Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
Broomstix
6:00PM
“ R ed?” Ethan called.
He stood by Stella’s sales counter, dressed in a pinstripe suit, spats, carnation, and fedora, with his head tipped back and his eyes glued to the top of the sagging staircase.
“It’s about time to roll!”
He’d left Stella up in her attic apartment fifteen minutes ago to finish her hair. At the time, he’d thought she was nearly done. She’d already looked perfect. More than perfect. Stunning.
“Um…” Her voice sounded far away, muffled, and—if he wasn’t mistaken—troubled. “Just a second!”
Izzy clicked her tongue. “She’s still in the attic. What’s taking her so long?”
Ethan had no idea. Everyone else was ready. Izzy and Jade were wearing their coordinated Electra Woman and Dyna Girl costumes.
Antoinette stood off to the side dressed as Cleopatra. She was taking a selfie with Darren, Stella’s indigo snake, who had wrapped himself around Antoinette’s arm like an exotic piece of jewelry.
His mother sat on a stool behind the counter, doodling on a notepad. She’d promised to hold down the store for Stella until closing time.
Ethan called up to Stella again. “Everything okay, babe?”
“Coming!” she yelled back, but her statement wasn’t supported by any evidence. There were no sounds of her coming down the ladder.
“I’ll go check on her.” Ethan took off his fedora, set it on the counter, then jogged up the steps to the second floor. When he got there, he immediately deduced the problem.
His first inclination was to help. His second impulse was to watch the show.
Stella had clearly made a gross miscalculation. The last time she’d squeezed herself into that dick-torment of a dress, she’d been in a hotel. All she had to do was slink down a hallway and into an elevator.
Now, she was encased in a satin straitjacket and trying to figure out how to descend a ladder. The slit in the skirt wasn’t high enough to aid her mobility, and the bodice was too tight for her to bend over. There wasn’t even a railing for her to hang on to.
Her back was to the opening in the floor, and Ethan pinched his lips together as she pointed her foot toward the ladder’s top rung, then pulled her foot back. Pointed. Pulled back.
Ethan lost all sense of amusement, however, when Stella wobbled dangerously on her standing foot. The high-heeled shoes weren’t helping, and his arms went out to catch her in case she fell.
Fortunately, Stella found her balance, then disappeared from view.
Now what was she doing?
There was a scuffling noise as she dragged something heavy across the floor, and she was back.
Ethan could just make out the edge of a large cardboard box at the edge of the open hatch. He assumed it was the box where she’d stored the out-of-season clothes she still hadn’t put away.
Stella balanced her weight against the box while putting one foot on the top rung. Next, she eased her other foot down to join it.
“ Shit, shit, shit ,” she murmured, shifting her hips back and forth.
Ethan was back to enjoying the show.
She was cute. And she was funny. And so long as she didn’t break her neck (and they survived the rest of the night) he was looking forward to teasing her about all of this later.
“Don’t move,” she said, and it was clear she was giving instructions to the box and not to him. “I’m trusting you with my life.”
She stretched her right foot down toward the next rung while clinging to the box for balance.
That’s it , Ethan thought. She was slowly descending. Another couple rungs and she could grab on to the edges of the ladder.
“What are you doing up there?!” Jade yelled again from the ground floor.
“I’m coming!” Stella yelled back, sounding irked. Her voice darkened as she muttered to herself, “I’d like to see you try this, Dyna Girl. You’re in a Lycra leotard. Girls do back handsprings on fucking balance beams in leotards.”
Ethan laughed. He couldn’t help it.
The sound made Stella jerk and twist, which wasn’t great.
“Careful!” he cried, and his arms went up and out again, ready to catch her.
Fortunately, Stella had a firm grip on the top rung of the ladder.
“It’s not funny.” Her cheeks and chest flushed the most tantalizing shade of pink, especially against the red satin.
“It is funny,” he said, still chuckling.
“I can’t move in this thing.”
“I can see that,” he said. “Let me help you.”
He reached up and wrapped his arms lightly around her thighs.
She twisted around in his hold and, with her breasts smushed into his face, wrapped her own arms around his head in a viselike grip.
“ Uff ,” he grunted, then slowly slid her body down his front—enjoying every inch of the journey—until her high-heels hit the floor.
“Thanks,” she said, letting out a relieved breath. She fixed his hair.
“Promise me you’ll press your body against me like this later tonight, and that’s all the thanks I need.”
“We gotta survive the night first.”
It was an unnecessary reminder, but they’d faced worse. Besides, Ethan considered tonight merely a reconnaissance mission.
The Collector may have been certifiably insane, but if it was him who showed up in the ballroom tonight, Ethan couldn’t imagine the man would wage war in a crowd. He was stealthier than that.
“We’ll survive,” he assured her. “We always do.”
“Luck has a way of running out,” she said, sounding serious.
He had no answer to that, and he was surprised to discover that he was absentmindedly trailing his finger lightly along the top of her dress, cresting over one breast before dipping into her cleavage and continuing the journey.
Stella hadn’t missed it, and she arched one eyebrow. “Wanna skip the party?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice rougher than normal. Then he sighed. “ And no. Everyone’s downstairs and ready to head out.”
“Better not keep them waiting.”
At the same time, Jade yelled, “For fuck’s sake. Let’s go!”
