by Kat Quinn
“Oh, yeah, sure. Of course that would be fine. I can come and get it all if that’s easier for you, though. I know we asked for a lot.”
She waves a hand dismissively, “No trouble at all, be just a few minutes anyway. Now, go join your friends,” the woman pushes our drinks closer to me ever so slightly and I take her recommendation, picking up the tray with a thanks.
“But that wasn’t even the craziest part!” Dizzy’s voice raises as she gets even more into whatever her story is, “They weren’t twins, they were triplets, and I’d been talking to the third one all along! The one everyone said was evil!”
“Oh, dang!” Lilly declares. “You mean you didn’t know?!”
“Nope! Not a clue. Coulda gone way bad if it’d all turned out wrong, but we were mostly okay in the end. And I managed to figure out what was causing all the trouble in the first place and take the curse on anyway, so it was fine. Gosh, though, if they’d met anyone but me I wonder if they would’ve all been okay by the end of it.”
I place the drinks in front of their respective recipients, sliding into my own seat to try and catch up to whatever’s going on.
Miss Fern nods, “So then it’s true? You attract these curses to yourself?”
“Best I can figure, I guess. Seems like wherever I go, bad luck follows. In a way, it’s lucky for usually at least one person when I roll into town, since I end up taking on whatever’s supposed to mess them up, but there’ve been plenty of times when it’s ended up in, well… disaster.” Dizzy replies.
“Does it only apply to active castings, or are you drawn to curses stored in items, too?” The elderly woman inquires.
“Umm…. Yes?” Dizzy shrugs. “I mean, everything? I picked up a pendant once and it burned my hand like crazy and I knew the feelings because they’re usually partly the same, and by the time I could let go it didn’t hurt any more and I was okay in the end. So I think it probably had a curse on it, but it’s not like there’s anyone I could just ask about it. But there’ve definitely been times where things don’t go even half as smoothly as all that.”
“That must be very distressing for you, dear. I’m sorry you’ve had to figure this all out alone. I’ll see what I can find out for you.” The elderly woman’s eyes go slightly out of focus as she gazes blankly into the middle-distance.
Dizzy shrugs at the old woman, then takes a sip of her root beer. “No biggie. Just is what it is. Anyway, what’ve you been up to this week, Lilly?” She turns her head to look at the woman on her other side, “Haven’t seen you much since mister stinky Beefcake has been keeping us all for after school credit.” She sticks her tongue out in distaste.
Lilly looks up at her grandmother briefly, “Not too much. Grams has been teaching me more about working with The Girls. I’m not as good at it as she is, but I’m getting there. Well, maybe not there, but at least a little closer than before. Guess we’re both going through training then, eh?” Lilly smiles slightly and jostles Dizzy with her shoulder. “It’ll be worth it in the end, you know?”
Dizzy blows a raspberry in the air. “Bah, I’m fine! I’ve gotten through way worse than an angry mob before, and that was all on my own!”
“That’s what’s different this time though, Diz,” I interject, “You’re not all on your own. This time, there’s people who want to keep you around as long as we can.” Trying to look her in the eye, I continue, “Not saying you aren’t able to take care of yourself, you’ve already proved that more than most.” Realizing the truth in that, I change tactics. “Maybe you’ll be able to take care of us all when the time comes? I know it’s frustrating being under Kieran’s wing sometimes, but think of it as a way for you to learn how to protect us if we ever need it.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “I know what you’re doing, but it’s fine.” As she’s talking, our plates are delivered to the table, each piled high with sandwiches and chips, Dizzy’s complete with a side of carrot sticks and slice of chocolate cake. She swipes up a carrot stick and snaps it between her teeth with joy. “Ooh, veggies!” Her teeth chomp happily for a few moments before she waves the remaining carrot end in her hand, continuing, “I know he’s worried and I’m trying to be patient and seeing everybody all messed up was a nightmare and I don’t want it again. And I don’t want to want to run again, you know? Like, I want to stay, and I know staying means fighting against running and maybe also fighting, but… He’s so hard on me. I hate it.”
“You might want to catch her, dear.” Miss Fern says, glancing at a clock on the wall while rising from her seat.
