Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
G us had been hungover on alcohol, but he’d never been hungover on passion—until now. He pinched his nose, then pressed his hand to his head. Every inch of his skin ached, even the space between his toes. The bedroom smelled of stale roses and sweat. The grumble and hiss of the garbage truck outside startled him awake. A sleepy moan next to him interrupted his thoughts. He glanced over to see Sirena, lying next to him, sleeping, her braids fanned out on the pillow. Her breathing was easy and deep. The sunshine made her skin glow with an otherworldly light that filled him with wonder. How did one wake up a sleeping sprite? He leaned in close, brushing a kiss to her cheek. She stirred and her eyes opened. They looked a little dazed from sleep, but there appeared to be a deep shine of satisfaction.
I did that. She stretched her back and squeaked. “Morning.”
“Morning. How’d you sleep?”
She gave him with a coy smile. “I barely slept. What a night. How about you?”
“It was great.” Gus lay back on the pillow, letting his fingers lazily intertwine with her braids, recalling how her hair fanned over his body when she pleasured him.
Sirena brought his hand into hers. She gave his palm a quick peck. “I was thinking about a repeat.”
His hunger was strong, but his body needed a lot of food.
Gus nodded. “Well, let’s talk about breakfast first. I’m jonesing for carbs.”
Sirena sat up and glanced around the bedroom. She ran a hand through her braids, then climbed out of bed. The flash of her flesh ignited a small burst of fire in his gut. Gus watched as she dressed, adorning herself in that red dress. She turned to the mirror, smoothing her hands over the wrinkles. The wrinkles he caused when he yanked the dress over her head and tossed it to the floor. Oh yeah. He was that guy.
Gus watched her. “I hate to see you get dressed. Then again, I get to undress you later.”
“Good point,” she said over her shoulder.
“I could undress you now,” he offered. He’d eat later. He needed Sirena naked.
“Later,” she pressed. “I need a breakfast platter and two gallons of iced tea.”
Gus got out of bed and dressed in a T-shirt and jeans—his weekend knock-around clothes. Sirena gave him a heated once-over that made him pause. “Wear more jeans. Please.”
Noted. He was going to add jeans into his rotation. They descended from the apartment to the kitchen, where the sink was filled with dirty dishes. He swung his head to look around the room and winced. What was that smell? The pungent scent of left-out food hung in the air. How did it get so nasty overnight?
Sirena wrinkled her nose. “I should’ve cleaned up better.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Kitchen witches don’t leave messes,” she said grumpily. Her phone dinged.
He watched as Sirena sauntered over to her charging phone lying on the counter and opened the screen. “Who’s texting me?” Sirena studied her phone for a moment, and a sharp gasp left her mouth. She paled. “Um… Gus, what day is it?”
“Saturday. Yesterday was Friday, so today is Saturday,” Gus said carefully.
She yanked her phone from the charger and thrust it at him. Her voice shook with barely controlled distress. “Why does my phone say it’s Tuesday?”
Gus took her phone and glared at the lock screen. Tuesday, October 18 was the date that hovered over a snapshot picture of Sirena and her sisters posing in front of a Ferris wheel.
Blood drained from his face. “I—”
“We’ve been gone for three days,” she said anxiously.
He hated hearing the anxiety in her voice, but he was going to figure it out. It would be okay. There had to be an answer in one of the books in the library. Lighten the mood. Make a joke. Don’t freak out that you might have accidentally time traveled with Sirena with your magic.
“We probably slipped and fell into a wormhole,” he said.
She stiffened, and her eyes turned furious. “Don’t joke. Please don’t. My family must be freaking out, and my boss—Gwen probably fired me because I didn’t show up to work this weekend! This is my fault. I don’t have time. I should’ve left when I had a chance.”
Gus reeled back as if she’d tossed a fistful of glitter in his face. He rubbed his chest to ease the ache of her sharp words. Jess had said those same words when she left him. Sirena’s not Jess. But this time the words weren’t filled with embarrassment; it sounded like desperation. And it sounded as if she couldn’t afford to stay here a moment longer.
