8. Chapter 8 - Minnie
A heavy weight settles in the pit of my stomach. A divorce?
The part of me that’s been holding out hope—daydreaming that Damien’s missed me as much as I’ve missed him—dies a slow and painful death.
He’s glad he left me behind. He doesn’t want to be seen with a failure of a witch who talks to birds. If given the chance, he’ll leave me again in a heartbeat.
And his words prove it. “The marriage is just temporary. We’ll sign a prenup so you can keep an agreed-upon amount of cash, and I’ll give you whatever you want upfront—vacation home, designer clothes, private school admission… you name it.”
Which only goes to show how little he knows about me—or how much the fame and fortune has gotten to his head.
But he’s right about one thing. I could use the money. The real question is, how low would I be willing to go to get it?
I want a real marriage. And a small part of me wonders if I could get him to fall back in love with me. What if I reminded him of the good times? Of how much fun we had together when we were kids? What if I make him realize he made a mistake? That we’re meant to be?
I glance at the rope of pink fiery magic connecting us.
Oh, who am I kidding? I may be attracted to Damien, and possibly still a little bit in love with him, but I hate what he did to me.
I hate the way he abandoned me without saying goodbye.
He broke more than my heart. He broke me.
He was my only friend. The only person in the entire world I thought loved me, for me. And his rejection destroyed me.
Fated hate.
That’s the only reason we’re connected. Because he’s always been destined to hurt me, and I’m destined to hate him for the rest of my life.
A pointless life where Zachariah takes Natty away from me, Dr. Reddy sells off all the fuzzies into a lifetime of torture, and I’m stuck following Julian around for all eternity.
My thoughts spiral and my heart races, urging Formula M to do its thing. It’s weak, but it tries.
Everything will work out. It has to. I’ll make sure of it.
Damien could be the solution to my immediate problems. A house would convince Zachariah I’m a good guardian.
Money could buy a new version of Formula M with fail safes to make sure what happened to Natty and Tiptoe never happens again.
Maybe even enough to buy all the fuzzies to keep them from getting into the wrong hands?
I reject that idea as quickly as it comes to me. Buying the fuzzies is out of the question. Money equals power, and the last thing that evil vampire needs is more of it. Especially when he can make more fuzzies and sell those.
But money would pay for Amber’s cruise, so at least I won’t die. And what if getting married will finally convince Maude to set me free?
Hope takes flight, momentarily taking my breath away.
I can keep my heart under lock and key, file for divorce, and walk away with a nice payout. Win-win.
And it wouldn’t make me a gold digger. Not really. Not when I’d also be helping Damien out.
I can’t just let him get trapped in the land of the fae. Amber would never forgive me if her favorite rock star never writes a song again!
“Fine, I’ll marry you,” I say. “Under two conditions.”
Damien nods. “What are they?”
“First, I need a million dollars and a six-bedroom house in Silver Springs.”
Okay, I do not need a million dollars or a six-bedroom house. What I do need is money to rent a two-bedroom apartment, a few thousand to pay for a cruise—just in case—and two hundred thousand to pay for a new and improved Formula M.
But if there’s one thing I learned from my mother, it’s to never put all my cards on the table… and to always ask for more than you need so there’s room for negotiation.
Apparently, no one taught Damien that, since he nods. “Done.”
If it weren’t for the remnants of Formula M, my jaw would drop to the floor.
Should I have asked for more?
“What else?” Damien asks, sounding as bored as I did before the sun set.
I open my mouth, but struggle to get the words out. It isn’t easy to admit what my mother has done. Especially in front of him. “I need you to break a curse.”
“Consider it done.” Damien relaxes back in his seat. “What curse?”
I ball my hands into fists and force the words out—fast—before I change my mind. Because this might actually work.
Damien’s rich, famous, and desperate. Which means if he talks to Maude, she might actually listen. Especially if there’s something in it for her. And she may have all the money in the world—but she doesn’t have fame.
“Maude always wanted me to marry Julian. He comes from a pure witching family, even if his magic is a little wonky.” More like a train wreck.
“You don’t say?” Damien drawls, making me want to punch him.
I plow ahead. “She’s convinced Julian can’t control his magic because he’s exceptionally powerful, and that if his bloodline and mine mix, our children will be the most revered witches of all time.”
Damien frowns, and I don’t blame him. It’s not like I want to be a breeding mare for perfect little Julian witches either.
“Julian is mated to Amber, obviously,” I add.
At first, my mother convinced me he was my fated mate. I was young, and all the attraction and desire that Formula M would create whenever he was around felt so real. A part of me wanted it to be real. After Danny abandoned me, I was so alone. So desperate for someone to finally like me for me.