“Hm?” I realize too late what she means as Dizzy’s body seizes, her hands flinging out uncontrollably, slamming her wrists against the edge of the table so violently I’m convinced they’ve snapped. Before I can try to stop her from doing more harm to herself, the motion changes and her arms thrust forward, knocking the food in front of her off the table as she flies backwards and topples over in the chair. The metal of its intricate back clangs piercingly when she crashes to the ground, a loud gasp escaping her mouth, strangling into a high-pitched squeal.
Chaos breaks out as the doors to the cafe burst inwards, a snarling, half-transformed Kieran bounding through them. He crashes into an empty table, overturning it and skittering chairs across the room in a wild attempt to get to our girl as quickly as possible. His girl. His girl as quickly as possible. Dizzy makes small whining sounds through shallow breaths as her hands rummage amongst hidden pockets of her jacket, seeking out various ingredients that she grinds between her fingers. A small blade appears from somewhere and she uses it to slice the heel of her palm, licking the resulting blood and crushed herbs straight from her hand. She sighs with relief, but her body doesn’t quite relax yet. From experience, Zeke says she chants a mantra until whatever’s afflicting her is completely expelled. For now, though, all that matters is it means she’s out of the woods.
I kneel down beside her, cradling her head in my lap even though it’s a bit late for that, considering she bashed it against the floor with concussive force. Sending my energy through her, I heal what I can; fully and frustratingly aware that the rest is up to her and it’s all down to waiting. At least my abilities can minimize some discomfort before she comes to.
Meanwhile, Kieran snarls impolitely at the patrons he hasn’t already chased away. “Hey!” I yell at him, irritated, ignoring the cell phone going wild in my pocket. “You’re not helping anyone like that, least of all her! Get it together, man.”
“Calm down, boy, she’s safe here, you know that.” Miss Fern directs at Kieran while handing me a cool wash cloth she must have gotten from the cashier. He growls at her, but she pays him no mind. “Hush now, you.” Her teal eyes go slightly glossy and she cocks her head to the side and nods, “Mm hmm, mm hmm. Seems The Girls have seen this once before; though it’s incredibly rare. Nearly unheard of outside of emergencies. I should have realized sooner, after meeting your little friend there,” she gestures towards Aria, who’s patiently nibbling on the edge of a cherry while waiting for Dizzy to come back to us. “We’ll be sending help, but I’m afraid it won’t have shown up until well after you’ll have wanted it, or expected it.” Miss Fern takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly, almost inaudibly mumbling “long after” under her breath.
Lilly cocks an eyebrow at her grandmother, but doesn’t say anything. Placing the cool cloth on Dizzy’s forehead, I feel her start to come to. This was another quick one. Her eyelashes flutter and she groans lightly before opening up those beautiful golden eyes of hers. “There she is,” I say in a low voice. “Did I miss anywhere?”
Shakily, she raises her hand and forms a thumbs-up.
I dig into my pocket and pull out the phone that’s still ringing, not checking who’s on the other side. “We’re all fine,” I say, and then hang up.
Surveying the room, I take in the absolute catastrophe we’ve created. Kieran, shirtless and fully human again, is glaring at every single person left in the shop, which admittedl
y is mostly just us and the woman who works there. There are plates, chairs, cups, and all sorts of foods flung everywhere.
Porcelain clatters happily against the ground and I look to my left, catching Colonel Stubbs in the act as he finishes off what was once Dizzy’s turkey club. Lilly might have been onto something with that.
I take a breath and steel myself. Now for damage control.
9. Dizzy
Alright Dizzy, up up. Assess the situation. I give Monty a thumbs-up and take a deep breath to brace myself for the inevitable soreness that comes after a curse. Soreness even Monty can’t fix. Before I can start to pull myself up, Kieran’s already there, strong hands under my back, lifting me to my feet.
I look at his bare chest. I look at the scattered tables. I look at his bare chest. I look at the smashed plates. I look at his bare chest. I look at the nearly-empty shop that used to have a warm buzz of activity. I look at his ridiculously defined, broad, red hair-laden bare motherfucking chest and I SNAP.
“YOU!” I stab a finger sharply into that wall of muscle on display, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” The anger coursing through my body totally burns away any lingering soreness. “WHAT THE FUCK.”
His nostrils crinkle as he frowns at me. One side of his lip lowering in a small snarl.
