Secret Pucking Unicorn

25. Miranda

I don’t knowwhat to think. Declan’s hand is broken. Sophie is being vicious. My head is foggy, nothing makes sense. I thought this was going to be a wonderful year. It’s by far the worst one of my life and we’re not even through the first week. I love him, but there is a wall between us. Trevor is following me down the tunnel. I hate he’s missing practice but I’m grateful to have my best friend with me.

“Do you want water?” I ask as we enter my office.

At his nod, I go through to the dining room and grab bottles for each of us. I grab a bottle of orange juice, too. Maybe my blood sugar is low? I take a seat on the sofa and Trevor sits next to me, stretching his arm along the back, inviting me to snuggle against him. I don’t even care if he’s sweaty from practice—I need the comfort.

“Randi, what’s going on with you? You were all in love with Declan and now you can’t stand to be near him. I know you’re not fickle.”

I sigh. “Trevor, I’m so confused. I do love Declan. I’ve always loved him. But he’s kept secrets from me for years. Important secrets. I’m a witch, apparently? And he didn’t tell me. How could he do that and claim he loves me?”

“Randi, Mac thought you knew. He thought you were being private about your powers, that’s why he never brought it up. Did you guys ever talk about him being a wolf shifter?”

“No. Why would we? I don’t know anything about shifting and when we saw each other, we had other things to talk about.”

“Exactly. If you didn’t talk about him being a shifter, why would you talk about you being a witch?”

I fidget uncomfortably, and he wraps his arm around my shoulder. It’s embarrassing to say what I need to say, but Carter is the person I can trust.

“I don’t believe I really am a witch. I think Declan and Sophie were teasing me like they did when we were kids. I think Brick played along with it. I never turned anyone else into a shifter before. If I’ve had powers all these years, why hasn’t that happened?”

“How often do you point at people and tell them to shift?”

He has a point. “Well, never. But you’d think other things would have happened. What if I pointed at you and commanded you to shift right now, would it work?”

He shrugs and the mountain of pads he’s wearing moves beneath my cheek.

“I don’t know. You can try. This is going to sound crazy, but yesterday you had this…energy…about you that you had never had before, and you don’t have today. The witches I’ve known have kind of…I don’t know…a frequency humming in the background. I feel it with Teagan. I felt it when I met Bedard’s mother. I feel it with Mac’s mom. Sophie has it, but more faintly. You had it yesterday, and it was at a super high frequency—the most I felt from anyone. But it’s gone now.”

I stand and start pacing my office. “So maybe Sophie put a spell on me as a joke and it’s worn off. My mother says I’m not a witch. She is, but the powers didn’t pass down to me. I’m human.” I nod decisively. “What happened yesterday was a joke. Sophie’s mad at me for some reason, maybe because I’m with Declan. I don’t know. This is her way of getting back at me.”

Trevor steeples his fingers and rests his chin on them. It’s his thinking pose. “That’s possible, I guess. But why would she do that? She’s supposed to be one of your best friends. This is hurting her brother, who she loves, not just you. I don’t know. Something is weird here. You’re not acting like yourself.”

I throw my hands up. “Until last week, you hadn’t seen me in a year and a half. Who I was in college is not the same as who I am now. You don’t know who I am.”

Trevor stands and wraps me in a hug. “Randi, you haven’t changed that much. You are the same kind, sweet, and shy woman I’ve known since you were eighteen years old. Some things don’t change.”

Coach appears in my doorway. “Carter, head back to the ice. I need to speak with Randi.”

I step out of Carter’s embrace and nod at Coach. Before he walks away, he gives me a kiss on the cheek and assures me everything will be okay. I can hear his skates clomping as he walks out of the locker room.

Coach is carrying a mug of coffee from the dining room as he walks in.

“Okay if I close the doors?”

I nod and he closes the door to the dining room and also the door to the locker room. This can’t be good. He grabs one of the chairs in front of my desk and spins it around to face where I’m seated on the sofa again. Taking his seat, he rests his elbows on his thighs and clasps his hands between his knees. His pose should look relaxed, but it doesn’t.

“Randi, I don’t know everything going on with you and Declan. Frankly, I don’t want to know. But we can’t have it impacting the team.”

Oh no. I knew this was going to happen. It was too good to be true. I’m going to have to leave again. I should be used to this, but for the first time in years, I had hoped maybe I’d found my place. I blink rapidly, trying to keep the tears from falling and take a sip of water to ease the lump in my throat.

Nodding, I murmur, “I understand. You have to do what is best for the team. Are you giving me notice or is my termination effective immediately?”

