6. Chapter 6 - Minnie
A heavy feeling settles in my gut at Damien’s words. We need to talk. Famous breakup words of the century. But he already broke my heart once—it’s not like he can break it again.
But there’s still plenty of damage he can cause if he tells people Natty and I are staying here—so I can’t tell him to get out. I need to make sure he’ll keep quiet.
“Fine,” I say softly, worried the little boy might start crying again at any moment. “We can talk after I tuck Natty into bed.”
I carry the boy down the hall to the only other clean room—the bathroom. Since the bakery doesn’t have running water, and I can’t just call the utility company for a place I don’t own, I’ve had to resort to spells.
I settle Natty on the toilet, and when he’s done, I quickly go, too.
Then I pour down a vial of No Flush, No Fowl—which costs five bucks a pop—and leaves the toilet sparkling clean.
We both use magical hand sanitizer, face wash, and toothpaste from MysticCleanse: Don’t Add Water.
More money down the drain, literally and figuratively.
Still cheaper than rent, I remind myself with a sigh. And the fact that I can sigh tells me to be extra careful around Damien.
For a moment, I consider taking a second dose of Formula M to keep me from bursting into tears and admitting I never got over Damien. That there are still days when I miss him so much I cry myself to sleep.
Bet he’d love to hear me admit that I’m just like all the groupies throwing themselves at him.
I’m nothing like them. None of them know him like I do. But did I ever really know him? If I had, he wouldn’t have broken my heart.
Formula M’s calm barely helps, but I can’t take it again. What if the compound effects of two doses leave me comatose? What if I put Natty’s life in danger a second time?
I shove the thought aside and focus on Natty and doing what needs to be done. I help him into his PJs and carry the sleepy boy to bed.
Damien is leafing through one of the picture books, Chameleons Dream in Colors, when I get back.
“That’s my book!” Natty cries.
It’s actually a library book, but that’s beside the point. What he’s really trying to say is that he doesn’t want Damien here any more than I do.
“This was one of my favorites when I was a kid,” Damien tells Natty.
And, like an idiot, I blurt out, “I didn’t get it because of you.”
Damien smirks.
“Amber’s a chameleon shifter. Her sister Violet, the librarian, recommended it.”
“Oh, really?” Damien drawls. I swear I’d punch his smug face if it wasn’t going to set a terrible example for Natty.
“Read it to me,” Natty begs as he scrambles into his toddler bed.
“Sure, I can read it,” I reach to take the book back.
“No, Damien read it!”
“Damien can’t—”
“I don’t mind.” Damien completely ignores my protests.
He settles on the floor next to Natty and stretches out his long legs.
His dark jeans are ripped at the knee and his combat boots are huge.
I stare at them for a second too long before my gaze drifts to his jacket.
The leather hugs his broad shoulders and probably costs more than the down-payment and cruise I so desperately need.
But Natty has no idea that the man reading to him is a supernatural rockstar god. Or just how much Amber would freak out if she knew.
What if Natty tells her? I don’t even want to know how she’d react if she ever found out that I kept Damien Starr from her… or that we’re squatting at the bakery. But every day, Natty’s speech gets a little better. In a few months, none of my secrets will be safe.
I don’t have a few months. If I don’t find a legitimate place to live by the time Zachariah gets paroled, my life will be over. And if I can’t afford Amber’s cruise, it won’t matter, since I’ll be dead.
My heart starts to race and for a second, I can’t seem to suck in enough air.
Formula M is weaker at this time of night, but it still quells most of my rising panic.
As calm flows through me, I try to push aside my worries and focus on the present moment—on the smile on Natty’s face as he listens to Damien read.
On how out of place the picture book looks in Damien’s hands.
The man’s fingers are adorned with rings that scream ‘Rockstar whose ego couldn’t be contained in a measly band.’ A purple coffin glints on his index finger—despite the fact that he ditched Not a Vampire and left fans like Amber sobbing.
Not like he cares. He’s been breaking hearts since we were kids, and mine was just the first of many.
His other rings are equally imposing—a silver dragon, a circular blue gemstone, a green teardrop, and a chunky gold band covered in runes. And though I’d never admit it, I know each one refers to a different member of his band.
You’d think the asshole would take them off. How can he wear them like they mean nothing? Like he didn’t leave them behind the same way he left me?
The rings also cost more than I need to fix every one of my problems—and cover rent for at least a few years. They’re a reminder of how much things have changed. When I was a kid, I had all the money in the world, and now he has everything, while I have nothing.
Except Natty, I remind myself. I still have Natty.
Damien flips a page, and another ring catches my attention—a delicate silver band that sits on his pinkie. It seems out of place, with its small green stone—so unlike the others. So unlike the man he’s become.
His deep voice is soothing, and takes me back to happier days, when we used to keep stacks of books in his treehouse and spend hours up there reading.
Is the boy I once knew still in there somewhere, deep down? Or did he grow up and leave the parts of himself I knew and loved behind?
For a second I let the sliver of hope surface.
Maybe he’s missed me as much as I’ve missed him.
The marriage contract is just an excuse he made up to get me back.
He’s hit a quarter life crisis and realized he’s always loved me.
We truly are fated mates, and we’ll figure everything out together—get a new and improved version of Formula M, break the curse, and live happily ever after.
As if.
I’ve learned long ago that hope gets you nowhere. There’s only the here and now—and it sucks.
I’ll never find love. Maude Montgomery won’t allow it. Even if, by some miracle, the three men in my life really are my fated mates, our relationship is doomed from the start. Between the curse, the state of my life, and Formula M, there is no happy ending out there for me.
I watch Natty drift off to sleep to Damien’s soothing voice. And when the man turns those familiar blue eyes on me, my heart does a little somersault.
Not going to happen, I remind myself. It’s time to talk to Damien and get rid of him, once and for all.