Chapter 21

TWENTY-ONE

COLETTE

“He can’t have gone far.” We’d been searching the island all day and still there was no sign of Bash.

“I mean can’t he?” Mateo strolled beside me as we walked down Main Street toward Bowlicious.

I didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. Bash could be anywhere. That fae prince had traveled the world and even jumped from realm to realm with ease. He could’ve literally been anywhere at any time. Yet I had to believe, I had to hope, that he’d be in the most popular restaurant on the island. Which also happened to be his favorite place and owned by his adoptive brothers.

It was odd strolling with Mateo and not feeling like there was huge amount of tension between us. I’d never found silence so comfortable with another person. It was odd. It’s not odd when you’re in love with him. I gasped. I am NOT in love with him. Nope. I’m not. Not at all.

Oh God. This is going to hurt so bad.

“I mean that’s a fair point.” I cleared my throat then forced a smile. “But I’m choosing to believe that he’s here hanging out.”

“Manifesting positivity?” He shoved his hands into his pockets as he strolled beside me.

“Why not? It’s gotten us this far.” I bounced on my toes.

“I couldn’t have gotten this far without you,” He admitted in a low tone. “Thank you, Colette.”

This felt different between us, calmer in a way I couldn’t describe. “You’re welcome, boss.”

He groaned. “I haven’t been the easiest to work with.”

“No, you have not.” I gave a nervous chuckle. I didn’t usually lie and I wasn’t about to start now.“But we’ve come around to being friends now, and I like that. Maybe even more since it started so rocky.”

“And there’s that bluntness I’ve grown to love.” His lips pulled up in a dazzling smile and for a moment I was taken with how charming Mateo could be. His soulmate was lucky to have him.

“I’m a take me as I am kind of fae.” I tried to make my voice sound light and joking but there was truth behind my words. I was who I was, I couldn’t help it and sometimes he brought out the fighter in me. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.” He gave me a little nod of approval. “Besides once in a while it’s good to know when one is being as ass.”

“I’m happy to fulfill that role for you.”

We both laughed then fell into a comfortable silence as we made our way toward the restaurant. I was glad we found some form of peace between us. We seemed to have found some kind of balance between us. Even while my heart was breaking bit by bit with every new lead on his soulmate. Every time he pulled that picture out to look at her face I wanted to cry, scream, and vomit at the same time. When he pulled out the printed picture so he didn’t have to keep opening his phone I may have teared up but he hadn’t noticed.

I’d realized somewhere during the night while staring at the moon begging for sleep where I’d gone wrong. The truth had hit like a brick wall. In hindsight, I’d already been half in love with the man before I got the promotion. I hadn’t been brave enough to talk to him in high school but I had admired from a silent distance. I never considered that I’d had a crush on him back then because he was so very out of my league. He was a prince. By the time I saw him again after college he’d started the ambassador department at Prescott Tech and it had changed my whole life. His work had given me hope for life, it gave me passion and a drive to succeed.

I saw him as my key to happiness.

I just hadn’t realized I’d lumped him into that key with the job.

Him being an asshole when I first got promoted had blinded me from seeing what was happening in my heart even while he snapped at me. It was definitely a sign I needed therapy but I’d have plenty to talk about once we found his soulmate. There was no way I could be his assistant. I had my honest letter for Mr. Prescott typed out and ready, along with a nice but not quite as honest letter for Mateo as well. He couldn’t know how hard I’d fallen for him or we’d never retain this friendship we’d made. And I didn’t want to lose this. Perhaps I was foolish for thinking there was a future in which my heart wouldn’t long for his but I wasn’t ready to give up hope on that.

The present was enjoyable enough. I could put a hold on the inevitable heartbreak and just enjoy his company for however little time we had left together. So I took a deep breath and looked around at all the decorations lining Main Street. The floating glowing pumpkins, the fake spiderwebs draped around the store fronts, and the tiny magical spiders that crawled on them. This time of night witch brooms soared through the sky and were outlined by the light of the moon. The air was crisp and clean, delightfully cool. Leaves crunched under my feet with each step I took.

