“Oh my, Goddess!” She hissed. “It’s true? You’re the Empress?”
My cheeks flushed with heat and I knew I was blushing. It was weird for someone I just met to know of me already. “Um, yes, I am.”
Her jaw dropped. “We have so much to talk about later.”
“Okay,” I said with a laugh because I wasn’t really sure what that meant.
She started walking again then stopped and looked to me. “Oh, and I’m sorry about what I said at dinner. Then I heard how you saved my friend Sofia, that was really awesome of you. I was thinking about it all night, I don’t know why I say things sometimes.”
Me either. I smiled. “Thank you, and apology accepted. But let’s be friends now, okay?”
She grinned. “Okay! But Aunt Heather is waiting, come on.” She opened the door, still grinning. “The Empress is sleeping next door. I can’t believe it.”
I opened my mouth to say something but my words dried on my tongue. The room we’d entered was something out of a fairytale. The walls and floor were white, just like the rest of the apartment and it had the same massive window serving as one of the walls. But this one had a two-story tall wall of books. With a ladder. Yet somehow, that wasn’t what took my breath away…it was the candles. Everywhere. There was one of every shape, size, and color sitting on every single piece of furniture and then some more. They were all lit and flickered with soft golden light. The smell was intoxicating.
“Amelia, dear, why don’t you go finish getting ready to go?”
I froze at the sound of her voice. She was behind me somewhere and I wondered if she’d be able to see me if I stood perfectly still. No wait, that’s a T-Rex. Amelia said something then I heard the door close. I took a deep breath and plastered on my game face then spun around to face her.
“Emersyn,” she said in clipped, ice cold tone. She wore all black – it wasn’t the same way Tegan did it, it was like she was in mourning. Black turtleneck. Black high-waisted pencil skirt that cut off mid-calf. Black stilettos, though I knew without looking they’d have red soles.
I cleared my throat and lingered near the door so I could make a quick exit. “Mrs. English.”
“What do you know of my son’s…relationship history?”
My stomach turned as all the rumors and stories replayed in my mind. “I know of his reputation.”
“Good, so you know where you stand.”
My jaw dropped. Ouch. I wanted to pull down my shirt and show her just where I stood with her son, just to watch her squirm. But then I realized she deserved to live that moment in public surrounded by people.
Stedman rushed into the room with a stack of folders. He sat them down on her desk then pulled a silver wand out of his pocket and wove a pattern in the air. The folders opened and papers shuffled themselves around. He bowed his head. “Mrs. English, once it finishes shuffling, your signatures are required on top.”
“Thank you.”
“Anything else, Ma’am?”
She pinched the bridge of her pale nose. “Call Claudia and tell her I expect answers for the human news reports this morning.”
Stedman nodded then sped out of the room, leaving us alone again.
“Is that why you wanted to speak with me?” I narrowed my eyes.
“No,” she snapped and picked up a pen off her desk. She signed her name on one paper then the pen floated over to the others and signed the rest for her. “I’m taking you shopping. My son threatened to never come home again if I didn’t help you assimilate into our world. So get ready to go and I’ll meet you by the elevators in twenty minutes.”
“Ohhkay.”
There was a crack followed by a puff of orange smoke and then a white square appeared in the air in front of her. She glared at it then snatched it out of the air and slammed it onto her desk. It was paper. Just like the one I’d found in my room with a note from Deacon. Unable to stop myself, I leaned forward to take a peek at the paper. All I saw were the words, we need to deal with Central Park.
She peeked up at me. “You can go now.”
I nodded then let myself out. I couldn’t believe what just happened. She had me come all the way in to her office just to let me know she expects her son to ditch me and that she’s being forced to take me shopping. I rushed out the door – and froze.
Deacon stood in the hall, biting his nails and shifting his weight around. When he saw me his eyes lit up. He rubbed the center of his chest, right where it burned, and stepped closer. “Hi.”
I sighed and rushed over, burying my face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around me tight. I looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you. For your apology, and for defending me to your mom.”