Coach sits upright like he was hit with a taser, causing the chair to tip back slightly and the legs to bang as they hit the floor.

“What?” he asks with a look of bewilderment on his face. “You’re not terminated. You’re doing a great job, and we want you here. The issue is Mac. If he can’t control himself, then he’s going to find himself traded. None of us wants that. We like him and he is a skilled player, but he has to be focused on the game. If he can’t because you’re here, then he’s going to have to go.”

“Wait. What? He’d have to go?” It’s my turn to shake my head. In confusion. Is he saying they would pick me over Declan? I’m not being sent away? I’ve never been picked.

“You’re family. Part of the Devil Birds family, but you’re also like another sister to me. You’re Kennie’s best friend, I’ve known you since you were roommates your first year of college. Mallory and Daphne love you. You’re doing great at your job. As far as I’m concerned, you’re here as long as you want to be.”

I can’t hold back the tears. No one has ever picked me or said they wanted me to stay. But I don’t want Declan to have to leave. I tell Liam that.

“No one wants Mac to leave. But if he can’t control himself and be around you without being in a relationship or whatever is going on with you guys, then he’ll have to move on. He’s a grown man and a professional athlete. His job is to play ice hockey. If he can’t keep his personal business off the ice, then he doesn’t need to be here.” He shrugs. “Some teams love to have the drama and be the attention of social media influencers. We don’t. We are here to play damn good hockey.”

He takes a sip of his coffee and gestures to me with the mug. “I’m not saying you need to date him or have anything to do with him. Your position here is independent of whatever relationship you have with him. But we can’t have scenes like we did today distracting the team. None of it was your fault, I know that. I had no idea the Mackenzie clan was this volatile.”

“They aren’t. I don’t know what’s going on with either of them. Sophie, it’s like she hates me, and I don’t understand it.”

Coach rises from his chair and swings it back around to face my desk again. His hand stays resting on its back.

“Well, I hope you two can get along or stay out of each other’s way. She’s here for the next couple of months as Carter’s dance partner. We have expectations of Carter going far on Celebrity Dance Dare. The further he goes, the more publicity for the Devil Birds, which is good for all of us. We need Sophie focused on dancing with him and not fighting with you. If she can’t handle it, we will find another partner for Carter. It’s part of the contract, hopefully she knows what’s good for her.”

After Coach walks out, I go and get myself a mug of hot water. My tea is steeping and I’m staring off into space when Bedard pokes his head in from the dining room.

“Are you drinking different tea? It smells…um…nice. Peach, ginger. Do you know what else is in it?”

Well, that’s random.

I nod. “Yeah, it’s a blend my mother made. I used to drink it as a child, and it was very comforting. I don’t know everything in it.”

Opening my desk drawer, I hold up my bag.

“I have extra tea bags if you want to have some,” I say.

“Yeah, great. Thanks. I don’t want tea right now, but I think Kendall would enjoy a mug with me after dinner.”

“Sure. Here,” I say, holding out the bag. “Take them all. There are more back in our suite. I’ll restock.”

“Great, thanks.”

“Of course. You’re welcome. I hope you and Kennie enjoy it.”

He smiles and walks away.

I down my tea in a few gulps. My head is pounding. I think I need to get some more sleep. I’ll bring my files with me, and I can work from there later today.

I walk through The Nest and out to the Boardwalk. Like always, the icy wind coming off the Atlantic Ocean takes my breath away. I wish I could snuggle against Declan and share his warmth like we did before. I tell myself the tears stinging my eyes are from the salt air, but I know they are from my broken heart. When we’re apart, all I want to do is be with him. I love him. But then when I see him, all the doubts creep in and I’m angry all over again.

I’m usually even-tempered, but in the past day my emotions have been all over the place. It’s like I’m crazy. I want things to go back to how they were. I want to go back to how I was. But not alone. I don’t want to be alone any longer. I want the future we whispered about with children and a home. With these feelings of doubt or mistrust, I don’t know if it’s possible. Part of me knows what Dec says about not talking about things because he thought I knew makes sense. We never talk about his wolf, I’ve never spoken with Kennie about her cougar, or Carter about his wolf. No one asks why my hair is black or my eyes are gray. It’s how you are—there’s no reason to discuss it.

But what mother says makes sense too. She would have seen things from an adult perspective I had no concept of as a child. I don’t remember Declan and Sophie picking on me, but I was always a target at my schools. It makes sense I was with them too. I don’t know. I’m confused. This headache isn’t helping either. Hopefully, a nap will help my head clear. I need to be able to think clearly and figure out what I’m going to do.