But as I got older, I started to question those feelings. And after we left the academy, and I followed Julian to Silver Springs, I finally realized it was all fake. Just another instance of Formula M exacting my mother’s will.
“When I told Maude I wouldn’t go after him anymore, she cursed me.”
Actually, she canceled my credit cards first. Then, she sold the bakery and took away my inheritance. And when that didn’t work, she disowned me.
I knew she wouldn’t take it well, so I stocked up on potions and withdrew a bunch of cash before telling her I was done. A good thing, too, since I ended up taking in Natty soon after that. And diapers, formula, and doctor’s appointments really add up.
Unfortunately, I didn’t expect her to also cast a curse. “If I get more than ten miles away from Julian, I’ll die.”
Damien’s eyebrows shoot up. “Die? You’re messing with me, right? Even your mother wouldn’t stoop that low.”
I shake my head. “I thought so, too. Amber, her guys, and I tested it. I was sure it was just a threat.” A very painful threat. “That if I held out long enough, the pain would stop, and I’d be free.” I shrug. “I only lasted thirty minutes before I passed out, and I barely survived.”
Amber, Chase and Wes rushed me to the hospital while Julian drove back as fast as he could, hoping his proximity would save me. It was touch and go for a while, but the witch working in the ER that night managed to cast a powerful enough healing spell.
We never tried to outlast the curse after that.
Damien gapes at me like I’ve grown a second head. Even he’s shocked, and he’s actually met my mother.
I push aside the hurt and focus on the solution.
“I don’t know if Maude cast the curse herself or if she paid someone to do it.
But it can only be broken by the witch who cast it, so I need you to convince her that we’re together now and she needs to forget about this whole Julian thing once and for all. ”
Damien nods. “I can do that.”
“And a million dollars and a house,” I remind him.
“That’s a given,” he says, like it’s chump change. To people like Damien and my parents, it is. “The fae king plans to marry me to his daughter on the night of the New Moon. Some shit about new beginnings. He’s going to come get me tomorrow night, so we’ll need to get married in the afternoon.”
“Tomorrow?!”
Damien nods and my gut churns. But it’s better to get it over with. I need a place to live and a new Formula M before Zachariah gets paroled, so I might as well rip off the metaphorical Band-Aid. “When will you deliver your end of the deal?”
Damien shrugs, like it’s no biggie. “We’ll put it in the prenup.”
“No. I want the money and house up front.” I examine my nails, and this time it has nothing to do with Formula M. “Or are you saying the great Damien Starr can’t pull it off?”
He scowls. “Of course I can. Consider it done. I’ll be at the courthouse at noon with the keys to your six-bedroom house. And I’ll transfer the money into your account once the paperwork is signed.”
“Works for me.”
By this time tomorrow, I’ll be married to Damien Starr… Or Daniel Stravinsky, if he hasn’t legally changed his name.
That thought is slightly terrifying.
There was a time, long, long ago, when I dreamed of being Minerva Stravinsky. When I wanted to spend forever with the man sitting next to me.
But not like this. Never like this.
But it’s either that or a lifetime of following Julian around, forever alone, squatting in boarded-up buildings.
And I have to think of Natty. I can’t even keep him safe. Not on this version of Formula M. Not while living here. He deserves better.
Marrying Damien is the only way I can take my life into my own hands and build us a better future.
It’s not like I’ll ever marry anyone else. I’ll never have fated mates, or a happily ever after. Hell, I’d even settle for a first kiss.
And to think there was a time, long, long ago, when I planned to save myself for the man sitting next to me.
“I have one more condition,” I blurt out. I don’t really know what’s gotten into me, but I want this. I need this.
Damien raises an eyebrow, completely oblivious.
“After we get married, I want a kiss,” I tell him. My first kiss was always meant to be yours, and this is my chance.
Assuming the curse lets me lock lips with a man who isn’t Julian.
Maybe kissing Damien will even help me find closure. Check it off my list and start a new life for myself… even if it doesn’t look quite the way I’d always pictured it.
I just need to do one thing to make it happen. Quit Formula M. Cold turkey.
I already know I can’t keep taking it for Natty’s sake. And I won’t be able to say my vows or sign the prenup, marriage license, or anything that doesn’t have Julian’s name on it as long as I’m taking the potion. I’ll just freeze up—like I did this morning, when Natty needed me.
Well, no more. No Formula M. From now on, I’m a new Minnie–and soon I’ll have Formula M 2.0 to solve all my problems.
I suddenly feel a little weak, and the potion calms me, completely unaware of its own demise. But I can get through a day or two without it.
It’s not like I have a choice.