“You’re my first girlfriend, I don’t really know how this goes. But I will always fight for you.” He smirked and tucked my hair behind me ear. “Thank you for staying.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
EMERSYN
The only reason I even knew what Bergdorf was was because of movies and television shows. I’d never dreamt I’d be shopping there. I cleared my throat and looked up at the building as the cold wind whipped up the street.
She stopped just outside the grand doors and turned to me with one blonde eyebrow arched. “This is where we shop. I expect you to get used to it.”
My jaw dropped. Not that Heather noticed, she’d walked through the doors already. Amelia and I stood on the busy sidewalk, amid New York’s chaos.
“Don’t worry, I brought a few snacks in my bag.” Amelia smiled and held her black Chanel bag open to show me the candy bars tucked in the pocket. “And they’ll give you anything you’d like to drink.”
My eyes widened. “Why will I need snacks and drinks to go shopping?”
But Amelia had already followed her aunt inside. I scurried to catch up to the two blondes. To my surprise, Heather was actually shopping in her Louboutin’s. Heels. She was going to shop…in heels. This blew my mind.
I pulled out my phone and shot a text to Royce. With a picture. This is her shopping outfit!! Amelia brought SNACKS. Help. I’m scared.
LOL relax, sweetheart. That’s how Aunt Heather rolls. D told me about last night. CLEAN HER OUT. She can afford it, and she deserves it.
I frowned. Are you sure? Isn’t she your aunt?
Positive. Trust me, baby girl. He responded immediately.
I chuckled and shoved my phone back in my purse. When I looked up I saw a young woman in a black pant suit scurrying away from us with a rather panicked look on her face. There was another woman standing right in front of Heather, she was visibly flustered – wringing her hands, shifting her weight around, not keeping eye contact.
“Nice to see you again, Mrs. English.” The woman smiled but she looked nervous. “Ashley went to get Maribelle for you.”
Just as she said this a woman maybe a little older than Heather emerged from behind a wall. She was average height, slender but with curves and she had super warm brown eyes. Her hair was dirty blonde and fell in loose, stylish waves to her shoulders. She grinned and waved in our direction, there had to be fifteen bracelets on one wrist. “Hi, Heather!”
Heather’s shoulders relaxed. She stepped forward and gave the other woman a hug. “Maribelle, I’m so glad you’re here today. We need you.”
“Oh,” Maribelle smiled and waved her hand in front of her face. “You know I’d do anything for you. Now, what we’ve got here?”
Maribelle had an accent. A southern accent. Interesting.
“This is Emersyn.” Heather half turned and gestured toward me. “Deacon’s girlfriend.”
Maribelle gasped. “Oh my golly. What a sight you two must make. Hi, I’m Maribelle.”
“Hi. Emersyn.” I frowned. “Where’s your accent from?”
“Asheville, North Carolina.”
“Oh, I love Asheville!” I smiled and my cheeks warmed. “My mom and I always go to this amazing little café with the best fried chicken you’ll ever have in your life. It’s called Mama’
s Kitchen—”
“That’s my grandparent’s restaurant!” Maribelle squealed and clapped her hands. “Oh, what a small world. I’ll be damned. Where you from, sweetie?”
“Charlotte.”
“Well, would you look at that. Our Deacon got himself a southern girl. Just what a boy like him needs.” Maribelle giggled and wagged her eyebrows to Heather. “Well, welcome to New York, darlin.’”
Heather – Mrs. English – rolled her eyes.
“Thank you.”
“Alright, so let me guess, Miss Emersyn needs to blend in with these city slickers?”
Heather nodded. “She’ll require everything. Head to toe. Chanel for sure.”
“Yes. Absolutely. And some Dolce and Gabbana. Oh, and there’s this brand new line of dresses from Gucci that would look incredible on her tall frame. I’ll have Susan and Ashley help me pick everything and set you up in your corner fitting room.” She looked down to Amelia and winked. “And I have something extra special for you little lady, it just came in today so I set it aside for you.”
