Chapter 9
“What do you mean we’re stuck together?” Quiet menace edged Darcy’s words.
His anger was the calm before a storm, a lion waiting to pounce. In contrast, my heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest, and my breathing was way too fast.
How could this have happened?
“I meant exactly what it sounds like. I’m afraid my hands are tied.” His mouth twisted in a grimace. “Poor choice of words. What I meant to say is, there is nothing I can do.”
“This can’t be happening.” My stomach twisted itself into knots.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Darcy jumped to his feet.
The movement yanked on my wrist with a sharp tug, and I stumbled up after him.
“Darcy!” Charles barreled into the tent with Jane not far behind.
How did they find us so fast?
As Charles took in the scene, the panic leaked from his expression. “Why didn’t you wait for us by the Ferris wheel?”
“Elizabeth ran off, so I chased her here where this old man cast a spell on us.” Darcy drove a hand through his hair.
I put my free hand on my hip. “First of all, I didn’t ask you to come. And second, you’re the one who lied about your magic and got us into this mess.”
Jane’s attention fell on the purple cord connecting me to Darcy. “What is that?”
Darcy’s shoulders slumped, and he rubbed a hand across his face. “The gnome’s magic reacted poorly with mine, and it would seem Elizabeth and I are stuck together.”
Charles burst out laughing, and Darcy shot him a killing glare.
“I’m sorry, but you have to admit, it’s sort of funny. To be literally stuck to a woman after turning down all the ones who…” Charles trailed off at another warning look.
The purple cord sparked, then faded. An answering knot in my stomach dissolved as it disappeared.
“Thank heavens.” Darcy stepped away.
The move pulled on an invisible tie around my wrist and sent me stumbling into his chest. He caught me, his hands briefly landing on my waist to steady me. His fingers tightened around my hips, flexing with his frustration.
“Didn’t you hear me say it won’t disappear?” The gnome rubbed his forehead. “It might have faded from sight, but you two are as stuck together as before.”
“I demand that you undo this spell at once.” Darcy glowered at him.
“This wouldn’t have happened if you had been honest with me.” The gnome turned his scowl on Darcy. “But I simply said there was nothing I could do, not that nothing could be done.”
“Why didn’t you say that earlier?” The words escaped me on a sigh of relief.
The old gnome flicked his fingers toward Darcy. “He was too busy making a fuss.”
Despite the situation, my lips twitched.
“Tell us how to undo this,” Darcy gritted out.
“All you have to do is kiss, and the magic should dissolve.” The man eyed Darcy, his purple eyes narrowed in annoyance.
“A kiss?” Darcy and I said, my voice as high as his was low. I stumbled back a step, and the cord pulled taut, giving us about two feet of space.
“Aren’t the two of you in love?” the gnome asked.
“Of course not.” I’d thought Darcy was a killer until fifteen minutes ago.
“Then why would you come to get your fortune told as a couple—” he cut himself off, mumbling about how he needed to charge more for his services.
Darcy glared at me, ignoring the man’s rant. “If it’ll free us, aren’t you willing to try anything?”
“It won’t work.” I shook my head, sending my braid flying around my shoulders. “We’re the farthest thing from being in love.”
The gnome’s lips pulled up in a sheepish grin. “It doesn’t have to be true love. That’s just better for marketing. As long as you can at least understand one another, a kiss should do the trick to break the spell.”
How could I understand Darcy? He was everything I hated in a man. Arrogant. Rude. Condescending. Too handsome for his own good.
Wait. Strike that last one from the record.
“It’s worth a shot, Lizzy,” Jane said softly.
Easy for her to say. She wasn’t the one stuck to Sir Secretive.
“Fine,” I muttered.
Charles elbowed Darcy. “Maybe the two of you are a better match than you think. You hate when girls fawn over you, and now we’ve found one who can’t stand the thought of kissing you.”
“You’re really not helping.” Darcy’s eyes darkened as he took me in, and the tension in the room grew so thick I could feel it like a spell gone wrong.
Our gazes locked in a silent battle of wills, each of us daring the other to make the first move—a move that neither of us wanted to make.
My pulse sped up. Was I really about to kiss Darcy? Better to kiss him than be stuck with him indefinitely.
Finally, Darcy stepped forward, and I braced myself. It wasn’t fair for his muscles to fill out his shirt so well or for him to move with such an annoying blend of athleticism and grace.
