Suddenly Sorceress (20 page)

Twenty-Seven

“Y
ou can’t seriously expect me
to wear this.” Jon’s eyes flitted between Chloe and me, and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Yes,” Chloe said with a straight face as she watched Jon fumble with his vermillion ascot. “I do
expect you to wear that. It’s the perfect costume, and you’re not going to ruin my theme. Don’t forget your groovy hair.” A grin spread across her face as she tossed him a blond wig.

“I look like the douche from that Beverly Hills reality show.” Jon shook his head. “No one is going to believe I’m some twelve-year-old kid.”

“Oh, come on. If anyone could pull off being a twelve-year-old, it would be you.” I smirked.

Halloween had arrived, and my nerves were officially shot. Jack had taken it upon himself to massage my shoulders and whisper words of encouragement every chance he got, but nothing really helped. Seeing Jon dressed as a seventies cartoon character did the trick.

Jack bit back a laugh. “Just tell people you’re taking your kids out to get candy. I’ll bet there’ll be so many running around no one will know who belongs to whom.”

“Thanks.” Jon frowned as he fiddled with the yellow hair helmet.

“Your turn, magic boy.” Chloe pointed at the costume in Jack’s hands then nodded toward the powder room. “No time for procrastinating. You too, Ivie.”

With a shake of my head, I grabbed the bag she’d laid out for me and turned to follow Jack.

“Oh, no you don’t.” She shooed me in the opposite direction. “You can’t be trusted in a bathroom with Jack.”

I stalked off to change in the laundry room and turned the bag upside down over the dryer. “This can’t be mine.” My mouth hung open as I stared at the contents spread out in front of me. “She’s got
to be kidding.”

I adjusted the rusty-brown pleated skirt that flared out from the cinched waist to just above my knee, then battled with the chunky pumpkin-colored turtleneck. The rolled neck scratched at my chin as I pulled on the matching orange knee socks and stepped into the buckled Mary Janes. With a huff, I tugged on the chestnut bobbed wig, tucking strands of my own hair underneath.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror behind the door and blew out a breath. “I’m going to need a new best friend because I’m about to murder mine.”

A loud knock startled me out of my thoughts. “Well? How does it look?” Chloe asked.

“How does it look?” I yanked the door open to glare at her. “Why do
I
have to be Velma?”

Chloe was dressed as
Daphne,
complete with skin-tight purple mini-dress, matching go-go boots, and a long strawberry-blond wig. A bright green scarf capped off the outfit. “Because of course I’d
be Daphne. I already owned the boots!” She beamed.

“Shut up.” I pushed past her, biting my lip to keep from smiling.

Jack leaned against the kitchen counter wearing an exact replica of Shaggy’s costume from the Scooby Doo movies—brown pants, baggy green T-shirt, and a scruffy light-brown wig. “You definitely fill out the sweater better than Velma would.”

“Don’t encourage her.” I righted my wig before it slipped off my head.

“Oh, here. I forgot to give you these.” Chloe shoved a pair of thick black-rimmed glasses into my hand. “Perfect! Where’s my phone? I need a picture.”

“No!” Jack, Jon, and I shouted at the same time.

Chloe poked out her bottom lip. “You’re no fun. None of you.”

I realized someone was missing. “Scooby Doo, where are you?” I scanned the room.

No sooner had the words passed my lips than my mother stepped around the corner dressed as a run-of-the-mill ghost. She’d draped a white sheet—most likely stolen from her bed—over her head with two holes cut out for the eyes. A resigned Matt followed along behind her.

“Mom?” I asked.

She shook her fist. “I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”

Perfect.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Jon shook his head as he fingered his red ascot and flopped onto Mom’s sofa. “When you called me Thursday to say you’d found the girl of your dreams, I had no idea I’d end up trekking across the damn country to go trick-or-treating dressed like Freddie Prinze, Jr.”

Jon’s words played through my head.
When you called me Thursday to say you’d found the girl of your dreams. Thursday...

Thursday?
“Jack?”

