Chapter 3

Stella

The dimly lit room was filled with the sweet scent of vanilla candles. Soft music played in the background, casting a soothing ambiance over our little gathering. My girlfriends, Tori and Niamh, were sprawled out on my plush, lavender-colored rug. They wiped off the thick facials of strawberry-scented cream. Meanwhile, I carefully selected shades of nail polish, lining them up like a colorful palette of emotions, each bottle representing a different mood.

"How about this green for my mani?" said Tori.

"Hmmm, it doesn"t exactly match." I ran my hand over the color in the bottle. Gradually, it changed until it was the exact shade of green I"d just dyed Tori"s hair.

"I swear, Stella, every girl should have a best friend like you."

"Well, from now on, I"m only rolling with my ride or die bitches. Only the women that I can trust. And that excludes those who slept with my boyfriend."

"Which is slim pickings," said Niamh.

I tossed a bottle of nail polish at her. She caught it deftly before holding it up to the light to see if it would match her skin tone. It did. Everything matched her skin tone.

"Too soon, Niamh," Tori admonished.

"No, actually it"s not. I only promised to keep my mouth shut as long as she said she"s happy. Now she"s not. So I"m speaking the truth. Ken was a dickless dick. To say our girl deserves better is the most-duh statement of the year."

My eyes pricked at that impassioned speech. There was a small part of me that wasn"t sure if the tears were from my shame at being used and abused or if they were from the unadulterated joy of being loved by my friends.

"I don"t deserve you guys."

"Yes, you do." Tori reached back and grabbed my hand, squeezing it like I was sure she"d been wanting to squeeze life into me for the last year. "That idiot didn"t know what he had. You deserve to be treated like a princess."

"Fuck princess." Niamh came to my other side and wiped the tear that threatened the corner of my eye. "We deserve to be treated like queens."

"Queens of the Crossroads," declared Tori.

I did love my girls. I wished I could live off their love alone. But contrary to Niamh"s assertion, Ken wasn"t dickless. And I had a dick addiction. I just didn"t want a dirty community dick.

"Oh my God, Niamh, I need to touch up your roots. Your blond is showing."

They knew what I was doing. I"d changed the subject on them more than once when they started dissing my boyfriends. Like the best friends that they were, they let me get away with it yet again.

Tori scooted out of the way, and Niamh took her place on the floor in front of me.

"Having you as a friend is better than going to a beauty salon," said Niamh as she leaned her head back into my hands.

"Because you get me for free."

"We pay you in friendship," Tori chimed in.

I sighed, gazing at my friends" expressions. Tori, with her calculating eyes and cautious demeanor, was the voice of reason in our group. She was a realist and had always questioned my constant search for love. Niamh, on the other hand, didn"t begrudge my need to be on the arm of a man. She only sniffed at my need to cling to them.

Both women had fae blood that made them stunning. I was part witch and part… other. The other part of me they didn"t know about. No one knew about the sleeping animal that lived inside of me. The two halves added together made me a big, curvy girl.

Don"t get me wrong; I loved my curves. Ever since I was young, I"d loved looking at paintings from the old world where the women were voluptuous and rosy. Growing up, that was all I knew. It"s what I thought was the standard of beauty. Until I came in contact with the willowy fairies and the anemic vampires.

So while I might love my hourglass figure, it was a few centuries out of style, and the men of the Crossroads were looking at the present.

Niamh reclined gracefully on the floor, relaxed in the notion that I would enhance her beauty. Men and women alike adored her. My magical abilities seemed futile in adding to her already flawless features. She had the perfect figure, with a small waist and lean limbs that made heads turn wherever she went. Niamh often teased me about my quest for love, reminding me that I should treat men like side dishes, not the main course.

"You know, you guys could give me a little credit here," I said, trying to sound cheerful despite the sadness that lingered within me. "I just thought Ken was The One, that"s all. He always paid for dinner. He bought me lavish gifts. He even said the L word first, just a few days after we started dating and?—"

"Stop it," said Niamh.

