Chapter 13

T rixie

It took four days from the deployment of my prank until I saw Dominic again.

The way he knocked on my door was starting to sound familiar, even though it'd only happened a few times. When I opened my door this time, I found Dom once again holding a cup of coffee.

"I was going to come looking for you," I said, unable to resist the piping hot latte he proffered. "Kill anyone lately?"

Dominic squinted as if the question was a lot tougher than it needed to be.

"Jeez, it really shouldn't take you that long to answer." I took a sip of coffee, set it down next to the little fern that'd really flourished in the kitchen windowsill over the last few days. Then I crossed my arms protectively over my chest. "I'm obviously talking about the reporter that seems to have vanished. Where is he?"

"The reporter?" Dom eyed my coffee, like he was wondering why I wasn't drinking it.

The real reason was that I wanted to keep both my hands free, folded over my chest, as a clear message to Dom that he wasn't invited inside my apartment. I wasn't ready to face him this morning up close and personal.

"Yes," I said. "Briggs."

"Oh, Briggs . He's alive. "

"I notice you're not even trying to pretend you weren't involved in his disappearance," I drawled. "You need to put him back."

"Put him back?"

"You said he's not dead, right? So put him back."

"In good time." Dom took a deep breath. "If that's all, then have a good day."

"Why did you come here this morning?" I blocked the door from shutting as he turned to leave. "You came here just to give me a coffee and see if I'm alive?"

"I did want to see you," he admitted.

"Well, I'm not sure I want to see you. You kidnapped a reporter, Dom. That's serious."

"Not as serious as what he did to you." His eyes flashed. "You don't think he deserved it?"

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I didn't answer.

Dom simply nodded. Then he backed away with his big handsome body in his big handsome suit and his big handsome hair and his big confusing personality.

I slammed the door shut behind him. I downed my coffee while I did the rounds on my plants, finding some spider mites on one little lemon tree that I was desperately trying to keep alive. Her name was Sylvia. It was very difficult to keep Sylvia alive in a small New York City apartment with just a few grow lights and no magical help.

"Are you sure you don't want me to work a charm for your greenhouse?" Emmy's voice startled me out of my thoughts. "It could take care of a lot of your problems. Perfect light, humidity, temperature, pest-free... "

"As tempting as that sounds, it'd take the magic out of gardening," I said wryly. "Too much magic ruins everything."

"Honey, have you considered what Dom's been telling you?"

"Which part?" I asked. "The part where I have to move out of my beloved home? Yes. I listed my bed on Craigslist last night. I figure it might take a while to sell that old thing, and I can't afford to have movers transport it."

"No, sweetie." Emmy waited while I sprayed tiny green leaves with a very unmagical mixture of Dawn dish soap and water in hopes to clear out the annoying aphids. "I'm talking about the repression of your powers. I do think finding a way to gradually release some of your magic could be a good idea for your overall health and sanity."

"You just don't want me to blast you with my super strength if I get uncontrollably mad about finding another squirrel in the freezer."

"Do you blame me?" Emmy shot me an awkward grin. "But honestly, Trix, the vamp's not totally wrong. I do think you need to consider your safety as your birthday approaches in a few months. Maybe adding a bit of magic to your gardening could be a nice outlet. It's relatively safe, harmless, and it could make things a lot easier for you."

"If I wanted to do things the easy way, I'd go to the store and buy a lemon instead of trying to grow one myself." I removed a delicate paintbrush and started gently pollinating the fresh, sweet-scented blooms on my tree in hopes it'd make a baby lemon.

"Should I also not mention that the only romantic action you've gotten in ages is to pollinate your lemon tree? "

I stopped what I was doing and stared at Emmy. "How long have you been waiting to use that line?"

"Oh my god, like, three years," she gushed. "Ever since you told me you needed space to focus on pollinating your kumquats."

I burst into laughter. Emmy's innocence and enthusiasm never failed to help boost my mood.

