Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Vena had been right about the dwarves being out in force. They milled around the market, speaking with the vendors and shoppers alike. I overheard one asking about a black cat and another about missing people. The way they asked, using a tone I didn’t associate with dwarves, bordered on rude. But then, my experience was limited to serving drinks at Blur and my very brief stay in the mountain.

I followed along behind Vena, aware of Anchor’s towering presence behind me. He’d said he would be able to keep an eye on both of us that way.

The crowded market didn’t make it easy to follow her when it was just the two of us. But with Anchor, things were different. People saw him and tended to move out of the way. It didn’t make sense until I glanced back at him and caught his fierce scowl.

Shaking my head, I let my gaze wander the immediate area and caught a man watching me. I smiled politely and averted my gaze.

Anchor needed to stop drawing so much attention.

When Vena stopped at a table to ask about a locator charm, I glanced at Anchor.

“What is she planning to do with a locator charm?” I asked.

“Check every black cat in D.C.”

I cringed.

“It’s not a bad idea,” he said. “She already promised to only go with me.”

I nodded as Vena spoke to the vendor.

A stall one spot beyond where Vena had stopped drew my attention. Or, more specifically, the vial of glittery fairy dust on the table did.

“I’m going to go look at the next vendor’s stuff,” I said.

Anchor grunted his acknowledgment, and I stuck my hand into my bag to pull out my notebook as I approached.

“Hi,” I said to the woman with the nubby horns on her head. “I’m wondering what that is.” I indicated the vial and listened as she explained the substance was made of dew, sunlight, and a nymph’s kiss. The contents were often used in spells.

“Is it edible?” I asked.

She gave me a curious look. “You want to eat it? Never heard that one. It’s expensive and probably doesn’t taste like much.”

“It won’t hurt humans or any of the races, though?”

She frowned in thought. “I don’t think so, but I don’t know of anyone who’s eaten it.”

I made a note to research more about the ingredients. It would be fun to make Fairy Trash with safe “magical” dust. Everyone loved novelty foods.

“Do you always have it in stock?” I asked.

We talked supply and price, which I wrote down before I thanked her and returned to Anchor’s side. Vena had already made her purchase and was on to another stall. My gaze locked with the vendor at the table he was standing next to. It was all the invitation the goblin needed to start chatting me up.

After our run-in with Spawn when Miles had gone missing, I wasn’t a fan of goblins in general. Their sharp teeth were a little freaky, which was a little ironic since Shepard and Cross could both have sharp teeth when their moods shifted, but neither one ever freaked me out.

While lost in my thoughts, the goblin handed me a flier.

“Thanks,” I said just as Vena grabbed my arm to pull me away.

She plucked the pamphlet from my fingers and looked at it.

“Why does this look familiar?” she asked. Her expression immediately lit up. “Miles’ place. I saw one just like it.” She opened it up, and I saw it was filled with vampire propaganda, including a meetup place for people who were interested in learning more about vampires.

I glanced at Anchor. “Does Shepard know about this?”

“Later,” Anchor said softly, his gaze not on us or the pamphlet.

We followed the direction of his attention and saw a dwarf arguing with a tall, beautiful woman running a vendor booth filled with jewelry.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

As soon as the words left my mouth, the dwarf’s voice boomed loud enough for me to hear.

“I don’t give a flying fairy’s arse about neutrality. Answer my question, or I will drag you from this market by your lying silky hair, ye fang-loving whore.”

The woman’s creamy face flushed with her anger, and I watched the ends of her “lying silky hair” start to lift as if electrified.

Anchor swore under his breath.

“Be it once or a thousand times, it will not work, just as my attempts to speak the truth will never reach your deaf ears.”

Anchor moved incredibly fast. Just as she finished speaking and pointed at the dwarf, Anchor stepped between them.

The air seemed to vacuum in and out again in a mini explosion that moved my hair and made my ears pop. I lifted my hands to rub my ears and bumped the man standing next to me, but I barely noticed as Anchor staggered back a step and met the woman’s horrified gaze.

“There is a pact in the market,” Anchor said. “Do no harm.”

“I haven’t,” she said quickly. “Not truly. You’ll be fine.”

Vena bolted to Anchor’s side, and I hurried to follow.

“What was that?” Vena demanded. “What did you do to him?”

