Chapter 14
A techno and violin version of The Nutcracker suite blared from the bakery speakers as I got to work on the tenth batch of sugar plums that Mayor Tibbs ordered for the town’s winter ball tonight.
An event I couldn’t have forgotten about, even if I’d tried, with the dress Jack gave me, sitting in its ornate box on the back counter.
Surely, we’d dance, which meant proximity.
We’d be in each other’s breathing space again, and his scent would be unavoidable.
I’ve never paid attention to the way a male smelled quite as much as I did with Jack, and it never failed to make my core pleasurably tighten.
“Hello?” A familiar feminine voice shouted from the lobby.
Had I forgotten to put away the “chime for service” sign and lock the door? I really was distracted.
Wiping my hands on a towel, I sprinted to the front room, fidgeting with my phone to pause the music.
Chelsea stood there with her arms folded, a bright smile playing over her lips, and her emerald eyes, with tiny crescent moons reflecting in them, beamed at me.
“I take it you were supposed to be closed today on account of the big ball?”
“Yes,” I replied through a deep sigh, shimmying past her to flip the sign and secure the dead bolt. “But now that you’re here, what’s up?”
Chelsea had really come into her own since moving to Arcane Cove without any knowledge of who and what lived here—one of three witches who called the Cove home.
She fiddled with the pentagram charm on her necklace.
“Dion’s busy prepping for the afterparty in Bacchus, so I thought I’d sneak over and bribe you for a treat. ”
Dion, also known as Dionysus, Chelsea’s mate, and god of wine, frenzy, and partying.
Chelsea’s sweet tooth was the exact way we met when I found her in my bakery with her nose pressed to the display case. I’d sprinkled courage and relaxation magic over a vanilla cupcake with blue frosting that day, and we’ve since become good friends.
“No scandalous bribing needed, you know that.” Grinning, I fished a plate of snickerdoodle cookies from the back of the case and rested them between us. “I was going to throw these away later tonight anyway. Help yourself.”
Chelsea’s eyes sparkled, and she grabbed two cookies. “You’re a faerie goddess, Sylv.”
Her compliment made my wings flap excitedly. I rubbed the tip of my ear with a sheepish smile. “Are you two attending the ball or is Dion too cool for it?”
“I’m going,” Chelsea answered through mouthfuls of cinnamon and sugar dough. “Which means he’s going. You?”
“Mmhm,” I responded quietly, hopping on one foot and turning. “Better check on those nuts toasting for the sugar plums.”
“Sylvie,” Chelsea beckoned, following me when I didn’t answer and soon matching my speed.
Doing my best to ignore her curiosity, I slipped on mitts and yanked the trays from the oven.
“Sylvie, you can’t expect me to ignore the fact that you said you’re going to the ball. Who’s taking you?” Chelsea brushed crumbs from her hands and tossed her auburn hair over one shoulder, blocking me from moving any further once the trays were on the counter.
“His name is Jack. You might’ve seen him around town. Tall, spiky, snow-white hair and beard—” I trailed off, having to pinch my thighs together after envisioning his handsome face.
“Wait, yeah. The one with the ridiculously glacial blue eyes?” Chelsea pointed at her own emerald gaze.
Grabbing the food processor, I threw the cooled ingredients into it. “That’s the one.”
Chelsea nodded before realization washed over her, and she stood tall. “Sylv, is he—”
“Possibly,” I whispered, staring at the sticky spots on my counter that I had yet to wipe off.
“Wait, but that’s gr—” Chelsea started to say, her grin dropping into a smirk, her posture shifting so that one hip jutted to the side, her gaze becoming increasingly smug. “That’s great if you want to deal with all of that business.”
Chelsea’s voice had gone an octave deeper than her normal pitch. It made my neck numb, so I removed my hands from the processor and pressed my palms to the table. “Business? What do you mean?”
Chelsea rubbed her middle finger over her lips, a peculiar glint flashing in her eyes. “He’s a king looking for a queen, darling. A pretty thing to show off to the general public and nothing more.”
Nausea bubbled in my stomach now. I pressed the button on the processor to drown her out. I didn’t like where she was going with this, and the glare I tossed her, along with my flared wings, should have told her as much.
With a sly grin, Chelsea reached over the counter and slapped her hand on the power button, dousing the noise.
“I know you don’t want to hear it, but I’m only saying it to protect you, Sylvie.
He needs a queen for full reign, some pretty arm candy, and of course—” Her eyes panned to my stomach before launching back up. “—heirs.”
As if I already had a tiny, pointy-eared being growing inside me, I pressed my hands over my abdomen, my throat constricting. “You act like you know him, Chelsea. You’ve never even met him. Maybe he wants someone to rule at his side, to share the burdens.”
I’d haughtily spoken the words to Chelsea, but soon realized I needed to hear them myself, too.
Chelsea cackled and flicked an almond shell from the counter onto the floor. “Please. What man in history has ever wanted to share his power with their queen?”
Frowning, both my ears and wings folding back, I tore the lid from the processor and started scooping out enough to make frustrated balls of sugar plum fury. “What about Dion? He was different.”
Chelsea dragged a finger down her sternum, lazily playing it over the dip between her breasts. “You’re right. He is different. He’d want nothing to do with being royalty because he’s too much of a free spirit.”
Glancing at the shiny, silver box where the dress rested inside, her words ate at me like fermenting sugar. Something pretty. “You make it sound like he had a choice.”
Chelsea slammed her fist onto the counter, making me jump and drop the sugar plum I’d been rolling. “He always has a choice.”
“Chelsea, are you okay? You’re really starting to scare me.” I slid the tray of sugar plums away from her and onto the counter behind me to save the rest of the batch from the other’s fated floor drop.
Chelsea blinked and smoothed out her shirt. “What? I’m fine.” Her demeanor softened, and she looked around. “Where are those cookies?”
Eyeing her peculiarly, I pointed to the lobby. “Where we left them. Next to the cash register.”
“Right.” Chelsea flashed a charming smile. “Tonight will be fun, huh?”
She walked away as if she hadn’t just said several things to rock my already chaotically spiraling world. It made me wonder if her moon magic were trying to tell me something, speaking through her to say the things she’d never want to say for fear of hurting me.
Walking to the box, I opened it and ran my fingers over the jewels and beading, staring in delight at my magic pulsing through it. I’d wear the dress, I’d wait for Jack, and tonight—we were going to make several things as clear as freshly frozen water.