Yes, this was lovely walking with Mateo.These memories would probably haunt me later but if I was going to suffer later anyway, then I figured I had nothing to lose by enjoying it now.

Because this wasn’t going to last much longer. I knew in my gut we were almost at the finish line. We were so close to finding his soulmate. I knew it. And I wanted this for him. I wanted him to find his happily ever after. I had to believe he would, because that meant that someday I might find mine.And my mother always told me that if you loved someone, romantically or platonically, you would want them to be happy no matter the cost to you.

When we got to the door for Bowlicious, Mateo reached for the handle and pulled it open for me. “After you.”

“Why thank you, sir.” I walked in and froze. “Are we in the right place?”

“I think so?” He had the same confused look on his face that I had on mine, I saw them both reflected in the glass.

Bowlicious was normally set up restaurant-style with multiple tables and booths. But now that was all cleared away and in their place were four long rows of tables that went from the front of the restaurant all the way up to a small stage. A DJ stable was setup there with a light display all around it. Chairs were lined up one after the other on either side of the tables and little cards were place in front of each one.

“Shit, sorry, Mateo. I’m sorry.” I pulled my phone out to look at the list of events.“I didn’t realize there was an event tonight?”

“Oh my, my, my. Look at that, you finally missed something.” Mateo winked and bumped his shoulder into mine, sending heat and electricity racing through my body. “It’s not a big deal, Colette. You got us this far. Come one let’s find out what’s happening.”

“Hey Mateo!” Connor Bow stood at the center of the room, he stood out with his bright red hair and light blue eyes. He was tall and trim with striking features like the rest of the Bow boys. He pointed to us then to his own face. “What’s with the faces?”

Mateo and I moved around the tables and chairs toward him. Mateo motioned to all the seats and tables. “Oh, this is the look of confusion. What’s with all this?”

“Oh this .” He chuckled. “Bowlicious hosts a bingo night once a month. So this month the theme is Halloween. You guys should check it out, it’s a good time.”

“Bingo? A good time?” The skepticism in Mateo’s voice was sharp.

Connor put his hands on his hips and chuckled. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

I bumped into Mateo. “Yeah, I forgot I’ve come here with my golden girls a few times to play. It actually is fun.”

“I’ll have to keep that in mind for next month.” Mateo tried to decline lightly even while scanning the room for Bash.

Connor eyed him carefully. “So what brings you here then? You want dinner? We’re still going take-out for anyone who isn’t going to play. You can place an order at the bar.”

My stomach rumbled. “I mean, we are here and it smells amazing . . .”

Connor smirked. “So you’re not here for bingo or grub? What’s up?”

Mateo shook his head. “Nothing, we’re um, just looking for Bash.”

“Oh man, it seems like everyone is looking for him today.” He pointed to the door. “You just missed him a moment ago.”

“What do you mean?” I didn’t want to lose hope, not now. We were so close.“Where’d he go now?”

“Zuriel just showed up here and pulled him away. He stormed out of here pretty quickly.” Connor lowered his voice, “I think there are things going on that we don’t know about and as Islanders probably don’t want to know about.”

“Amen to that. Ignorance is bliss.” Mateo matched Connor’s tone.

I tapped on my chin. “Connor do you think you can tell him we’re looking for him and maybe spread the word to your family too?”

“Of course, you know I’m always here to help. But . . . does it have to be Bash? Can anyone else help?”

I grimaced and waited for Mateo to answer but he seemed to have gotten lost in his thoughts. “Well we need to find a very specific fae woman and we think she might have been someone from Third Realm. Or maybe he has some extra realm royal, son of the first fae kind of magic that can help us locate her.”

Connor whistled and shook his head. “He very well might. Or know someone who could. Maybe even the Second Realm mages, they help him out all the time. But yeah, of course, I’ll pass the word along. As soon as someone gets eyes on him we’ll send out the alert.”

Mateo clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks, Connor.”

I gave him a little wave. “Thanks, Connor. Let us know.”

We started walking toward the door. My heart sank for him. “I’m so sorry, Mateo. I can try and leave messages with all the Bows or find out if Bash has a cell where I can contact him?”

