabbed him a towel. “Here.” I closed the door and turned, burying my face at my embarrassment. I couldn’t help but wonder about magic and cleanliness, and my mind went into the gutter for a second.
I heard him whisper some words and then he immediately opened the door. “Ready,” he said, looking dry and nicely dressed. He had on a pair of jeans, loafers, and a navy blue rugby shirt. His hair was still damp and flipped up against the bottom of his collar. It occurred to me he could’ve magicked himself a towel too.
“Now what?” he asked, standing next to me.
“I—um, am not sure.” I thought about Mizrabel and the way the king treated me. I thought about Leo or Lawson or whatever his name was.
“Cinderella,” Quilla popped in between Leo and me.
I screamed. Leo fell back.
“Twixit. I knew it. I knew it!” She sneezed as she flew back and forth between us. “He’s the lost prince.” She clapped her hands with glee.
I put a hand over her mouth. “Quilla, keep it down. We have to keep Leo’s return a secret.”
“Oh, I know. I’ve always known.” She clapped again. “I can’t believe you did it. I’m so proud of you, Cinderella.”
I gaped at her. “What do you mean you’ve known?”
She huffed and put her hands on her hips. “Obviously I knew who was inside the glass lyre.”
“You could’ve told me,” I said, stomping my foot with indignation.
Her eyes got soft. “If I told you the truth, would you believed me?”
We went down the hall toward the front door.
“I like to think so,” I said, and sighed. Honestly, I wasn’t sure. With my hand on the knob I turned to Leo and Quilla. “What are we going to do about Lawson? He’ll be back anytime. I don’t think he’ll be thrilled to see him.” I pointed at the real Leo.
Quilla gave Leo a look. He nodded while I stood there like a fool, wondering what was going on.
“It’s simple, Cinderella. We need to go someplace where Lawson and his father can’t find us until we want them to.”
“Agreed. Where’s that?” As I said the words, a swirl of magical dust enveloped the three of us. Professor Pops’ house blurred and disappeared. We were in a vortex of fuzzy color as though we were speeding through space. The only sound was the rush of the wind. Leo took hold of my arm and held fast. The colors changed from bright to dull to gray and finally to black.
The world around me stopped moving and came into focus. Old knotted trees grew all around, their branches tangled together above so I couldn’t see the sky. The only sound was our breathing. Quilla had a blue light in her hand. It gave the creepy forest an unnatural glow. The floor was covered in dirt and moss, and directly in front of us stood a door. It was carved into a giant tree trunk.
“Where are we?” I whispered.
Quilla stepped closer, as did Leo.
“It’s the only place Lawson and his father’s magic won’t be able to reach us,” Quilla said.
The door flew open. Mizrabel stood there, looking like she wasn’t surprised to see us. “Not to worry, dear. You’re safe with me.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you,” I said, unbidden anger rushing to the surface.
Chapter 26
“Get inside and we can talk.” Mizrabel ushered us through the door to her home. I expected the place to be small, a hovel, something that went along with the inside of a giant tree. I figured the furniture would consist of branches, leaves, and a fire pit.
Instead, the home was spacious and airy with billowing white curtains, a chandelier made of different colored gems, and a large open kitchen. The floors were black marble. A lush black rug sat in the center of the living area. The furniture was a deep red and formed a half-circle around a large slate gray fireplace.
“The bedrooms are down the hall through there.” She looked at Quilla. “You won’t be staying here. You and your strange fashion sense will go back to wherever it is you came from.” She flicked her finger and Quilla’s outfit changed from yellow to a putrid green.
“Oh no you don’t,” Q
uilla said with a sneeze and changed her outfit back. “Rude.”
Mizrabel snorted and altered it again.
“Twixit. That’s enough.” Quilla switched it back.
Mizrabel walked into the kitchen and flicked her fingers, transforming Quilla’s outfit again.
“Merde, are you two serious?” I looked at Leo who smiled.
Mizrabel cleared her throat. “You’re right, Cinderella dear.” She snapped her fingers and Quilla’s clothes went back to her special kind of crazy.
