A Call to Charms

by Denise Swanson

  “It’ll be fine.” Elissa’s smile was gentle as she waved and drove away.

  Although I was exhausted, I was sure I couldn’t sleep, so after I changed out of my finery and washed my face, I grabbed the estate papers and got into bed. I made it through four whole pages before my eyes started to droop. Up to this point, at least as far as I could tell, it seemed standard. And with only a couple of more pages to go, I was confident I could get it finished, signed, and ready to drop off at Uncle Will’s office by Monday.

  As I slipped into an uneasy rest, a series of nightmares began. The final one, the one that woke me screaming, was of me standing at the altar between two men. The lace on my veil was so thick I couldn’t see any details,

  But when the ceremony was over, the groom dressed in black lifted my veil over my head and I saw that he had a wolf’s head with gleaming red eyes. Then, as he leaned in to kiss me, he’d unhinged his jaws revealing razor-sharp teeth he buried in my throat.

  Sitting up, I clutched the blanket to my chest and took gulping breaths trying to calm my racing pulse. My heart thudded in my ears as the scene played over and over in my mind.

  When I could finally breathe normally, I looked at the bedside clock. It was only six a.m., but there was no way I wanted to go back to dreamland, so I swung my legs off the mattress and got up.

  I briefly toyed with the idea of going shopping downtown, but I wasn’t ready to be in another crowd of people. Maybe after I’d talked to Elissa and had a better understanding of everything in my new life, I’d look around the various shops.

  That left me with seven hours to kill until I had to face one of my prospective bridegrooms... and his mother. With any luck, that would be enough time to finish the room I had begun cleaning out on the second floor.

  I threw on an old pair of sweats I’d found among Aunt Pandora’s things, pulled my hair into a high ponytail, and after my usual breakfast, I headed upstairs. As I opened the door, my heart sank. I’d forgotten what little progress I’d made the other day.

  Sighing, I started the first of many trips to the garage, hauling out the rubbish.

  When I stopped at eleven-forty-five. I could see the lovely hardwood floor. The only items remaining were a beautiful antique sleigh bed and the matching dresser. I wasn’t sure what I’d do with them, but I certainly wasn’t throwing them into the trash.

  The hot shower felt amazing on my sore muscles, and I hated to get out. Once I forced myself to turn off the water, dried off, and wrapped the towel around me, I walked over to my closet. Now that I knew about the marriage promise, I needed to look put-together, but not as if I was flirting.

  Deciding to go with classy and chic, I pulled out a knee-length cream lace skirt and a muted peach chiffon blouse. Again, I wished for my nude pumps. How in the heck had I overlooked packing them?

  I settled for off-white ankle boots with a two-inch heel, then attempted to replicate the style Harmony had coaxed my hair into at her shop. That went pretty well, but it took me a bit longer to do my makeup since I had to cover the dark circles under my eyes.

  Still, I was ready by quarter to one. Driving the truck in a skirt was a challenge, but I managed and once again parked behind the candy shop.

  When I entered the restaurant at precisely five minutes before I was due, the hostess who evidently had been warned to watch out for me, popped out from behind the podium and said, “Ms. Ravenscraft, this way, please.”

  I followed her down a hallway and when she paused at a massive oak door, I waited a few steps behind her as she knocked and announced, “Ms. Ravenscraft is here.”

  The door swung open and Cole, wearing a beautifully cut black suit with a blue shirt that matched his eyes, nodded at the hostess, “That will be all, Greta.” As she disappeared down the corridor, he turned his attention to me, stepped back and said, “Please come in.”

  The room was small, with a lovely stone fireplace, a leather sofa and wingback chairs, and a large table with four place settings. It smelled of old money and ancient power. Calista was already seated at the table and gazing into what appeared to be a full martini glass. It seemed as if she was looking for an answer to a difficult question. I held back a chuckle. I mean, I knew alcohol was famous for solving problems, but usually you had to drink it first.

  She raised her head and gave me a cool smile, “Alexandria, my dear, how nice of you to join us.”