“Thank you, Colette, but it’s all right.” He moved calmly beside me. “We know he’ll return to the island, the Bows are his family now. I trust Connor and Peggy will let him know we’re looking for him. And even if they don’t, if Bash is with Zuriel then he’s doing something more important than tracking my soulmate down. I’m just grateful we have a picture of her. I don’t feel as . . . crazy anymore.”

“Crazy?”

He shrugged. “Like I can actually let myself start to open up to whoever she is now that I know she exists. Part of me worried this was all a mistake of some kind.”

I let go of a deep breath. “Even so I’ll stay on top of it.”

The front door flew open and it nearly knocked into me. I stumbled back and collided with Mateo’s chest. His arm wrapped around my waist and I felt the warmth of his hand over my hip.

I glanced at him over my shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

Susan hurried through the door and I had to do a double take at her outfit. She had on a white sweatshirt with a pumpkin painted on it in glow in the dark paint. She wore purple spandex leggings with bright stars on them. “Whoa you gotta watch where you’re going, sweetie.”

“I didn’t see you there.” Gertie held onto the handle of the door and stood there with rhinestone covered sunglasses that were so dark I was surprised she saw anything at all this time of night. Her outfit matched it with a silver rhinestone vest a hot pink button-down blouse with bright orange pumpkins on it and matching orange sneakers.

My jaw dropped as I looked them up and down. “You two look um . . . whoa.”

Gertie did a little spin. “I know right.”

My eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”

Sylvie strolled through the door in a neon pink baseball hat, a white shirt with flashing orange lights that made the shape of a pumpkin and neon pink leggings. Her sneakers also lit up and when I looked down at her feet she did a little jump and started to roll away on the wheels on the bottom of her shoes. She waved for me to follow them. “Come on and join us.”

Gertie and Susan grabbed me and spun me around. My hair fell from its bun and brushed over Mateo’s face and shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“Sometimes we just gotta go with it.” He stepped to the side and Gertie shoved me forward toward where Sylvie had claimed some seats.

Behind me I heard Mateo. “No, really I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“Oh you’re not.” Susan insisted. “Besides I heard that you could loosen up a little bit.”

“Excuse me?”

“This way.” And when I glanced back she shoved his shoulder and spun him in the same direction I was going in.

“Um okay.” He moved forward and I was about to curl in a ball and hide under the table.

The golden girls had taken over and there was nothing anyone could do. I stood on one side of the table and he stood on the other.

I’m sorry, I mouthed.

But he waved them away. “I’m looking forward to bingo.”

“Sit down quickly before they get here and steal the good spots.” Sylvie pointed at that the chairs and we all quickly took our seats.

“Until who steals them?” I glanced around watching as almost all the other seats were starting to fill in. There were people of all ages and species here. I was surprised there was such a huge turnout but the thing that surprised me most was that Mateo and I stood out the most in our casual clothing. Everyone else had on bright colors, sparkling outfits, glow in the dark shirts.

“Jimbo and Sal. They’re shysters.” Susan growled. “One of these days I’m going to neuter those two old coots.”

I pressed my hand over my mouth and tried to stifle a laugh. Mateo pressed his lips into a line trying not to bust out in laughter.

The DJ took his place at the front of the room and yelled into the micro phone, “Are you all ready for bingoooooooo?”

Sirens blasted and an airhorn went off like we were in some kind of rave. The regular light dropped down until they were out and then all the lights behind the DJ flashed bright. Everyone who wore a glow in the dark shirt lit up under the black light. Confetti shot from the ceiling and rained down on us. I held my hand out and let it fall into my palms. I laughed as the Gertie and Sylvie took out glow sticks and began waving their hands.

When I glanced at Mateo he was staring at me with a huge smile on his face. I chuckled. “What?”

"Nothing.” Confetti drifted all around him and caught in the dark strands of his hair.

“I’m sorry you got dragged into this.” The siren was so loud I didn’t know if he could hear me.

“Nonsense.” Gertie yelled. “He needs a little excitement in his life. It’s a use it or lose it type of thing.”

She did a little wiggle and jabbed him with her elbow. Heat rushed to my cheeks. He grabbed up his marker and instead of a little thing that would make dots of the numbers it was a huge pen that was nearly a footlong.