“For me?!” Amelia squeaked. When Maribelle nodded, Amelia grinned. “Yay”
“What about for you today, Heather? Do you need anything?”
Heather shook her head. “That’s a loaded question. Let’s get this moving.”
“Alright, why don’t y’all head over to shoes. I’ll let Tiana know you’re headed her way.” Maribelle grinned and turned away
That’s a loaded question. I sighed. Ouch. I had no words. She obviously hated me, but I had no idea why. Heather didn’t seem to want to talk about it since she took the lead down the glossy white tiled floors. I barely registered the prettiness of the famous store until we were in the middle of the shoe department.
“Emersyn,” Amelia hissed and elbowed me lightly
I jumped and looked down. “Sorry, what?”
She giggled. “We asked what size you wear.”
“Oh, right. I’m an eight and a half.” I tucked my hair behind my ears and looked around.
Don’t look at the price tag. You don’t want to know. Just roll with it, Deacon said. I can do this. I walked over to the table and looked at the pair in front of me. Silver ankle booties with gold and silver spikes all over. Tegan would’ve loved them. I laughed and moved along the table, searching for a pair that looked like me. Heather rattled off names of designers to Tiana, some I knew of – Jimmy Choo, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Versace. And a few others I definitely never heard of. Oh, and of course, Chanel. And Valentino flats. Hopefully Tiana knew what all of this meant because I didn’t.
“Oh my God. Emersyn, look at these!” Amelia said from the other side of the table. Her eyes twinkled with excitement. “These are so you.”
I skipped over to her and my breath left me in a rush. They were similar to the ankle booties I thought Tegan would love but without any spikes. They were entirely metallic silver in what looked like snakeskin. The red soles under the stilettos just popped. It would be like wearing a disco ball on your feet. And they were so me. I bit my lip and held the shoe up.
“Oh, I love those.” Tiana smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. “I’ll grab your size while you keep looking.”
“Get her something reasonable for the gala,” Heather’s voice was still ice cold.
I opened my mouth to insist that one pair of Louboutin’s was surely enough when I spotted a pair of boots that I needed to try on. Immediately. I had no idea which designer made them but they were gorgeous. There was no heel, which was a huge bonus in my mind. The material was some kind of suede that was black and metallic gold, almost like they were antiqued. And they were thigh-high.
Tiana laughed. “I’ll bring those Chanel boots out for you as well. And there’s a pair of Louboutin boots that I think you’ll die for.” She winked then turned and marched off into the back.
“Reasonable, Tiana.”
I looked over to Heather and wished I hadn’t. Her scowl was vicious.
“I will not allow you to wear these to the gala. You’ll need heels for that.”
I frowned. “Wait, there’s a gala? That I’m going to?”
Amelia picked up a hot pink pair of pumps. “Yeah, you definitely have to go.”
“My son insists.” Heather moved closer. “It’s at the Crescent Club, which is only for our kind.”
“Oh…okay. What is the event?” Something about the way she wouldn’t look at me made me uneasy.
“It is to celebrate The Coven’s victory on Samhain.” Heather looked over at me with an icy smile on her face. “You and Deacon will be honorary attendees.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
EMERSYN
For Deacon. You’re doing this for Deacon.
I’d been telling myself this on repeat all day long. Through the shopping. Then through hair, makeup, and nails. Then even through the most awkward dinner ever. Legit, no one spoke. And the food was catered from a restaurant. I’d been looking forward to settling into bed in my guest room and just tuning everything out to mindless television. Then Deacon’s friends had called and asked us to go out with them to some new club that just opened.
Caroline would be there. I didn’t want to see her, and yet I wanted to tell her off. I didn’t really want to go. Clubbing wasn’t a thing I did. I was sixteen. Apparently rich kids in Manhattan were just younger adults. They could do whatever they wanted.
We were supposed to leave in a few minutes. I was dressed. My hair and makeup still looked perfect from the salon, so that was a bonus. I’d spent a solid half an hour going through all my clothes – my new ones, I didn’t dare wear the ones I brought with me. After far too many outfit changes I’d chosen something a tad more classic, a lot less daring. A lot less me.