The hotel offers a welcoming warmth when I enter. Trevor is waiting at the elevator.

“Hey Randi. Sophie needs to change into dance clothes for our practice. I’m meeting her upstairs.”

I nod tiredly. Trevor puts his arm around me, and I lean against him as the elevator whooshes upward. We don’t speak, we don’t have to. When the doors open, I glimpse Nora entering the suite I’m sharing with Mother. I guess I won’t be able to sneak in to take my nap. Oh well. Trevor is coming with me while Sophie changes in her room. We are a few doors from mine when I hear raised voices coming from my suite. Mother and Nora are yelling at each other. Before I can rush ahead to see what’s going on, Trevor grabs my arm to stop me and puts a finger up to his lips. We creep silently to the door of the suite and discover it’s ajar. Nora dropped her monogrammed wallet to stop the door from latching. Why?

“You promised you were going to teach her about her powers, Doreen,” Nora is saying. “You didn’t. Why? She was terrified to discover she was a witch. How did she not know for all these years?”

I peek through the crack in the doorway. Nora is facing the door and mother’s back is to me. I know Nora sees me and I hear her voice in my head telling me to listen. A sense of peace and love washes over me as I slip to the side in order to hear without being seen. Trevor makes the okay sign with his fingers and when I nod, he takes off for Sophie’s room.

Mother’s laugh doesn’t hold humor. “It was simple. She didn’t have any. I put a suppression spell on her powers. It held all these years until she mated with your son. As for why, they are my powers. She got them from me, and I didn’t want to share.”

The elevator doors slide open, and I glance down the hall. Teagan is striding toward me, but stops for Trevor, who is on his way back. She listens to what he has to say and nods. Looking my way, she mouths some words and waves her hand. I feel like a barrier has slipped between me and the door. I take a step back in surprise.

Trevor and Teagan reach my side and she gives my arm a light squeeze. “I put a barrier spell up. We can hear what is said in the room, but they can’t see or hear what is going on out here,” she whispers.

“In case Sophie can’t keep her big mouth shut,” Trevor murmurs.

I nod.

“Her powers are her gift. It is not your place to deny her,” Nora says.

Mother tosses her head like a cantankerous mare I used to feed apples when I lived with the Mackenzies. “I’m her mother and I can do whatever I want with her and her powers.”

“Why are you doing this to her? You’re her mother, you love her, why are you hurting her?”

“I don’t love her. I never loved her. I had her because my mother’s will contained a trust providing additional funds for the support of a child. If I didn’t have a child, I couldn’t get the money, it would be donated to an animal charity. It was my money. I suffered through a pregnancy and childbirth and earned every penny. You were willing to take her on with your litter, so it worked out. I had my money and didn’t have to deal with the brat.”

Mother is spewing this venom in such a matter-of-fact way, like what she’s saying isn’t unnatural and vile.

“I would have left her with you until she turned twenty-one and the money ran out, but she had to come into her powers early and you were eager to teach her. She’s my daughter and if she was going to learn about the craft it’s my place to teach her. Not you. You have your own daughter. Miranda’s powers come from me and if I don’t want her to have them then she won’t. They are mine and I don’t want to share.”

Sophie calls from down the hall. “What’s going on?”

Thank goodness for Teagan’s spell.

“Your mothers are having a chat,” Trevor says in what is the understatement of the year.

Sophie shoulders her way past me to enter the suite and runs into the barrier Teagan placed. She staggers back in surprise.

“I want to hear what they have to say,” Teagan says with a shrug. With a snap of her fingers, a tub of popcorn appears in her hand, and she offers it to us. Trevor takes some. I shake my head when she offers it to me. I can’t.

She grimaces. “Sorry, bad read of the room. How about this?”

With a snap of her fingers the popcorn disappears, and a tumbler of whisky pops into existence. From the color and aroma, I know it’s from the Mackenzie distillery. It’s the good stuff. Teagan doesn’t skimp with her magic. I already have a pounding headache, it’s not like a hangover is going to make it feel any worse. I take it and sip, closing my eyes as the fire slides down my throat. The fog filling my head clears a tiny bit. Like a weak ray of sunshine made its way through thick clouds. I turn my focus back to the conversation between mother and Nora.

“I took her away from you and suppressed her powers to stop her from causing shifts left and right. I put her in whatever school would take her.” Mother stops pacing and faces Nora again. “When they kicked her out because we didn’t pay the rest of the tuition, we’d stick her in the next.”

