THE WITCH AND THE WARLOCK

An Everbrook Paranormal Romance

ELISA COVEY Contents

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Get The Witch and the Wand! About the Author For my readers for always believing. An Introduction

Xavier Alexandros could have any witch or mortal he wants. When his golden eyes are set on Jenna Reness she can't see why he could ever want her. A white witch like her could never suit his tastes. But to Xavier, a cursed Lothian warlock, the modest witch holds an attraction that he himself doesn't understand. Jenna resists him with determination, after all, it's up to her to save her family from ruin and resist a powerful warlock who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. The Lothian’s Curse

There once was a powerful witch, young, pretty, and wise, who fell in love with a pair of wily golden eyes. His ways were treacherous and unbound, and broke the witch’s heart that it might never be unwound.

Drying her tears with wicked dark magic, the witch sealed away her pain with a spell so tragic. Before her heart could ache any worse, under the full midnight moon she chanted this verse:

‘If his love be not ever found,

By thirtieth year, accursed and bound,

Over all the earth he will wander,

As a mortal man his powers be asunder.’ Chapter One

" here's a lot of security issues here, Mr. Alexandros, boss,” said Edgar T uneasily, dabbing at the sweat dripping down his round face. Xavier Alexandros stood in front of his limo surveying the tall white tower before him. His great-grandfather had built it to look just like a medieval tower. "True," Xavier said. Thanks to Madam Delphine's spell, his simple-looking sunglasses helped him see the Spirit Guards. They were everywhere: the tower and in the churchyard across the street. "Does it make you feel safe?" "I won't feel safe until I'm home,” Edgar confided. “I’m afraid there’s heavy magic at work here. I thought—” “You know what, Eddy,” Xavier turned to Edgar and brushed his lapel with his hand, “maybe this isn't the correct job for you.” Xavier chided him and adjusted the collar on Edgar’s black suit jacket. Edgar gave Xavier a sad look, "Believe it or not I didn't mean to offend you." Xavier didn't reply and he turned back to face the menacing white tower. He had contemplated on replacing Edgar weeks ago. He never hired a skin walker before, but he’d heard they were good for security measures. And it seemed to him that that theory was correct. Though he knew Edgar couldn’t see the shadowy wisps of Spirit Guards, he could sense, perhaps even smell that they were there. “Sir,” Edgar paused before stepping up to the curb. “Do you think they’ll suspect?” “Suspect?” “You know…” Edgar adjusted his unfortunately average sunglasses in response. “I’m counting on it, Eddy. But I might as well try. No harm in trying.” They strode into the cool interior of the tower where people, dressed in white cloaks, stood to greet him. A hooded figure in red waited just for him. His great- grandfather was a sucker for the old traditions. The figure lowered its hood to reveal a woman with dark skin and light-blue eyes. She would've stuck out among a crowd of mortal women. It wouldn’t take a warlock to know she was something special. But Xavier could not place her familiar face. She gestured for the white cloaked figures to escort Edgar outside. "He wants to see only you." She said in a hoarse tone that echoed throughout the archway. Edgar looked to Xavier, and permissibly he waved him to go. "It is a pleasure," said the red-cloaked woman. "I'm Joliette Goution.” The name was one he’d heard of many times as a child along with the stories of her ancient life. He’d saw her face once in an old oil painting. “Ah, yes.” He smiled as he took her hand and kissed her ruby ring. But what was a woman of her ability doing here? “The Sorceress Goution.” Blushing, she smiled, “I’m happy you have come.” “Yes. How is he doing?" Xavier asked. Joliette grimaced. "He is doing better now, but it’s not very likely that he has much time left." Xavier nodded. He had long since thought about the visit that this day would bring. The old man's health had declined, and there was no amount of witchery to keep him alive any longer. The infamous Joseph Fioretto, once the head of one of the most insatiable covens in the world until he lost his powers thanks to the cursed Lothian blood that ran through them both. They walked the entire length of the archway to an elevator. She pulled out a key and put it in its lock, turned it and pushed a button. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. “That’s a lot of security for a dying man.” Xavier said as the elevator took them to the top floor. Jolliette only pursed her lips. She seemed to want to say something. The doors to the top floor opened. Outside of the elevator was another hall and past another set of white-cloaked soldiers was a tall reinforced metal door. Xavier spotted several Spirit Guards wavering cautiously in the shadows. “Before we go any further. I need your things.” Joliette gestured to a granite podium with a small basket atop. “For your belongings.” Xavier’s brow arched as he examined her. “Excuse me?” “It’s for his safety.” “Very well.” Xavier casually removed his wallet and his watch and put his hands up in surrender. “Good?” “No. Your sunglasses, those too.” “My sunglasses? That’s ridic—” “You forget who I am? I am head of security for a reason. I know those cheap looking eyeglasses have a spell over them. You can hear people’s thoughts can’t you? Didn’t you wonder why you couldn’t hear mine?” Xavier shrugged and gave her a defeated smirk. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure they were working.” She shook the basket at him, “come on.” “Fine.” Xavier reluctantly took off his sunglasses. His eyes glowed with a rare golden ring around their black pupils that all Lothians are known for. Joliette placed the basket back on the podium and reached into her front pocket. She pulled out a small double-round container and popped the cover open. “You want me to wear eye contacts?” “I know those eyes of yours can make mortals do things against their will.” “And what about my safety?” Xavier knew how that sounded, ridiculous. To think that Joseph Fioretto was formidable any longer was off the wall outrageous. Joliette didn’t reply; she only stood in silence, waiting. He relented, and once the contacts hid the gold rim of his eyes, he looked as dull and mortal as the rest of the mundane world. “I wouldn’t even think you had a drop of Lothian in you.” Said Joliette with a delicate smile. She guided him down the hall past the robed soldiers and the hidden Spirit Guards that his eyes could not see any longer. Joliette stood in front of a metal reinforced door and swiped a card and punched in a code. “These codes change daily. So don’t get any ideas.” Inside, Joseph Fioretto lay propped up in a hospital-sized bed surrounded by beeping monitors and ash-filled urns enchanted to keep death at bay. His face was gray and lifeless, and his eyes sluggishly moved to examine Xavier as he entered. It was a strange site to see mortal tools combined with magic. Fioretto’s dark clouded eyes rested on him, and he sighed, "I can't tell you how much it means to me that you have come. You look so much like your mother, my grand-daughter,” he coughed, clearing his throat he pressed a button by the bed. "Have a seat while we talk. Just this time behave like a great- grandson should.” Xavier wanted to deny him that right and any relationship he wanted, but he knew he couldn't. He had to be civil for now to be able to get the information he needed out of the old man. Squaring his broad shoulders, he sat down. A witch servant brought a tray of crystal glasses filled with red wine and a plate of tiny pastries. How his great-grandfather had done it, Xavier wasn’t sure, but he’d enslaved nearly any witch he’d gotten his hands on. The poor girl looked exhausted and withered; the old man must've been working them to the bone. She repeatedly bowed as she exited the room, and Xavier lifted the glass and slowly drank. The old man laughed. "You are no scaredy cat." "Why would I think you would harm me, old man?" Fioretto slowly shook a finger in the air, "An Alexandros and a Fioretto, are not a match made in heaven. Though we share the same Lothian blood and that damned curse, you still have the fervor of an Alexandros on your father's side coursing through your veins. Perhaps that too is a curse. Maybe it’s why your father and I did not get along. But your mother was always precious to me." "Is that why mom ended up being a maid, scrubbing floors, and cleaning toilets for a living?" Xavier said as smooth and cutting as glass. The old man wasn't bothered by this reminder. “I only did that because she disowned us! Her family! I spoiled her with gifts, and charm bracelets, spell books, pendants and things. I gave her anything she wanted...anything!" “Before you lost everything.” Xavier quipped. "Don't mock me,” he shook his crooked finger at him. “You step two feet in my door and already you are at my throat. You know nothing. But if I must defend myself then so be it. I don’t have much time left.” He hacked and cleared his throat and took two deep breaths before he could speak again. “Your mother had the world in her hands. What did she do? She turned her back on all the spell books, the incantations of Esmerelda even! And then she did the most horrible thing after your father’s demise, your mother married a mortal!” He shook his head at his last word. “And how did you deal with the situation?“ Xavier tapped his shoe against the floor. He was impatient to find out more. Most of the facts about his mother's life had evaded him. "In our family, we don't interfere between husband and wife even if they are of mixed blood." The old man rolled his eyes, "She ran away from her home, and her responsibilities to the coven." "Maybe she had a good reason for it." The old man leaned forward and his dark eyes crackled with amusement. "You are in for a surprise. You put your precious mother at no fault when she died." Xavier turned red at that insinuation. Only the fact that the old man would revel in getting in under his skin kept him silent. Fioretto slumped back against his pillow. "She was my granddaughter and a dear one to me. But she brought shame to me when she walked out on us for a mortal.” "Why do you care? She was young. Why couldn’t she have a fresh start with someone new? After all, you are a mortal now and have been for a long time.” Xavier couldn’t help but let his lips form a slight grin for the old man to see. Fioretto grunted. “Loyalty means everything to me. In our world it is non- negotiable. Leaving the way she did left a stain on her honor and it made her many enemies." He shook his head wearily. "She is responsible for destroying herself." Xaviers’ attention keenly focused on the old man. "You never lost track of her! You could have—” "You don't want to hear what I have to say." "I'll try my best," Xavier said drily and sat back in his chair. He crossed his arms and chewed at his lip. Calmly, Fioretto looked at him. ”How does it feel to push me away? Your flesh and blood and you reject me." A sly smile curved Xavier's sculpted features. "It kept me alive. Think about it.” He leaned close to the old man, “The family tree is filled with early deaths, only you and I have seemed to make it this long. You, quite longer." After a moment to swallow that bitter response, Fioretto had a choking fit that turned into laughter. Xavier stood to summon assistance for the old man as he struggled for breath but was irritably waved back to his seat. “Tell me about my mother.” Xavier urged him before the old man had the chance to slump over and take his final breath. "I need to know." He smiled mockingly, "You should know that she had money in her pocket when she left the coven. My ex-wife, Seraphine, against my wishes and unknown to me, had left her much money to provide for her. She gave her one of her potions and spell books which were worth a lot too. As for her misfortune, that was her very poor taste in mortals." Xavier tightened his jaw and his fist. "I warned you that you wouldn't like what I had to say,” he said, “after your grandfather was lost to the Lothian curse while trying to reverse it, and then your father, rest his soul, met his end because of a damned wand, she found herself a mortal. My only guess is that she wanted someone who wouldn't be lost to magic. That man promised her many things; one was to marry her when she left us.” "How do you know any of this?" "I kept some of the letters that he wrote to her. He didn't know she came from a family of warlocks and witches. Or so he said. He offered to take care of her. He did take care of her, bled her dry, sold her spell books and cashed in all her magical items. She never saw any more of it ever again. Then he disappeared too, and he did that without magic." Xavier could hear the cold, critical words of detachment that had decided his mother's fate. "You knew about this all this time, and you never helped her?" "She could have asked,” he raised his dark gaze, “but she had become an embarrassment to me, to us. I don't forgive easily. She let us all down.” "If you never saw her again then how would you even know about all this?” The old man wrinkled his face. "She called before she died. Worried about you and begging that I watch over you.” Xavier could see that the old man was getting tired, exhausted from their talk. "I need to know the mortal’s name who stole my mothers’ life.” The old man cast a weary look at him and then to Joliette. Joliette handed a manila-colored packet to him. "Those were your mothers’ letters. Keep them. Maybe you’ll find something.” “You didn't look for him? Take vengeance?" "No. Why should I? I warned her. It was my duty, and that is what I did. But you’re here now, and you've used magic to be just like me, strong, powerful, just like a Fioretto. You claim you’re nothing like me and yet you seek vengeance. Now that runs in our blood! We are alike no matter how much you wish it not to be. But if you’re nothing like me as you say then why want to know his name?" Xavier gave him a dark expression and shrugged. Why answer this old man’s delusions? “Yes, that’s right. I know what you’re after,” he again pointed a stern finger at Xavier, “don’t you go doing anything foolish, Xavier. I’ve lived this long because I didn’t worry about seeking out a way to reverse the curse. Unlike your grandfather, I let it happen. I let my powers go. So many of us have died to try to keep what we thought made us who we are. But I tell you….it isn’t who we are.” Xavier laughed. “Listen to you calling me the foolish one. You sound like a weak mortal who has resolved himself as such.” "Who should say that but me? I've spent the last hundred years in exile. Hunted across cursed lands by my enemies. My time is almost spent." Fioretto mused. "You’re the last living relative I have left and though you may not believe it, I have watched over you throughout your entire life.” "Not that I noticed." Xavier countered, unimpressed with his admission. "Under that skin of yours, we are both Lothians. There was once that our ancestors were revered. But…times change. You know we have more in common than you care to admit." Xavier lifted his arrogant head, "No. I don't think so. Not at all. But, if that is all you have for me. I think I will go.” Xavier stood to leave. “Yes. I guess that is all then. I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe that you had some shred of forgiveness in you—” “Forgiveness? You abandoned your family.” “And you? You have no one, Xavier. I ‘least tried.” Xavier’s cold, hardened stare was enough to send the old man into a coughing fit. Joliette laid a hand on the old man’s shoulder to calm him but he only pushed her away and regained his composure. “Perhaps we will meet again, Xavier. In another life.” Xavier turned away and stopped once he reached the door. He wanted to say something but decided against it. Xavier closed the door behind him. He knew he wouldn’t see the old man alive again. Outside of Fioretto’s room Joliette joined him, in her servitude, she bowed her head and handed him the tray of his belongings. “Nothing cursed without my knowledge?” Xavier asked hovering his hands over the basket. She shook her head. He felt she wanted to say something but looked to the closed doors of the old man’s quarters. “Your glasses.” She reminded him. Xavier put them on and heard her voice in his mind. "When he dies I am free. He was afraid to lose his powers and he enslaved many like me to carry out his workings after he became a mortal. I have no ill will towards you, Xavier. You can be free at knowing that. But do not become like him. I warn you.” Xavier didn’t nod; he did not want anyone eavesdropping to see him register her silent words. And it was then he realized the only drawback of his sunglasses, he could not communicate in return. He would let Madam Delphine know about this much-needed improvement. “It was nice to meet you, Joliette.” “The contact lenses?” Joliette reminded, holding out her upturned palm. “I think I will keep them on for now.” Joliette looked at him strangely and withdrew her hand before a smile crossed her lips. “Very well. Don’t get into any mortal trouble.” Chapter Two

he giant bear carried tulips and daffodils in a basket as she lumbered T down the stone path toward the two little girls, Tilly and Serella. Thrilled by the growling noises and the generous coat of hair, the children were laughing hysterically and clapping their hands. A little mutt, Spottyanna, was hard at her hairy heels, barking like a mad dog. Suddenly, an incessant ringing came from the bear’s midriff causing its hair to rattle and crumble away revealing an angry red-haired woman halfway through a roar that quickly turned into a little scream. Jenna Reness cleared her throat and slipped her phone out of her pocket. “Oh, bother,” smirked Tilly as she crossed her arms, “just when we were having fun.” “I bet it’s that wicked ol’ witch,” said Serelle with a pout. “Hush, please,” Jenna urged. She’d missed the call. Nervously she redialed. “I heard mom and dad talking about how you’ll never get a man with that wicked witch around,” Tilly said. Many times Jenna had wished the children’s mother would be careful about what she said in front of her little girls. “She needs one if she wants to make babies.” Serelle teased. “Is that the kids I hear hollering?” Reba Sharpleton, her stepmother, demanded as soon as she answered the phone. “Have you let that Janice Sanderson saddle you with those bratty hooligans again?” Giving the girls a pleading look, Jenna placed a finger to her lips and sidestepped Reba’s question. “I’ll be there in less than an hour or so—” “Any idea how much work needs to be done here?” Reba cut in. “I thought the cleaners—” “I’m talking about the spirits. The spirits, Jenna! They’re restless!” Jenna flinched. A week had already passed in a blur of preparation for the upcoming celebration. Her feet were sore from standing for hours late into the night, and her fingernails were stained with peat moss from conjuring seedlings into flowers and green ivy out of season just to decorate the vast halls of Sharpleton Manor. “Did I miss something here? I’ve been—” “Hedera and I have tried to send them back to the Nether, and they’re upset, Jenna. They’re not listening to any commands. The furniture has moved again from one side of the living room to the other. I’m tired of it!” she snapped accusingly. “I thought you said you would have them gone, but no! Pots and pans still clanging in the middle of the night. You’ll have to see it this evening. One of them drew with crayon across the ceiling. I suspect it’s that evil child- like thing that creeps in the corners. The place needs to be perfect for your father’s celebration tomorrow. These things just won’t do.” “I’ve told you if you don’t seal the portal closed when you're done with casting then you’re going to let them in.” “Don’t you analyze me,” Reba’s tone turned sour, “I know what I’m doing. I’ve carved sigils and did castings since before you were conceived!” “Of course, yes, Reba,” Jenna said delicately as she reminded herself that the countless requests and preparations to prepare for Reba’s event was in aid of an excellent cause: tomorrow was also her father’s big day. Edward Sharpleton had worked hand over foot to raise the necessary funds to begin the restoration of Turnblatt Manor. Although it was virtually abandoned, the Manor had once been home to Jenna’s ancestors for generations of venerable witches. A famous hedge witch created the gardens at the turn of the century, since then the plants were let go to grow on their own and had long since lost their vitality to create powerful potions. But she used them to do what she could to make money. A group of local press reporters would be there to record the momentous occasion when Edward Sharpleton would open the padlocked gates of old Turnblatt Manor so that the first phase of the work could begin. Jenna was beyond excited. Jenna hung up and took one deep breath and started jotting down the herbs that she would need on a piece of paper and tucked it back in her pocket and quickly went inside the shed that she’d converted into a potion shop. “Vilai tukitsi,” She repeated to herself as she put the herb into a small jar and closed it. “That should banish those bad spirits. Now just one—oh, no!” The herb she needed most had yet to grow. She pulled a small pot off the shelf, and poured a couple of inches of soil into it. She poked her finger in the soil and dropped a seedling. “Come on, Jenna,” she took a deep breath and placed a cupped hand over the small pot and with the other hand she grabbed the pale-green pendant laying against her chest. She felt the sharp edges of its facets through her thin white blouse and narrowed her shoulders. “Torq. Nai. Jin. Seti.” She commanded. When she opened her eyes only a small bud had popped its head out of the soil. “Darn it. Why can’t I be like mother. Ninevah’s Vine should be easy.” She sighed and, vanquished, she set the pot on the counter. Even using the necklace her father had given her as a memory of her mother was useless. She’d used so much energy as it were, she was sure she would have to call every witch in Everbrook just to help grow a plant. They would laugh at her over such a request. She would just have to deal with her stepmother’s bad attitude. Jenna left the shop and let the screen door slam closed behind her. She stopped in her tracks and turned on her heel when she noticed Tilly and Serella were balancing on a tower of pots watching her through the shop window. “You two get down from there! You’ll fall and hurt yourselves.” “Sorry, Jenna. But the wicked witch always steals away your happy eyes,” Tilly said and jumped down on her shiny black shoes. “We just wanted to make sure you were okay.” “I’ll be fine.” Jenna leaned forward and kissed them each on their foreheads. “It’s nice to know I have you two to worry about me.” “I wish we were witches. We would help!” exclaimed Serella, “and then you’d always have happy eyes because we would be the most powerful witches in the whole world!” “Well, so that you know…” Jenna made a growling sound and held her hands spread out. “I’m a bear. We don’t have happy eyes. We have HUNGRY eyes!” Jenna roared. The two children squealed as she began chasing them around the yard. She chanted the Animus spell again, one that had taken her forever to grasp, but once she did, it came easily. The children let out a giggle when Spottyanna started frantically barking and went on the run. “Oh!” Jenna yelped, losing her focus on the shape of the bear as it dissipated into thin air. “Spottyanna come back!” She raced for the picket fence as Spottyanna apparently had found another intended victim. Jenna scolded herself that she’d ever given Spottyanna the benefit of the doubt that today she would finally be a good puppy. Although she was comforting and helpful and learning to be a real familiar, she’d been abandoned by the roadside as a pup. Ever since then she’s had an aggression toward cars and their occupants, especially male occupants. Fortunately, she was so small that most people shrugged her off, and laughed rather than complain. “Spottyanna! No!” Jenna launched at her the instant she seen her bouncing furiously around a very tall, broad-shouldered man in a suit, standing by the faded white picket fence. Chapter Three