“NO. You do not get to be mad at me. And you don’t get to be MY mad back at me, not okay, Kieran!” The disadvantage to having someone feel all of your emotions is that you can’t get good and mad at them because they’ll only ever give you your mad right back. It’s infuriating! “What did you think you were going to do here, hm? HM?! You know this is a thing with me and you can’t come rampaging in and wreck the place every time it happens! I get it, you’re worried and you care but FUCK, Kieran, you need to chill! You need to-“
“NO. I WILL NOT CHILL,” he shouts back, cutting me off. Oh bitch, you best not be cuttin’ me off or I’ll be cuttin’ you off. Bits of you. With a knife or something. He growls through his next breath, “I can’t afford to let my guard down. The second I do, that’s the second you’ll need me. I’m not letting anything happen to you, ever. You are MINE.” His tensed hands spread out wide, broad chest puffing to fill the space with shown strength.
A growl comes tearing up my throat, completely and utterly exasperated with Kieran. This isn’t even the first time this week I’ve been hit with a whammy and he’s come barreling into wherever I am to wreck the place. It’s hard enough trying not to bolt from the situation with the damage I bring on my own, but now I have to deal with his destruction, too? “What was gonna happen to me, huh? Monty and Lilly AND Miss Fern are all here! We’re in public! What could POSSIBLY go wrong?! You’re really cheesin’ my grits right now with all this madness, Kieran, and I’m TRYING to find my own chill but I’ve had it up to here with this!” My hand goes up as high as it can, which is admittedly not exactly all that high given my diminutive stature, but I don’t care, I’ll jump if I need to get it higher to show how fed up I am. The incessant training, the overbearing possessiveness; it’s smothering me and I’m having a hard damned time breathing through this beefcake blanket.
“You could be slaughtered,” he deadpans. Which seems a bit extreme. “And I could be too late, again, to save you.” Kieran slams both hands through his wavy red hair and drags his fingers through it like claws. Sure hope he doesn’t actually have claws right now. I watch him, trying to subdue my own anger to give him his best chance to even out. Even before we got all tangled up in each other, the wolf shifter apparently had a tenuous hold on his own emotions.
He scrubs his face with both palms and lets out a breath, tone even but stern. “Don’t underestimate the evil in this world, Fireball, and its willingness to snuff out a life-snuff out dozens of lives-no matter the circumstances. You can get as mad at me as you want, but I’ve already lived through the worst thing that could have happened once. It’s not getting a second chance with me. Please, understand, I can’t and won’t stop doing whatever it takes to protect you. Even if it seems ridiculous, even if you’re frustrated or embarrassed, even if it takes every last shred of me and scares the crap out of everyone else in the process… I need this. Understand that, and let me have it.” His big, green, haunted eyes plead against whatever ghosts he’s busting in that stubborn, bearded head of his. There’s tension pinging off every surface, through the gaps between every word, ruffling more than just feathers as it endlessly ricochets by.
I sigh. Hard. Goddamnit. I really do get it, promise; he cares and that’s sort of a new experience for me so maybe I don’t know the best way to accept that outside protection. But at the end of the day, even if we can’t seem to reach that good middle ground where we both think I’m fine, the fact is I probably shouldn’t take someone willing to fight on my behalf for granted. It feels weird and uncomfortable letting him and the others keep me kept when all I’m used to is running free, but… Isn’t this what I wanted? Didn’t I want someone to want me? Didn’t I want to find some roots? It’s hard to break the cycle when you’ve been in it for so long, and I’m doing my best to stay put, but every single time a problem comes up my first instinct is to flee. I don’t know how to solve this problem between us. Trying to imagine the embarrassment of being honest and putting in work to find a real solution makes a scribble start to scrabble its way in my chest. But I’m trying. I don’t know if this is his way of trying, too. ...Something tells me it probably is.
I sigh again, less hard this time.
“Come here, you big, beefy idiot,” I say in defeat, opening my arms and using my hands to wave him in. Before he buries his face in my neck, I kiss his cheek. “Okay, I’ll try. But I make no guarantees. And you’ve got to try and give me a smidge more breathing room sometimes. Now, are you ready to tell me what this is all about or are you going to keep being broody and mysterious about your barrage of crankiness missiles?”
