10. Chapter 10 - Minnie
Zoe pulls off her coat, raises an eyebrow, and asks, “Do you need an intervention?”
“No, of course not.” But why else would she and Violet be here? It’s the crack of dawn, and they should be in their respective beds, getting their respective cracks licked by their fated mates… assuming they’re into that sort of thing.
I haven’t a clue if I’m into it or not. And unless Damien convinces my mother to break the curse, I never will. The best I can hope for is a kiss that doesn’t end with me sobbing and shouting Julian’s name.
Violet pulls off her coat, too, and Zoe sends both floating to the coat rack with a flick of her wrist. If I’d had magic like hers, would Maude have loved me? Would she at least have accepted me for me?
I shove aside that glum thought and focus on acting Formula M Fine. I round the counter, pull on my apron, and get started on Zoe’s Mood Tea. It’s what she always gets, so I don’t even have to ask. Or speak.
Amber grabs a mug for her sister’s London Fog and nudges my shoulder with hers like we’re friends. “I didn’t get a chance to tell Minnie you two would be stopping by this morning, though I did send a few DMs…” She shoots me a pointed look. “They’re still unread.”
“My phone’s off.” At three identical, incredulous looks, I add, “What? No one ever calls me.”
“I call you,” Amber says.
“So do I,” Zoe adds, settling on a bar stool at the counter.
Violet grabs one too and shrugs. “I don’t, but I can start.”
I can’t help smiling because, for a split second, I feel like I belong in their little friend group.
Zoe notices—I can tell by the way her eyebrow shoots up—but before she can say anything, Amber adds, “And Zachariah called. He’s up for parole.”
“Wait, when did that happen?” Zoe crosses her legs and floats up a few feet above her seat. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Clearly a power move from an expert interrogator, and it works.
I grimace. “I didn’t have time… with everything going on.” And I’m not used to telling people stuff. “The parole hearing is tomorrow.”
Zoe frowns. “Wow. That’s big.”
Amber nods. “How are you feeling about it, Minnie?”
Terrified that he’ll take Natty away from me. Selfish for wishing the parole hearing wasn’t happening. Even more selfish for wanting to keep Natty after I nearly got him killed.
“Of course I’m happy for him.” I clear my throat to dislodge the lump that’s quickly forming. “He’s Natty’s dad.”
And he’s a good man. He’s done his time. He deserves to be out.
And I want that for him. I want him to be with his son. I want him to be free. I just wish I could be a part of their life. I wish we really were fated mates. I wish we were a family.
The three women exchange a look, and I wonder if my feelings are written all over my face.
It’s no wonder Maude thought the only way to make me normal was to medicate me.
I take a deep breath, pull a Formula M, and yawn. “So, why are you two here? Don’t you have to be…”—at home letting your mates fuck you until you can’t walk—“at work?”
Or in Violet’s case, getting fucked at work, since she has a key to the library and her assistant just so happens to be her fated mate. But instead of answering, her gaze jumps from me to Amber and back again. “You seem different, Minnie.”
Amber grins. “That’s exactly what I said.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s almost like the two of you are… sisters.”
Violet giggles and exchanges a grin with Amber. The two of them were estranged for so long that even after reuniting nearly three years ago, they still get excited each time they discover another way in which they’re similar.
Violet’s still smiling when she turns back to me. “I’ve still got work, but Nole,”—her fated mate, who’s her assistant and also happens to be Wes’s brother—“is going to open the library in case I don’t get back in time.”
“And Nyle,” Zoe chimes in, referring to Nole’s identical triplet, who is her colleague and not her mate, “is covering my shift.” At the Cleanly Den, the cleaning company Wes owns, and where Zoe works as a magical maid. “Bear shifters for the win!”
She holds her hand out for a high five but Violet leaves her hanging. “Neal,”—the third triplet—“showed up drunk at our place last night and passed out on our couch.”
Zoe sighs. “Again?”
“He’s taking the breakup pretty hard, isn’t he?”
Taking what pretty hard? Whatever it is, they all know about it. And I don’t. I guess I’m not really a part of their friend group after all.
If I were on Formula M, I’d probably yawn… or examine my nails… or roll my eyes. But before I can pick one, I let out a sigh. A loud sigh. A very, very loud sigh.
All three women turn to stare at me. Again.
I’m killing it at peopling without Formula M. Not.
My cheeks flush and I quickly slide Zoe’s Mood Tea across the counter. And belatedly realize that it’s dark green with envy.
Zoe stares pointedly at it. “Explain.”
I shake my head. “It’s nothing.”
“She said the same thing earlier,” Amber says as she tops Violet’s London Fog with frothed milk.
“Um…” I say, because I’m that smooth.
Violet takes her drink from Amber. “Are you into Nyle?” she asks with a pointed look at Zoe’s drink.
That’s why she thinks I’m jealous?
Amber places a hand on my shoulder. “Trust me, Minnie, you do not want to go there.”
Zoe nods. “He’s a mess.”
“I don’t care about Nyle!” I shout.
My skin burns. My lungs burn. I feel like I might explode. I need to run. To dive under the counter. To do something to make it all stop.
My gaze zeroes in on Zoe’s drink. Before I can think it through, I grab the plastic cup and throw it across the cafe. Dark green liquid spills everywhere—on the walls, the tables, the floor.
The pent-up energy dissipates, and I’m left staring in horror at the mess that is Jewels Cafe.
“Oh my goddess, I’m so sorry!”
“At least you didn’t blow up a door,” Amber says. Maybe she’s still in shock.
“It’s about time,” Zoe adds. Was she just waiting for me to explode? To show my true colors? Did she always know this was the real me?
“I didn’t mean to do that. I swear!” I cry.
“I don’t know what got into me!” I’m just a complete and utter mess without Formula M, and if I stop taking it, I have zero chance of ever being a functional human being…
let alone the competent witch my mother always wanted me to be.
But I can’t take it anymore, and I don’t know what to do.
“I’ll clean it up. It’ll be like it never happened. ”
“That’s what I’m here for.” Zoe flicks her wrist, and a mop zooms out of the closet, followed by some washcloths.
Amber grabs a plastic cup. “I’ll make another Mood Tea.”
“Can I get you anything, Minnie?” Violet adds.
I shake my head. “I don’t understand. Why aren’t you freaking out? Why aren’t you telling me to leave? Why are you being so nice to me?”