avier was not in the best of moods. His navigation system lost its X signal somewhere after the city lights dimmed and the picturesque village of Everbrook ensnared him. He tapped the screen, and still it managed only to remind him that it would be a moment until it located a signal. Xavier pulled over at the side of a long, narrow road and climbed out of his Porsche. It had been a long drive from New York, and he needed to stretch his legs. The quiet and calm surrounded him and soon he crossed over a bridge, only big enough for a car. The sounds reminded him of one of those pre-recorded babbling brooks. He got lost in his thoughts for a while, which had rarely ever the chance to happen these days. Soon he found himself gingerly strolling along a fence being assaulted by a freakishly small rabbit-eared animal. The irresponsible pet owner approached him at a run, scooping up the tiny terror. He had a surefire way of reproving the owner and had the damning words on his lips just waiting to be thrown at them. “Spottyanna! Stop it!” Jenna snapped her fingers when she saw Xavier glaring down at her dog. He was dressed in a business suit, and it was evident to Jenna that he was the type of man to be less tolerant of small annoyances. There was an old home up the way that was for sale, and she wondered if he was there to buy it. Xavier looked down into her eyes; he’d seen blue eyes before. But there was something different in those little blue jewels that were startling, set in the confines of her heart-shaped face. For the first time in his life, Xavier forgot what he was going to say. His words hung on his lips. He waited a moment too long, and the opportunity vanished when she bent down to scoop up her dog. “I'm so sorry…” said Jenna. The sunlight picked out streaks of gold in her dark hair tied in a braid down her back. In his mind he was still picturing her face, impatient for her to look up again. He condemned himself for not taking out his contact lenses, if only she could have seen his eyes the way they truly were, then maybe she’d be caught in them, unable to look away. “She didn’t nip you did she?” Even while Xavier adored her eyes and her soft mouth, he noticed her clueless choice of style. Her faded dress hinted at the slender figure beneath it. “Nip me?” he asked. His form poised with elegance at the gate waiting for her to respond as women always did with him; wide-eyed, and smiling. “Did he bite you? Sir?” Jenna stepped away from him, intimidated by his size as she cradled a growling Spotty Anna. It was impossible for any woman not to see that he was handsome. Jenna could see it, and she tried her best to avoid the compulsion to stare at him. But this made her feel unsettled in his presence. “No. She didn’t get the chance.” Xavier said as he waited in vain for that female response he was so acquainted with, so predictable. Instead, she fluttered her eyelashes and looked down at the growling mongrel in her arms. In spite of the unforgiving nature of the sun on his skin, her skin retained the luminescent sheen of a pearl. “Oh, thank goodness!” she exclaimed, “Tilly! Serelle!” Jenna looked around anxiously trying to see where the girls had gone. Two small brown-eyed girls poked their heads up above a ginger bush that bounded the grounds of the church. Xavier stopped. Kids? He looked at her hand. No ring. “Let's play Bear!” Tilly begged. “Come on Jenna!” yelled Serelle. “Are you their...caretaker?” Xavier asked, “or babysitter?” Jenna blinked in surprise at the unexpected question. “Caretaker, no. Babysitter, for an hour. But if you’ll excuse me...” Not meaning to, she glanced up at him. Her stomach clenched and her throated tightened. There was something about him, maybe his good looks, certainly not his good nature, that compelled her. “Maybe you could tell me how far it is to get to the hotel Ethera from here?” “It's a good ten miles,” she noticed she couldn’t see the car he arrived in, “just up that way,” she pointed down the roadway as it disappeared around the bend. “People don’t often come this way. So, there are few signs.” “I wonder why nobody would ever venture this far out into such a beautiful landscape. It's quite breathtaking.” His eyes never once scoped the scenery as he said this but stayed on her. “How about in return for your help you allow me to take you to dinner tonight? I’m only in town for a little while on business.” Taken aback by this smooth but sudden invite, Jenna flashed him a surprised glance. A soft pink warmed her cheeks. “But I don’t know anything about you. Not even your name.” “Perhaps you should seize the moment and ask?” Xavier advised. “No.” She said, catching herself off guard at such a quick admonition. “I mean, thank you. But I can’t.” “Why not? Boyfriend?” Usually, men retreated to their homes whenever she refused, but his boldness startled her. “Well, uh,” she was tongue tied. She shook her head and wished she was easier at lying. “No, but…” Her full lips folded and she looked to the ground. She had already turned down a perfectly good excuse. ‘Boyfriend.’ But even then, she felt, he would have had another angle. Had he ever met a woman capable of resisting his charms? "Jen! Jen!" shouted the children. "It's time to go home." “Excuse me,” she muttered. Her eagerness to leave this odd meeting and his questions were only another rebuff, a flat refusal to him. “I have to go.” Xavier was silent in disbelief as she walked away from him. He watched her every move wondering if she would be curious enough to look back at him; she didn’t. Agitated from the strange encounter, Jenna leashed Spottyanna in the shade of the old oak tree behind the shop. Serelle and Tilly packed their dollies and things while she flipped through her grimoire. Most of it was missing pages, and few spells were whole enough to work. She wasn’t as strong as her mother was to turn the gardens around or else she would restore the stone wall in a heart beat. Then there were the hanging plants which were barely alive. And she had just learned how to make an illusory Animus, and even then it wouldn't last. It was a while since anyone had asked her out. She met few new people since she was always so busy with the shop and her step mother’s regular gatherings. The woman was always looking for more power. She couldn’t seem to shake that flustered feeling after meeting him. She felt a small inkling to creep back to the front stoop and peer down the walkway to see if the handsome stranger was still there. Of course, he wouldn’t be. He’d be on his way to the elegant Ethera hotel for an international business trip. There was even a slight inflection in his English that suggested he spoke more than one language. A man of that caliber and intellect were a rarity in Everbrook and uninterested in women like her. What was wrong with her? Curious? Caught up in him? She slipped her fingers through her bangs. She didn’t date. She learned the hard way that when men say they want to date what they mean is friends with benefits. Friendly or not, they always wanted more than just a date. Sex was inevitably on their minds. It’s not that she didn't want either of the two, she just didn’t want it without love. Anything without love was empty. An image of the stranger swam in Jenna’s mind. His fiery gaze, his broad shoulders, the way he stood peering down at her with fascination in his eyes and the fantastic symmetry of his jaw. She laughed softly as she thought of how he affected her. So, what? She was a woman noticing a handsome man. Not exactly her kind of guy, though. He was too arrogant. She liked the humor, friendly, and creative, and the kind of eyes that smiled and burned into hers with their dark glimmering aura as though lit from behind. They were strange eyes. An hour later Jenna dropped Tilly and Serelle off at their mothers’. She knew Janice Sanderson for three years now. They had first worked together during the Fertile Castings for Mrs. Effervelle, and it appeared to work since she’d had triplets and another set of twins on the way. “Come in! Come in!” “Sorry. I can't.” Janice Sanderson gave her a wry look. “Is that wicked witch got a hold on you again?” Jenna nodded. “Still some things I have to do to at the house to get ready for Father’s celebration.” “You don’t even live there! But they have the audacity to—” "Mrs. Sanderson, please." Displeased with the whole matter, she shook her head. "I just don’t get it.” Jenna had moved into the small room above the potion shop years ago. Only, she told herself, so she could attend to the flowers and plants that grow along the old stone wall and practice on her abilities. Ones that were more acquainted with the earth, like much of her ancestors. But most of her heritage had been lost to time just like the pages of her spell book. “Tomorrow is dad’s big day.” “And for you too?” Janice chipped in. “Turnblatt Manor is falling apart. It was once your mothers’ home, and I still think you got the raw end of the deal.” Jenna pretended to laugh it off, “More than a generation ago it was starting to go to ruin. Mom moved out when the roof finally caved in on the South end.” “Well, I think you’ve done well at keeping up the gardens. I spotted a trestle of honeysuckle over the stone wall just last week.” Jenna grinned. “Thanks, but I‘m just a second-rate witch, hardly even that. Without my father, I can’t see us even making it this far.” “I think I know why you're still single. You're a daddy’s girl. And there isn’t any man that could match him in your eyes.” Jenna didn’t argue with Janice. She was right; a man would have to be a tall order to fill her father’s shoes. Her father had his set of flaws; women had been his weakness in his younger years. Her mother, Misby Reness, was one of those women.

THE NEXT MORNING, Jenna watched her father pose for the cameras in front of the neglected gates of Turnblatt Manor. Comfortably into his sixties, Edward Sharpleton looked younger. He had silvering dark hair he’d allowed to grow shoulder length and combed. He was a very presentable, distinguished man who forged his success as a seller of cauldrons and broomsticks. Accustomed to the media, he gave a short and witty speech at his public appearance. Soon the gates had opened, and the local news reporters crowded down the drive. Jenna’s stepmother and her stepsister, Hedera, reveled in front of the cameras. Showing off their new dresses and polished shoes. Jenna didn’t make any attempt to attract attention and join the family. She knew this would lead to an unpleasant argument among them. “I didn’t realize Everbrook's Day Council members were coming too.” Said one of the reporters. “Isn’t that Krellis Biggums?” Jenna glanced over her shoulder and seen two men, suited to the tee. Their faces expressed with grave contemplation. Another man was speaking with her father and whatever it was he said was not to his liking. Her father had turned red, shaking all over, and shouting that it was “nonsense.” With an exasperated smile her father strode towards them, even laughing as he approached. The crowd of reporters had hushed; there were quiet murmurs among them. Jenna heard one of the Day Council say, “these are serious accusations of black market magic.” She watched as a police officer walked up to her father and read him his rights. “You have the right to remain silent…” He carried on, placing the cuffs on her father in full view of the reporters and his family. Edward Sharpleton was being arrested. In his hotel room, Xavier played a clip recording of the news sent to his email. Edward Sharpleton now looked like a criminal as he was shackled next to the police cruiser. The look of indignation and cowardice on his face was all Xavier needed to satisfy him for the moment. Weeks earlier Xavier had bought the Cauldron and Broomsticks company. He sent in his accountants to check the accounts. Catching Mr. Sharpleton had been all too easy. Publicly exposing him was just the beginning. Sharpleton had to be made to pay for his sins in this life while Xavier still had a beating heart. Piece by piece he intended to tear everything Sharpleton had made of himself down. The man who had abandoned his mother and stripped her of her power would pay, and the first step was with his good name. Chapter Four

enna stood in the elegant casting room. The room was sparse of J furniture with only a long faded blue couch, a lounge chaise, and some wooden chairs. The room was meant only to be used for the coven. On the floor were faded lines and old sigils from the rituals they’d performed over many waning moons. When she had gathered with other witches the room echoed with their chants. But now all that could be heard were the furious shouts of Hedera and Reba. “This is all of your fault, Ed!” screamed Reba. “Why! Why did you have to do it?” Four days had passed since Jenna’s whole world as she knew it was shattered. At first, everyone defended Edward Sharpleton. All his workmates stayed silent through the whole ordeal. Jenna thought that maybe everybody was afraid to lose their jobs ever since word got out that Vincent Sarkofski had sold the company. But the biggest surprise came on day two: when Edward Sharpleton confessed his guilt. Charged with Dealings in Black Magic, which is not good for even a witch to be caught with, it is even worse for a mortal. Edward Sharpleton kept a tight lip about who his buyers were. He sold antiques of dark magic to witches and any magic-user with enough money. Then those funds were laundered as legal transactions through the Cauldron and Broomsticks business; owned by his best friend, and employer, Vincent Sarkofski. There was talk that there might even be more charges added as the investigation continued. So far Vincent wasn't incriminated as an accomplice. Edward had taken all the blame. That was all Jenna could give him credit for. When confronted with the evidence he hung his head low and confessed all his dirty deeds. Jenna felt destroyed. The father she thought she knew and adored had resorted to vile and secretive actions. All she could hold on to now was the fact that he had the courage to confess all he’d done. After making sure there weren't any charms set in place by a third party to protect Edward Sharpleton from further prosecution, the Everbrook council allowed him to come home. There, in his study, he had confided in her how he had done it all to support their extravagant lifestyle. “I ship cauldrons to buyers across seas,” he’d said, “smuggling the artifacts inside. I’ve traded and sold some ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, even the strange, darker sort from Assyria. Eventually, I was going to quit. I knew it was wrong, but unfortunately, Hedera had to have the biggest Sam Hain celebration last year which set me way back, so I had to sell even more. Reba spent more on her especially after she’d tried to set up her casting class. That was another disaster as you well know. There is no excuse to approve of what I’ve done. I’m not blaming anyone but myself. The more I did it the riskier things got. Soon I had to start siphoning off of the sales of the cauldrons too.” He shook his head in despair, “I shouldn’t have ever done any of this. I just can’t say no to the people in my life that I love so dearly.” “I don’t blame you, dad.” Jenna ran her hand over his back and squeezed his shoulder, giving him a comforting hug. She was aware of the neediness and greed of her stepmother, which goes without saying her stepsister too. They expected her father to take care of their every beck and call. “We’ve been living for so long on a budget not made for our tastes. I just need to learn to tell people no. What will I do if Reba divorces me over this?” After that illuminating conversation, Jenna found it difficult to stand by while her family was currently throwing all their anger at him. “They’ve gathered the Spirit Guards and cast a Magic Freeze over us! None of us can do anything!" Hedera snapped her fingers, "Pffff! Gone. Just like that. How am I supposed to keep up my beauty charms if none of them are working? Look at me! My skin is dry, and my hair is lifeless. I can’t let anyone see me like this!” Jenna wondered what would happen if she suggested getting a job like a mortal. Hedera still lived at home, practicing from her mothers' grimoire instead of her own. “And what about my annual Witch’s Ball?” Reba demanded. “How will I have one this year, and here?” Reba Sharpleton gave him a sour look of disapproval. “Never thought I’d wish I was still with my second husband. The provider, the great Warlock Andrus G. Tanner.” Jenna blinked at the reminder that her stepmother was a selfish witch. She wondered if Reba would stand by her disgraced husband now that she wasn’t sitting in the lap of luxury any longer. “You’re right. Quite right.” Edward Sharpleton said as he slumped back in his chair. Jenna thought the poor man resembled a stuffed voodoo poppet waiting for more needles to be driven into him. “Why did you have to tell the truth!” declared Hedera, furiously. “Why Eddy?” Hedera never referred to him as her father since she was only a young girl by the time they had married. Jenna was okay with that; she wouldn’t ever want to be related by blood to such vile witches. “The Perithian Corporation is one of the largest society of warlocks. If Vincent was still the owner, then we might have a chance. Not any longer. The Perithians would pursue us to the ends of the earth and further if necessary to get what is owed to them. The rules of warlocks can be brutal if not downright twisted to their gains.” He said bleakly. “I’m a desperate ruin.” “Listen,” said Jenna, delicately, “you’ve confessed to your misdeeds. That’s what matters now.” “Where did anybody teach you honesty? It sure wasn’t Christianity.” Her stepmother said with scorn. “You didn’t get it from your mother either. She was, after all, the dishonest mistress of your father for over a decade!” Jenna reddened with shame. It was a brutal truth: her mother’s affair with Edward Sharpleton had been a secret built on lies. “I came here to—” “Poke your nose where it doesn't belong?” Hedera snapped and narrowed her eyes at Jenna. “Telling us to sell all our belongings while I bet you still have your magic, don’t you? Especially since you don’t share the same name as us.” She walked to Jenna and stood facing her with a sly look of condemnation. “I-I don’t know. I haven’t tried to cast anything. I haven’t been to the gardens since before all this,” said Jenna, "I came to see if I could be of help. If we can pay back the stolen funds then dad could be able to escape punishment, and the charges could disappear. We could sell Turnblatt Manor, the gardens, the potions shop, and then there's the property for Hedera’s casting class.” “How dare you!” quipped Hedera as she held up a fist and shook it. “That school—" “Isn’t making any money,” Her father added. His face went from a red to a sickly gray shade. “We've only been taking money to stay afloat. When was the last time you had a client?” he returned from looking like a bump on a log and was listening to what Jenna had to say for once. “What about this place?" Jenna asked. A crazed look flashed on Reba's face. "This place? Sharpleton Manor? Are you mad?" "We could move into—” “Not ever!” screamed Reba. The thought of selling their home sent the family into a frenzy. Edward Sharpleton was looking at Jenna with a glimmer of hope. The phone rang, and Edward answered it. He grew agitated, and his hands shook. Quietly mumbling as he hung up the phone. “That was the Everbrook Day Council's Verril Mergando on the line, and he needs me to come to the Hall to answer questions in front of the whole council.” It pained Jenna to see him like this. His limbs were shivering and shaking. Even his once baritone and jolly sounding voice were now reduced to a modest quivering tone. Resolved to do something other than complain alongside her stepsister and stepmother Jenna stood up. “I’m going to the Cauldron and Broomsticks.” “There’s no point, Jenna,” he shook his head before looking at her again. “I’m done for.” Chapter Five