He turned to me slowly, the color draining from his face. “Ivie, it’s not—”

“We didn’t meet until Friday, after your show. Exactly how many dream girls did you meet this week?”

“Oh, shit, this is awkward
.
” Jon backed away, ducking behind Chloe.

Jack reached for me. “Calm down and listen to me. It’s not what you—”

I stepped back. “It’s not what I think? Is that what you were going to say?”

He nodded.

“How can you possibly know what I think?” I shuddered as a lick of heat stole through me.

Jack held up his hands as he inched toward me. “Please...”

“You see, what I
think
is I met this sexy magician in a club, and he tricked me into taking my clothes off in the woods. And I
think
we had earth-shattering sex, more than once. Then I
think
he convinced me he wanted something more
when maybe what he really wanted was to have his Friday dream girl and eat her too.”

“No!” Jack shook his head hard enough to give himself a concussion. “It isn’t like that. Please let me explain—”

“Explain?” I barked out a hollow laugh. “That’s funny. No, I will not let you explain. I’ve heard all I need to hear. I’m not listening to any more of your excuses.”

Mom placed a hand on my shoulder. “Ivie, dear, you need to calm down. Your fingers are glowing.”

Jack moved closer. “You’re being unreasonable.”

I shrugged Mom off and raised my hands.

“Jack, you’d better get back. Those things are loaded.” Chloe yanked on Jack’s T-shirt and he relented, mumbling obscenities as he stalked away, Jon trailing close behind. Chloe grimaced as she approached me. “Are you okay?”

“No.” I sank to the floor. “I’m not okay. Not. At. All.” I blinked to keep back the tears, but they came anyway. So much for meaningful relationships and trusting my instincts. From Magic Man to tragic man in record time.
Life sucks.

“Sweetie, I think you need to hear him out.”

“You can’t be serious.” I gaped at Chloe. Had she lost her mind?
“He’s just as bad as Matt.”

Chloe rested her hand on my back, rubbing slow circles between my shoulder blades. “I don’t think he is. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. You can’t fake that.”

I pulled up my knees and rested my cheek against them. “I don’t know what to believe.”

Chloe smiled. “Just think. Now that you know for certain magic is real, why not true love?”

“I wish I could believe in that. But I’m not a kid anymore. I need to face reality.”

My mother bent down, dragging the sheet over her head. “Sometimes you have to take a leap, dear. Faith is a lot like magic. You have no idea how much you have until you let yourself believe in it.”

I stepped back as Jack attempted to take my hand. His hot breath washing over my skin ignited a struggle within me against the invisible wall I’d constructed between us. As much as I wanted to have faith, two betrayals in one week made it tough. Especially when I had to deal with re-humanizing my not-even-most-recent ex.

“Are you ready?” Jack’s voice held a note of irritation.

As if he had a right to be mad at me.
The nerve.

With a false air of determination and a twitch of my lips, I nodded. I was far from being ready, but I didn’t have time to second-guess myself. The sun would be down in fewer than thirty minutes.

He mirrored my expression. “I don’t want to put any more pressure on you, but we’re all waiting for you to let us in. Your mom has the potion and the spell. I gave Matt a few Benadryl. Not enough to knock him out, but enough to keep him calm.”

“What about—”

“Karma’s with your mom.”

My head bobbed a few times as I let everything sink in. Matt’s fate was up to me. “Okay. I guess we’re all set.”

“Yep. All set.” Jack leaned down but backed off when I flinched away. “Damn it, if you’d just give me a chance to—”

“Let’s get this show on the road, okay?” Forcing myself to be indifferent to his pained expression, I tossed my Coke-bottle glasses aside and threw a leg over the windowsill to climb in. I snagged the hem of my sweater on the hardware and fell into the room as I wriggled myself free. “Gah!”

“Are you okay?” Jack whispered through the opening.

“I’m fine.” I winced. “But you’d better not have looked up my skirt.”

That was the absolute last time I’d break and enter to get into Matt’s house. If Mom had told me we’d be coming back, I would have left the damn door unlocked. But no, she’d kept that little bit of info to herself.