That’swhy I moved from school to school? Because they didn’t pay their bills? I didn’t have to go to boarding school. I could have gone to the public school wherever they lived or did online homeschooling. Oh, yeah, she didn’t want me around.

“If you want me to stop disrupting Miranda’s life and making your son miserable, it’s very simple,” Mother says. “Give me five million dollars and I’ll leave them be.”

“Five million,” Nora exclaims. “It was a million dollars before.”

A million dollars? What?

Mother laughs like any of this is funny. “That was eight years ago, Nora, inflation. That million dollars is gone. I kept my end of the deal. I let you pay her tuition and remain in one school to finish high school and let her attend college where she wished. I put up with her visits until she turned twenty-one. I didn’t interfere. I wouldn’t be here now if your brat of a daughter didn’t poke her nose into my business. But she did, and here we are. If I’m inconvenienced, then you will be too.”

“She’s an adult who can make her own choices. Why should I give you anything?” Nora asks.

“Can she really make her own decisions? You know she wants to please me. She always has. Desperate for her mummy to love her. Pathetic.” Mother shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, like none of this matters. “I told her how you didn’t want her anymore and insisted we take her away. How she wasn’t safe with you. How she didn’t see a unicorn and to stop lying. I’ve told her lots of things, and she believes me.”

Tears slip down my cheeks. Trevor hugs me from behind, and I grasp his arms like they are my lifeline. In a way, they are. Sophie is gasping and sputtering over being called a brat. Like that’s the worst thing in the world. Teagan snaps her fingers again, and a box of tissues appears. I wish I had witch powers, being able to conjure up French fries or cookies whenever I want would be handy. Especially on days you hear your mother hates you and lies to you like it’s her hobby. But…I do have powers. But my mother has been suppressing them and the suppression is slipping since I caused Brick to shift. I look at the glass of whisky—empty. Would Teagan snap me another if I asked? Before I can, she snaps, and it’s refilled. I take a grateful sip.

“Give me the money, and Miranda and Declan can get married, give you the grandbabies you want. Live their boring happily ever after. Don’t give me the money and I’ll introduce Miranda to people I know from the racing circuit. I know lots of men who would like an innocent like Miranda. She wouldn’t be innocent for long. Not that she is now since your son tarnished her, but she’s still innocent enough they’ll enjoy breaking her in.”

I retch. The whisky threatening to come back up. I can’t believe what my mother is saying. Trevor is growling like Declan does. Like Declan did. Sophie is silent. I think she’s finally shocked.

“And it’s not only Miranda who will be affected. Declan’s hand is broken. It would be a shame if Sophie’s dance career was ended by an injury that never healed properly. You know, maybe five million isn’t enough. I think ten million is more than fair.”

I’ve heard enough. “Remove the barrier,” I tell Teagan in a low voice, handing Carter my tumbler. He gulps down the remainder and bends to place the glass on the carpet.

“Are you sure?” she asks.

I nod. Before she does, she hands Trevor the tissues and takes my hands in hers. She murmurs some kind of incantation, and power ripples from her hands to mine and through my body. I don’t know if it’s a protection spell or something else, but I have strength and confidence in what I’m about to do.

The air shimmers as Teagan removes the barrier and I enter the suite. Mother spins around and gives me a loving smile.

“Miranda, you’re back early. Have you had lunch? Nora and I were discussing where we could take you and Sophie for a treat. Weren’t we, Nora?”

How can she lie this smoothly? If I hadn’t heard what I did, I would have believed her.

“Actually, Mother,” I say coolly, walking toward her, “I’ve been here for a while. I heard everything you said. I’d ask how you could do that to me, but you’ve already explained how I was essentially an annuity for you, and you hate me. Is there anything else to say? I didn’t want to believe people who told me you were a narcissistic piece of shit, but I guess I should have.”

“How dare you speak to me like that,” Mother shrieks and raises her hand to strike me. Before she’s able to land the blow, Sophie shouts, “No!” and holds her hand up with her palm facing us. Mother’s hand stops in mid strike like it hit a wall and she wails in pain.

“That’s for Declan,” Sophie says with a nod.

I want to give her a high five, but she’s been a bitch to me, and the temptation is to make it a high five to her face. I’m not going to risk it.

“You bitch,” Mother shrieks and lunges toward Sophie. Trevor steps in front of Sophie to protect her. Like she can’t protect herself, but the intention is sweet.

“Mother, you aren’t getting a dime from anyone, and you are to pack your things and leave. You are to never contact me again…”

“You’re dead to me. I wish you had never been born,” Mother shouts.