avier took his coffee black and ignored the enchantress at DuBlaine’s X Cafe. She eyed him across the table and winked, her tricks wouldn’t work on him. A mortal man might have been head over heels over the table by now but where was her self-respect. That was the problem with enchantress’ these days. If she had been his employee, he would have made her useful and had her seduce one of his competitors. He didn’t like sex in the office. It was a distraction and distractions he hated. Distractions were fundamental to failure. Witches were wonderful to be with but at a time of his choosing, and he never let anything mess up an acquisition. Xavier went back to his office and found his colleagues in an in-depth discussion about the future of the Cauldron and Broomsticks company. He stood by the window overlooking the reception area, and he listened to his auditors as they argued over ways to save the company from destruction. Occasionally Xavier axed any ideas that seemed like unrealistic projections for the future of the enterprise. This was the strangest company for the Perithian Corp. to acquire for business. None of his executives could figure out a good profit margin to start with or an idea of how to advertise and promote such a company, even if there could be franchise licensing. This was a big problem. Warlock’s didn’t use cauldrons let alone broomsticks. They used wands, and staffs, and elements of power. If a brew was needed from a cauldron, a witch could be paid for that. This made things difficult for the Perithian Corporation to buy a place such as the Cauldron, which threatened the security of every witch and mortal employed at the Cauldron. Meaning more reasons for people to hate Edward Sharpleton because the future of the company was in shambles. Below him, Xavier noticed a young dark haired woman approach the reception desk. Her long hair swept over her shoulders and down her back. Xavier stiffened. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the graceful angle of her head and her perfect profile. Well, what do you know? He thought without great surprise. Jenna, from the loneliest part of Everbrook, had found him. Had she seen his Porsche as he departed and recognized he was a wealthy man? Whatever. She had saved him the time of looking for her. Disappointed. He thought he was going to have to chase this one. The phone rang. The call was for Vincent Sarkofski. Briefly, he listened, and then he mumbled uneasily as he set the phone back down on the handset. “Edward Sharpleton’s daughter is downstairs. She wants to talk to anyone in charge that is willing to speak with her.” Vincent answered. Xavier, still looking down at her from the window, frowned. He’d looked through the Sharpleton family history, and he didn't see that Edward Sharpleton had a daughter named Jenna. “Is she biologically his daughter?” Xavier asked. Vincent quickly replied, “His only blood daughter. She’s a sweet girl, but I do not want to have to confront her about all this.” A sweet girl? Yes. He could agree on that one. He was a connoisseur of many things, and many women and this one had stopped him in his steps. “I will see her in five minutes.” Xavier declared over the intercom as he recoiled from his thoughts of the beauty waiting for him. He ignored the shocked reactions of his colleagues and exited the room to his office. Opening his laptop he looked at the file on the Sharpletons. He found the one paragraph on Jenna Reness, twenty-five, only child, and apparently, a precious possession to her father. Even if he was a lying cheat without much of a heart, what was left of it was probably reserved for her. JENNA WAS patient in the waiting area. There was a hostile atmosphere among the office workers; she caught their glimpses and she thought she heard curses being thrown her way. Luckily, as Hedera had referred, the Day Council’s Magic Freeze hadn’t descended to her as an illegitimate birth. She was able to ward off any of those small demonic fingers that tried to come her way from the invisible corners of Hell. This only reminded Jenna how ruthless witches could be when scorned. The minutes passed slowly. She was amazed to be told that Xavier Alexandros, the billionaire warlock was here and would be able to see her shortly. She had dimly assumed that someone of high authority would be personally overseeing the day-to-day of such a small company. By the time she was escorted past her father's old office and into the boardroom she was tense and exceedingly nervous. “Miss. Reness…” Xavier cooed as he watched the recognition of his face wash over her. She wasn’t even trying to hide her displeasure. He marveled at her real, raw, expression which was rare among the people in his world. “I’m Xavier Alexandros.” A moment stretched where she stared at him absorbing the smooth dark planes of his high cheekbones, the masculine jut of his nose, and the sensual fullness of his handsome mouth. Xavier raised his eyebrow. “Well, this is a coincidence I could have done without today,” Jenna said awkwardly. “Yet, I still do not know why you wanted to see me.” Xavier was delighting in her inability to hide her flustered feelings. That his enemy’s kin was so inexperienced in the art of deceit was exciting to him, to say the least. “To talk about my father, Edward Sharpleton.” “You think I press pause on the numerous meetings and decisions that make me millions just for a talk with you about your father? What makes you think I’m at all interested in talking about him?” Jenna stiffened. “My father was a well-valued employee here for a long time —” “Was. While he deliberately used up everyone's trust in him and used the company for his dirty deeds." Her eyes looked downward. “I have no intention of denying the accusations lobbed against him.” “Then why else would you come here? Or do you expect to be babied and taken care of like your father when he was working here?” She shifted in her chair, crossing her legs and gripping the sides of the chair like she might just fall over. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” “Vincent Sarkofski gave your father everything; he treated him more as a friend than an employee, and your dad took him for everything he was worth. Meanwhile, the company drowned in declining profit margins no matter how many Cauldrons sold. That's why Vincent sold the company to us.” Xavier watched as she bowed her head and the pink hue drained from her cheeks. He was slightly amused of her sensitive nature, a nature he knew he would use against her. It was second nature to himself that he discover people's weak points for his benefit. “He’s humiliated now that he knows his trust was used against him, and he is ashamed that it has cost many others their livelihood.” “My father's ashamed—” “You must love living in that bubble of yours, Miss Reness. Right now I’m trying to figure out a way to keep this company afloat and those people out there employed.” Her stomach flipped. She cringed at the reminder of Vincent Sarkofski and how he’d been deceived. She dismayed that the company was in worse condition than she had imagined. She failed to consider all the ramifications of her father's deceit. Stupidly she thought that the Perithians were wealthy enough to absorb the company’s debts. “I didn’t realize that the matters of the company were this bad.” “How could you not know? A significant amount of money, including stolen relics of the medieval era, along with the Dark Magic Scrolls has been lost to who knows." Xavier noticed that the anger he had held for who she was was gone and was now replaced by excited satisfaction. Why ever not? She was, after all, Sharpleton’s only daughter. He now had two mice dangling by their tails instead of only one. He was already discovering that she was a beautiful thing to play with and a whole new repertoire of expressions that he had not seen in a long time. “No business of this size could sustain such losses and media scrutiny without letting some of the employees go.” A gleam of hope lightened her eyes, and she lifted her head. “But that's why I’m here! You see we could help to repay—” “Repay?” Xavier asked, his eyes taking on a hardened look with renewed intensity. The upward tilt of her eyes and the sprinkling of freckles across her nose had an appeal he could not define. He noticed most people around here lived in a buble—a world away from the outside, wearing clothes from another era. The trouser’s she wore were not flattering to her frame, but it was outshone by her radiant beauty that continually drew his gaze. “My father has properties—” “If any of them were purchased with ill-gotten funds, and the courts agree, then that could help pay off the debts.” He said, knowing the court would be reluctant to repossess any such properties. Jenna partially evaded his gaze as she was aware of his intense scrutiny. “I wasn’t conscious of that.” In the back of his mind, he was already thinking about what favors she had intended on asking in return of repaying the stolen funds. He hadn’t planned on allowing Edward Sharpleton any redemption. Determined, he wanted to see him pay, punished on each level. “Dad admitted he was guilty of the charges,” Jenna said nodding her head readily. “He would be more than happy to put the properties up for sale and all proceeds to help repay the debts—” “He’s not in debt. He’s a thief, a burglar, a dishonest and untrustworthy criminal, and a typical mortal.” Xavier cut in dryly. “However, all that stuff takes time. How can a company stay above water while we wait for a property to be sold, funds split, and delivered into the proper accounts?” She bit her lip. His eyes sought and held hers in their gaze. “Of course if I wanted to then the properties could be appraised and signed over. Which could be completed very quickly.” Ready to take on any agreement necessary to free her father’s name of all charges she nodded eagerly. She snatched in a breath, wildly aware of his eyes watching her, settling on her. She tore her attention away from him and walked to the window. She could not credit that he could have such power and influence over her. A stranger had never held such an effect on her. How could it be that he was awakening feelings that had remained quiet for so long? “It would be less risky too.” Xavier pointed out. His ego stroked by the triumph at raising a reaction from her. He’d seen the flare of surprise in her eyes. Not the ice maiden after all. “Obviously you want to free your father from any threats to his life and livelihood.” Jenna spun back to face him. She knotted her hands together tightly as if bracing herself. “Yeah.” Xavier stood up from leaning against the long table. “No can do Miss. All people, mortals, and witches, and warlocks too, must all be held accountable for their actions.” “But if everything was taken care of and the money returned and the business could keep going, and people kept their jobs,” Jenna protested sharply, “at least tell me that you even care about that.” “I rarely bleed for those that I do not know; I hardly shed a tear even for those related to me.” Xavier thought of Joseph Fioretto and immediately waved the thought away. He watched her nervously brush the hair away from her blue eyes. She was exquisite, and she didn’t have a clue about it. This delighted him even more. She made him think of a painting, the Venus De Milo. “But here, in this case with my father…” she said hesitantly aware of her lack of sophistication in business matters. She’d attended school for Hedgecraft, a natural craft but none of it equated to negotiating techniques. “What would it take?” Xavier studied her, calmly taking in every curve of her body. “You.” Chapter Six

enna blinked hard, “I-I don’t follow,” her blue eyes darkened, and J she dragged in a breath. She must be wrong; he didn't mean what she thought he meant. She dared not imply it in case she was wrong. “What’s not to follow?” “Are you talking about…sex?” Jenna stumbled on the last word. It made her throat feel dry. Furious at herself for sounding so much like a child. She always had a problem with seeing herself as ‘desirable’ and to include a man of his sophistication seemed all the more impossible. Her only reasoning behind it: a love spell, which she had never had the gull nor the power to cast. He burst out with a laugh that startled her. Xavier leaned against the desk, "I'm asking you about a Proelio. You do know what one is?" Jenna studied him in his black tailored suit and tie. A devastatingly handsome man but she pushed that sinful titillating thought away as it entered her mind. “I've only heard that it's not something to be taken lightly.” “Yes,” Xavier confirmed. "It is something that requires more than an answer on a whim." “Isn't it wrong. Illegal even?” “We are both adults here. Two magic practitioners. I don’t see you without a choice; you can choose to agree to it or not.” Jenna waved her hand in the air, furious at herself for being humiliated like a schoolgirl. “You’re one of those men that want what you aren't allowed to have, aren’t you?” “I’ve never known anyone to turn down an offer from me.” “You just have.” Jenna started towards the door. “I don’t make trades with my body or my powers.” “And what do you call selling potions? You seem to make a small profit from the gardens and your potion shop. I see you can justify the means to whatever fits your needs. I guess we will see your father in jail sooner than I thought." She stopped just as she placed her hand on the door and wheeled around to face him and his dark gaze. The look of pain and defeat marked her face. She hovered for a moment, her mind racing between words. Her father in prison played in her mind, and so did the thought of what it would take to make it not so. He’d already lost more than she; friends, job, family, money, and now perhaps a home. She had never forgotten that he’d opened the doors to his home and allowed her to live under his roof when her mother died. Even while still married to his last wife, he took her in, admitted to his affair and his ex-wife quickly divorced him after choosing Jenna over her. Even in adulthood, she felt she would always remember and be thankful for his sacrifice. “Think about it,” Xavier said slowly, softly, “if the assets are enough to suffice and regenerate the company and you agree to the Proelio contract, signed and sealed, then I will withdraw all charges against him.” A chill ran down her spine. He wanted so much, but she didn't have the kind of power he might believe she had, a Proelio would merge their powers. In fact, it would benefit her too. But what would he do when he finds out that she's just some low-level witch, nothing like her last name implied. She pushed away from the bundle of thoughts that threatened to make her nervous in front of him more than she already was. He edged close to her, and she felt his power emanating from him. “I don’t think you will turn me down twice.” Jenna sucked in a breath and looked away from him. The room had grown warmer, and now she felt like a fire had been lit deep down inside. What was he doing to her? “If one night will make things—” “One night is not enough.” He stifled a small laugh at that idea. “A Proelio is not just a night to merge our powers. It is bigger and better things for both of us." Jenna was taken aback as if she’d been hit with the largest news of her life. Did he want more than one night? Of course, he did. He wanted everything. She felt defiant of him in his presence, pressuring her with his good looks, his magnetic presence that seemed to summon something hidden inside of her. She refused it and breathed deeply. “How long then?” Xavier shrugged and turned away from her. Her reluctance to agree to anything was fast becoming insulting. He bet himself that she would be his, loving him as his mother had once loved him. It was what he needed for the Proelio to work against the Lothian curse. His vengeance against Edward Sharpleton had already begun and what better way to sweeten this deal than by using Edward’s own daughter by blood. Imagine, he could break the curse, the first of his lineage to be able to do so. “As long as you provide me with what I want.” He declared. “You want me to hate you?” Jenna snapped, finding some of that defiance inside of her she knew existed. His eyes glared at her, “you won’t hate me for long." She couldn’t keep looking at him if she was going to think about this. She walked over to the window blinds, peering through the crease, she could see people—witches and mortals—busy below them. Their lives were toiling away for a company that might never be here in two weeks. Thanks to her father and maybe now, thanks to her. “You’ve made your offer,” she said, “I will think it over.” Xavier stepped toward her and extended his hand. She folded her arms. “Let's not pretend this is a civilized conversation, Mr. Alexandros.” Before Jenna even had the slightest idea of what his further intentions were he framed her face in his hands and mockingly kissed her. Surprised and shocked, she held still for a few seconds as he stepped back. A surge of heat burst forth inside of her. He lifted his arrogant eyes to hers again, and the scorch of his gaze assessed her dazed expression. “My men will be in touch with you soon.” Chapter Seven

dward Sharpleton shook his head, “The property assessments aren’t E enough.” Jenna frowned. “And the gardens? The potion shop?” She hoped that they would fetch more money. But she also secretly hoped she could keep it, that place felt like her own where she could be herself, enjoying her natural abilities —though limited. “You’ve made the gardens much to be valued. The exotic species you’ve managed to grow there are wondrous, and you’ve brought much reverence to your name, just like your mother. Unlike me. But the actual value of it is little due to the laws protecting historical landmarks. The gardens and the potions shop and Turnblatt manor fall under those rules, meaning not much can be done with it unless it’s restored. And even that would take a lot of money or magic or both. The kind we don’t possess. “So?” said Jenna as she took a cup of tea and drank it to wet her dry throat. “Is it enough?” “Even if it is enough to keep me from jail time then who am I to complain.” Her father sounded slightly more cheerful this morning. “As for this affair with the new owner of the Cauldron—” “I wouldn’t call it an affair,” said Jenna. “Even so, this is wonderful.” Wonderful? Jenna bent down and patted the top of Spottyanna’s head trying to hide her confusion at such a word. Had her father understood what her relationship entailed with Mr. Alexandros? When Jenna looked at him, she noticed he had tears in his eyes. “You've grown up already. It is like I’m finally looking at you and seeing that you’re a woman now.” His appraisal of her extended for a minute. “I can understand why a man like Xavier Alexandros would notice you.” He didn't understand the full extent of her agreement with Xavier. Not possibly seeing it at all because she had given her father the pretense that she’d fancied him too. She was only trying to deliver this ugly news with a better wrapping. “I don’t want you worrying about this just yet…but maybe in a week or so you could mention about the property assessments?” Jenna straightened up in her chair. “Mention it?” “Yes. Mention it. There must be a way to get him to forgive and forget all of this. Maybe even get my old job back? Tell him how unhappy you are. Don’t be modest, Jenna. You have his interest! His undivided attention! Use a spell or two to make him fall in love with you sooner than he would already be without it!” “But dad…” Jenna began, hesitantly. Edward Sharpleton had suddenly become irritated. “Just stop it. There’s no time for it. You're just as powerful as your mother was, if not more. Let’s not play these modest games. Not when I’m facing criminal charges and prison time.” Jenna couldn’t believe the utter credulousness of her father. Of course, he’d been through so much lately that his thinking was askew. Jenna didn’t know how to tell him that she didn’t have that kind of hold over Xavier. “He’s a warlock. My magic won’t work on him if he’s as strong as I feel he is…” She turned and gazed into the fire in the hearth poking it with the iron rod as Reba and Hedera walked into the room. It was the only time she’d ever been happy they had interrupted. “As for your job,” Jenna spoke defiantly. “Even the spirits of this house could not bring that back.” Her father wore a dissatisfied grin. “I believe it wouldn’t be hard for him to do you this one favor. Don’t you?” Jenna swallowed hard, but before she could drudge up a response, Reba interrupted. “Nice to see that money hasn’t gone to your head.” Reba gestured to Jenna’s shirt and slacks. “I almost thought you would be wrapped in diamonds and pearls.” She sat down in her oversized chair giving Jenna a sour look, a red fox fur draped over the back of the chair. The wall behind her was illuminated by a giant shady of a toothy grin from the firelight on the fox’s head. “Tell me. What does get a warlock to cast his wand?” “Reba!” chortled Edward Sharpleton. “How dare—” Reba raised a hand to silence him. “I want to know something, Eddy. If you’re making me go into debt while you go to prison and I have to live in a shack by the sea, then I’m going to ask whatever I damn well please!” Edward mumbled but kept his words to himself. “I don’t know.” Jenna blushed, she tried to forget about how Mr. Alexandros had been able to cause a fire inside of her. “How can you not know?” chimed Hedera while she looked over her stepsister unapprovingly. “How is it that you, of all witches and a white witch at that, could get a warlock like him? You can’t even appreciate it! I should have been the one. Me!” “Hush now, Heddy,” Reba spoke calmly and gave Jenna a slow gaze that chilled her, “it won’t last but five minutes.” Jenna tossed the iron poker back on its rack next to the hearth. “I’d better get going,” She muttered as she grabbed her coat from the coat rack. She marched into the hall, feeling the pleased smirks on her stepmother and stepsisters’ faces behind her back. Edward followed her out into the hall. The only person that still held hope and love was her father as she kissed him on the cheek goodbye. “Be safe and stay inside. Don’t try to cross the seal and leave. The Night Council is not as forgiving as the Day Council.” “I know. Don’t forget about me here.” He reminded her as he walked her to the door, which was very much unlike him. “See if you can work out something for me. Please, Jenna.” Jenna drove back to the Gardens with Xavier Alexandros and his offer on her mind, and her father’s pleading echoing in her head. Eventually, he would have to accept that fate had given him a severe blow, but it would take time, she thought sadly. Her face twisted as she refused to let her emotions get the best of her. In the term of a week, her whole life had been flipped upside down. The future that she thought was clear ahead: her small business, the gardens, and her home had now been brushed off the table with one fail swoop of Xavier Alexandros. The business was a struggle now that it was just her by herself and the only other witch good enough to create potions had helped until her baby was born. Maybe there was something in her grimoire that could help. Lest she invoke the Evil Eye of Xavier Alexandros, she’d have to be careful. For now business would have to carry on as usual.