“I’ll call you.” Sirena grabbed her purse from the table, shot him a glance, and rushed out the front door. She hustled like a witch who had left her cauldron burning on the stove. Gus went to the sink. He needed to clean up these dishes and then clean up the mess he made with his magic.
Bloom On Flower Shop was the place to be this Friday evening, with their free drinks and discounted flowers. Shoppers cradled their flower selections in one hand while sipping peach mimosas. Tall glass coolers were filled with fresh flower arrangements of dahlias, sweet peas, and crabapples. Earthy and floral scents filled the wide space and gave it a cozy feeling. The owner chatted with customers, and the rustle of tissue paper and the snipping of stems added to the shop’s bustling noise.
“What’s the cheapest flower here?” Lucy asked, eyeing the massive bucket of carnations.
“No.” Ursula eased Lucy away from the blooms. “We’re going to ask for what’s in season and take pictures.”
“Don’t worry about the cost,” Sirena said. “I’m buying your flowers, so don’t worry about it.”
Ursula gave Sirena a concerned look. “Um, are you sure, Si? Flowers can get pricey.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Sirena said, reaching out and touching a flower petal on a table. Rule seventeen: Kitchen witches stay in contact with their families.
For the last three days, Sirena had been groveling for forgiveness after going dark when she was with Gus. Callie was happy Sirena was okay, and Ursula had called Diane, who updated the family on Sirena’s whereabouts. Lucy, however, had been eerily quiet. Even now in the flower shop, Lucy hadn’t looked at Sirena much and kept her eyes on the potted plants.
“You can tell us what really happened,” Lucy said.
Sirena let out a breath. “We’ve gone over this. I don’t know what happened.”
“Let’s go over it again,” Lucy demanded. Her voice was hard and unrelenting. Sirena glanced around the flower shop. The other customers were toward the front of the store, making their purchases, so they at least had some privacy to talk.
“I made Gus dinner, we fell under a spell, and we were together for three days.”
Lucy pointed a finger at her. “Ah! You didn’t mention a spell. Did you cast it, did he cast it on you?”
Sirena huffed. “I tried something new.”
Lucy folded her arms. “Ever since you started hanging around the society, you’ve been… acting different. Quitting jobs. Trying new dishes.”
“I hope you didn’t give him a come-hither potion,” Ursula said with an embarrassed frown. “I tried one back in high school and I ended up with three dates for homecoming. It was a crazy night.”
Lucy and Sirena gave Ursula a look that said Not the right time , then faced each other.
“I tried a new recipe,” Sirena admitted.
Lucy eyed her skeptically. “Did you find it on Pinterest?”
“No, it was in an old journal written by a kitchen witch like me. It was legit. I thought I could trust it.”
“Well, apparently you couldn’t,” Lucy said sharply.
Sirena threw up her hands. There was so much magic and mayhem that she couldn’t even be sure who did what. She could’ve influenced Gus with her magic, or vice versa. Sirena searched their family spellbook twice but couldn’t find an answer for why she and Gus evaporated into a sexy zone for three days.
Lucy cleared her throat. Her voice was soft but firm. “I’m not mad that it happened. I’m worried that it might happen again, but next time you won’t come back, or we can’t help you. We were so freaked out when you didn’t answer our calls or our texts. I mean, I was going to start opening portals to alternate universes to find you!”
Guilt crawled its way up from inside and nearly stole Sirena’s breath.
“I know you’re grown, but I’m your big sister. It’s my job to take care of you.”
“I’m sorry,” Sirena said.
Lucy came over and held her close to her side. She squeezed her shoulder tightly. “I know. You don’t have to buy me guilt flowers. Promise me you’ll be careful with Gus and whatever magic you’re cooking up with him.”
“I will. Let me buy you at least one bouquet,” Sirena said. Lucy and Alex’s cottage always looked nice when they had fresh flowers on the mantel.
“Deal,” Lucy said. Sirena smacked a kiss on her forehead, then looked at Ursula.
“When we couldn’t find you, I called Diane, and she told us you were safe but unreachable,” Ursula said carefully. “I asked her if you slipped into another universe, and she said probably not.”
Sirena tilted her head. This was new information. “Diane knows what happened to us?”