  Was she implying that I was late? I frowned, then forced my lips to curve upwards. “Thank you for inviting me. I love a good brunch.”

  Her icy blue eyes swept my body, and she said, “So it would seem.”

  Evidently, I was not the prospective daughter-in-law she had envisioned.

  “Mother.” The warning in Cole’s voice was clear, and Calista gave a tiny shrug. He stared at her, then as he assisted me into my chair, he said, “You look lovely. Is that skirt a Ralph Lauren?”

  “Yes, it is.” I put my purse next to my leg and commented, “You certainly know your designers.”

  “I spent some time in New York during my Saorsa.” He seated himself between his mother and me, then added, “And while I was there, Mother had me picking up clothes for her at every showroom.”

  “You didn’t object to meeting all those models or escorting them to all those parties.” Calista raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “And who can blame you, they all were so slim and lovely.”

  “Mother, either behave, or Alexandria and I will have brunch alone.”

  “Fine.” Calista shot me a look that said she was only stopping because her son insisted, then asked, “Did you enjoy the ball?”

  “It was nice to meet more Echo Springians,” I answered cautiously.

  “I noticed the Furmans tried to monopolize you.” Calista sipped her drink.

  “They were just being friendly.” I picked up the crisp white linen napkin in front of me and place it in my lap.

  I was trying to pretend that I was as dumb as a box of rocks, not acknowledging the marriage sweepstakes between the two families. Sadly, it wasn’t as hard as it should have been. For a straight A student, I’d been acting pretty stupidly the last couple of weeks.

  Suddenly, I wondered if when Gil attacked me and slammed my head into the floor, instead of getting away like I remembered, he’d actually inflicted brain damage on me. Maybe all this business about magic was just a dream I was experiencing in my comatose state.

  “Alexandria?” Cole’s voice brought me back to the present, and I jerked my mind into submission.

  “Sorry.” I noticed that without my noticing, a server had entered the room and was now offering me a drink from the tray she carried.

  “Would you care for some champagne black raspberry punch?” Cole asked. “It’s one of our head bartender’s brunch specialties.”

  “Sure.” I helped myself to a glass and tasted it. “Wonderful.”

  When a second server placed a plate in front of me, Cole said, “The chef grows his own greens and strawberries for our salads.”

  “Impressive.” I waited until Cole, and his mother had their plates, and the servers left, then forked a bite into my mouth. “Yummy.”

  “You know, it was foretold that your father would be the strongest Shield in Echo Springs’ history.” Calista ignored her food and drank deeply from her martini glass. “He and I were supposed to have married and together eliminate the dark magic from our town forever.” She tilted her head back a couple of inches, as if imagining what might have been, then said, “But Nathanial was selfish.”

  Various emotions plugged up my throat, and I couldn’t force out any words. Sorrow at never knowing my father. Mortification that my family had failed in its destiny. And anger that Calista was blaming me.

  Once again Cole stepped in and said, “Mother, Alexandria is not responsible for Nathaniel’s actions.” Then, before Calista could respond, Cole continued, “Nor is she responsible for Miranda’s.”

  “That woman ruined everything.” Calista scowled
at me. “Your mother, refused to transform. She promised your father she would become a true Ravenscraft, then she reneged. And when Nathaniel threatened to divorce her over it, she got pregnant with you.”

  “Oh.” Calista’s accusation stunned me. I wasn’t sure they were true, but knowing my mother, I couldn’t completely dismiss the allegations.

  Cole opened his mouth, but a knock on the door interrupted whatever he was going to say, and instead, he called out for the server to enter. Our next course was a delicious salmon and asparagus frittata with a slice of corn quiche on the side. Too bad my appetite had disappeared with Calista’s denunciation of my parents.

  When the three of us had our food, and the server closed the door behind her, Cole said, “I apologize for my mother.” He shook his head and tsked. “What she failed to tell you is that Dione later admitted she might have read the signs wrong, and it wasn’t Nathaniel and my mother who were intended to eradicate the dark magic.”