THE PHONE RANG while Jenna was finishing a spell for Old Rickly's widow up the street. She held her breath picking up the phone. It was Tom Haddock. She relaxed against the wall of the shop and pulled up a stool to have a long conversation with her old friend. He told her he was in Austria, at the Academy of Applied Magicks. A Science Magi, Tom Haddock, had already made a name for himself abroad. She saw a lot of him in college but less than she had wanted. She told him everything that had transpired over the last week. “I can’t believe all of this,” he said. She imagined him raking a hand through his hair and his dark green eyes glinting in the sunlight. “It must be pretty bad there. I wish I could hold you and tell you it would be okay.” Her smile slipped away with the pain of regret as she remembered the night when he’d held her last. “This is just a total disaster.” Jenna chimed. “I can tell. The tone of your voice says it all. Wish I could cheer you up somehow….” There was a pause, and Jenna noticed something moving out of the corner of her eye; a rose which hadn’t matured enough to bloom had raised its bud and spread open its petals. “For you.” “Oh, Tom! How did you? Nevermind. It’s beautiful.” She smelled it and admired it. “Not as beautiful as you are.” Jenna smiled and shook her head, “Tom you’re such a sweetheart.” She took a breath and sighed. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you turned straight.” He laughed. “I think we’ve been down that road and know where it goes.” She’d tried in college to date Tom, and to her dismay, it turned out he was gay. It was probably apparent all along, but she was never good at seeing those things. They did have a lot in common. While Jenna was enjoying her conversation with Tom, Xavier Alexandros was coming down the stone walkway in his black suit. His expression was a deep disdain for the severity and condition of the gardens and the outer remnants of the Turnblatt estate. The gardens were organized of old pottery and broken stacks of pots, dilapidated buildings, and overhanging weeds. As he strolled quickly toward the open shop, he spied Jenna relaxed against the wall, a cheerful smile on her lips as she played with her hair. One day soon, he hoped, she would smile at him like that. Chapter Eight

tanding in the doorway, Xavier was only twenty feet from her, and she S hadn’t even felt a flicker of his presence. That had never happened before. A witch went on high alert whenever he entered the same room. She giggled into the phone as if it were her lover and she was enticing him, her manner entirely flirtatious. His eyes glimmered with firelight. “There is so much I have to tell you. I just don’t know where to begin,” Jenna confided, “when you get back into town, let's catch up.” Jenna felt a pull on her, a surge, not like before but slow, steady, building inside her. Something made her look up at the shop doorway. She straightened up and almost dropped her phone. Xavier Alexandros was standing there with a loose leather coat hanging over his big shoulders as the sun struck a dark red across the horizon behind him, the air outside was chilled but still warm for October. Something about the scenery and his intense gaze made him all the more striking tonight. Jenna had forgotten she still held the phone in her hand and she was mumbling, she could hear Tom speaking but what he was saying she had completely tuned him out. “Tom, I have to go.” She said absently and hung up. Her smile fell from her lips as if she was slapped hard. Xavier slid his jacket off and laid it on the table avoiding the few bottles of potions that littered it. “Who is Tom?” he asked cautiously. “He’s only a friend.” Jenna stuck her phone back in her pocket. “What do you need? A potion for dignity? Perhaps a potion to perform, under pressure?” Xavier’s eyes narrowed in on hers. “I’m not here as a customer. I’m here to see you.” The color drained from her face. Her bright blue eyes fled from his watchful glare. Even without looking at him she felt a small pulse of electric flowing from him and replaced the beating of her heart with a steady hum throughout her body. “I want you to show me around the estate. I hear there are age-old spell traps to be wary of.” “Most of the place is in disrepair, so the only things to be wary of is ghosts and rotten floorboards.” “No matter. I need a breath of fresh air. The stench of decay seems to be everywhere here.” Xavier cut a look to the small glass bell jars containing dried concoctions Jenna used in brewing her potions. “Witches come for them from miles around,” said Jenna, noticing his searching eyes. “As for the smell, you get used to it.” “Do they work?” His uninterested and blatant smile snapped her out of the reverie he sent her into. She reminded herself to check out his intentions. She called Spottyanna inside from playing by the hedge and silenced her as soon as she started yapping at Xavier. “Follow me,” Jenna said flipping her long strands of hair behind her and led Xavier, and Spottyanna, out to the small lawn behind the shop. She leashed the pup near the large oak and began walking silently with Xavier through the grounds. Shadows leaped from the dead limbs of the large oaks and startled Jenna as she stumbled back. Briefly, she felt a tender, and gentle hand hold her steady and Xavier quickly pulled it away. “They watch over me,” he said. “Who or what, are they?” “You should never ask a warlock about his magic,” Xavier cast his eyes down. “It’s best not to stare at them for long.” She tried not to stare at the shadows. But Jenna couldn’t help but look. Staring, until she seen one clearly for what it was; a ghastly apparition with gnarled teeth and lips peeled back in a snarl. Tentacles appeared and whipped around it as it was about to throw itself at her. She blinked hard, and suddenly she was aware that she was being shaken in Xavier Alexandro’s powerful grip. “Don’t ever look! It took dangerous magic to hold them prisoner. Don’t tempt them. They can linger along the borders of our realm. The enchantment that holds them is a thin veil, weak enough for them to do harm. It’s what makes them ideal for security. But staring at them is ill- mannered and ill-advised.” Momentarily she closed her eyes, disconcerted that these beings were here, hardly seen, but destroying the beauty and serenity that had existed among the grove of oak trees. If only she were mortal, life could be so easy to unsee these things. She pulled herself together, licked her lips, and cleared her throat. “I’ll show you the casting grounds beyond the cemetery first. At least you can see that before dark.” Jenna spoke shakily, crossing her arms in front of her against the chilly evening. “We don’t have to worry about that,” he said, looking out toward the dark orange streaks in the clouds, a sly grin on his lips as he pulled out a silver pocket watch. Clicking it once he said, “we have all the time in the world.” Jenna felt a snap in the air around them. She shut her eyes for a second. The change in the air stilled every molecule around her. Time stood still. As much as she wanted to ask him, she knew it better to not stroke his ego, or to ask him anything of magic. “I’ve only been able to keep a small part of the gardens manicured and kept up,” Jenna said shaking off the strange feeling. Passing the stone walls hanging with lilies and buttercups, Xavier came to a halt, “Why do you use magic to keep these plants maintained? Why not let them wither and die with the seasons?” “They are used year long for different spells. They make most of my income. Though they aren’t as strong as they once were a hundred years ago, or so I’ve been told.” He shook his head. His long dark shadow fallowing over the wall. Jenna bit her lip and contained her temper. She hated how he shook his head, displeased. It reminded her of her father. “When you said you ran the gardens and the shop I assumed you meant running the workers. Not slaving away like a pilgrim witch.” His tone was sour. “Your life is so limited.” He reached for her hand, and it took every bit of her being not to whip it out of his grasp. His long fingers encircled her wrist with gentility like her hands were fragile things. “If we are to continue down the path of the Proelio then you must understand some things. I don’t like the thought of you working so hard to the bone.” His fingers ran over the rough skin of her palms and the raw state of her fingernails. Jenna allowed her hands to go limp in his. She breathed unevenly. “I enjoy it.” “But there’s more to life than this.” “I’ve done what is my will, my power to do. It’s what I’ve been given by birth and all I have.” “I don’t think so.” His stunning dark eyes linked with hers and her chest went tight. Her heart beat was erratic until she was aware of nothing but him. He held her hands to his handsome mouth and pressed his lips against her hands. “I think there is more inside of you than you know.” She jerked her hand away from him, but she could still feel the warmth of his lips on her hand. A knot of fire tightened low in her stomach. Her reaction didn't faze him. She forced her lungs to breath and started to talk fast about the restoration plans of the estate. Plans that would have taken more than a century at the rate of things. But it looked like these were no longer going to be her plans. Xavier listened to her without bothering to feign any interest or comment. He had no plans for a project that offered no profits. He was never a man of nostalgia, old places, gardens, or even to stop and smell the lilies creeping over the wall. But his thoughts were occupied with less innocent pleasures. He wondered how she could look so exquisite when she was dressed like a bum. He knew he would see her groomed to her best and attired with the richest clothing he could buy for his own benefit. He recalled the faint unspoiled scent of soap he had smelled on her skin and began to get irritated when he noticed she continued to back away from him every time he got within a foot of her. “Would you just stand still?” “Why? I must show you the grounds. This spell can’t last forever can it?” “Enchanted objects can sustain a spell for long periods and if reinforced by the wearer’s powers they could, perhaps, last for infinity.” The way she pretended to be innocent in guarding herself filled him with such dissatisfied ferocity that he pulled her close to him. “Mr. Alexandros!” A muffled gasp of shock escaped her before the descent of his mouth silenced her, stole her ability even to think. Her legs threatened to give out from under her. The force of his mouth against hers could have broken every spell she had ever cast had she been strong enough to make them last this long. Xavier quickly pulled away and lifted his dark head and shouted, “your dog is biting me!” Still speechless, Jenna blinked out of her stupor and tried to focus on Spottyanna who was growling like a lunatic at his immaculate pant leg. Trembling, Jenna crouched down and picked up the little jumping ball of fur, grateful for the reprieve to get a handle on herself as she held her in her arms. “She doesn’t like you.” “You’re not going to ask me if I’m hurt? Bleeding? Maybe I need a Rabies shot.” Xavier said with icy sarcasm. “I’m sorry. Are you okay? She must have chewed through her leash.” But there was no clasp still attached to her collar, and Jenna wondered how the small dog could have managed it. He smirked. “I think I’ll be okay. But your dog broke the spell.” Xavier said dryly, as he eyed the little beast with suspicion. “What kind of dog is that?” “Just a mutt. I’ve had her since I was a little girl.” The stilled essence of time had broke and was replaced with a dimming dark blue streak across the horizon and the cold touch of the night air. Jenna wasn’t sure if it had been Spottyanna to break the spell of Xavier’s pocket watch or had it been the effect of the power coursing between them. What was it about her that made him act on impulse and not control himself? Xavier looked forward to the finality of his conquest when he, at last, wouldn’t want her. Legs shaking, and with the trembling hairball in her arms, Jenna took a deep breath. She was ashamed Xavier had such power over her, and in more ways than just the expectation of a Proelio. He caused something to stir inside of her, a craving. She wasn’t going to punish Spottyanna, not when she’d probably just saved her from doing something she would have regretted, especially since she hadn’t ever done anything that inspired such feeling in her. He had forcibly pulled her into his arms, kissed her with such force that she still felt her mouth hot and swollen. “The gardens are mostly overgrown past the wall. Not much more to see beyond this way.” Jenna said, happy to end the tour before it could have another moment to test her. “The Turnblatt Manor?” he asked. “I must see it before I go. I must know what I’m getting myself into. I mean, that is, if your father is to be saved.” Reluctantly, she nodded, and they started on their way, avoiding the broken walkway and trailing in the dead grass toward the front of Turnblatt Manor. Chapter Nine

enna came to a halt outside of the manor where she, her mother, and J every Turnblatt and Reness had been born. Its ruinous state of disrepair had embittered her mother, who had never got over her belief that fate had given her a dirty hand before she died. In comparison, Jenna regarded her family’s history with grim acceptance. The truth was that her ancestors had been hopeless witches, invested in a dying estate that rumors had said held a mantle of power, and yet it never had been found. “Here we are,” gestured Jenna to the tall front doors. White paint chipped and curled in thin lengths off the original mahogany wood underneath. “There’s not much else to see.” “What’s it like inside?” asked Xavier, as his eyes scanned the broken stone steps up to the double doors. Dead weeds draped over the stone banisters in a mess of golden brown. “It’s not in livable conditions, and probably not safe to enter,” Jenna replied. Xavier waved his hand dismissing the idea. “Safe? The least I could do is have a look inside. Will you show me?” He laid an open hand before her towards the doorway. It took Jenna a couple of embarrassing thrusts, and the door opened. She thought it strange that Xavier didn’t flex his ego and use his magic and have the door vanish until she noticed the devilish grin on his lips, enjoying the fact that she resorted to such labor. The bottom of the door skidded to a stop across the warped wooden floor, and they squeezed themselves inside. Jenna was the first inside, and she gave the room a wistful look. It was dark in the hall, and the light from outside was not giving much detail. “It’s pointless; there’s no electric here—” “I see,” Xavier cut in, sounding dissatisfied of the condition with which the place had become. The dark corners of the rooms and the scent of musk did not help Xavier’s appraisal. “And how was your father going to fix all of this?” “I-I believe he was going to work on the gardens first,” Jenna replied with a stutter. “Yes, and that was going to bring in a lot of money, enough to cover the expense of a new granite fireplace.” The fireplace in the next room had fallen through half of the floor. “And fix the peeling wallpaper, the sugar-glass window panes, which you know are not easy to come by—” “Well, he was going to use the money, and Reba and Hedera were working on the way to use their magic to help rebuild…” Jenna trailed off as she looked across the hall and up the stairs, she recalled the times she played here, she missed this place. The scent of the old days; the smell of the wood burned in the fireplace left traces of it in the air. She felt at home here, but hardly ever came inside anymore since it was falling apart and much too dangerous. There was a colony of old melted candles along the shelves, and the table in the middle of the parlor had a broken leg so that it lay on its side. She remembered when it used to hold flowers and her mother's precious Asian vase. All of which were gone now. Her father had probably sold it all, she thought. “You think you’re that powerful, your family of pretenders? I’ve heard they collect trinkets and harbor stolen powers for their deeds.” Xavier looked her in the eye. His dark pupils gazed into hers. “You’re the only one that has ever done anything for anyone else.” “That’s not true.” She said unabashedly. She searched for a reason, a time when they had helped but there was nothing that she could summon. “They have always helped me after my mother died.” “Did they now?” Xavier said as he left her to explore the next room. He strolled along the creaking floorboards, wiping a hand along the dust-covered fireplace and looked at the light colored squares on the wall where her mothers’ family portraits once hung. Those, she was sure, were long gone too. Sold off to pay the estate's debts. “You see—” she stopped as Xavier silenced her with a finger to his lips. “I like to hear the spirits of the house. If you listen quietly sometimes you can hear them give up their secrets.” “Secrets?” Jenna said, she wondered if Xavier had more reason to be here now. “If you mean—” “Please,” Xavier repeated with his finger on his lips. The place was silent. The room grew dark so that she could see the outline of Xavier as he began to diminish the farther he strolled away. There came a whisper, a chant, and suddenly the room emblazoned with light that Jenna flinched. The candles had sparked and lit. The portraits were back in place, and the wallpaper was new with pictures of purple flowers. She could even smell the fireplace as it burned and kicked out a puff of smoke. The front door bulged inward, the timbers groaning. The white paint faded to reveal a glistening door of new mahogany, freshly polished. Jenna, astonished, almost made a gasp but held back as she was afraid that this was some charm, the same illusory kind as her Animus spell that could be disrupted, so she held her tongue. She had not seen the place like this not even in her childhood. Words and voices were coming from far away, and dark figures grew from the walls and danced to a slow melody echoing louder. Their ghostly forms spun toward the center of the room, and they became solid, and their dresses and suits were colorful as the candle light flowed into them. They were not ethereal any longer and appeared alive. But as she turned, a couple unaware of her spun and danced, twirling so quickly that they would have bumped into her but instead they passed through her, leaving her grappling against the wall. She had never seen magic as strong and powerful like this. They were dressed in clothes from olden days as they swirled and bowed and smiled at their mates. She recognized one of them as her ancestor, Meldora Vantia Reness, a powerful witch in her time, but she looked right through her like she wasn't there. Jenna’s hand brushed against a piece of fabric straying from her corset. “Corset?” she asked herself. Looking down, she too wore clothes resembling her new guests. She ran her hands over the dress. “This is all so real,” she said, absently touching her finger to her lips, afraid she’d just undone the enchantment. But the spell still continued. Xavier stood nearby, his coat tail almost touching his shiny new shoes. “How is this done?” asked Jenna looking to Xavier as he smiled at her. This surely wasn’t just an illusion that could be broken with any words. Xavier quickly avoided the dancers as they twirled around him and came close to her and grabbed her hand in his. He looked different to her now. He was warm and charming, his features softened by the candle light. Holding her hand to his chest, Xavier cupped the nape of her back with his other and started to guide her across the floor, around the room as if they too were invited to this particular occasion. But what was this occasion? Jenna wondered. “I can see you never have,” Xavier swept her around and his arm extended out before pulling her back to him, “danced this way before.” “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” her words sounded out in wondrous amusement. She smiled and let him pull her close. “But how?” “How?” He looked up at the candle-lit chandelier that adorned the ceiling as though he were trying to think of how to explain. “How else does one do magic?” “Yes but I’ve never seen anyone conjure the past, or an event, from a house.” He smiled, impressed with this. “You too could do this.” She blushed and looked away, almost ashamed to admit it. “No. No, I couldn’t.” “But you will.” He turned her around again, twirling her with one arm and swept her to him again. “The Proelio will make us as one as soon as the Lunar Moon allows us.” She had almost forgotten it would be within a week. “Yes, the engagement.” She said, concerned. “You have decided?” Xavier was confident after this that she would agree. There could be no doubt in her heart. Not now. What witch would deny a power equal to his own? “Haven’t you?” So that is what this was all about. He was wooing her. She wouldn’t give in so easily. There were things that must be discussed, terms and conditions weren't there? Maybe, she thought, Xavier was right. She did know something. But she wasn’t about to be taken advantage of, not anymore. If Xavier Alexandros was condemning her for being a mat that her family walked all over then why should she allow him the same? She slipped her hand from Xavier’s grasp and took one last look around her. She wanted to remember this because it would probably be the last time she’d see it at all.. Xavier eyed her. “What are you doing?” “Destucio evaniti!” she shouted and as quickly as she uttered those words the boards shuttered, and the candles went out. Xavier’s dark figure stood in front of her; she could barely make out his head shaking back and forth in disappointment. “Now why go and do something like that?” “I like to keep my head out of the clouds. This isn’t a romantic getaway. This is an agreement between us. Try as you might Mr. Alexandros, this is a business agreement for the benefit of my father.” “But it could at least be fun. Can’t it?” His arm slipped around her and pulled her to him. It was dark, musty, and the front door was open again, the moonlight was all that peeked through the opening while a dead weed stuck its stems through the doorway. “It’s late. We should be going.” Jenna pushed herself away and left him standing there in the dim parlor. Xavier upset that his seduction didn’t work, followed Jenna back to the gardens, and the little shop. “There is one more thing I should tell you,” Xavier said at the door as she tried to close it and say goodbye. “You should know that your father has been called to Everbrook’s Day Council meeting tomorrow evening.” Jenna tensed. “You tell me this now? Tell me why.” “He hasn’t been entirely honest, that’s why. We have questions; we’ve learned about some more if his endeavors. And we need answers.” Her cheeks turned bright red, shocked, bewildered and then angry, she shot back, “that’s a damn lie!” Xavier looked coolly at her like he was wondering if he believed her. “I don’t like people who waste my time, Jenna.” “How? Father hasn’t wasted anyone’s time, let alone, yours!” Her blue eyes glittered with flecks of anger, and she curled her hands into fists at her sides. “You probably think everyone lies. Don’t you? He made mistakes. He’s admitted them all.” “I haven’t jumped to any conclusions. He was told to make a full disclosure of all assets.” “And he did!” “And he’s carefully omitted the Wand of Azeroth. An excellent source has disclosed that your father keeps it in a secret vault?” “Not true,” Jenna shook her head. “Not true at all. He would have told—” “Would he?” Xavier narrowed his eyes at her as if to say all he had to say was truth. “He still owes debts and holding onto anything he acquired with stolen funds and hiding it, means he’s still the same person you believe him not to be.” Jenna sucked in a steadying breath; her legs teetered beneath her. “There must be a good enough reason—” “No, I'm afraid not, Jenna.” Xavier watched the fraught of discord and sudden uncertainty stretch across her delicate porcelain features. She couldn’t hide her sadness. Chapter Ten