Ethan led Stella to the top of the stairs.
Stella stopped there and laughed. “Now, that’s what I call a dynamic duo! You two look great!”
Ethan had to admit—when it came to Izzy and Jade—he’d demonstrated some serious chops as a masquerade stylist.
The duo flashed huge grins, and Jade said, “Not as good as you, Stellz. Shit .”
Ethan’s mother also looked up and smiled. “You two do look amazing together.”
“And Antoinette,” Stella said. “You look like the goddamn Queen of the Nile, but you know Darren’s gotta stay behind.”
“Girl, please ,” Antoinette said, gently unwrapping the snake from her arm. “It was just for the photo op. Can we go now?”
“Car’s parked at the curb,” Ethan said as he led Stella carefully down the stairs.
They stopped at the counter where he put on his fedora and handed Stella her purple satin gloves.
“Don’t forget your key,” his mother said.
“My key?” Ethan asked. This was the second time she’d brought up keys; she’d said something similar to Stella the night before. “What key?”
One corner of his mother’s mouth tipped up in a smile, but her gaze had gone a little glassy, and she seemed to be looking straight through him.
“It’s very important,” she said.
Stella paused with one glove pulled only halfway up.
“It’s very important you have the key,” his mother repeated, her voice sounding hollow and very faraway.
“Mom?” Ethan said warily because the spaced-out look on her face suggested she wasn’t talking about the keys to the store or to his car. “Is there something else you need to tell me?”
This time, at the sound of his voice, she jerked her head, blinked once. “What? Oh, no.” She went back to her doodle. “Have a successful night, kids. Be safe.”
Ethan pursed his lips and thought about pressing the matter, but he knew there was no point. If her prophetic magic was kicking in, the first messages were often murky. They’d become clear soon enough.
The party-goers stepped out onto the sidewalk, and the door to Broomstix closed behind them.
“That was another prophecy,” Stella said.
“Probably,” Ethan said grimly.
“Any idea what she means?”
“Not yet,” he admitted.
Antoinette, Izzy, and Jade squeezed into the back of Ethan’s BMW. He waited for Stella to get into the passenger seat.
She bit her lip and looked down at the seat as if it might bite her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“The ladder was hard enough. Not sure how I’m supposed to get into your car. Or sit and breathe at the same time.”
“No worries.” Ethan leaned the passenger seat back as far as he could without putting it in Jade’s lap.
“This was a terrible costume choice,” Stella grumbled.
Ethan laughed as he helped her into his car.
Forty-five minutes later, they were pulling up to Boston’s Four Seasons Hotel. A person dressed as Einstein in a wild crazy wig and lab coat stood near the valet podium, along with a couple dressed as Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.
“Looks like we’re in the right place,” Ethan said. “Masks on, everyone.”
They all secured the elastic bands around the back of their heads just as the valet opened Ethan’s door.
“Thanks,” Ethan said. “Fob’s in the cupholder.” He got out, then jogged around the front of the car to pull Stella up to her feet. Antoinette, Jade, and Izzy climbed out of the back.
Einstein, Red Riding Hood, and the Big Bad Wolf approached. Einstein said, “Hey, Stella. I mean…that is you, right?”
Ethan recognized Jun’s voice immediately, which clued him in to who was behind the other two costumes. “Appropriate choices,” he said, enjoying the thought of a shifter dressed as a wolf. “You went all out.”
“Roman’s mate volunteers with a community theater,” Stryker explained. “She got us the costumes.”
“That’s a lot of fur,” Stella said. “You’re not going to overheat, are you?”
“You’re not going to bust out of that dress, are you?” Stryker quipped.
Abby elbowed her mate hard in the ribs and said, “You look amazing, Stella.”
“Everyone’s decided on their signal?” Antoinette asked, her gaze slicing across the lot of them.
They’d discussed their game plan already, of course:
Go in as pairs: Ethan with Stella, Izzy and Jade, Antoinette and Jun, Stryker and Abby.
Look natural.
Blend into the party.
Mingle.
Find David Hurley and/or the Collector wearing his face, then signal the rest of them so Stella could get close enough to sniff him out. The goal was to discover what was going on, not lodge an attack.
Everyone had been left to decide on a signal that would play to their own magical strengths and be noticeable in a crowded ballroom without alarming the guests.
“I’ll make the overhead lights flicker twice,” Izzy said.
“I’ll make a waiter to drop a tray of glasses,” Antoinette said. “Jun can amplify it if need be.”
“I can send out a sound wave that rattles the windows a bit,” Abby said.
“Without breaking them,” Stella said.
“Please,” Abby said. “I’ve got more control than that these days.”
“What about you and Stella?” Stryker asked.
“Can’t exactly set the ballroom drapes on fire,” Stella said, “so Ethan’s going to set off the sprinkler system.”
“You told Hawk your goal was subtlety,” Stryker reminded him, his tone accusing. “Seems you’re missing your own mark.”
“I’ll just make them drip a little,” Ethan said. “Unless someone’s directly under it, they’ll only notice people’s response, not the water itself. Stay focused. Whoever spots him first, send out your signal. Don’t engage on your own.”
“Roger that, big guy,” Jun said.
Stryker gave him a nod, and they entered the hotel in staggered pairs, each disappearing into the mass of costumes.