Dahlia

by Tabitha Barret

  My mind went black and the warmth drained from my body. I had always thought of my abilities as a curse or a hindrance. Never once did I consider that they could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

  Feeling my hands shake, I pulled them under the table. “Oh. I see.” Tears burned my eyes and I had trouble breathing.

  “I’m so sorry, Dahlia. I’ve been dreading this moment forever. My mother always expected to tell you because she was your mom’s best friend, but somehow, I always knew it would be me. Please don’t be mad. I love you like a sister. You saved my life. I owe you more than secrets and lies, but I did it to keep you safe. I’ve tried to protect you with crystals and charms as much as possible. I hated watching you go through this alone, but it was the only way I knew to keep you safe. I can’t lose you. I hope you understand that.” Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to explain herself.

  I choked up as I took a second to consider things from her perspective. She didn’t exactly have an instruction manual on how to keep a psychic from exposing her talents to the world, so I understood why she had to lie. But, she should have told me something so that I didn’t believe I was cursed.

  I wanted to be mad at her and my mother for keeping me in the dark. It would be easier to yell and scream at her, but in the end, this was something I had to deal with.

  I opened my mouth to say how disappointed I was that she chose to lie, until an image flashed across my mind, blinding me for a second. Charlie was sitting at the back of an ambulance, wrapped in a blanket. Her nose was broken and her cheek was bleeding. There were bruises on her neck and arms. It was the night the police had arrested her husband.

  That night, she said two words to me. “I’m sorry.” She was apologizing to me for some reason. She was the one living with an abusive husband, yet she was apologizing to me.

  “You don’t have to answer this, but I need to ask the question. If you were a witch who went to a magic academy, why didn’t you stop Reed from hurting you? Why did you stay with him for two years? Why not kick his ass with magic?” My heart stopped as I held my breath, waiting for the answer.

  Through her tear-filled blue eyes, I saw her fear. “He was a powerful, dark wizard. I didn’t know how truly terrible he was until we were married. Nothing I knew was able to hurt him. Dark wizards draw on a different kind of magic. I couldn’t stop him.”

  She broke down into a sob and put her face in her hands.

  Pushing a napkin over to her, I got up and sat down next to her. I pulled her into a hug and cried.

  Charlie wasn’t protecting me from a hypothetical enemy; she was protecting me from people like Reed who had done horrible things to her.

  She looked up at me and frowned. “Please tell me you forgive me. I swear; I will never hold anything back from you again. I will do whatever it takes to earn your trust.”

  Clearing my throat, I sighed. “I’m not mad at you. I’m a total mess of questions and emotions, but I’m not mad at you. You were touched by evil and you never wanted that for me. You followed your parents’ wishes to keep me from knowing you were a witch, but once we grew up, you saw for yourself what could happen if my power fell into the wrong hands.”

  She silently nodded as her lower lip trembled. “I am sorry.”

  I wiped my face and shook my head. “No. No apologies. I saw what he did to you and I’m fully on board with the, let’s keep Dahlia safe plan.”

  She chuckled and sniffled as she wiped her cheeks. “You’re my best friend, Dahlia. You have no idea how hard it’s been trying to keep all this from you.”

  I nodded. “Honestly, I’m shocked that you lasted this long. The night that Kenny Driver gave you a hickey at the 8th grade dance, you ran from his arms and pulled me into the bathroom to show me. The spit hadn’t even dried yet.” I laughed when I remembered how excited she was to share her badge of honor. She’d finally gotten a hickey from a cute boy.

  Laughing, she wiped my cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater. “It hasn’t been easy, especially since you refuse to wear the protective jewelry I keep buying you.”

  “Sorry. It really does get in the way.” I shrugged.

  She leaned back against the window and stared at my shirt. “Now, there’s one more thing you need to know.”

  “One?” I laughed when I thought about the thousands of questions buzzing around my head.

  She tipped her head back and forth. “Well, this one is kind of important right now.” She pointed to my shirt. “The orange glow isn’t a streak on your glasses. It’s the result of a love spell. I’m not sure how you ingested one or touched a spelled object powerful enough to activate it, but you did. That orange glow is the result of a spell. It locates the man or men who love you enough to be your soulmate or soulmates. Since I see three distinct lines, it means there are three soulmates in your life. Aiden is one of them. I’m assuming that Ian Foster is the second based on the way he watched you storm off at the restaurant. And I’m not sure about the third.”

  “Daire Foxworth.” I said his name without thinking. If there were a third guy, it would be him.

  Chapter 15 Dahlia

  Heading to the tattoo studio, I quickly called Gray.

  “Lady Blue Tattoo, how can I help you?” Gray’s silky voice answered.

  “I’m on my way in. Minor hiccup this morning.” Charlie had mentioned that Gray and Milo knew I was psychic, or rather; they both confronted Charlie about the wicked headaches and random sketches they saw me make over the last year. They were concerned about me. Charlie finally had to recruit them so they could watch over me when she wasn’t around.