avier could have told her so much more. Her devotion, loyalty, her X love, all wasted on an undeserving man as Edward Sharpleton was. He was a man of consistency; a record of lies, cheating, robbing, and thievery of fools foolish enough to trust him. Jenna nibbled at her lower lip and turned her head away because her eyes were stinging with tears. Like it or not, there was something about Xavier that was convincing. “If you’re right…” looking down at her feet she shook her head slowly. “I don’t know what to say.” “Listen….” Xavier’s voice took on a calm and soothing tone. “I’ve come on too strong. Let me show you the options open to you if you agree to this engagement. The offer for the Proelio still stands if you decide soon. Your father will sign over all of his assets, and we will cross this matter off the books.” Jenna swallowed hard. “Thank you. That’s a good offer. I don’t know what’s come over him. Maybe he’s finally having his mid-life crisis that mortals go through,” she shrugged and explained with desperate reasoning, “I can vouch that he has done so much for the community.” Xavier caught himself admiring the sincerity of her convictions. She wasn’t putting on this display of distress for his benefit. He was amazed at how she could be so full of feelings that she couldn’t hide. His partners had always been hard glossy veneers that matched his own. But she was so full of optimism and ideals that she was ridiculously vulnerable to him. She hardly held a chance to hold herself against him. In a few months, she would be stripped of those ideals she held firm to, and she would be sadder and wiser. A faint stab of regret struck his cold heart, and he crushed it dead. “I’ve made accommodations for you at the Hotel St. Seanna,” Xavier said, turning to a subject of better interest to him. Jenna froze, her long lashes concealed her nervous reaction to the sudden announcement. “What sort of a hotel is it?” She heard of warlocks and their rooms of enjoyment. Rooms they’d converted to match different erotic fairytale worlds. Each door was holding something more horrible than the one before it. Xavier smiled at her nervous, shaking hands as she let Spottyanna off her leash, shooing her away beyond the white picket gate and closing it. “It’s a penthouse in northern Paris. Lofty space.” “Is there a yard?” Jenna said as she watched the little dog run, yapping around the small yard. “A yard?” Xavier asked. “For my dog?” “I’ll pay to have the dog stay at a very swanky dog hotel. How does—” “No! She has to stay with me or else she won’t eat or sleep. She’ll hardly get a night of rest. I know you’re thinking how silly it all is but she’s just so emotional when I'm not here.” Xavier eyed the small dog messily digging up a set of flowers behind her. “She’ll be okay in the dog hotel. My staff will take good care of her. You’ll even be able to check in on her by video.” “But she still won’t eat without me—” “Nonsense.” “No. It’s not.” “I'm not discussing this anymore,” Xavier said with an air of finality. Jenna breathed in very deep and reminded herself that the last time she’d left to go to Everton village for a week, when she came back Spottyanna was just skin and bone. Neglected by her stepmother who had promised with a kind smile that she would take care of her. She would sooner die than live with regret over Spottyanna’s death due to her weakness to speak up against Xavier Alexandros’ stubborn ego. He would be fed up with her in the space of a week anyway, she told herself, and then it would just be her and Spottyanna again. “Do I have any say in this? Or anything?” she said flatly. Jenna saw no reason why she should be anything but civil, other than difficult. She wasn’t in any hurry to fulfill his agreement on his terms. “I want to live somewhere with a yard. I’ll go crazy in a city, shut in by four walls.” Xavier thought carefully. Her attitude was not becoming to a man who was used to easy conquests. It annoyed him that she would not give in to him. “There are windows and an indoor pool.” “Even a man on death row has one last request.” “Surely, it isn’t freedom.” Xavier gave her a fulminating appraisal. A yard? He was giving her everything she could want, even if she did not know it yet, and she wanted a yard? Ever since he seen her, he wanted her, and the images in his mind of her teased him, and the wait was killing him. “How soon will you come to me?” Xavier leveled with her, pulling himself closer to her. Unnerved, Jenna made the mistake of looking directly into his eyes. Her skin prickled. “And this Proelio, the engagement, does it include sex?” Xavier smiled slyly, and a deep-timbre entered his voice. “Don’t pretend you’re one of Hera’s Vestal Virgins. You’re not in that category.” Furious, Jenna became red faced, and her answer burned hotter in her cheeks than ever. “You think you know it all. Don’t you? Got a reply for everything.” Spottyanna had stopped her digging to look at Jenna to see what the fuss was. “You don’t. For what it’s worth, I am in that category!” His hard gaze narrowed, black lashes lowered as he intensified his scrutiny. She pulled her attention from his gaze as fierce humiliation and anger engulfed her. She wanted badly to eat her words before they had ever come out. She wished she’d known a spell to turn back time just then. He studied her for a moment in silence. “Don’t make any smart comments Mr. Alexandros,” she warned him. Xavier was stunned, surprised, shocked even, by her claim to innocence and he felt a surge of satisfaction. Could this be why she held such an unusually strong attraction to him? Had he somehow sensed this subtle distinction between her and the other women he had ever known? She was different. That was certain. A virgin. Yes. He could now see how his brash request was tacky, unappealing to her. But this thought was quickly tossed before it could grab him. He pieced together the reason for her reluctance all along, she was as inexperienced in bed as she was a witch and with this realization, the desire to possess her became, even more, stronger, sharper. She was not impervious to his wiles, only shy, and demure. He was willing to admit that he wasn’t used to a shy witch. “I am sorry,” he uttered as though it were strange words to come from off his tongue. Disappointed, he had to admit, “I should have mentioned that sex is not a condition to a Proelio. We will join together our powers in the engagement, but our bodies may remain separate. There are those in the world who wish to do me harm, and I’m afraid they are more than I can handle on my own. Is there anything else you must know?” There was silence between them. He was stuck in his thoughts, his mindless gaze now staring at her, contemplating her. She wished she hadn’t burned out one of her biggest secrets. “No,” she muttered. “When do you want me in Paris?” “Next week. You will hear from my men about the arrangements. Should you need to reach me, here is my private number. No matter where I am you will be able to get me on it.” Jenna accepted his card and stuck it in her pocket unsure if she would ever want or have any reason to call him. Her thoughts were fixed on Spottyanna, back at digging, infrequently barking at the dark shadows moving in the trees. There was a question she felt reluctant to ask but knew she wouldn’t rest until she knew. “What are you planning on doing with this place?” Xavier shrugged and made a smirk. His indifference to the care of the estate bothered Jenna and made her regret asking. His lack of interest was monumental. He didn’t keep up any pretense, and she thought it best to relinquish her hope that the place would ever be cared for after it was taken from her. Before Xavier climbed into his black Cadillac, he glanced back at her. Jenna didn’t return the compliment as she picked up Spottyanna and vanished back inside the shop. Chapter Eleven

ne week later, Jenna was in Paris. The morning after she arrived, she O was met at her hotel lobby by a blonde in her forties. In Xavier Alexandros’ employ, she was his Coordinator. It had been Delia Paradeen who spoke with Jenna on the phone and made all of the arrangements on her behalf. “I’m here to help you enjoy the city life. We have plenty of appointments today.” Delia said with a gleaming smile. She looked at a clipboard in her hand, “We have a property to view that Mr. Alexandros has chosen for you.” Enjoy the city life? Jenna could have laughed at that nice little cover-up that didn’t take into account all of the reasons behind her visit. After looking out among the city streets and seeing mostly concrete, and high rises, she was happy to imagine herself back home in the gardens. The day after Xavier had visited her, her father had signed over everything. Within a day a crew of men arrived to take possession of the gardens and the Turnblatt estate. Jenna was left stunned, picking up Spottyanna in her arms she ran off with a few exotic seedlings and vacated the shop and the small upstairs room she’d made into a small bedchamber. The quick take-over left her in dismay. She found herself sitting in her car crying while Spottyanna licked at her face. She moved to the old rectory where her stepsister and stepmother made her feel unwelcome. Her father was the only one that made her feel like she wasn’t unwanted. When she had him alone, she pressed him for details about the Wand of Azeroth. “I was hoping to stash it away. To use it in the manor to return it to its—” Jenna, in shock, replied, “but you can’t use it! Mortals are forbidden to use magic. Bad things—” “I know. I know. But Reba most certainly could, even Heddy. Reba wanted it and knew that it would be worth a pretty penny had we sold off all of our belongings. Least then we could walk away with something. You have to understand that—” “You have to tell them about everything. Now that it’s out you look even more criminal!” Jenna scolded him but retreated from further incrimination. “If I don’t look out for me then who will, Jen?” Edward said with remorse. “I can only hope that you’ll do all that you can to help us out of this.” Recalling the conversation and her father's lack of concern and dishonesty only set to unnerve her. There was a weakness in her father, and she unhappily admitted it to herself. Perhaps she’d been too quick to forgive him for his womanizing streak and his history of lies. “We are here!” said Delia with a bright, cheery tone. Stepping out of the car, Jenna was astonished to find herself towered over by a grand mansion. “Come, come.” Delia took out her keys and, shaking them with an air of significance, she unlocked the massive pearly-white front door. “Mr. Alexandros said the best of the best.” Jenna stopped in the front of the marble hall, gazing round in wonder at the grecian pillars and the elegant wall decor running up the stairwell. She had so many questions, but they faltered at the back of her throat as she stared at all of the fancy dressings that could ever have been involved in the creation of a house..if one could even call it a house of grand and immense stature. She didn’t have much to ask and didn’t want to give anything away lest Delia discover—if she didn’t already know—the delicate situation that Jenna and her wealthy and powerful employer agreed on. “Don’t be misled; it’s an old property. There is air-conditioning, satellite uplink for the alarm system, pool, and what you wanted most—a yard.” The tour started from the vast basement and wine cellar to the personal gym and a bewildering array of massive rooms. Delia began to look anxious when Jenna didn’t say much about any of the stuff she had explored. “There’s even a casting circle in the rear quarters of the estate. In the woods.” “Would you excuse me, just for a minute. I need to do something.” Jenna said as she left to call Xavier. She punched in the digits on her phone, and he answered almost immediately. “You’re not planning on starting some witches coven, are you? Cause I won’t be a part of any devious plans.” He laughed. It surprised her since she’d never heard him laugh before. It wasn’t joyous laughter it was incredulous. She had the grace of a house cat but the diplomacy of a rampaging elephant. “A house like this,” she said, hushing herself as she walked into another room where she thought her voice wouldn’t travel. “Isn’t made for just one person!” Xavier grit his teeth. “Hello?” Jenna thought the phone lost its signal. “I’m sorry to disappoint you if you—” “Oh, no! No.” Jenna asserted cheerfully, impervious to the snub she was giving. “All of this trouble for me is just ridiculous.” Xavier’s eyes flashed their golden aura behind his contacts. “Then maybe I should just find myself another Hedge witch to do the gardens there.” “The gardens?” “Yes. I take it Delia hasn’t given you the complete tour.” “Oh. I-I stopped her to give you a call.” “I see.” There was silence on the line again. Jenna realized she was trembling. He was a man who was brutally honest, she thought. She had made him angry, and she knew that wasn’t a good idea at this point. She didn’t say another word, biting down on her lip, in fear of provoking him anymore. “If it is what I want, that you live in a big mansion for only ten minutes of your time and mine, then that's what you will do, understood?” Xavier said with a tone of finality. “Yeah,” Jenna said. He was furious with her. He held the phone in his hand with a tight grip. He expected her to be overcome by the fancy trappings of the home and fall into his arms swooning as soon as she seen him. If the enchantment at Turnblatt manor didn’t work, then this had to. The home was built for a powerful family of witches centuries earlier, it was perfect for her, albeit she was hardly strong enough to contend with any of the larger powers that rule the world; but as a minor witch how was it that she held him enchanted? He wondered lately, why was it he couldn’t keep her off of his mind? Was it some cruel joke? A wicked witch scorned is no witch to contend with, they were out there. He had made his enemies, and some of them were powerful. “I have work to do right now. I’ll see you soon.” He hung up without waiting for any more word from her. Her eyes stung with tears. Jenna found Delia among the beautiful marigolds in the small garden along the side of the house which joined into another bigger garden along the south wall towards the wooded forest. “Let’s check the woods. Shall we?” Jenna spoke with an air of certainty. If she was going to do this, she thought, she was going to do it right. “I’d love to see the casting circle.”

LATER THAT DAY Delia held the door open to the Pet Luxury Spa and invited Jenna inside. The furnishings even for the animals was extravagant. Cushioned, heated, and even cooled beds. Each dog had its own guardian and caregiver to be sure timely photos were taken and posted daily, including brief fifteen-second videos on social media. There were cases where some dogs even became viral stars, and they had their bulletin board of photos for all of the local celebrities that had made it internet famous. Jenna explained she wouldn’t be using much of the facilities and Spottyanna would be brought in when Xavier was home, and according to Daphne, that was rare that he was ever home. It was time for Jenna to use her new place of power to her advantage. After all, she had to make her decision. Jenna wondered if he’d truly been honest when he said that what he wanted from her were her powers and not her body. A small part of her, that she quickly shoved to the back of her mind, felt pity that all those urges between them would never be consummated. Chapter Twelve

few days passed, and Jenna sat in front of a Victorian vanity mirror A brought days earlier by some of Xavier’s men. The frame’s decoration was beyond her taste with its luxurious gold-leaf decor, together with the huge oak bed and the tall timbers at each corner reminded her of what the place had probably once looked like when it was home to the coven of Temperance Whitaker. A coven she knew very little of. She was more concerned about what was going to happen between her and Xavier after their date at seven o’clock. Perhaps dessert, and then what? Blocking out anymore intimidating and nerve-wracking thoughts, she studied her face in the mirror. Her dress was black and white, tailored to a slim fit over her body and strikingly beautiful. Jenna barely recognized herself after her dutiful schedule with the fashion consultant and her new wardrobe of designer labels and the visit to the beauty salon. Her black hair now the color of silvery red from a quick-dry glamour spell that hadn’t worked out as the hairdresser had planned, but somehow it came out better than ever. Her face expertly made up, and her eyebrows waxed into perfect crescents. She bore a striking resemblance to the photo of Temperance Whitaker’s niece, Everlee, in the picture above the mantel with her big blue eyes and full lips. Xavier had plunged her into the world of fashion, and a seductive world of beauty in which all that mattered were her looks. It was extremely hard to walk in her high heels, and she hated the long nails glued to her short fingernails, convinced she would snag them on her beautiful dress. Even so, she didn’t dare complain or make a note to any of the help that she despised and felt uncomfortable in any of it. If any of it were for her, she would have been the first to speak out, but this was all for Xavier’s taste, essentially only to benefit his tastes. “The car is here.” The butler opened the front door and ushered Jenna out onto the steps. It was only a couple days since she’d moved into the large home after Xavier's people had it custom decorated and furnished with hardly any input into what she would like. Jenna sat in the limo, waiting. The perilous state of her nerves offended her pride. But how did Xavier expect her to have any appetite when she was destined to provide the evening entertainment without any heads up as to where they were going? When her phone rang, she nearly jumped out of her skin. It was Xavier. “Looks like I won’t make it there in time.” He informed her grimly. “There’s a storm headed westward. It looks like planes are grounded.” Jenna blinked. “Oh,” she didn’t know what to say. “I'm sorry. I was looking forward to seeing you again,” Xavier spoke, trying not to give into the sneaking suspicion that she was okay with the result of this evening. “I’ll call as soon as I can arrange something else.” Jenna told the driver to take her back to the house. She reached into her gold purse which greatly contrasted the old one she loved, made of worn leather, and pulled out her phone. Pulling up the video app of Spottyanna laying in her small bed, Jenna smiled. But she felt like she was betraying Spottyanna by leaving her in some alien place. At the same time, she wondered if she was betraying herself too. She couldn’t help but picture Xaviers’ cold hardened gaze across his handsome face. He was a fixture in her mind, and she couldn’t get rid of it. She realized she felt a sense of ease that Xavier would not be able to do with her what he wanted tonight, but remembered her father and all he had to lose. She wasn’t doing this for herself. She shook her head, startled by the thought that it was within her realm to be so self-centered. What was the matter with her? Okay, maybe Xavier was gorgeous and incredibly amazing in the same way that he was powerful enough to save her family, but he wielded his power to destroy her father. Acutely aware of his lack of compassion and decency, Xavier Alexandros was the biggest prick she had ever the chance to meet. How could she respond to any of that? Her phone rang again. She tensed—it wasn’t Xavier; this time it was Tom Haddock. “Hey, I tried to call you at home, but your wicked stepmother answered instead. She’s pretty tightlipped about even saying your name. Since when did you move to Paris? And suddenly get engaged?” Jenna winced. “Engaged? No. I moved this week, and again, the engagement is not an engagement, it’s more of an…agreement.” “Yeah. I didn’t think sudden and impulsive defined you,” Tom told her. “I’m coming to Paris tomorrow for the French Sector of Sorcery and the Magdeimus Grimoire Lecture. Jenna beamed, “I’d love it if you came!” “For a couple of days, tie up some loose ends.” Comforted by the thought of seeing Tom again, Jenna smiled. She felt the limo turn around and another message popped up on her screen: Xavier would meet her earlier at the same rendezvous. “Tom, I have to go.” She hung up. Unprepared for the quick change of plans, Jenna became renewed with panic.