The woman grabbed Vena’s hand, holding it with a pleading expression. “Nothing that can’t be undone with time and patience. Your boyfriend won’t be able to–” She cleared her throat and gave Vena an apologetic look. “The spell will wane with each attempt and fade completely after one thousand.”

Vena stared in horror at the woman.

I glanced at Anchor and saw his shock, then his slow smile, which he quickly covered when Vena turned to look at him.

“It’ll be okay,” he said quickly, pulling her to his side. “No harm done. She didn’t break the pact.”

“Screw the pact; she broke your lick stick!”

I hoped everyone around us heard lipstick.

“Only temporarily,” Anchor said.

“Maybe we should take this outside,” I said, very aware we were still the center of attention.

Vena’s head whipped back to the woman.

“Undo it.”

“I apologize. I cannot. Once cast, the spell is set.”

Vena’s look grew calculating. “Then we demand compensation for the pain and suffering we’ll both endure until the spell’s broken.”

The woman nodded. “Name your price.”

“Information on a vampire that can turn into a cat.”

The woman laughed. “Everyone is looking for that, and no one knows.”

“Then find out. You have twenty-four hours. Then, I’m reporting you.”

“For what? I didn’t harm–”

“He’s a werewolf who was about to claim his mate. With the Other House’s popularity, you can bet the media would love hearing about how a fae abused a werewolf.”

I could see the woman wasn’t buying Vena’s bluff. Werewolves didn’t do media exposure on purpose.

“And the Alpha won’t be happy about an altercation in the market,” I said.

“Very well. You have my word that I will exhaust all my resources in an attempt to find the information you want. However, I make no guarantees that I will discover anything, only that I will spare no effort.”

“Deal,” Vena said, handing over her phone. “Give me your number.”

While they exchanged information, I shoved my notebook into my bag and pulled out my phone for the contact Cross had sent me, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Shocked at what I was seeing, I glanced between my phone and the woman’s stall sign. Cross’ contact was the same woman who had whammied Anchor’s joystick. I cringed inside.

As Anchor shooed the dwarf away, I asked her, “Are you Asherah?”

Her eyes sparkled with leftover magic as she turned her gaze on me. “I am.”

“A friend gave me your name. He said you could help me recharge my charm.”

A smile replaced the scowl she had been wearing.

“You must be Everly,” she said.

She beckoned me into her stall, which was filled with the most fascinating jewelry I had ever seen as Vena and Anchor remained in the main aisle.

As she walked around the counter, I took off my necklace and handed it to her.

She looked at it and tsked. “You bought that from Maude, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“Never buy from her again. Her designs are uninspired, and she can barely wield the magic needed for protection spells. It’s no wonder it fizzled out on you.”

Maude was also more affordable than Asherah, based on the prices of some of the pieces I saw.

“I normally wear the charm under my clothes,” I said. “So I’m fine with the design, and it really did work. I just let it run out.”

Ignoring what I’d said, Asherah removed a beautiful box from under the counter. It was the size of two decks of cards stacked together and adorned with a silver weave with ruby and diamond petals.

She opened it, revealing a new necklace with the same design of silver, rubies, and diamonds. It was gorgeous and probably ridiculously priced.

Asherah smiled and pushed the box toward me. “It's got a full-spectrum protection spell on it with an additional booster to send would-be attackers on their way. And this box will recharge your necklace for you.

“Eventually, you will need to bring it back to me for a full recharge. But it will take years for that to happen.”

“It’s beautiful, and I love the charging box, but I doubt I can afford this.”

She laughed again. “Who needs to afford anything when you have Cross as your lover?”

My cheeks heated, and Asherah breathed in deeply.

“Mmm. That’s too much unsatiated passion for him to be your lover…yet. But don’t concern yourself. Cross already sent payment for this set. It’s a gift. He wanted the best, and this is the best.”

She reached over and put the necklace on me.

I touched the charm nestled just above my cleavage and felt the buzz of energy. The spell was much stronger than on my previous necklace.

“Gorgeous,” she said, stepping back. “I knew it would be. Cross has impeccable taste.” Her gaze swept over all of me. “Impeccable.”

She grabbed my old necklace and tossed it into a bin then placed the box in a gift bag, which she handed me.

“It might be best if you take your friend home before she attempts to use the scrying charm. It’s more effective in a quiet place.”

I glanced at Vena and saw she was dangling a charm over her phone.