He breathes in deeply of my scent, something I know he finds comforting and I presume is a good bargaining chip in my favor during any negotiation. “Not here. Not now,” Kieran mumbles into my neck.
I squash a grumble that wants to make its way out of me from his damned stubbornness. The man just comes in wherever he wants and explodes without explanation… Though considering this is a pot and kettle sort of thing, me being the chick that comes in wherever she wants and tends to explode in one way or another, maybe I should try saddling up onto my empathy steed and riding it off into the sunset. Not that I’d ever do something so horrifying on purpose, though. I shudder. Maybe just cruise on an empathy scooter.
We release each other from the embrace, but I put both my hands on his shoulders to keep him from escaping, freezing him with a solid glare. “You’re helping with cleanup, no excuses. Now get to it.” Gently, I push him backwards and swat playfully at his taught booty. Man’s so firm you could bounce a whole coin factory off him and use it as a deadly weapon. Mm mm mmmm. He’s lucky he’s pretty.
There’s a light tap on my shoulder, catching my attention in a butterfly net before it flits away. The tapping belongs to an older gentleman, and by the looks of it he got pretty good and shredded by our party. Both of his wrists have thick, angry, blistered, red marks encircling them. Not entirely sure how it happened, but it’s no doubt my fault somehow. Time to put on the sweetness.
“Oh, I’m so sorry sir, please forgive us. I know it seems unlikely, but I promise this was all an accident. If it helps, my friend here is a healer and he could take a look at your wrists for you.”
“No no, dear, you misunderstand.” He grabs one of my hands tenderly, then pets my wrist like it’s a kitty cat and he’s a feline aficionado. Looking intensely into my eyes all the while. “I’m Morris, and you’ve done me a great kindness today. What can I do for you in return?” Oh. Another one of these. My polite smile starts to crack, but I hold ‘er steady as she blows. Morris pats the top of my hand, then turns it so my palm is upwards, placing a thick golden coin in the center. “You think on it, dearie. I’ll know when
you’re ready.” He curls my fingers around the little treasure and pats my hand once more. Doesn’t even wait for me to respond, just whistles a happy note or two and blips out of existence like an inverse popcorn.
I blink. Well, at least it was short.
As I loosen my grip to toss away the garbage he left behind, Aria swoops down and snatches it with her greedy little paws, chittering at me like I’m getting the talking to of a lifetime. She lands on my extended arm, glaring at me sternly before tucking the coin into one of my pockets. The little thief could never resist a good bit of shiny.
With the rest of our crew already righting the tables and chairs, it looks like I’ve still got to eat some humble pie with the shop keep and serve back a heaping helping of apology. Wonder if they make humble pie here? Wonder what it tastes like-I’m betting on blueberry.
Right. Focus. Deep breath, Dizzy. Straighten out your clothes, try to check that your hair isn’t snakes or dishwashing detergent. Okay, everything’s golden.
Expecting to be greeted with anger or demands that we pay for damages and never come back here again, or maybe a giant sacrificial lava pit that we have to jump down or be shoved into, I’m confused at the reception I’m given by the woman behind the counter.
“Rough day, hun?” Her lips and eyebrows tilt themselves up sympathetically. Which is weird. And suspicious. Suspiciously weird. But hey! I’m okay with not getting punished!
“Yeah, it’s been a bit of a doozie. But not the dooziest, just like… a tiny little dooze. Maybe just a doo, in comparison.” Oh, right, rambling isn’t good. Don’t blow this, Dizzy, act natural! I resist the urge to find some grass to chew on. “Anyway, I’m sorry we kinda made a mess of your place. Like kind of a big mess. We’ll fix it, I promise!”
“Don’t worry about it,” she shrugs. “Things happen sometimes, right?” Reaching under the counter and grabbing a paper bag printed with the shop’s logo, the confusingly pleasant woman opens the display case next to her, grabbing a pair of tongs to fill said bag with treats. “From the looks of it, I’ve got a feeling you could use a snack or two to regroup. We were closing up soon anyway, and I’ve got it on pretty good authority that the owner won’t mind shutting down a bit early.” She folds the top of the bag closed and holds it out to me, scents of sweetness and just a tiny hint of cinnamon wafting their way upwards. “Here, on the house. Looks like you might need some good luck. Besides,” she gestures out to the dining area, “No real harm done. Now was it?”