"I've got to go," I said, glancing at a notification on my phone. "That's my first fare of the day requesting a ride. I'll probably work long today, so I can't do lunch. Gotta save up for a first and last month's payment on a new place."

"About that, I was wondering if you're wanting to continue living together?"

"Of course, Em. Sorry if I didn't make that clear, but I just assumed we'd live together. I mean, our budgets are equally crappy so I figured we'd be looking in the same price range."

Emmy winced. "While I appreciate the truth of that statement, I am waiting to hear back on the schools I submitted to. If I get into one..."

"Oh, Em! I'm such an idiot." I groaned. "I didn't even consider the fact that you might be moving away and wouldn't want to sign a lease."

"I'm so sorry, sweetie. Unfortunately, it's a very real possibility that I might not be able to sign a lease with you. If I get into the school I want, it's much more affordable to live in student housing."

"I understand." I wiggled my phone. "All the more reason for me to put in a longer day if I'm going to be looking for a place solo. I'll see you tonight? "

I left as Emmy uttered another apology. I didn't really want to stick around and decipher the look on her face. I was pretty sure I'd find pity scrawled there between disappointment and nerves.

I blinked back the tears pricking my eyes as I jogged down the stairs to my car, waving to a seemingly cheerful Chopstix. He smiled a lot more when he had all the money he was owed.

Plugging in the coordinates for my first pickup of the day, I followed the GPS system as it told me to cruise toward the far end of The Hollow where a woman named Petra waited for her ride.

As I drove, I swallowed over the scratchy lump in my throat, thinking that maybe it was time to reassess a few of my life choices. Not that I hadn't considered the trajectory of my life before, but this time, I felt the pressure to make something happen more urgently. Like I was finally reaching the end of my rope.

Maybe I did need to reconsider releasing some of my magic. Maybe I needed to find a new job. Maybe I needed some more friends, or even a boyfriend. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like such a failure.

I tried to focus on the road ahead as I scanned the streets for a woman who looked like the photo of Petra. It was taking forever to reach my pickup destination. My brain felt a little foggy, like the directions coming out of my GPS were garbled. The estimate to reach my fare had only been ten minutes, but I was already twelve minutes into my drive. I circled around, confused, unable to pinpoint exactly where Petra was waiting .

Four minutes later, my phone rang. I answered, and a female voice whined, "Where the hell are you? Did you forget about me?"

"Of course not. I'm circling the block, but I don't see you," I said. "My GPS is saying I'm here, but I don't see you. I'm sorry. This never happens."

I circled for another two minutes, following Petra's directions, feeling like she was speaking in a different language. Granted, she had an accent, but she was definitely speaking words of the English variety.

"I'm sorry, I just don't see you," I said. "I'm going to park, and maybe you can find me?"

Petra blew out a breath but agreed. Two minutes later, a red-lipped, bottle-blonde, stick-thin figure pulled open my back door.

"Trixie?" Petra drawled in between puffs on her cigarette. "Are you my ride?"

"Yes, Petra, I'm so sorry," I said. "This has never happened before."

"Are you blind or what?" she asked briskly. "Hurry. I'm late now, and I can't be late to meet Victor or he'll kill me."

I wasn't totally sure if she was joking or not, but I decided not to risk it. I stepped on the gas and floored it, heading to the destination she'd entered into the app.

"Wrong turn," Petra barked a few minutes later. "You idiot, the directions pointed the other way."

I glanced down, and sure enough, she was right. I could've sworn I'd double checked the upcoming signal, and it'd pointed to the left. Now it was clearly pointing right. I cursed under my breath and pulled an illegal U-turn. The sound of a siren approaching made my blood boil.

"This is bullshit," Petra muttered. "Let me out of here."

Petra was out of the car before a member of The Hollow's police department approached my window. I gave a poor attempt at sweet talking my way out of a ticket. Not surprisingly, it didn't work. I drove away several minutes later with a ticket in hand and a fine to pay.