Ursula lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know, but she could sense Gus’s magic. She managed to locate you and Gus but said she couldn’t get to you. We scried for you, but the crystal just kept spinning on the map as if you were here, but not here.”
Sirena blinked, and a flash of where she and Gus had been snapped into her brain. The bedroom had a clock with no arms on the wall, showing time but not keeping it. They were in the space between, the time between the past and the present. She and Gus were in a place where no one could reach them and they could be alone. Awareness smacked her on the forehead.
“Have you ever woken up, and you didn’t know what time it was?” Sirena asked.
Lucy groaned. “You just described every morning before my alarm goes off.”
Sirena nodded. “Or have you fallen asleep at eleven, then you blink your eyes and suddenly it’s time to go to work at seven? You feel like you’ve been in bed for, like, five minutes.”
Ursula eyed her. “Um, yes. I think everyone has felt that way. What’s your point, Si?”
“I was there with him, in that same space.”
Lucy wrinkled her brow. “That’s a real place that physically exists?”
“We were there,” Sirena insisted. “That precious time where you feel like you could stay suspended forever. Five hours feels like five minutes. Time is experienced rather than measured and I… I…” She halted, unable to let the words leave her mouth. I let time slip away with Gus. I could have stayed there with him and let time forget about us.
Understanding entered Lucy’s face. “I feel that way when I wake up next to Alex.”
Hope fluttered in her chest. “You do?”
“I wish I could stretch out those last minutes in bed so I can cuddle up with him.”
Ursula made a sound of sympathy. “Will you slip away into that space when… you know, you talk to Gus or touch him?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t spoken since I left on Tuesday.”
This past week, Sirena had managed to avoid Gus by coming in the back door and leaving before he left his office. They hadn’t talked about anything, because she didn’t talk to Gus, scared that she might accidentally slip away with him again.
Sirena pressed her hands to her mouth, trying to compose herself next to the balloon rack. Her second chance to make things right was slipping away. The Lighthouse interview was next Friday, and she hadn’t finalized her menu. She had to work extra shifts at Night Sky to make up for her missing hours on the schedule. It didn’t help that every time she closed her eyes, she dreamed of Gus, being with Gus, and, oh right, touching Gus.
Fun time was over for Sirena. There was too much magic and mayhem brewing between them. She’d find a way to have fun without Gus, but she couldn’t risk being with him.
She’d send an email Monday morning explaining her situation and why she couldn’t work with him anymore. He was rational. They were friends. He’d understand. Right? Sirena would return to making deliveries for Empty Fridge, and she’d get her rhythm back. She wasn’t moving backward; she was assessing her situation from a familiar position.
“I’ll email Gus and say that we can’t work together anymore,” she said.
Lucy made a face. “Be professional. You should tell him in person.”
One searing look from Gus might weaken the little control she had over her heart.
Sirena winced. “I’d rather have a clean break.”
Lucy stared at her for a beat. “Okay, clean break it is. I’ll cancel my booking with the society. We’ll get married at the bookstore.”
“No,” Sirena cried. She wasn’t going to be the reason for Lucy having to scramble to find a new venue. The e-save the dates had already gone out, and she wasn’t going to make Lucy’s life harder. “Keep the booking. I’ll figure it out—or I’ll call him on Monday.”
Ursula stepped between them. “We need a witchy day to relax. Callie won four tickets to the Harvest Maze for tomorrow. Why don’t we eat some caramel apples and get lost with a scarecrow?”
“That sounds like a good time,” Lucy said. “The Four Musketeers in the Harvest Maze.”
“It’s going to be a fun time,” Ursula said.
“Yay,” Sirena said weakly.
Focus on the interview. Protect your magic. Get your head right. Everything between her heart and stomach fluttered like spinning leaves falling from trees, leaving her feeling bare. No. If being intimate with Gus was going to make her lose time, then she couldn’t be with him. Forget the fun lessons; she needed to protect herself and her family from whatever was happening with her. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to end up right back in his arms, where she couldn’t stay. If she was willing to lose three days with Gus, what would she lose to him next? If she was willing to give him three days, then she might be tempted to give him the rest of her days and nights.