"What?" I looked up.

"I don"t need to be psychic to see you"re doing it again. You"re thinking about all his good qualities, which I still can"t see a single one."

"He is pretty," volunteered Tori.

"Yeah, and he knows it, which is why he thinks he can get away with dipping his tool in every toolbox in the neighborhood," said Niamh.

"You get various tools dipped into your box," I shot back.

"That"s true." Niamh grinned. "But unlike you, I don"t let my feelings get involved."

"Then what"s the point?" I flopped back on a cushion. "We"re supposed to get fated mates."

"Not everyone gets them," said Tori.

"I know." I chewed my bottom lip. "Some people even reject them. I would never. I want him. Right now. In fact, I"m going to wait until he shows up. I"m not dating anyone else until I feel the mating bond."

"And you think he"s here in the Crossroads?" asked Tori.

I had lived here my whole life. My mother had come here shortly after I was born. She"d come alone. I had no idea who my father was, but I assumed he was a shifter since my mother was a witch and there was a sleeping cat living inside me.

"Maybe if I was skinnier, he wouldn"t have cheated."

"You"re beautiful, Stella. And you know it."

I did know that I was beautiful. But every time I got cheated on, I had my moments of doubt.

"You don"t need a man to define your worth."

Tori was right. My bank account proved how worthy I was. Didn"t stop me from wanting to love someone and be loved in return. To have undying loyalty and know that someone always had my back.

I knew my girls had my back. But it was different with a fated mate. Couldn"t I have both?

A knock at the door broke through the party. They looked at me and then away. We all knew who it was. I hesitated, wondering if I should answer it.

"He"s going to keep knocking until I do. I"ll just tell him to go away."

Neither woman said anything.

I moved forward into the dimly lit foyer, the soft glow of the chandelier casting an ethereal light that danced across the antique wallpaper. The scent of old wood and faded memories lingered in the air, a reminder of the building"s history.

Ken stood there on the other side of the door. His handsome face was bathed in the golden aura of the hallway"s light. He wore an expression of longing and regret. His eyes fixed on me with an intensity that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Stella," he began, his voice soft and pleading. "Can we talk for a moment? Just you and me."

I glanced back at Tori and Niamh, who sat enveloped in the cushions of my couch, watching me with knowing eyes. It was as if they understood that I was drawn to Ken like a moth to a flame, no matter that I always got burned.

He took my hand gently, his touch sending a rush of memories flooding back. "I miss you, Stella," he confessed, his voice filled with sincerity. "I made a mistake, and I"ve regretted it every moment you"ve been gone. I want us to be together again, to make things right."

His words tugged at my heartstrings, and for a moment, I was tempted to believe him. Because I didn"t want to sleep alone tonight. Nights were the hardest.

And then, as though the nightmares overshot their eagerness, the world went black. The last thing I remembered was Ken leaning in to kiss me. Before his lips touched mine, a vision flashed before my eyes, vivid and chaotic.

I saw a world in turmoil, flames and destruction consuming everything in their path. The sky was dark and foreboding, filled with swirling storms and a sense of impending doom. It was a vision unlike any I had ever experienced, and it left me breathless, dizzy.

Had I fainted? No, I was still on my feet. Ken"s lips were a mere millimeter away from mine. I pulled away from him, my heart racing and my eyes wide with shock.

He stumbled toward me, entirely missing the target of my mouth and bumping his forehead into the doorframe.

"I… I need to go," I stammered, my voice trembling. "I need to lie down."

"I"ll come with you. I"ll take care of you."

I laughed at the notion of him taking care of me. It was always the other way around. I didn"t feel like arguing, so I shut the door in his face. Niamh and Tori looked at me with their mouths open. They didn"t say anything as they helped me to the bed.

I tried to recall the ominous vision that had come to my mind, but it slipped through my fingers. And then sleep claimed me. I dreamed of a man with dark hair and golden eyes. But then he shifted and had golden hair and dark eyes. And then, like clockwork, the nightmares came, and there was no one for me to hold on to.