  “That is, in fact, true,” Calista, said before taking a bite of her frittata.

  She had agreed too readily, and I immediately tensed waiting for her next volley.

  “In fact,” Calista said slowly. “Dione now believes it was Nathaniel’s daughter and my son, who are the soulmates destined to save us all.”

  Her gotcha expression reminded me of a Chihuahua my mother had owned. It was the same look he’d give me after peeing on shoes—but only my favorite pair.

  A genuine smile finally relaxed Calista’s sharp features, and she announced, “Which is why it is vital you choose my son and not Ramona Furman’s whelp.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  A Witch’s Tale

  Instead of waiting for my reply to her latest mindboggling statement, Calista rose majestically from her seat and swept out of the room without a backward glance. Cole didn’t seem perturbed by his mother’s behavior, but my mouth hung open long enough that I was lucky we were indoors or I might have swallowed a fly.

  I finally gathered my wits and asked, “Was she serious?”

  “As a stake in the heart.” Cole took my hand. “It’s no secret that if you choose the correct mate, you and he will gain great power.”

  “And if I choose incorrectly?” I half closed my eyes afraid of the answer.

  “Then it will be up to the next generation to correct your mistake.”

  “Well,” I blew out a thankful breath, “then that’s not too bad.”

  “Actually, it might be.” Cole drained his champagne punch, then reached under the table and pressed a button I hadn’t noticed before. “The problem is that with every failed generation, the dark side grows stronger.”

  I shuddered and Cole was silent. We were both relieved when there was a knock on the door and two servers entered. One poured coffee while the other placed our desserts on the table. After we assured both of them that we didn’t need anything else, they left us alone to eat our whipped ricotta with honey and mixed berries.

  As I added cream and sweetener to my cup, I decided to channel Scarlett O’Hara and think about it all later when I could discuss what I’d been told with my cousin. My aunt had warned me not to trust anyone else and with every passing second, it seemed like better and better advice.

  Taking a deep breath, I force a smile and said, “This dessert looks wonderful. How about we enjoy it while we talk about something a little less dire than the entire future of Echo Springs?”

  “Certainly.” Cole picked up his spoon. “Neville mentioned that you were an aspiring actress before coming here. We have a community theater group you might be interested in joining.”

  “That sounds fun.” I had lied to the chief about my career goals, but I had been in several college productions. “When are the next tryouts?”

  “I believe they’re in May.”

  “Terrific.” I smiled. “That’ll give me time to settle in first.”

  Cole and I kept our conversation light while we finished eating, and when he walked me out to my truck, he made an elegant gesture as he opened the driver’s door for me. It reminded me of the footman in Cinderella. I was delighted until I remembered that in reality, the footman in that story had been a rat.

  It was only a little past three when I got home, but I was beat. So instead of doing something productive, I scrubbed my face clean of makeup, changed into an oversized T-shirt, and crawled into bed.

  Usually, I couldn’t sleep during the day, but I must have been exhausted because I didn’t wake up until a few minutes to six. After I indulged in my second shower of the day, dried my hair, and applied some blush and mascara I dressed in my favorite Ideology leggings and tunic.

  Unwilling to go to Elissa’s empty-handed, I dug through the freezer until I found a carton of Haagen-Dazs butter pecan ice cream. Loading it and a bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup into one of the cloth shopping bags I’d found in the pantry, I walked over to my cousin’s.

  Elissa met me at the door, gave me a hug, then as she ushered me into her kitchen said, “I hope you’re hungry, I’m making pizza.”

  “Making?” I asked sniffing appreciatively. “Like from scratch?”

  “Uh-huh.” Elissa went behind the island and picked up a grater and a hunk of cheese. “When I found out I was celiac, it was easier to learn to cook gluten-free than trust restaurants.”

  “That explains why you passed on the rolls last night.” I thought back. “And why the bread for our sandwiches at the library was homemade.”

  “Yep.” Elissa finished topping the homemade crust and slid it into the oven. “I usually, bring my own dinner rolls when I eat out, but I didn’t have time to make any.”