Not only had my first fare of the day ditched me, but I'd actually had to pay for the effort of picking her up and driving her around. After I turned around, I watched Petra puff angrily on a cigarette as I passed her standing at the end of the street, presumably for another ride. She flicked me off, and I muttered a sorry out the window as I blew through a red light. Except I could've sworn the light wasn't red a minute ago. Had there even been a yellow?

I decreased my speed until I was cruising at a turtle's pace. I racked my brain for what could possibly be happening to me. Was I that distracted because of my conversation this morning with Emmy?

A beep sounded on my phone. Someone was requesting a ride just two blocks away. I drove the two blocks, carefully parked the car, and then stepped onto the pavement. My fare, a man named Jimmy, found me a minute later and was tickled pink when I opened the car door for him.

"So now my rides come with a pretty chauffeur?" Jimmy, a big man with lots of chest hair, gave me a wink and a smile. "Do I gotta pay extra for that?"

I groaned, flipped my pink pepper spray into the cupholder so he could see it, and started driving.

Unfortunately, Jimmy was less tickled pink when his ride came to a very unhappy ending. Some twenty-five minutes later, we weren't any closer to the strip club where he was trying to meet his poker buddies, and I wasn't any closer to being able to find the grimy joint.

"I swear it's this way," I muttered. "The directions say—"

"What directions are you listening to?" Jimmy demanded. "We've driven around this block eight times. Let me 'outta here. I'll walk."

I turned back, hoping Jimmy would pay me something for getting him within the vicinity of said strip club. The man rolled his eyes, tossed a couple of bucks on the backseat, and slammed the door shut.

Another ride that had cost me money, seeing as it'd taken me so many wrong turns to go three miles that I'd spent the money he'd given me in gas alone.

I pulled over, feeling shaky, and decided to pick up a coffee from a gas station nearby. Something cheap and caffeinated that might help snap my brain out of the funk that was ruining my workday.

A few sips of iced coffee later, and I was back behind the wheel, blaring Taylor Swift and hoping it would give me a fresh lease on life. I felt better, mentally and physically, now that I was caffeinated. Extra caffeinated, seeing as Dom had technically already delivered a coffee to my door this morning.

Third time's a charm, I told myself as I accepted a fare from Natalie in the app.

Except my third time was not charmed whatsoever. It was cursed .

I couldn't find Natalie at all. She couldn't even find me. I gave up the search for my third fare after five minutes of circling the block and failing to connect. I parked on the side of the road and pounded my head against the steering wheel, cursing the peppy beat pulsing through the radio, while I slurped down a very sugary and very overpriced gas station coffee.

That was when it hit me. Dom hadn't stopped over this morning just to see me. He'd stopped over to hex me right back. The idiot had cursed me with the coffee delivery—he'd handed me a pretty cup with caffeine in it, and I'd looked right past the fact that he'd doctored it up with a revenge potion. Really, it was smart on his part.

I plugged directions to my apartment into the GPS to test my theory. Normally, I wouldn't need directions to get to my own home, but today was an exception. Unfortunately, as soon as I looked at the screen, my instincts were right. I sighed, knowing that it would be stupid of me to continue driving at this point. At best, I'd spend the foreseeable future lost. At worst, I'd hurt someone in the process.

Seeing as I wasn't willing to risk hurting someone, I stayed put instead and burst into tears. Big, fat elephant tears. Tears because my life was falling apart. Tears because I might no longer be able to live with the roommate I loved like a sister. Tears because I was on the cusp of losing the one place that had been home to me my entire life. Tears because I couldn't even manage to do the crappy job that paid my utilities.

Yes, I'd hate hexed Dom first, technically, but this just felt mean. I'd just been trying to prove my point, not hurt him. Unfortunately, my starting a war had backfired. It felt like he was kicking me while I was down.

I called Emmy, still sobbing.

"I'm lost, Em," I whispered. "I'm lost, and I literally can't find my way home."

"Hm," Emmy said, sounding alarmed but like she was trying hard to not show it. "That's a new one. I know just the person to fix this."