“Thank you. For the warning and the necklace.”

Even though Vena was preoccupied, she spotted my necklace right away when I exited the stall. “Someone spent some serious money.”

“Cross bought it.”

She snorted. “Shepard is going to love the rubies when he sees them.”

I looked down at the necklace again and realized that I hadn’t even thought about Cross having the ruby ring while Shepard had the sapphire ring. Cross had basically branded me.

But the necklace was pretty, and I could hardly be upset that he picked out something that reflected a bit of himself.

As we walked to the car, I texted Cross.

Me: Just saw Asherah. She gave me a necklace and charging box and said it was a gift from you. Are these really diamonds and rubies? If so, is this necklace going to protect me from human thieves?

Cross: They are real. I would never spend money on paste jewelry for you. And don’t worry about thieves. The necklace will repel theft too.

Me: It’s that powerful?

Cross: Asherah is that powerful.

I cringed a little, thinking of the spell Anchor had intercepted and how Vena had confronted her. Good thing they’d settled amiably.

Me: More powerful than Master?

Cross: He is very powerful as well. But the necklace will still keep him at bay for a time.

My stomach churned at the thought of ever having to face Master again, and I hoped the necklace’s strength would never have to be tested.

Me: Thank you for the gift.

Cross: My pleasure. If you’re free later, come to the bakery and see the updates.

“As soon as we deal with Master, we’ll deal with you, okay?” Vena said.

I looked up and saw we'd reached the car, and she was holding Anchor’s hand.

“Waiting won’t change how I feel, Vena.”

But waiting wasn’t something Vena did well.

“Your poor zipper ripper, though,” Vena complained. “One thousand attempts is going to take time. I bet I can get rid of the curse in ten days once we start.”

He groaned.

At home, Vena’s emotions fluctuated between outrage and determination as she attempted to use the scrying charm on her phone’s map.

“It’s not working.”

“The vendor said you needed a calm state of mind to use it,” Anchor said.

She tossed the charm to the couch cushion beside her.

“Well, it’s not calm. It’s annoyed. Why do my parents want to have dinner with us tonight?”

“Maybe because they just found out you’re dating a werewolf and are insanely excited during an otherwise emotionally turbulent time?” I said dryly.

She wrinkled her nose at me then turned to Anchor.

“Do you know what would help calm me?”

The purr in her voice had me bolting to my feet.

“I’m headed to Cross' place,” I said.

I had my keys in hand and was out the door before either could say anything more. The elderly man across the street was walking away in front of our house with his granddaughter as I left. She looked at me and waved. I waved back. Her grandfather didn’t acknowledge me as I got into the car, but I was used to that.

Cross was waiting for me on the sidewalk outside the bakery when I pulled into the parking lot.

“Is this some kind of sixth sense thing, or did Vena tell you I was on my way?” I asked as he opened the door for me.

“Both,” he said. “She sent a message, but I can feel when you’re near, too.”

“Handy,” I said.

He escorted me inside, and I looked around at the changes. The broken bits of wall were gone, exposing some of the exterior brick. Skeleton walls made up of boards were being installed by some workers while other workers were running wires and metal tubes through finished sections of skeleton walls.

“Impressive,” I said. “It’s moving faster than I thought.”

“I’m paying for speed.”

“Speaking of paying, thank you for the necklace,” I said again, touching the gems I’d purposely not tucked away. “I think it probably cost you more than I’m comfortable with you spending on me, though. Especially when you’re already paying for all of this.”

He gently pulled me into his arms.

“There is no need to worry about what’s been spent. Once this place is established, I will earn more.”

His soft brown gaze held mine, both reassuring and alluring.

“Okay, but please don’t do something like that again without talking to me first. A plain necklace that’s powerfully spelled is more practical than this one.”

“I disagree. Rubies have inherent protective qualities, which make that necklace stronger.” He pressed a finger to my lips when I would have said something. “However, I promise to discuss with you any future purchases that will affect you.”

I nipped his fingertip and thanked him.

His eyes went full black.

Capturing his face, I brought his closer to mine and let my nose brush his as our mouths remained scant inches apart.

“Your eyes,” I said softly.

He closed them. “I like the playful version of you, Everly. Very much.”

Smiling softly, I brushed my lips against his.

“You say that now. Wait until I start something I can’t finish.”

He chuckled and groaned at the same time.

“I look forward to the experience.”