  “So even though we age at about a third of the rate as normal people, diseases like celiac can still affect us?” I asked.

  “The short answer is yes.” Elissa wiped her hands on a towel. “If you never leave Echo Springs, the conditions never surface, but they do if we go on Saorsa.”

  “So, as long as nothing has come up with me so far, if I don’t go back into the outside world, I’m safe?” I was suddenly glad I’d had to have a thorough physical when Crystal changed insurance plans.

  “Theoretically.” Elissa shrugged. “We’ve never had someone raised away from town before.”

  “Hmm.” Another thing my mother was responsible for doing to me.

  “What’s in the bag?” Elissa nodded toward the cloth tote I still held.

  “Ice cream and syrup.” I handed it to her. “I hope it’s okay for you to eat.”

  “Let’s take a look at the ingredients.” She studied both labels. “Haagen-Dazs is usually fine unless it contains cookies or brownies and Hershey’s chocolate products are generally good too.”

  “Phew.”

  After pronouncing my food contributions safe, Elissa said, “The pizza will be ready in ten minutes. Let’s grab plates, silverware, and napkins and get set up in the living room. You can pick out a movie from my collection.”

  “Sounds great.” I browsed through my cousin’s DVDs and chose The Devil Wears Prada. The Meryl Streep character reminded me of my old boss. Although Crystal may not have been a warm and fuzzy mentor, compared to the world, I’d suddenly found myself in, she was a pussycat.

  We settled in to watch the movie and were silent until the timer beeped. While Elissa took the pizza from the oven and sliced it, she asked me to get the bottle of Sauvignon Blanc she had chilling in the fridge, as well as the wine glasses from the counter.

  Once we were seated on the sofa again, this time with slices of veggie pizza on our plates, instead of starting up the movie, Elissa said, “You must have a thousand questions. Do you want to just talk while we eat?”

  “That would be awesome.” As my mind whirled trying to figure out where to start, I took a bite of the pizza, savoring the peppers, olives, onions, and mushrooms on the crisp crust. Swallowing, I said, “I can accept most of what I’ve been told the past week, but the part I’m really having trouble with is the whole good versus e
vil magic.” I took a sip of wine. “Oh. And the whole thing about me having to marry either Lucas or Cole. Is that actually true?”

  “Yes, and no.” Elissa snickered when I rolled my eyes. “Yes. Your father did promise your hand in marriage to one of the council families’ heirs.”

  “How about Jeremy Wilson or the mayor?” I wasn’t interested in either man, but I wondered why they weren’t in the running.

  “Patrick was already married at the time your father made his promise, and Jeremy would have only been a possibility if your father had had a son. Although how two men could combine their DNA to produce an heir is beyond my current knowledge, I’m sure there’s a way.” Elissa wrinkled her brow, then shrugged. “Anyway, that leaves Lucas and Cole as the only two candidates.”

  “Oh.” I pondered this new information while I drank more wine, then asked, “This afternoon at brunch, Calista Pendergast told me that some woman named Dione predicted that Cole was my soulmate and that he and I are destined to permanently eradicate the dark magic.”

  “Dione Chaz is our oracle.” Elissa’s lips quirked in a parody of a smile. “What she said was that according to the flight of the doves, the Shield and the Silver Sword would combine to defeat the corrupt magic.”

  “Who is this Silver Sword?” I frowned at this new information.

  “As soon as Dione announced her prediction, Calista dug out a picture of one of her ancestors holding a silver sword.”

  Elissa chugged the rest of her Sauvignon Blanc before adding, “But then Ramona produced documents showing that the Furmans have been the guardians of a plant called the silver flame, which is also known as the silver sword.”

  “How accurate are Dione’s prophecies?” I asked, then followed Elissa’s example and polishing off my wine.

  She poured us both another glass and said, “I’d guess about seventy-eighty percent. She sure was right about my poor choices.”

  Well, shoot! I realized that all our conversations had been about me. I’d never asked my cousin anything about herself. I truly was a selfish bitch.