XAVIER HAD DONE all he could to be here tonight. He had to overcome a perilous travel schedule and events that kept him out of the country longer than he had hoped. His impatience to see Jenna had a raw edge that was unfamiliar to him. Edgar, his chief of security, approached Xavier’s dining table. “Boss, Ms. Reness has arrived.” Heads turned, and there was a soft rise in whispers as Jenna made her way through the restaurant. Xavier picked up on the attention she was getting and at first glance, her stunning beauty was appreciative. Equally, he regretted her makeover. The luxuriant waves of her hair and the glow of her skin had taken a beating. Her shiny mane of hair was wind-tossed. Mesmerized by the allure of his gaze and his lean face, Jenna could barely take a chance to look away; she stared into his eyes. When he smiled, he was staggeringly handsome. Indeed, Jenna believed, he was breathtaking when he wasn't rude. She sat down in the chair pulled out for her. “I didn’t think I would see you at all,” she confided, seeing that the table was set away from the other patrons to create better privacy for their benefit. His eyes locked on hers and stole the breath from her lungs. “I wanted to be with you and when I want something I don’t stop until I have it.” Looking away from him, Jenna lowered her head. She felt hot all over, and there was a flicker of heat low in her stomach at the clear awareness of what he meant with his words. “Is that what you say to get a witch’s attention?” “That would be too presumptuous of me,” he eyed her with a questioning look. “You, however, know what I want. Don’t you?” “Yes, I do. But I wonder if there is more that you want than meets the eye. Is there?” “Let us sit for a bit. Have dinner and a civilized discussion.” He ignored her question and began to talk about Paris and how he hoped she was enjoying her stay in the old manor. He told her of the stories of the former coven who lived in the home. He was an unexpectedly brilliant storyteller, and as her wine stole away her discomfort, she was happy to let herself be entertained by such a handsome man as Xavier. “Are you going to eat?” Xavier asked. “I’m not hungry.” Except for you. The words in her mind surprised and shocked her, rebelling against everything she thought was in her nature. Perhaps it was the wine. The fascination for the man before her had taken hold of her. She chastised herself for it but quickly forgot as she looked and listened to him. Lost in her admiration of his eyes, his jaw line and the sculpted and masculine beauty of his mouth, Jenna could watch him talk all night. Xavier pushed his plate away and looked at her with all seriousness. “Let us get out of here.” He urged. “But we haven’t finished,” Jenna said shakily. Xavier stood and pulled her upright. “Have you forgotten? We have our engagement.” Jenna was aware of the curious expressions and glances from around the restaurant as Xavier’s arm possessively closed around her slender waist. “But I—” “No. You will not keep me lingering any longer when time is of dire importance.” “Time?” Jenna remembered his watch and how it stopped even the setting Sun in its tracks. “Isn’t time something you can control?” “Time is measured in living, and that is something we both cannot wait for. The new moon hangs in the sky.” She opened her mouth to speak, but a roar out in the streets and a torrent of wind knocked the passerby down, and sent hats and handbags flying into the air. The restaurant's doors blew open. “Xavier!” Jenna shouted, unsure of what was happening. “I-I—” “It’s too late for second guesses!” he shot back at her as the wind blew napkins off the tables and caused the trays to fly from the waiter's hands. The wind swirled and funneled around them. Jenna was lifted from off the ground, and she felt Xavier’s strong arms wrap tight around her as the restaurant, and its patrons, became a blur of color. Finally, when it calmed, and she felt the solid earth beneath her feet once more. Her hair was a tangled mess as she began brushing it out of her eyes. A twinkle of light caught her gaze, and she noticed a circle of light glimmering in a clearing past the trees. Xavier had released her and stepped back, a smile spread across his devilish red lips, “Here we are.” Chapter Thirteen

cool October breeze shuffled the leaves of the trees hanging over them. A The starry night sky lit by the full moon peeked through the treetops and reminded Jenna of home. The place gave her a sense of calm and solitude. She didn’t recognize any of the constellations in the sky, and she knew she was far from home. “We are back at the mansion?” she asked Xavier as he led her down a path through the wood. “Yes,” he paused below the gentle moving branches and looked down at her as he held a finger to his lips. Pulling her close to him, he smoothed a lost strand of hair back from her temple. It was such a calm gesture that she blinked in surprise. “Soon, we will belong together.” Concerned by those words, she blinked. “I don’t know about this Xavier, I just—” With the warmth of his body against hers, he kissed her. She trembled, weak with the intense desire that he stirred in her so quickly. She struggled to catch her breath as she pulled herself from his grip. His hand tightened around hers and led her further down the path as she tried to gather her wits. Ahead of them, lights twinkled through the swaying limbs, and she smelled the scent of burning candle wax. It didn’t take much to know that she was walking into the ritual of the Proelio. She had given it much thought, and with uncertainty, she had bought her time until the very end, to this point. She knew she could not deny him anymore, her father’s future was at stake. They neared a clearing and Jenna could see that there were others dressed in white robes encircling a pentacle and chanting in whispers. A woman in a red robe, her face hidden by the hood, stood at the North point of the pentacle and when she spoke her voice echoed among the woods. “I welcome you two to the ancient sacred Willow Grove. One of the last. And I am Govannia Grie. Overseer of the ritual,” she held out her hand. “The pentacle is ready for you. Step forward into each of the inner circles.” Two small circles were set to the East and West of the pentacle, just big enough for them to stand inside. Ancient runes marked the outer rim, and there were carvings of wood placed about at each point. A woman and a man. Xavier and Jenna faced each other. “Naqvi,” the witch, Govannia, commanded and raised her hand into the air. Jenna barely recognized the word. Was it a name? She wondered why it felt so familiar. Maybe a word she had read in one of her stepmother's ill-gotten scrolls. Whatever it meant it caused an uneasy feeling inside of her. “Xavier?” Jenna asked again. They were just far enough apart that their arms reached across the center of the pentacle and they held tight to each other. For a moment she thought she saw a flicker of doubt in his dark eyes, quickly replaced with a fierce determination. “Don’t worry,” he said, “soon, you’ll be just as strong as I.” “Oietlia,” the witch spoke again. This time blue flames licked and danced around the edges of the pentacle, and the air grew warm. “I don’t know.” Jenna felt like something inside of her was being pulled. There was a tugging at the back of her spine, or perhaps in her soul, at her very core. Her fear went up another notch. “Relax,” said Xavier, registering her apprehension in the evasive glance of her eyes. Xavier endeavored to employ a soothing tone for the first time in his life. “Please be strong. This takes a lot of magic. It will use ours and theirs.” He said, “I know I want you and you want me. I feel it. What could be more natural than that?” A half-dozen curses hovered on the edge of Jenna’s tongue, but she kept them there, consciously protecting herself in case any of this ritual backfired and sent her to some place in the Nether. She’d heard of spells going wrong like that and witches disappearing. This would be over soon, she told herself. She would do this for her father. Then who knows what she could do. She promised herself that she would live only in the present, taking each day as it came. Govannia spoke again. “Pikanye!” A shudder went through Jenna, and she felt it course through Xavier and saw him tremble. Govannia bowed her head and removed her hood. She was an older woman with silvering hair. Suddenly, Jenna could feel something she never could before, that the woman’s power, her magic was stronger than even Xavier’s. Whoever she was, the glare in the woman’s deep green eyes made Jenna hold strong to Xavier’s hand, not wanting to break from his protective grip. “On the small table there beside you both,” said Govannia. “You will find a drinking glass. You will share it and once done you will chant a few lines that I will repeat for you. Then, with the final word, you will be sealed together.” Xavier nodded for Jenna to go first, of course, he would allow Jenna the opportunity. Always the gentleman, she thought. Jenna lifted the cup to her lips. A gold liquid foamed at the brim. Jenna paused with her lips over the edge. “I understand that you’re nervous—” “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said and drank it all down. As it hit the bottom of her belly, a dazed feeling came over Jenna. Her blue eyes struggled to focus on Xavier. It scared her that what she was feeling could overwhelm all control. The feeling quickly dissipated and left her faint and uneasy. Xavier studied her as he took his turn. He tipped the glass to his lips and swallowed the rest. “Now,” said Govannia, “repeat after me.” “Of his flesh and life, of his blood.” “Of her soul and spirit.” “May we now share our strength as one. So mote it be.” As they finished the last word together, Jenna felt renewed with a strength and power she’d never felt before and also extremely emboldened. Xavier, on the other hand, felt weakened of his power, but if it’s what needed to be done, he thought, so be it. Chapter Fourteen

he following morning she awoke and could hardly recall how the T evening had ended. “Was I drugged?” Jenna brought her hand to her head; she felt so strange. A large gold bracelet dangled from her wrist. The maid stood by the door with a silver tray and a glass filled with an orange liquid. The maid was eyeing her cautiously, she said, “No. Miss Jenna. I have a tonic for you. Mr. Alexandros asked that I bring it to you.” “Where is he?” Jenna tried to remove the bracelet, but it stayed right where it was. “What is this?” Jenna asked. “It’s—” The maid stopped short. “What?” asked Jenna. “Tell me.” “Perhaps you should ask you-know-who.” Jenna stormed into Xavier’s top floor office. “Morning,” She said sternly, She felt different this morning. A new energy flowed through her. But she had to wonder if after last night it meant that their agreement had been reached. “So, is this what I get as my parting gift?” Jenna held up her hand. “Pray tell what it’s for.” Xavier put down his pen and leaned back in his leather chair behind his desk. “This was the deal. Wasn’t it?” That new piece of knowledge hit Jenna like a steel athame was stabbed into her and twisted. “So I guess this was kind of like a one-night stand?” A part of her hoped not. But somehow she felt that, with the newfound strength inside her, she got the better end of the deal. Xavier’s stunning dark gaze didn’t reveal his thoughts. “One night stands are not business deals.” Jenna could see only one meaning in that response. And she felt like he’d just let her down and sent the ground out from under her. “Then why this? Cheap gifts meant to track my every move?” A sly smile spread over his face, “cheap? Really? That is an expensive piece from ancient Assyria. Rather big and bulky but it works.” “Works? So now I’m your property? That wasn’t the deal. The deal was I agree to seal my powers with yours. And then you make sure my family is taken care of.” “Yes. We are sealed now. And I will take care of my end of the bargain. But some things go along with that. This is a business arrangement that benefits the both of us. We went over this, Jenna. You were aware—” “Aware of becoming an indentured servant?” “Where is this coming from?” Xavier began to grow upset. “I guess I can only face all of this one day at a time.” Suddenly, all of the anger and hurt she had been holding back broke free. “I don’t even like you, and somehow I’ve allowed you to not only assert yourself over my family’s life but now my own. You’ve taken my home, my family, my shop, and my dog. You’ve marooned me in this place!” She cursed at him, running back to her room and slamming the door, locking it behind her. Xavier heard her sobs and sprang from his chair. Outrage spurred him on. “Jenna. I demand that you open this door.” Cheeks streaked with tears, Jenna sucked in a deep breath. How could she have just walked right into his treacherous arms, falling sway with his sweet- talk? Xavier pounded on the door again. More tears inched down her cheeks as she could feel the heavy weight of the trinket on her wrist—a reminder of her as his possession. Xavier stepped back and began to chant, his deep voice booming. Jenna had recognized it immediately as a Bombardment charm. She ran to the other side of the room and crouched by the bathroom as the door shook and its hinges rattled and broke free. The door fell and slammed against the wood floor. Jenna stared at him, absorbing the sight of his shirt hanging loose, revealing his muscled chest. “Do you have to be so intimidating?” She was rattled that he had knocked the door down. She couldn’t believe he had done that just to get to her. What else would he do? “You should’ve unlocked the door when I asked,” Xavier’s voice rose, he wasn't going to apologize, “I was concerned.” Xavier knelt by her side and tipped her chin up to him. “Look at me…stop, please, you don’t have to be afraid of me.” Jenna dropped her head and pulled her knees up; she was cornered by Xavier’s hulking presence. Frustration was boiling in Xavier. She wasn’t listening to him, and he always felt like she gave him her divided attention. Either she was holding back some part of herself, or she was always lost in some part of her little world. But he hated it. “I want to understand something,” Xavier positioned himself on the floor next to Jenna, he felt like a kid again sitting that way, “I want to know why you would get so angry over the bracelet.” Jenna looked at him and regretted it. Her eyes collided with his eyes that somehow glowed like embers within a pitch black pool. He was a dangerous and powerful warlock, and he made her heart race. She shut her eyes tight. What was the matter with her? “Jenna, please,” Xavier pleaded, “Since when does any man beg to listen to a woman?” Xavier heard his words, and they rang so true: since when did he? What was the matter with him? Jenna sniffled, “Dad was always giving trinkets to his other women when he was done with them. I guess when I saw this around my wrist. It brought it all back. I felt like one of them.” “You thought I was done with you, so suddenly? That is so far from the truth —” “What is the truth, Xavier?” Jenna prodded him now; she dared not look him in the eye again. She pretended to look at the bracelet, admiring its gold links, with sigils carved into it, the sign of their protection. “I wasn’t aware of how this would make you feel. I thought it would impress upon you that I was not leaving you. That is the truth.” Xavier stood up, his imposing height, his sleek, hard features toughened by the shadows of the room. He looked down at her and held out his hand. “Now, please. A deal is a deal. We are bound now. I protect my assets, and that is the truth.” “I’m not worried even if you were to leave me now,” Jenna replied, slipping her hand into his. She had been worried that once the seal was done, Xavier would see that she was useless to him. Xavier took a deep breath and looked at her. In the uneasy silence he felt the need to squash her doubts, but why? He did not care for her the same way that he could see in her eyes that she cared for him. He couldn’t. He did not do love. He did not do relationships. He did partnerships. And reminding himself that Jenna was Edward Sharpleton’s daughter was enough to remind him of that partnership. “Next time don’t jump to conclusions.” He said and turned on his way out of the room. He would have to have the door fixed and seeing it laying on the floor made him almost wonder why it was so apparent that he had to even worry about Jenna in the first place. She had served her purpose, didn’t she? So why then? Xavier had turned before he walked out of her bedroom, “I’m not worried either. But I know that you are stressed out of your mind. But don’t be. We will figure all this out.” “I’m not,” she lied. “You may not like me, Jenna,” Xavier said, “but you will.” He walked out without another word. Jenna felt weak, her legs wobbly as she sat down at the edge of the bed. She felt annoyed, confused, and strangely all too powerful. She looked at her hands and flexed them. Something new coursed through her, it was the very force that flowed through Xavier. And yet, she didn’t think it was possible to hate him so much and yet want him even more. Her attraction to him was crudely physical, hormonal even, and it got the better of her self-control. Chapter Fifteen

avier rode in the back of his limo across the city still mulling over X Jenna’s sudden madness. It must be the effects of the Proelio. The spell should come with a warning: could cause emotional imbalance and mental upheaval. Had it taken the same effect on him? No, of course not. He was too strong for that. As for Jenna’s powers, he felt her imbue him with hers, though weak they were, he knew his strength would herald her powers to show. He could feel her powers growing. No matter what he did, it was never enough for her. He thought she would be happy now that she would be able to do more than just grow a small pretty little flower in a pot. But had she even used the powers he now shared? No, she would prefer to dress in soiled clothes and run her fingers through the dirt. He was the evil fascist that marooned her in a city far from home with every magical convenience known to any practitioner. Xavier was astonished that he had become so bitter and felt so cheated. Perhaps the seal did have some effects on him, though microscopic it was, indeed. No woman nor witch had ever had this effect on him, but then no woman had ever regarded him with distaste. Maybe she was right to think that he should leave her. Now that the deal was struck and the seal was done. The agreement was unbreakable. They did not have to be together. So why then? Why was he keeping up this charade? Xavier suddenly wanted to smash the window of his limo. Maybe even the entire car. In a rage, Xavier told the chauffeur to head for Club Hex. There were women there who would appreciate him, and his abilities.

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Xavier called Madam Delphine. “I need your help with something.” “What is it?” she asked, her solemn voice was always so soothing, and it was perfect for his hangover. He’d had very little sleep the evening before. “It’s about the seal.” “Ahh. Yes. The seal. How has it gone?” “Well, that's just it. I think there are side effects.” “Side Effects? No way. That was a prime Assyrian spell. I had to go to Asia to get it!” After Xavier had explained to her the strange feelings and the outbursts, Madam Delphine replied, “I’ll see what I can find out, but I still think that there must be something else, maybe some dark magic at play?” “I have every charm known to any high-level practitioner surrounding this place. There is no way; Now you find me something to go on!” Xavier slammed the phone down; his headache was getting the best of him. He was agitated.