No, I wasn’t supposed to be thinking of how attractive he was. He’d practically had Mom arrested and made our family the center of town gossip once more. Plus, his actions had Dad worried, which was the last thing he needed right now.
Wait. That was wrong too. I needed to banish all my negative thoughts of Darcy to increase our chances of this working.
Darcy’s warm fingers brushed the hair away from my face before he cupped my cheek—an oddly tender gesture that sent sparks through me. Maybe he was trying to confuse the magic into thinking this was real. Pretending was probably our best bet.
I shivered, and in response, Darcy put his free hand on my hip, drawing me in until we stood chest to chest. Reluctantly, I tilted my head back, granting him access to my lips since his mouth was too high for me to reach even on my tiptoes.
For a long moment, we looked at each other. Acutely aware of the way the other three watched us, my cheeks heated and my heart fluttered wildly. I breathed in his scent, a mixture of cardamom and a forest.
“I don’t think this is a good idea.” My words came out shaky, betraying the way my pulse raced.
“You have a lot of opinions.” His hand against my cheek slid to the back of my neck, and he pulled me forward.
I sucked in a breath. “I won’t apologize for having an opin—”
His lips met mine.
I raised a hand to his chest to push him away, but my fingers curled into the front of his shirt instead.
At first, Darcy’s kiss was soft and tender, as if it were a silent apology to match the one he’d said in the Ferris wheel.
Hesitantly, I slanted my lips against his.
His fingers curled against my hip, and then he tilted his head to the side. The kiss turned fierce, everything I’d expect from a man like Darcy. Demanding. Fiery. Searing. And filled with the sweetness of the pumpkin brew from earlier and something deeper, richer.
I hadn’t thought I was the type to be so easily undone, but Darcy’s kiss threatened to steal every inch of my composure. I broke free and stepped away, staring at him with wide eyes.
What. Was. That?
My finger drifted to my lips. “If you were hoping to stop me from talking, think again.”
Darcy smirked, looking annoyingly unaffected by the kiss that still had my legs shaking. “I think I know better by now than to assume anything could stop you.”
“Not in love? Please,” the gnome mumbled. “Could have fooled me with the way you two were carrying on.”
“Did it work?” Jane asked.
Lips still tingling, I moved my arm, and Darcy’s jerked forward in response.
My heart sank, and Darcy pressed his soft lips together in a firm line.
Dang it. Why was I looking at his mouth? That kiss had done absolutely nothing—well, nothing helpful. Apparently, it had messed with my head.
“What now?” Charles asked.
I looked between him and Darcy. If Charles was a highborn fae, why was he looking to Darcy for instruction? I added it to the list of things to uncover about Darcy—a list which kept growing.
Darcy sighed and ran a hand down his face. “We should go. I doubt there is anything else that can be done here, and there are things I still need to take care of tonight.”
Jane waved goodbye to the gnome, then the four of us left.
The crisp autumn air was a welcome relief after the tent’s stifling atmosphere.
Lamps now lit the fairgrounds, casting pools of light edged with shadows.
Someone had woven orange lights throughout the trees that sparkled in the growing darkness.
“Are you okay, Lizzy?” Jane fell into step beside me and gripped my free hand.
“As well as can be expected.” In a whisper, I filled her in on what I’d learned on the Ferris wheel.
“I knew it couldn’t be Darcy.” Relief filled Jane’s voice. “And now it sounds like you’ve got things cleared up for Mom as well.”
“Yes, but if it wasn’t Darcy, then who killed Easton?
” I stared at Darcy’s back as I walked twice as fast as usual to keep up with his long strides.
Even still, sometimes I’d fall behind, and the binding on my wrist would yank me forward.
I looked like an idiot with my arm dangling in front of me, like I was walking a dog on an invisible leash.
Darcy thrust out his hand to me without turning around.
“What?” I stared at it.
“It’s inconvenient if we’re constantly pulling on each other and moving at different speeds.”
I gaped at his hand, trying not to pay attention to Charles’s smirk and how Jane fought back a smile.
With a sigh, I slipped my hand into Darcy’s and moved to walk beside him. His fingers were warm, countering the chill in the air. Calluses covered his palm, making me curious about what he did to cause them.
Jane gave me a soft smile, then moved ahead to walk beside Charles.
To the rest of our nosy town, it probably looked like we were on a double date, and the news was almost guaranteed to get back to Mom.
I’d told her everything last night when I went to make the potion, and while she might look past the misunderstanding with the murder, I wasn’t sure she’d ever forgive him for snubbing me at the club.