I took a look in the full-length mirror for the millionth time. A little black dress never led anyone astray. Granted, mine was short, as in micro-mini. And skin tight. But it had long sleeves and the collar came all the way up to my neck. My soulmate glyph was covered. As was my Empress Mark. Deacon had made the right call in not telling anyone yet, and I wanted to follow his lead.
I turned to the side to check out my reflection. The metallic silver boots Amelia found were amazing but it was far too cold out to wear with a short dress. So instead I opted for the ones Tiana picked out…the thigh-high black suede Louboutin stilettos. They came up to mid-thigh, about two inches below the hemline of my dress. My legs looked eight miles long
“Man. Wait until Caroline sees you in this.” Amelia leaned against the wall beside me and laughed. “She’s going to die.”
I frowned and turned to face her. “What do you mean?”
Amelia shrugged. “She’s got it bad for Deacon. Bad. After he left she started planning how they were going to end up together when he came home.”
My jaw dropped. I wanted to ask her more about this but at the same time I didn’t. All I could think about was Caroline…and Deacon. And how the night before suddenly made a whole lot more sense.
I bit my lip, then decided it would be better to just ask. “Amelia, have Deacon and Caroline ever…you know…been together?”
“I think so,” she said with a frown. “Or at least she acts like they have. Which probably means they haven’t.”
Scratch that. It was definitely not better to ask. I had no reason to be jealous. Deacon was my soulmate and he’d done everything he could to make sure I knew he was serious about me. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized infidelity was not a concern.
My chest filled with heat and I hissed.
“Em, you in here?” Deacon yelled from the bedroom. His heavy footsteps echoed as he walked. “Oh, hey Amelia. She in there?”
Amelia winked at me, then turned to him and nodded. “Brace yourself, cuz.” She giggled and bounced out of sight.
“Brace myself for—" he gasped. His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide.
I pulled the dress hem down as heat rushed to my cheeks. “How do I look? Ready to meet your friends?”
“Am I breaking any dress code?”
“Em, you look...wow.” He cursed then chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. “Come on gorgeous, I want to show you off to my friends.”
“If y’all only eat out and have personal drivers, then how do you stay so thin?” I asked as Deacon’s driver parked along a busy sidewalk, behind several taxi cabs.
“Magic.” Deacon shrugged. I must’ve made a face because he chuckled as he opened his door. “Seriously, there are a few spells and charms for weight loss.”
My jaw dropped. Deacon opened the door and climbed out. I slid over then let him pull me to my feet. Outside the car the street was chaos. People zoomed up and down the sidewalk like they were racing. Horns and sirens blared from all around but out of sight. People shouted and whistled for cabs that wouldn’t stop. The ground rumbled under my feet and hot air brushed over my legs. I jumped and grabbed Deacon’s arm.
He chuckled. “That’s just the subway going by.” He pointed to the metal grate under our feet.
“Oh. Right. I knew that.” I laughed, my cheeks were definitely bright red. Then I remembered the bomb he dropped a moment before. I tugged on his sleeve. “Wait, were you serious? There’s spells for weight loss?”
He grinned and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling my close. “Yes. They have to be custom crafted for the person using it, so they’re quite expensive. They’re not healthy, though, so they’re kind of a dark secret. And no, I don’t use any – and yes, you were going to ask.”
I chuckled and leaned into him.
“Yo, Deacon!”
“Get your game face on, Buttercup,” he whispered then turned to look over his right shoulder. “Hey guys.”
Game face. I don’t like the sound of that. Deacon pulled away from me to greet his friends but held my hand tight. My pulse skipped a few beats and my palms grew sweaty. I’d had such a stress filled day with Heather, I wasn’t ready for more. I felt unprepared to meet new people, especially ones that required a warning. That couldn’t have been a good sign.
The Fire Witch (The Coven: Elemental Magic Book 7) Page 10