JENNA WAS out in the garden when Xavier found her. She peeked around the pottery planters and seen him coming, “Did you find me with your locator spell?” She jingled the golden bracelet. He smirked. “No. I just knew exactly where you would be.” The deep timbre of his voice clenched inside her tummy. He hadn’t dressed for the occasion. His suit was a mess, and he’d left his jacket upstairs. His shirt was unbuttoned and disheveled so that Jenna could see his chest and, teasingly, some of his stomach. She wondered if he did it on purpose. The man spoke of them being just a partnership, and here he was practically enticing her. So wicked of him, she thought. Either way, Jenna couldn’t help but catch a glimpse as she replanted a daisy in each pot. “I was thinking of showing you some appreciation, and just to calm your nerves I wanted to take you out somewhere tonight.” Her eyes widened in fear and strangely, a little bit of disappointment. “I can’t.” “Why not?” Jenna wasn’t about to cancel her plans with Tom. “I’m going out with a very old friend.” “Or, you could go out with a not so old friend who wants to re-evaluate a business agreement.” Re-evaluate? Jenna’s heart skipped. What could that mean? Jenna faltered, “I-I can’t. He won’t be available—” “He?” Xavier halted his temper. “Yes. He.” Jenna said adamantly. “What does it matter?” Xavier bit his tongue and forced a thin smile, “it doesn’t.” “Good. Because you know that we are business partners and I would hate to think that what I do outside of that arrangement has any bearing on our business together.” Jenna eyed him as she shoved the small garden trowel in the dirt. “Then how about I meet up with you then? Where is this place that—” “No. From now on Xavier…Mr. Alexandros, I hope you’ll tell me ahead of time if you have any plans for me. You can’t expect me to be available at your beckoning.” Had Madam Delphine figured something out? Had she created a spell to reverse the side effects of the seal? If so, why then did he feel so enraged. “I don’t expect it, but it would help if while under my roof you see to it that you are a proper guest.” “I did not ask to be under this roof. That was your demands.” Xavier sighed, “Touche. From now on I will give you notice.” Xavier swung on the heel of his polished black shoe, grumbling to himself that there was no reason for him even to care. Why should he even think any more about the matter? He was still acting ridiculously, and every thought was imposing his daily functions to even think about business. But Jenna was business now, right? No, he shook his head. Not at all. This is…wait, what is this? The bottom line that Xavier finally could decide on was that for some reason, he wanted Jenna. Madam Delphine had better find the spell to break the effects of the seal, or else he was going to go mad crazy, and he was stronger than Jenna, undoubtedly she was going through the same ups and downs as he was. Surely she would collapse with exhaustion before he would. And then, when he could finally have a clear head, and calm reason would be reinstated, he would eventually find her more tiresome than desirable. Chapter Sixteen

“ ’ve been researching your friend,” Tom confided with a disapproving I shake of his head. He stood with his drink in hand at the ritziest bar in town, Se’Cretes. “You’re way out of your league with this one.” Jenna wrinkled her nose in reproof. “Why?” “From what I found out about Mr. Alexandros is that he makes it his lifelong quest to live up to his bad reputation.” An unexpected emotion darted through her in response to his criticism of Xavier, Jenna folded her arms. “In what way is he living up to this bad reputation?” “In every way,” said Tom, he pushed his brown hair off his brow in a rueful gesture. “He runs through women like a fish sucks water. What is it about this guy that has you even giving him the light of day?” “Maybe I see something in him that you don’t. That nobody else does.” “Yeah. Or maybe it’s because he’s the most powerful warlock of all warlocks, barring Harold Kinsey, and maybe Jack Speldora.” “You know I would never be with someone just because of their money or their power. Besides, when we spoke on the phone you told me he was good for me, that I needed something different instead of being stuck among the roots of the garden or the drama of my home life.” “Where were you last night?” he asked. “Besides getting a bedazzling piece of new jewelry.” He gestured to the golden, gaudy piece on her wrist. She smirked and flung her hand around as if the bracelet was nothing to consider. “I was at the mansion that Xavier moved me into. Long story. Why?” Tom grimaced. “I didn’t want to be the one to tell you but—according to the news—Xavier Alexandros was partying it up last night at Club Hex with three Sirens. You know how they swoon over men of magic. After all, mortals don’t last long in their claws do they?” In a surprise, Jenna went very still. She couldn’t speak immediately or even breathe. She wanted to argue and defend herself and that Xavier had been with her the night before, but she recalled how he left her so quickly, alone. In the mood he had been in it was possible that it was him. She rejected him, and he must have sought out any woman that would swoon over him and stroke his ego. “Don’t you pay attention to the news?” Tom sighed and put his glass of wine to his lips. It took every effort to get her mouth to move, but she made a stumbling recovery. “Not the sort of news that devotes space to rumors like that.” “It’s not a rumor, Jenna.” Why should she care? She didn’t understand the strong desire to track Xavier down and confront him. Indeed the incomprehensible power of her reactions appealed to her. Just then, her wine glass cracked, and a drip of red wine slinked down the stem and dripped onto the white table cloth. “I can see that you’re upset.” Tom declared. “You deserve so much better than him.” “It’s not important. Do you think I don’t know what he is like? That it won’t last with him?” Jenna fixed a bright smile on her lips, but her face felt as if it was set in Plaster of Paris. “But, I’m twenty-three, and I feel like I should take some risks. Live a little. Like you said, take some time away from Everbrook. See the outside world.” She loved talking to Tom, but the start of their conversation removed any loss and nostalgia that usually followed their discussions of the past. She couldn’t think of anything but Xavier for longer than five minutes. She kept imagining Xavier with those Sirens, dancing, flirting, with their claws all over him. “I’ll always be here for you, ya know,” Tom swore earnestly, holding her hand across the table. “Where ever I am you can call.”

ACROSS PARIS, Xavier was working late. He couldn’t relax, though. He paced his office and finally phoned Edgar to find out exactly where Jenna was. After all, she had spent the whole evening with her mysterious friend. An hour later, he strolled into the VIP lounge of Se’Cretes and saw Jenna lounging with a brown haired man. She was dressed simply enough in blue jeans and a white top. He was torn between satisfaction that she hadn’t bothered to clean up for her male companion but also annoyed that she had ignored wearing all of the designer clothes he had purchased for her. A smile played over Xavier’s lips as he headed towards Jenna and her friend. Xavier felt that he was being civilized considering the dark mood from the night before. Fortunately it had begun to lift and lighten throughout the day. But as his eyes lingered on Jenna he caught the expression on her face as she glanced up at her companion. To Xavier’s sharp gaze the loving warmth of that look was indisputable. His powerful, lean frame went rigid. It was as if something tore inside of him and a primal anger flooded into him. Jenna only noticed Xavier when he closed an arm around her to say bluntly, “It is time for you to tell your friend, goodnight, Jenna.” She twisted quick enough to lose her footing and found herself held in a strong set of arms and above her a set of scorching dark eyes. Her heart jumped as if someone had pushed her off a cliff. Resentment and excitement became as one indistinguishable whole. Xavier moved her to one side and nodded to one of his men awaiting instruction nearby. “Edgar will see you out to the limo. I want a word with your friend.” The deliberate hesitation in his reference to Tom made Jenna stiffen. Worry gripped her, but she could not quite credit her suspicions. Xavier, please—” “Go with Edgar.” Jenna shook her head. “Don’t you dare do anything you might regret.” She shouted, and in a panic, she pulled herself away from Xavier and stood in front of Tom. The menace in Xavier’s lean features was unmistakable. A wave of anger washed over Xavier. Her antagonism by opposing him only put herself at risk to protect another man. But a glimpse of apprehension in her eyes snapped him back into control. “Leave with me,” he breathed tautly. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” Jenna still didn’t take her eyes off of Xavier. There was a light in his eyes that drew her in, a brooding golden glimmer. Slowly, whatever spell he was trying to use on her dissipated. When she had believed he was about to hurt Tom, she had been terrified and then relieved when he withdrew. She was full of wildly conflicting emotions as she looked at Xavier in his tailored pinstripe suit, he was a handsome man this evening. There was no denying what her body felt for him. Now her feelings escalated in response to the fierce emotions she had been suppressing all night. “I’m Tom. If anyone’s interested,” Tom remarked wryly, hovering and intrigued by Xavier’s attitude. There wasn’t a single ounce of fear on Tom’s face. “I’m not,” Xavier said in his direction without looking. “Not at all.” “Why do you have to be so rude!” Jenna erupted, startling herself, and Xavier too, by the passion with which she expressed herself. “Let’s go, Tom.” Tom shook his head, “I think you two should have this out…only not here.” Tom whispered. Jenna surveyed the patrons around them who had stopped their dancing and drinking. She’d almost forgot about them; even the music seemed to have been turned low enough for everyone to eavesdrop. Ignoring Tom, Xavier strode forward and closed a steel hand around Jenna’s wrist. His long fingers smoothed over her delicate wrist and as she tried to break free from his grip, he held firm. “We’re leaving.” A furious red blushed her cheeks. Had Tom not reminded her that they were in a public place she would have screamed at him like a banshee. But she was keen to put her feelings into words without an audience so she waved goodbye to Tom, telling him she’d call him just to poke at Xavier’s wall of jealousy. “Not if I have any say in it,” Xavier countered in a raw tone as he walked her to the limo. “You lied to me…telling me you were with a friend. And me,” He laughed. “I believed you!” “I was!” “Where did you get the idea that you could keep the wool over my eyes?” Xavier shot back with a chilling glance. “Now I’ll have to have Edgar follow you everywhere you go.” “I really can’t believe you have the gall to talk like this to me. Suddenly I am the one that is the wrong person here? What about you and your three Sirens you went out with last night?” “I don’t think I need to say anything or explain myself about that,” Xavier said with a hard glare that always silenced his opponents. “But I’ve got plenty to say on that score.” Jenna hissed. Edgar opened the limo door for her. “No, I’m not going with you, and I don’t need a lift.” Xavier shot her another warning glance from his dark glimmering eyes. “I won’t tolerate this ridiculous show in public at my expense.” Something inside of Jenna made her think of the small trinket which she wore in memory of her mother. It had never been much use and never seemed to help her. But at this moment she felt driven to use it. “I’ll keep it short and sweet,” she chided and grabbed the small pale-green pendant as it lay against her skin. She felt the sharp edges of its facets through her thin white blouse and narrowed her shoulders. Edgar was looking at her like she was crazy. She said something in Latin, quick and decisive, as the wind picked up around her. “Just two more words Xavier—we’re over.” Sizzling gold burnished Xavier’s exasperated and skeptical gaze as Jenna suddenly disappeared from before him. Bewildered, and speechless, Xavier dug fists of outrage into his pockets and jumped into his limo. As the city street lamps glinted off the windows and the rain began, Xavier finally found the words, “It’s far from over.” Chapter Seventeen

t was daylight when Jenna found herself right where she’d wanted to I be. She was in disbelief that for once the power of the necklace had worked like she wanted it to. Exactly as she had wanted. She had almost given up on ever using it. She’d figured her family had used the last of its powers long ago. But she didn’t have time to think about it. She was two steps inside of her shop on the Turnblatt estate when her phone rang. She pulled her phone out of her purse, expecting to see Xavier’s name on the caller I.D. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw it was Tom. “Hello?” Tom said, a cautious tone to his words. “Jenna? Is everything okay?” “Yes! It’s fine I—” “What’s going on? I just seen you disappear. He looked pissed as he got in his car, to say the least. But the whole restaurant had a good show.” “I didn’t mean to Tom. I don’t know how I did it.” She considered those words. Perhaps she knew exactly how. Proelio. Maybe it wasn’t the necklace after all. “So, are you going to tell me how a white witch like you disappeared into thin air?” “Just get out of there.” She could hear the bustle of voices in the background. “Make sure Xavier’s men aren’t still lurking around and see you.” “He and his people have already left. He looked very shocked, as am I. Where are you now?” Jenna looked around her quaint shop, reassuring herself she was home. “I’ll tell you everything as soon as I can. I’ll call you later.” “Okay…” Tom sounded confused but agreed and hung up. Jenna pulled the necklace out from around her neck and stared at it. A quartz stone set in the grip of a silver talon. She grabbed a dusty book off the shelf titled, ‘Elementia Magia.' Flipping through its old pages, there were pictures and descriptions of staffs, wands, crystals, stones, but nothing that looked like her necklace. She knew the one person that might know something about it, the very person that had given it to her, Edward Sharpleton. Jenna removed her dress and put something comfortable on and then she hopped into her car and headed for Sharpleton Manor. If even Xavier had been amazed at her feat of disappearing into thin air then maybe it had been the necklace. Maybe all it took was someone with the immense power to wield it. She knew now it could be her. She felt a faint stab of regret. It was only possible because of Xavier.

WHEN SHE WALKED into Sharpleton Manor her father was surprised, “I thought you were in Paris.” He said getting up from his chair that had imprinted his stout body into its cushion. “I was. But I need to talk to you about this.” She pulled the necklace from under her t-shirt dangling it in front of his eyes. “Yes? What of it?” He looked at her questioningly. “What is it?” “I’ve told you, it was your mothers. I thought after her passing you would have wanted something of hers. After most of her belongings were sold off to pay for her debts—” “Her debts?” Jenna chimed in. Wondering if he was lying, again. “Yes. The manor was falling apart it was all I could do to keep it standing.” Jenna’s lips pressed together. “What is this all about?” Jenna bundled the silver necklace up in her hand, “Nothing. I thought it… nevermind.”

JENNA ARRIVED BACK HOME, it was late in the evening, and there was a black stretch limo waiting for her already. Edgar was standing out in front of the shop. “Ms. Reness, please you must —” “Don’t bother, Edgar.” She replied. “He has his ways. Ms. Reness.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head, “I guess that's the only answer I’ll ever get.” The phone in her pocket was ringing, she already knew who it would be, and she looked to Edgar, “Give me a minute, I’ll be out soon.” She closed the shop door and retreated to the back. Quickly, she called Tom. “Hey.” “Well, Hello again.” Said Tom, “I didn’t think I would hear from you for a while.” “Yeah, well it looks like I have another trip to make, back to Paris.” “Why don’t you do whatever it was you did before?” “I don’t know how I did it.” He laughed, she could imagine he was shaking his head with a big smile on. “I’m sorry Tom, I got you into this mess.” “Me? I think you got yourself into it. It doesn’t help that I didn’t talk you out of it at the beginning.” “I guess we are both to blame.” Jenna peered through the door to the front room; she was still alone. “Listen, when I get back to Paris, I’ll call you. There is something I need to show you. Maybe you can tell me—” “Ms. Reness?” There was a knock from Edgar at the screen door as he peered inside. “The plane leaves soon. Boss will be mighty upset if I don’t get you there in time.” “Tom I’m sorry to cut you short again, but I have to go.” She hung up before he could even say goodbye. Jenna started grabbing a bag of concoctions, potion bottles and a few ragweed herbs. “Miss. Please. There’s not much time.” “Eddy, please.” Eddy began to scratch his scalp relentlessly, his face became red, and sweat started to come down his face. “Eddy are you okay?” “It’s this time of night Miss. The full moon…” “Oh. Are you a skin walker? I never—” Jenna stopped short and went into the back room, she had something to help cursed shifters. Belladonna? No. Nightshade? No. “Ah.” She said as she grabbed a small bottle of brown liquid, labeled Rose oil. It was so small, and it was the only one she had. “Take this. Just a drop on your tongue and it should keep the change at bay.” “Miss? I don’t need this. I think I-I-” he grabbed his throat and grunted, his teeth clenched as he shuddered and breathed deeply, his nostrils flared as he blinked and regained himself. “A skin walker never uses anything but his self- control.” “Well, suit yourself, Edgar. But if you need it, you’ve got it. I won’t tell.” “Thank you, Miss.” Edgar put the small vial safely in his jacket pocket, just in case. Jenna continued surveying her items that she wanted to take back with her. Suddenly a severe tremor shot up her arm as the golden bracelet tightened around her wrist. “Edgar!” Jenna fell against the counter, spilling several pots. “Miss! I should’ve told you. I’m sorry, Miss. The bracelet doesn’t allow you to be gone from his presence for longer than 24 hours.” “What?” said Jenna in disbelief. “And what happens if—” The sad look in Edgar's eyes was enough of an answer. Quickly they raced to the car and onward to the plane. Jenna left everything behind. She would make sure she lived long enough to give Xavier a piece of her mind. Chapter Eighteen