“Hurry and open the door,” he barked before disappearing from view.

With a groan, I pulled myself up, dusted off my skirt, and went to the kitchen to let them in. We clung to each other as if we were marching to our doom and made our way up the stairs to what was once my bedroom.

The horrid skunk smell lingered, and I held my breath as much as possible, wondering why anyone would have closed the windows I’d left open.

“We have to form a circle,” Mom said. She released her pinched nose and reached out to each side. “Link hands. You’re going to need the combined energy of your coven to work the spell.”

Right
.

Everyone spread out, arms outstretched, forming a loose circle with me at the center.

“Now what?” I asked.

“You’re the witch,” Chloe said with a twitch of her lips.

My mother cleared her throat. “Sorceress.”

“Whatever.” Chloe rolled her eyes.

I was a whatever. Of course I was. And I was a very powerful whatever, too. I could work that spell with my eyes closed and easily transform a dog to a man. No sweat. It was easy as pie. I kept telling myself that. Over and over again.

But I’ve never baked a pie in my life
.

I gave a slight nod to Chloe and Jon where they stood with their fingers linked together, and they nodded back in unison. I turned to my mother, who hovered close to me. She forced a smile and gave me a quick hug before stepping back into the circle with the others, clasping Chloe’s hand.

With a wistful sigh, I turned to Jack. I’d only met him a few days ago, but it felt as if we’d known each other our entire lives. In a sense, I guessed that was true since my life, as I knew it, only started the day before I met him.

But apparently, the day before he met me, he’d found his “dream girl.” What did that make me? His nightmare?

I couldn’t let myself think that way. We’d had sex, and he agreed to help me. It wasn’t as if we’d made any promises or romantic declarations. He owed me nothing.

Jack tipped his lips in a sad smile, and I felt my cheeks burn.

No matter what I’d said, no matter how many lies I told myself, the truth was, he was part of me. I longed to have him stand beside me while I worked the spell, to twine his fingers with mine and no one else’s. I wanted—no, needed—direct contact with his skin. Or at least one last kiss before he walked away.

I must have been thinking about it a little too hard because he released my mother’s hand and stepped forward.

Just as I was about to apologize for using my magic on him, he whispered, “Can we pause this for just a minute? I need to talk to you in private.”

“What the hell, Jack. Now is not the time,” Chloe said.

Jack shot her a death glare. “Give me a break. This is important.”

He had a lot of nerve, playing on my emotions at a time like that. “Um, I have way more crucial matters to deal at this moment. Either hop back into the circle or see yourself out.” I couldn’t afford to give in.

Jack gave a somber nod then stepped back and reached for my mother’s hand. The four of them formed a circle.

Following my father’s instructions, I grabbed the cloth flour sack from the table and tilted it until the mixture poured into my hand. It was more of a dry rub than a potion, but it should do the trick. I dusted my hands with the powder and sprinkled the remainder over the Great Dane, making him sneeze repeatedly.

With a deep breath, I crossed the room to the rumpled bed where the cat lay sleeping and scooped him into my arms. Anxious to move to the next step, I pulled the spell from my pocket and smoothed it out so I could read my chicken scratch. After reciting it in my head a few times, I placed my hand, palm down, on Matt’s furry head.

Karma dug his nails into my sweater as I gripped him. I expected him to hiss or arch his back, squirming to escape my arms, but he held fast, a low growl emanating from his chest. Maybe he knew what was coming.

The energy surging through me would flow into him as well. He would serve as the filter, removing the impurities in my magic and sending back only pure power. Understanding that bond between us gave me a sense of comfort. It allowed me to relax, drawing strength from the dark moon.

The heat built more quickly that time, the craft rolling through me like wind charged with electricity. Light, swift, and unfettered, but still hot and thrilling. An angry tornado alive within me. But I wasn’t afraid. I didn’t have the rage—
or the sex
—to cloud the sensation. For the first time, I controlled the magic. I could discern every molecule, from the prickling of my fingernails growing and the sting of my hair turning a deeper shade of red to the sweet wave of blue heat surging from me. I was intimately aware of it all.