  “Hey, Boss. That’s great because I have two men here who are eager to see you. Well, technically three if you count Aiden who has been dusting the same table since he walked in because he’s too busy glaring at one of them.” I could hear the humor in her voice.

  Huh. Well, it certainly made it easier to talk to them if they were all accounted for.

  “Are they being civil to each other?” It suddenly dawned on me that they probably didn’t know what was going on. Well, Ian might have understood, but not Daire or Aiden. Aiden might start a fight with Daire based on his dislike of him.

  “For now, but you can feel the tension in the air. Despite that, customers are coming to the store in droves. We should consider renting them on a daily basis to make the studio look busy.” She chuckled as I heard her quickly hand someone their receipt. “Umm, so are you okay, Boss?”

  “I’m okay. Can you please cancel the rest of my day? Just tell everyone I’ve had a family emergency.” I hated the thought of canceling, but there was no way I could focus on work today.”

  “Already done, Boss. I figured you had enough on your plate. They all rescheduled. You’re good.” The mix of laughter and concern in her voice made me feel better knowing that Gray had everything under control.

  Charlie stopped the car in front of the studio. She lightly touched my hair to comfort me. “This spell is orange, which means it’s not a curse or a spell that will do you harm. It doesn’t make people fall in love with you. It’s supposed to reveal the love someone has for you, which you share with them. I might not like Ian Foster on principle, but if he’s glowing orange, it means he really loves you. But, I still might pull out my old spell books and turn him into a slug for telling you that your mother was a witch.”

  I rolled my eyes until I remembered that I was technically still mad at him too.

  Looking at the front door, I gulped. “So if I fuck thinks up with these guys, it’s on me not the spell.”

  She shrugged as she nodded. “Basically, yes.” She smiled and patted my leg. “This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Dahlia. You just need to make sure these men are worthy of your love.”

  I looked at her and wet my lips. “I still have a lot of questions, but I need to deal with the three of them first. I can’t keep them waiting in there, even if it’s good for business.”

  “We can talk whenever you want. I pr
omise. I will also write down some techniques for clearing your mind. We’ll need to figure out how best to train you since I’m very rusty and not psychic. I’m sure we can figure out how to help you control your ability.” Her optimistic smile made me feel a little better knowing that I wasn’t alone in this anymore.

  “Thank you, Charlie.” I took a deep cleansing breath and tried to figure out what to say to my three soulmates.

  “Still friends?” Her eyes watered up and her lower lip trembled.

  I almost broke down again, but I managed to choke back a sob. “Still friends.” I smiled and waved as I jumped out of the car.

  Wiping my hands on my jeans, I looked up at the blue signage on the building and thought of my mom. I wondered what she would think of the choices I’d made. Hell, what would she think of a love spell revealing my feelings for three different men.

  I wished she were here to give me some advice.

  Shaking out my arms and shoulders, I took a deep breath. I had no idea what to say to Aiden, Daire and Ian about the love spell or about anything else, but I had to come up with something good. I breathed in deeply and walked towards my future.

  Chapter 16 Ian

  Looking at my watch, I wondered how much longer Dahlia would be. I canceled my morning appointments so that I could clear up what happened between us yesterday. Per Charlie’s advice, I had given Dahlia time to “cool off”. I had made a grievous error in overstepping my boundaries by exposing her mother’s secret life as a witch. I should have remained silent, but I felt I was doing a great disservice to Dahlia by perpetuating the lie she told herself daily.

  Of course, now I had a different problem. When I met Dahlia, I understood that she was the bright spot in my life and I fell for her instantly. That was before I woke up to the orange glow emanating from my chest. I knew in a second that it was the result of a love spell. I prayed that Dahlia was at the other end of the orange line tethering me to my soulmate. When I followed the line to the end, I had found Dahlia crying in the diner with Charlie. It was clear that she was upset about being my soulmate, which meant I had to do everything within my power to clear the air between us and apologize for scaring her off.

  I decided to wait for her at the studio so we could talk. Of course, that’s when things became even more completed. I walked into the studio and I saw that I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t imagine their life without Dahlia. I didn’t have an issue with her having other men who would watch over her and protect her, but I was concerned that they would persuade her to turn her back on me after what I did.

  If she didn’t love me, I would accept that, but I needed to know if I could repair things before the conjurer and the vampire skewed her opinion of me.

  I had quickly gathered that the other conjurer and the vampire were already acquainted and were likely conspiring against me based on their non-verbal communication. They were standing off to the side as if they had already come to some kind of agreement; otherwise, a conjurer would never stand so close to a vampire.

  They also didn’t appear as if they wanted to kill each other, though their sideward glances at me advised me that they would not extend the same courtesy to me. I was somehow the outsider in this new development, which put me at a disadvantage. I was not accustomed to being the underdog.

  Clearing my throat, I stood up from the surprisingly comfortable couch and approached Mr. Foxworth. Extending my hand, I smiled. I made sure I lowered my voice to avoid being overheard by the humans getting their tattoos. “I’ve seen you around town, Mr. Foxworth. I’ve also learned of your security contract proposal for the Casters of Silver Springs Coven. I’ve heard that they are planning to open up their coven to conjurers and other non-magical folk. Are you planning to join them or is this merely a business transaction?” I was very curious to know if he had joined a different coven after leaving the Black Dawn Coven at an early age despite his late father’s wishes that he stayed with us.