“Yes, well, whatever. I consider myself an orphan since Father never stepped in to stop you so, pretend you never knew me. Hopefully, with enough therapy, I can pretend I never knew you.”

Hotel security enters the suite. Teagan must have summoned them. Sophie, Nora, and Teagan join hands and cast some kind of protective spell. I barely hear it with the blood rushing in my ears. I feel faint, like an adrenaline rush has suddenly run out. Trevor guides me to the sofa and gently pushes me forward to guide my head between my knees. He strokes my back and murmurs soothing words as sobs rack my body. Nora sits on my other side and runs her fingers along my scalp. Cocooned between the two of them, I could easily be lulled to sleep. I hate showing weakness before my—I stop myself from thinking of that…creature…as my mother—her.

“You’re behind a cloaking spell. She can’t see us,” Nora says as if she can read my mind. Maybe she did. I don’t know anything any longer.

Teagan announces, as head of the Atlantic County Coven of the New Jersey Association of Covens, under whose jurisdiction Doreen falls as a resident witch of New Jersey, she is performing the witchy version of a citizen’s arrest and suppressing Doreen’s powers because of her continued assault against my magic. She will have a trial before the Witches’ Council. Who knew witches had a council, too? I guess everyone gets one? I picture Oprah pointing, saying, “You get a council. And you get a council,” to an entire room full of paranormal folk and giggle. I think it’s more from shock than from humor. Then, I groan because giggling jarred my brain and makes my head hurt more. In a matter of minutes, Doreen is marched out of the suite, hopefully right back to the rock she slithered out from. My head is pounding.

“You’ve had quite a shock, dear. Come to my suite and lay down,” Nora says. I would have nodded in agreement, but my head couldn’t take it.

I’m about to rise when suddenly Bedard is in the doorway. “Don’t drink the tea,” he exclaims, slightly out of breath.

“What?” I ask. What the hell is he talking about?

“The tea from your mother,” he says, “It’s not good for you. There’s an herb in it that makes you susceptible to the power of suggestion.”

I laugh. I can’t help it. Could this get any weirder?

“Are you saying my mother was poisoning me?” I ask in disbelief. I don’t know why I’m shocked, it would be completely on brand for her.

Bedard shakes his head. “No, not poison. Well, not yet. Teagan told us what was going on. Maybe that was next.”

Us? I look over to see Declan standing in the doorway, looking unsure of his welcome. Nora tells him to come in. He leans against the wall while Bedard explains.

“I’m a chemist and my mother is a kitchen witch. I know about herbs and chemicals. When I smelled your tea today, it niggled at me. That’s why I asked for the tea bags. I wanted to examine them.” He’s standing tall and lecturing like he must have back in his classroom in Canada.

“I examined the leaves and herbs in the blend and consulted with my mom over FaceTime. She could see them and one of the herbs used is on a restricted list because when brewed and ingested it makes the drinker vulnerable to suggestion. It takes away their ability to exercise their free will. A witch can cast a spell making the victim vulnerable to them, they won’t be influenced by anyone else. It’s like supernatural branding.”

I think about how many cups of cursed tea I’ve had in the past day, hell, in my life, and my stomach lurches. Leaping to my feet, I rush to the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I retch and try to purge every drop from my system.

Through the door I hear Sophie. “Wait, I drank the tea too.”

“You did?” Nora asks, aghast.

“I have for years,” Sophie replies, “whenever I visited Doreen. She sends me care packages with it in it. I got some for Christmas. Was I under its effects too?”

“Probably,” Bedard says.

There’s more chatter I tune out as I flush the toilet. At the sink, I swish water and spit it out to remove any traces of the tea. I think back to the times Declan lovingly made me tea and what a gift it was and how those beautiful memories are tainted now because she weaponized tea. It’s ridiculous, tea as a weapon. It’s like an episode of Midsomer Murders, but less believable.

I leave the bathroom and take the bottle of water Trevor is holding out for me. “Thanks.” I look at Bedard. “How long do the effects last? When will I be free of its influence?”

“About seventy-two hours.”

I look at Declan, who hasn’t said a word. I know lies about him were planted in my head and while logically there is no reason to doubt him or his love for me, I still do. I need to let this evil brew leave my system before making any decisions about my future. He nods his head once in what I take to be understanding, straightens, and leaves the suite. The longing to chase after him is strong, but I resist. Anything we say or decide needs to be done with a clear head. I don’t want there to be any doubt.

“Kendall says you are welcome to stay in her guest room,” Bedard says.

I nod. “I think it’s for the best.”

I throw my things in my bag. I’m a nomad again. Someday I will have a home. I hope it is with Declan.