“I’m out of here. If you need me, I’ll be around.” Quilla disappeared, leaving behind a trail of sparkles.
“Finally,” Mizrabel said, walking to the fireplace. She moved her hand and a fire bloomed, the heat striking my skin immediately. Then she turned toward us. “Have a seat, you two.” She clapped her hands together as we sat on the red sofa. “It’s good to see you both again.”
I glanced at Leo, uncomfortable.
“I’m so sorry, Leo,” she said, and truly looked sorry. “He was going to kill her. I didn’t have a choice.”
“All is forgiven,” he said and meant it.
She didn’t apologize to me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
“Good.” She sat on the large blood red chair next to us. “So what’s our plan? How are we going to get Cinderella on the throne where she rightly belongs?”
“Whoa. Hang on. I don’t want to rule.” I thought about Snow and all the trouble she was going through, trying to make everyone happy, keeping the peace between creatures, even between realms. It was a lot to handle. I didn’t want that. I wanted to marry Gabe and have lots of babies. Where and when we would do those things, I wasn’t sure. The human realm didn’t want me and Gabe didn’t like Sharra.
Leo looked at me. “It’s your destiny. You were born for this.” His eyes shone with admiration. “You found me and set me free. I’m positive you can do anything.”
My heart started to beat faster, and I felt the heat rising to my face. “I appreciate the vote of confidence.” I patted his knee. “It isn’t that I don’t think I can do it.” I crossed my legs. “Of course I could.” I paused and smiled. “It’s that I don’t want to.” Leo’s mouth fell open and Mizrabel glared.
“So those humans raised my daughter to be a cowardly guttersnipe. Great.” She began pacing, her long black robes swishing through the air.
The way she spoke to me about my parents pissed me off. “At least they cared. They took care of me. Fed me.” When they weren’t busy, I thought. “You didn’t want me. You’re the cowardly guttersnipe. So, like mother like daughter, I guess.” I went to the door.
Leo came over to me. He gently took my hand. “Where you go, I go, Cinderella.”
It was a sweet gesture, it really was, but I needed some time by myself. “I need a time-out.” I yanked the door open. Leo looked ready to stop me, but I slammed the door in his face and started walking.
I took a deep breath, moving over to a group of trees, toward a stream I could hear a little ways off. Prickly bushes scratched at my skin, but I ignored the pain, too overwhelmed to care. At the stream, I walked along the edge. There was a waterfall a little ways off. When I reached it, I found a rock and sat, watching the rush of the water, allowing the noise to drown out all of my anxieties.
“Cinderella?”
I turned at the high voice, fear shooting through my belly until I saw it was Polly. Her rose petals opened so I could see her face.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, and then realized I somehow made my way to Polly’s spot. I didn’t remember using the traveling spell or doing anything that would allow me to move quickly from one place to another, so maybe Mizrabel lived close to her.
Polly rose out of the ground and came over to me, beautiful rose petals still a part of her, but she held a human form. “Is everything alright?”
I let out a ragged breath. “No, it seriously isn’t.”
She sat at my feet and leaned an arm across my knees. “Tell me about it.” Her kind eyes shone with her genuine concern. I gave her a kindly smile; positive she didn’t want to hear my problems. She had her own issues, like she was dying. I noticed signs of wilting along the edges of her hair, along her eyelashes and fingernails. My problems were pitifully lame compared to hers. Lawson told me it was the Sickness killing her, but were the Sickness and the witch mists the same thing? Everything was so complicated.
As I watched her sweet face watching me, I knew I had to help her. I wouldn’t let her down.
“I mean it, Cinderella,” she said after several long moments. “Tell me what’s going on.”
So I did. It was cathartic, sharing all of my fears and doubts with a virtual stranger. When I was finished, she took my face between her hands.
“You poor, poor thing.”
“Thanks, Polly. I feel much better.” I gathered my wits and went over to the waterfall. The spray misted against my face and arms.
“What are you going to do?” she asked gently, coming to stand beside me.
I noticed the slight hunch of her shoulders. Last time I saw her there was a spring to her step. Now there was nothing. “Well,” I said, plastering on smile, “I’m going to do whatever I can to help you get better.”