His eyes widened at it. “And miss this? Not a chance.”

The music dropped and everyone started waving their hands to the beat. I lifted my arms and Mateo followed suit. I swayed in my chair and danced to the beat.

Sylvie glanced around with suspicion on her face. “Do you see them yet?”

“Who?”

“Those old bastards. They’ll strike when we’ll least suspect it.” Her head swiveled around from one direction to the next.

“I really haven’t seen them. It might be?—”

Constantine appeared at the table from out of nowhere. He hovered over Mateo with a deep solemn face. “Brother.”

Mateo glanced up and him and his eyes nearly shot out of his head. He stood there dressed in head-to-toe pure white. It wouldn’t have been so bad but under the black light he lit up like he had a spotlight on him.

“Um, hello . . . is that you, Constantine?”

The DJ called over the micro phone. “B-27 . . . B-27.”

“Have they appeared yet?” Constantine glided down into the seat and crossed his ankle over his knee. His eyes darted around the room like he was hunting for something.

“Not yet.” Sylvie snapped but she also eyed the room.

“If I had known we needed to sharpen our defenses I would’ve asked Colette to come up with a battle strategy,” Mateo spoke over the music. “She’s great at that.”

“About time you noticed.” Susan threw a handful of confetti in his face and he chuckled.

“G-12 . . . G-12.”

Everyone looked down at their cards.

The music suddenly cut off and everyone looked up from their cards. The DJ smacked the microphone and nothing happened. I heard him yelling, “Test, test.”

Connor ran out from the kitchen toward the DJ. “What’s happening?”

“BINGO! BINGO! BINGO!” The voice rang out over the loud speaker in a sing song way.

“Oh no!” Sylvie shot to her feet with her wand in hand. “Prepare for battle.”

“I don’t think this is going to turn out well.” I yelled over to Mateo.

“Well, they did kick their ass at the bonfire. I mean Jimbo and Sal really got it.” He chuckled.

Fog rolled over the ceiling and thunder boomed. Gertie held her wand up. “Umbrella’s up.”

“Only rookies use rain, suckers!” Sylvie pointed her wand at the clouds and shot a burst of her magic right into it.

The cloud only got bigger and the thunder louder. Susan dove under the table. “Duck and cover!”

The cloud opened up and it did indeed start raining. But it wasn’t drops of water, it was plastic bingo balls with numbers on them. They bounced all over the room and began to pool on the floor. With in second it was up to my ankles. Constantine sat there straight and stoic while bingo balls bounced off his head. Jimbo jumped out from under the DJ table with a tennis racket in hand. He wore white short, a white polo shirt, and a sweat band around his head. His socks were pulled up to his knees and they had big pumpkins on them.

“FOURRRRR!” He swung his racket, and a volley of balls fired right at Sylvie.

I threw my arms up over my head and tried to duck because I was right next to her. Something wrapped around my waist and tugged me to the side. My body whipped around so fast I was dizzy. When I opened my eyes I was standing on the other side of the room with Mateo by my side. He still had his hand wrapped around me when Sal fell from the ceiling taking half of it down with him. He crashed onto a table and it cracked under his weight. He scrambled to his feet and stood there with a tennis racket of his own. Except he wasn’t wearing all white. He was dressed as a giant stuffed pumpkin with green tights on and a hat that looked like a green stump.

“Battle!” He yelled as he charged forward.

“brING IT ON, SPARKLE FART!” Gertie ran at him with her wand held up.

Mateo looked from one side of the room to the other. “We should . . .”

“Leave!” I pointed toward the door. “Like now.”

We bolted for cover. Apparently Jimbo and Sal were in war with my golden girls and I’d missed that memo. Constantine hadn’t, he’d asked immediately for them but then did nothing to stop it. Knowing him, he was secretly enjoying it.

Mateo chuckled and looked over his shoulder as we hurried toward the door. “I pity the fools.”

“Hey those book club ladies can hold their own.”

“I meant Jimbo and Sal.” He threw the door open and we hurried out into the night . . . with a long line of others fleeing the battle.