  Mr. Foxworth visibly bristled when I approached. Apparently, entering their alliance would be harder than expected.

  “No. I am without a coven and have been for a long time, but I’m sure you knew that, Ian.” His flat tone dashed all my hopes of presenting myself as a fellow conjurer looking to offer my friendship.

  The vampire’s eyes darted to both of us. He was clearly unaware of the reason for the tension between us. Good. At least they weren’t friends of old. This was a new alliance.

  “I wasn’t the High Priest when you left, so I admit that I don’t know the circumstances of why you left. I do know that your father was upset that you broke away from the coven. Perhaps, we could sit down and discuss the changes we’ve implemented since you left to see if the Black Dawn Coven could entice you to return.” There, that was civilized. I’d extended an olive branch to prove that I was serious about starting a friendship. If Dahlia agreed to this unconventional arrangement, I could make inroads with Daire through our mutual interests. I wasn’t sure how to approach the bloodsucker, but I was convinced that an opportunity would present itself.

  Daire’s eyes narrowed and he balled up his fists, which was an unusual response to an offer by the High Priest of a coven to take someone under their guidance.

  He leaned forward and sneered. “I wouldn’t join your pretentious coven if you begged me.” Laughing harshly, he poked my breast pocket with his finger. “Let’s not pretend that you would ever accept someone like me. It’s better if we avoid seeing each other as much as possible. I accept that Dahlia may love you, but that doesn’t mean we have to be friends.”

  He crossed his arms and moved to the other side of the waiting area to look out the window.

  The vampire raised his eyebrow questioningly at me, but didn’t speak.

  I tapped my foot as I thought back to the when Daire had left the coven. He couldn’t have been more than ten at the time, which was an unusual age to leave a coven. Normally, a witch or wizard didn’t come into their powers until puberty, though it differed depending on the strength of the individual. If Daire had come into his power at that age, leaving the coven would have been dangerous. Without proper instruction and guidance, he could have harmed himself and others.

  I wasn’t sure why his father had allowed him to leave without sending him to another coven. From what I recalled of Christopher Foxworth, he was very much by the book and very stern. I would have been about twenty-five at the time, which meant I was working as an assistant to the healer of our coven. Though I couldn’t specifically remember Daire, I did have a few encounters with Christopher, who was never one to crack a smile or offer praise to the younger members. He was exacting as the Treasurer of the Coven and demanded respect.

  Giving it one more try, I put my hands behind my back and slowly approached Daire. “My father pushed me to excel at all things. He expected nothing less than perfection. He damn near broke me when he demanded that I graduate the academy with top honors. You see, I had trouble with transformation spells my first year and I wasn’t fast enough to win many magic duels. I was passable on the Pike Field, but never stellar. Unfortunately, I never had confidence in my abilities. Though a person is expected to achieve greatness, if the one expecting that greatness never taught their ward anything other than tough love and gave him tutors who weren’t paid to care about said ward, it would be difficult to achieve anything. Remembering your father, I believe we suffered from the same kind of difficulties.”

  Daire sighed and looked at me over his shoulder. “Yes, but you did excel in the end because you wanted to please your father. My father never expected anything from me, so I could never please him despite my desire to do so. Being deemed a worthless failure at the age of ten put a damper on my self-esteem and our relationship.”

  Seeing the anguish in his eyes and hearing his voice crack, I took a step back. What the hell had Christopher Foxworth done to his son?

  I opened my mouth to reply but the sound of footsteps made me turn to see the woman I desired above all.
<
br />   Her puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks made me want to take her into my arms and hold her. My poor Dahlia. I hated myself for hurting her.

  Chapter 17 Dahlia

  My fears in seeing Daire, Aiden and Ian melted away when my eyes settled on their worried faces. It was stupid, or maybe insensitive, but I couldn’t help but smile when I saw them. Taking in a breath, it felt like a weight had been lifted from my chest. I didn’t even realize how tight my chest had been until I could breathe normally again.

  Raising my hand, I wiggled my fingers at them. “Hi.”

  They all waved back at me and smiled.

  “Hey.”

  “Hi.”

  “Hello.”

  I could hear Gray and Milo’s tattoo guns stop a second before they both rushed out to look at me.

  Gray’s eyebrow was raised as if to ask me if I was okay. I nodded, which made her and Milo both relax. Based on the way Milo was flexing his arms, I assumed he had been prepared to toss someone out on their ass or break up a fight if needed.

  They both returned to their clients and started their tattoo guns.

  Stepping into the waiting area, I watched the guys, or rather my guys, gather around me.

  “I’m going to start by saying that I’ve had a really weird night and an even stranger morning, so I’m a little stressed right now. I’m sorry if I say something stupid, but I’ve just had more than one bombshell dropped on me.” I paused to look at each of them.