“I appreciate that.” She grinned, clasping her hands together and bouncing up on her toes.
My heart skipped a beat, then several more. “What must I do for Polonias to be healed?” My throat was dry and scratchy. A part of me still resisted, but there was no use. I needed to save her.
Polly took both of my hands in hers and turned me to face her. “It’s easy, I promise.”
I nodded. “Okay. Tell me.”
“You must marry by the heart of Polonias and it must happen before the winter solstice.”
“Or what?” I swallowed.
“I’ll die, Cinderella, as will Polonias. It’s a horrible truth, but the truth just the same.” She shook her head forlornly. “I can’t hold off the Sickness much longer. I feel it overpowering me even now.”
My heart beat so hard I thought it would burst through my chest. “You said saving you would be easy.”
She nodded. “It is. You already know who you should marry. He knows as well.”
A sob choked off any words I might speak. I wanted to cry. “I want to marry Gabe,” I said quietly, touching the bracelet against my wrist.
“I know, Cinderella, and you should.” She batted her long lashes, watching me from beneath them.
“But there are laws against it. Some say our love is a sin.” I choked on the words, hating to even say them out loud.
“That doesn’t mean it is the wrong choice. Bring Gabe here.” She smiled knowingly. “Your love will be safe here.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think he’ll come. He has a job to do on Earth. Protecting the humans from scary creatures like us. It’s sort of in his DNA just as magic is in mine.” I blinked back my anger. “But I could try. I could go to him and ask.” This was the twenty-first century. I was waiting for Gabe to ask me, but I could ask him. In the human realm, it wouldn’t work, but here? I knew it was a long shot. He was the leader of the chayot. Their sole purpose was to protect humans, but maybe he would do it. For me.
“Go,” she said kindly. “I’ll be waiting.”
“I’ll hurry.” I touched the hourglass and thought of Gabe.
Royal Witch, book five in the Seven Magics Academy, will be available September 2019.
Visit my website at: www.rashelleworkman.org and sign up for my newsletter for all the latest updates.
While you’re waiting, download book 1 in the Gods and Paranormals series, Goddess Curse today!
Download HERE.
Also by RaShelle Workman
DEMONLAND SERIES
Alice in Demonland
Alice Fights Demonland
Alice Takes Demonland
Alice Ignites Demonland (7/2020)
BEASTLY SERIES
A Beauty so Beastly
A Beauty so Deadly (8/2020)
WOLF BLOOD ACADEMY
Initiation (10/2019)
Inheritance (11/2019)
Induction (12/2019)
SEVEN MAGICS ACADEMY
Blood and Snow
Fate and Magic
Queen of the Vampires
Deadly Witch
Royal Witch (9/2019)
Vampire Lies (1/2020)
Vampire Secrets (2/2020)
Vampires and Dragons (3/2020)
Vampires and Gargoyles (4/2020)
Vampire Magics (5/2020)
IMMORTALS
Venus Falling
Venus Rising (11/2020)
GODS AND PARANORMALS
Goddess Curse
Mystical Gift (new release)
DEAD ROSES
Sleeping Roses
Kissed by a Rose
CARLY MORGAN ~ Sizzling Sweet Romance
Most Eligible Cowboy
Happily Ever Summer
Rockstar Billionaire
Billionaire Best Man
Second Chance Billionaire
Faking it With the Billionaire
Dating the Billionaire
The Risky Groom
The Ever After Groom
The Nanny’s Billionaire
About the Author
RaShelle Workman is an international bestselling author of reimagined fairy tales, science fiction, time travel, and romantic suspense. All of her novels have been listed on multiple bestseller lists, including her Blood and Snow series (now Seven Magics Academy), which has sold more than a million copies worldwide.
When RaShelle isn't writing, she enjoys baking, creating new taco recipes and watching Supernatural. She lives in Utah with her husband, three children, and their dogs. Find her online by visiting her website at: www.rashelleworkman.org.
Deadly Witch: Cinderella Reimagined with Witches and Angels (Seven Magics Academy Book 4) Page 14