dgar dropped her off at the home of Xavier. She had never been to his E house before. He’d always came to the one he provided for her. Edgar led her through the foyer and down the steps and through two tall doors, made for a giant, that opened to a long swimming pool. The bright blue reflected off of the wall of mosaic stone and glittered in Xavier’s eyes. Jenna raced toward him; her balled fist pointed an accusing finger out at him. “You never told me my life would be at stake!” Jenna stood waiting for him to come to her, tired from the long flight, watching him nervously. His calm and quiet manner did nothing to ease the tension as he slowly walked out of the pool. Mr. Ivan, the butler, approached with a robe and wrapped it around him. He hadn’t called, and she suspected she was beginning to know why, he wanted to give her time to build so many expectations of how he would react, only to disappoint her. But she knew he was angry, more than that; she knew he was furious. “You thought you could just leave me?” he asked with an amused grin. The color drained from Jenna’s face leaving her eyes looking more of a vivid blue than ever. “When you agreed to be with me you never mentioned this,” he waved a hand absently, “Tom, person.” “Tom? I didn’t think you would care. He’s a friend.” There hadn’t been a sexual proposition to the seal, but now Xavier was painfully aroused and angry, and the last thing he wanted to do was talk. It was as if someone had spiked his drink with a jealousy hex. “Where have you brought me?” “My place.” "You’ve given me a place to live.” Said Jenna, thinking about the pain she had to endure all the way here on the flight. Luckily it was his private Jet, and they were back in Paris before midnight. “Was it I that brought you? Or did you come back—” “You know why I came back,” Snapped Jenna. “As for our agreement it doesn’t give you the right to question my every move or make new rules,” Xavier delivered with icy conviction. “You’re one to talk. Storming into the restaurant and acting like a jealous schoolboy!” “Me?” Xavier wanted to explode. “And where were your standards?” Xavier derided her, strolling forward, which had the immediate effect of making her back away. “You set up a meeting with the guy you love behind my back!” “The guy I love?” “Yes! That's the kind of thing every man wants to know up front. As you can see by the painful distance that occurs between us, there is more we share than just our powers. We have joined our souls. And when you went sneaking off—” “I did not sneak!” Anger surged to Jenna’s aid again. “That’s okay. I don’t care.” Jenna walked up to him, a tight, hard knot in her tummy, her eyes hot and gritty with stinging tears. “You hate my father, but you’re just like him. Selfish and greedy.” “Don’t you dare compare me to your father.” Xavier’s voice thundered in raw disbelief, echoing around the pool room. “Then what of those Sirens?” His lean and powerful face went rigid as Xavier studied her and then he dragged in a slow deep breath and said grittily, “Nothing happened with them.” Jenna studied him. Relief washed over her, and she felt more hopelessly confused than ever. Angular features taut, Xavier set his perfect white teeth together. “I didn’t touch them. The Sirens, they were company to keep my mind distracted. That’s all.” “Did they stay clothed?” “Yes,” Xavier said through gritted teeth. How dare she question him. Jenna realized she was shaking. Slowly, she looked him in his eyes. “I believe you. But what do we do then? About these feelings? Sealing ourselves together has done more than just combine our strengths.” “Feelings?” Xavier could not believe what she was doing to him; he did not want to admit it out loud, even to himself. The Proelio did more to him than he thought, he believed he’d had it all figured out, a man, a warlock in control. But all of this was getting away from him. “I know you feel them too.” She whispered in helpful interruption. “As much as I want to deny it…I do.” Xavier stepped up to her before she could even stop him and angled her head back and bent to kiss her. “No. No, wait. Xavier.” Maddeningly conscious of her sudden refusal Xavier lifted his eyes to meet hers. “Xavier, we mustn’t—” Her cheeks flamed red as fire, but her entire body was desperately on edge. Feelings or not, she reminded herself to stay firm; this was a business decision to save her family, this wasn’t something to get swept away into. Xavier, after all, was a man with questionable intentions, plans that she was not aware of and from what she’d heard, would only head toward trouble. “You are unbelievable,” Xavier surveyed her with rampant appreciation and dropped a teasing kiss on her brow. Smiling, he rearranged his robe. Jenna stood on unsteady legs. Her mind was in complete upheaval. Her phone rang two steps toward the exit. She dug it out to answer and walked away from Xavier the minute she recognized Tom’s familiar voice. “I’m all right. Back in Paris,” she muttered in some embarrassment before telling Tom she would have to speak with him tomorrow. Xavier froze, dark eyes flaring as he worked out who had called her. “I don’t think you should be accepting calls from him.” Deft blue eyes met him in honest surprise. “Why not? Tom’s my oldest friend.” “Because you’re in love with him,” Xavier spelled out with a stinging chill. “Tom doesn’t see me that way.” “I don’t like it. Not at all.” Xavier said flatly. Absorbing the smoldering aspect of Xavier’s intent gaze, Jenna was surprised to feel an unexpected twinge of amusement. She dipped her head to hide it. He was so possessive, so incredibly passionate. He was not at all the cold, callous, and insensitive guy she had once believed. “I can see your point,” she answered with determined tact. “It is late. I would rather you stay here tonight. You may have the end suite.” Chapter Nineteen

enna woke with a start, unsure of her surroundings and of what J disturbed her. Quickly she remembered she was in Xavier’s house and she fumbled along the wall for the light switch by the bed. The sunlight filtered through the shutters and she opened her bedroom doors. Across the hall, she heard disturbing curses being shouted out. It was coming from Xavier’s room. Should she enter? What exactly was he screaming about? Peering into his room, she could see Xavier tossing and turning in his bed. He was moaning something in Latin, a spell of some sort. The clock next to his bedside levitated. “Xavier?” She asked as she cautiously stepped into his room. He mumbled in a strange, ancient dialect. But she could hear that there was terror in his voice, and suddenly she felt herself lifting off the floor. “Xavier?” she whispered cautiously. “Xavier! Wake up!” He tossed back and forth and shouted again. Jenna was forced back by something invisible and held against the wall. “Wake up, Xavier, please!” Her necklace became hot against her skin and glowed green. She wrapped her hand around it and focused all of her energy against Xavier’s mental force. She dropped to her feet and raced to the bedside. His skin was hot as fire. “Wake up!” she screamed, shaking him. Xavier wrenched himself up in a sudden movement that startled her. She quickly tucked the necklace back under her shirt. He was trembling and muttering. He raked his fingers through his hair and turned to study her, “What are you doing in here?” “You-you were having a nightmare.” “A bad dream?” he said absently, conjuring up the fading images in his mind. “More like a distant memory.” In the dim sunlight, his black stubble and the outline of his aggressive set of his jaw line made him appear startlingly handsome. “I get nightmares too sometimes,” she said, not meaning to downplay the disturbing aspect of his own as she corrected herself, “Just not as bad as what you get it seems.” “Really?” Xavier said very dryly. But he was not asking her to leave. “Tell me.” Jenna lay down next to him and rested her chin on her hand, peering down at him, drinking in the familiar scent of his skin. “Sometimes I have these dreams that I’m in Everbrook’s boarding school of young witches. It no longer exists. It was before Everbrook became interconnected with the mortal world.” Xavier tensed. “Really? You went to boarding school too? How old were you?” “Around twelve, when most young witches are sent there, or were, anyway. Though Hedera was in a better class than me, I got all of her hand me downs. Usually, her clothes were beautiful, but by the time she gave them to me, they were dirty, stained. It took me years to realize she had done it all on purpose and that she hated me.” “And your nightmares?” “Well, when I’d heard my mother had died, I was devastated, and no one could console me. I had dreams that she was being burned at the stake, and there was nothing I could do.” Jenna’s fingers played with a wrinkle in the white sheet. “I was homesick, and bullied for being a crybaby.” Xavier reached behind her with a long arm and tipped her forward toward him and onto his chest. “I was too, but I had no home.” She wanted to remind herself that this wasn’t a position, no matter how she felt, that she should be in. But, she stayed, convincing herself that for the first time Xavier was opening himself up to her, there was no sense in pushing him away, at least for now. “So you were in a school for witches too?” she asked. He muffled a laugh in her hair, “My mother was dead. Everything was stolen from her. My grandfather was not a kind man, more concerned with his life than a motherless child. I suspect that when he looked at me, he saw her betrayal. She left the family for a mortal. All grandfather could do was pay to have me sent away, out of his sight. “But I didn’t fit in. I was one of the youngest, smallest pipsqueak warlocks and the brunt of every bullying spell.” “Pipsqueak?” Jenna squinted up at his dark face. “I cannot imagine you would be so small.” “It wasn’t long before I inherited the Lothian powers by my thirteenth birthday. Then I made them all pay.” Jenna shivered, she could hear the vengeance in his voice. She didn’t dare venture any further with another question on that matter. Lothian, where had she heard that before? “And your dream then?” Jenna prodded, “You were speaking in another language.” “I was?” He wondered why he’d even given her this much detail of his life. His head shook back and forth, “It's long gone now, hardly able to recall it.” Jenna squinted at the glaring red numbers of the alarm clock and gasped, “Jeez. Is that the time?” “Course it is. What else would it be?” Pulling free from his strong arms, Jenna frantically jumped to her feet, “It will be time for Spottyanna to have breakfast and she won’t eat if I'm not there with her.” Barely able to discredit that explanation for jumping out of his reach, Xavier sat up. “Are you saying that every morning you’ve been going to the spa to sit with her while she eats?” “Dinner time too. She eats at four.” Jenna spoke defensively. “She’s been quite sad without me, not even playing with the toys they gave her.” She left his room hastily, and he could hear the front door creak open and slam closed. Xavier cursed the small dog under his breath as he pulled himself out of his bed and strode to his office, opening his laptop he spied the little dog on the camera, looking forlorn with her muzzle between her paws. A perfect picture of a miserable mutt. He lifted the phone. It was time to bring the poor pooch home. Chapter Twenty

avier surveyed the crowded room with concealed dissatisfaction. X Clingy women in his company had always exasperated him. Over the last month, he had learned that Jenna did not cling to him, follow him, and hang on his every word. In fact, he sometimes felt that handcuffing her to his wrist or tagging her with a locator was the only way he was going to find her and keep her by his side. When she got to talking with his many guests, she lost track of time. She was wildly popular with the Beverly sisters from the Laravie Coven who Xavier had to rescue her from repeatedly. Those who took advantage of her knowledge of Hedge magic continued to ask for free advice and even personal visits. “Where is she?” Xavier was finally forced to ask Edgar to sniff her out. Edgar led him in quick strides out to the rear terrace and looked down at the garden below. Jenna's bright green evening gown was trailing across the grass; she was showing off her most favorite of exotic plants to a pale-faced man and his wife. The man was Monroe Abernathy, a notorious vampire. That he should even be close to Jenna, set Xavier’s teeth on edge. Edgar cleared his throat. “I don’t think Ms. Reness realizes that she is driving you up a wall, sir.” “Is that right?” Xavier murmured without expression. “She just loves helping people. I don’t even think she realizes that Mr. Abernathy is eyeing her jugular instead of listening to her expertise on plant magic.” Edgar remarked into awkward silence. That dangerous disease of goodness was destroying the loyalties of all of his staff who came into regular contact with her, Xavier acknowledged with a sardonic grin. She took what Xavier considered an inordinate interest in other people and made no distinction between his employees and his influential acquaintances. Even Edgar, a skin walker, was eager to defend her on her behalf. It didn't help that Xavier noticed Edgar was taking a drop from a small vial that curiously looked familiar, and he was sure, no matter that Edgar vehemently denied it, that it was a gift derived from Jenna’s garden. Madam Delphine even had the chance to finally meet her and mentioned how sweet and pleasant Jenna was, somehow disarming Daphne’s dark side. Unfortunately, Xavier felt excluded from Jenna’s good nature, her manners, her sweetness, and that awareness nagged at him like a dagger in his side. She did not take an inordinate interest in him or ask of his absences. There were questions she just didn’t ask. But she did stir a fire deep inside him. What was it that drew him to her? Still, no matter Delphine’s rigorous defense that the Proelio would not cause such a side effect, he had to wonder. Sometimes he joined her at dusk after an all-day meeting. No woman or witch had ever given or inspired in him so much desire that he went to terrific lengths to make time with her. He also gave her a lot of attention. Naturally, he wanted her to be pleased with the role she had in his life. But she was not responding to his efforts to please her. She wore the designer clothes and the expensive jewelry he gave her with indifference, trading them for jeans and a shirt the first chance she got. Nothing seemed to impress her. Even the most spoken about witch of them all, Govannia Grie, didn’t rouse much interest in her. Hadn’t he rescued Spottyanna? Did he whine when that little runt lay in wait to attack him? Spottyanna had the teeth of a shark. But what bothered Xavier most of all was the sneaking suspicion that Jenna was not happy with their arrangement. She didn’t show it, mention it, or appear unhappy in public. He felt that it was there, in the corner of her smile, the crease of her eye, the quick brush of her hair. Was she pining for Tom? The very thought filled Xavier with a murderous tide of energy. Infuriated by that lack of mental discipline, he used his willpower to thrust both the name and thought from his mind. And if she wasn’t happy, Xavier was aware that he would soon be telling her something about her father that would make her unhappy. One week ago, he had a call from the real estate lawyer he instructed to check the properties that Edward Sharpleton had signed over. Questions were immediately raised by the inconsistencies in the paperwork, and upon further investigation, it was revealed that Sharpleton was guilty of another crime. Xavier now had the proof that the man Jenna believed in so whole-heartedly was an unscrupulous mortal that would destroy Jenna’s faith in her father forever. Jenna's face blushed from the attention that Monroe Abernathy was paying her and the dagger eyes that his lady friend was giving her made her uneasy. She answered his questions briefly as she could. When she noticed Xavier on the terrace above, it was a relief for her to be able to say, “I think Xavier needs me.” “What mortal, warlock, or vampire would not need you?” Mr. Abernathy replied and inched closer to her as though he’d forgotten about his lady friend behind him, watching with incrimination. “You are stunning beyond words.” The man’s alabaster skin and pale blue lips were an undead giveaway that he was the vampire to which his name alluded. His appraisal made her feel like an object, a bag of blood in Xavier’s fancy trimmings. “Excuse me.” Suppressing the shudder of revulsion, she headed back indoors. Xavier strode in from the terrace to greet her. His gaze rested on hers, and an erotic twist of heat shimmered through her. Physically he reigned supreme over her until she could find a way of resisting him. But the seal weighed on her, offended her beliefs and destroyed her self-respect. “I always have to search for you,” Xavier murmured as he lifted her slender hand. “I would like to see more of you when we entertain.” “Okay.” Jenna didn't like the way he said it, but she reminded herself that he had said nothing when Spottyanna chewed up one of his shoes. When it had happened, he was remarkably tolerant. His fingers smoothed over the soft skin of her inner wrist and lingered. Her faint aroma flared his nostrils. A slight tremor ran through her. Jenna glanced up at him. His dark pupils were dilated. Tension sizzled through her, holding her still. Although she tried to, she couldn’t pull away from the intoxicating sense of energy and power between them. His smoldering eyes burned her with anticipation. Xavier bent his arrogant head to murmur thickly, “How do you have such a hold over me?” A taunting lick of fire pulsed through the heart of her. She felt so wicked that she closed her eyes tight, fighting against Xavier's sexual draw. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Let me show you.” His fingers tight around her wrists, Xavier backed into the room behind him and pulled her to him. The instant she realized what he meant to do, Jenna went stiff. She knew that intense, fiery look in his eyes. It filled her with an excitement she loathed. All too often he reminded her how weak she was to resist him. For a split second, she had an image of how she would look emerging from the room with messy hair and smudged lipstick that she recoiled in shame from the thought. “No. We can’t do this. Your guests will know something—” “So? Why do we deny what we both feel?” Xavier curved his lean, determined hands to her hips and pulled her to him. “They probably have already guessed what we refuse to accept. And why should we care?” “I care.” Her cheeks flushed a feverish pink. “I’ll look like your trophy, your hussy. But then why should you care about that?” Xavier gave her an incredulous look. “What's come over you?” Jenna crossed her arms and turned away from him, trying to avoid his eyes and the power he held over her. “Over me?” she dwelled on Monroe Abernathy’s words. “I won’t be paraded around a group of your admirers, witches, or even those damn vampires just to appease some warlock’s ego!” “Warlock’s ego?” Xavier declared angrily. “What did Monroe say to you?” “It wasn’t what. It was how. With his eyes. But he’s not the only one.” Xavier understood this. Vampire eyes held an uncanny ability to mesmerize their victims. Xavier spread his hands and rested them on her shoulders. “Will you calm down and talk sense?” Jenna convulsed into sobs, and she choked it back hurriedly. “You just don’t get it, do you? You think I can just be bought and paraded around these…these people.” “What has he said to you?” “I told you, nothing. They apparently think I’m some object that can be bought with beautiful things. These things..” She gestured to her beautiful dress. One that Daphne herself picked out since he was not so good about this stuff. Xavier lifted her out of his path. “That’s it. His time has finally come. Four hundred years of sucking blood and now I’m going to kill him!” “What for?” Jenna demanded wildly. “He’s upset you. Once and only once. I won’t have this!” Xavier grated. Afraid of a scene in the company of many strong beings that could wipe them all out with a snap of their fingers, Jenna stepped in front of the door to prevent him from leaving. “Why care about any of it?” Without the slightest warning, her voice wobbled, and tears drenched her cheeks. Xavier loathed any woman brought to tears around him. It was a poison, and he never allowed himself to be swayed by tantrums. But when he saw those tears in Jenna’s delicate eyes he could not possibly take offense at anything she had said. The raging frustration inside of him immediately subsided. Everything suddenly seemed simple. He put his arms around her shoulders and gently eased her shivering body against his. A sob convulsed Jenna’s throat. “I'm trying not to cry. I—" “I don’t hear you crying,” Xavier breathed, wondering if he was wrong for wanting to kick out all of his guests, end the night’s festivities, and drag her up to bed and keep her there for the rest of the evening. She leaned her head against his broad shoulder. She felt utterly bewildered by her behavior. How had she ended up in his arms like this? The angry pain that had taken her over had dissipated, and she recognized a disconcerting change in her attitude to him. Arguing with Xavier had once made her feel stronger, in control, but this time it made her feel like a total wreck. “I’m okay,” she muttered awkwardly as her phone rang. “Excuse me.” She looked at her phone and shook her head. It was her stepsister, Hedera. “We need you to come home immediately,” Hedera declared in a sharp tone that made Jenna’s heart skip a beat and her anxiety rise even faster. “It’s about Eddy. How quickly can you get here?” “Why? What's wrong? Is he—“ "I can't discuss it over the phone." "Oh, okay. I’ll be there asap.” She hung up the phone and turned to Xavier, wiping away the remaining tears from her face. “I have to go home something is wrong with father,” Jenna wondered anxiously if the problem that Hedera had refused to talk about was related to the divorce of her parents. “There's a family crisis.” Xavier frowned. “I’ll come along with you.” Jenna was painfully aware of Xavier’s attitude toward her father, and could only think that Xavier’s presence would just cause strain and embarrassment for everyone. “Thanks, but I don’t think it's a good idea to involve you in my private family affairs.” Xavier, doubtful, knew that most likely Edward Sharpleton was in deep trouble again. When Xavier had exposed the old man’s thefts from the Cauldron, he had known that it would only be a matter of time until the rest of his criminal activities were laid bare. He studied Jenna’s troubled eyes and wondered how she could be such a helpless creature and so naive. He thought it was finally time that she realized her father was a greedy, lying con-artist without a care for anyone but himself. “Do you think you could watch after Spottyanna?” Jenna asked uncomfortably. “It’s just that my stepmother, Reba, doesn’t like dogs, at all. I think Spottyanna would be traumatized if she was put back in the pet spa. She’s gotten so used to the manor. Xavier felt oddly humbled by her trust in his regarding Spottyanna, for there was no doubt that she was her most precious possession. “No problem, none at all.” He closed a strong hand over hers. A wave of unidentifiable emotion assailed her. She wanted to lean on him but she wouldn’t let herself and could not explain why such a strange and eager yearning to be close to him came over her again. “I guess you won’t be needing this any longer.” Before Jenna could open her mouth to ask what he meant the gold bracelet which she had tried to remove many times finally opened and fell with a clang to the floor. She pulled away from him and grabbed her wrist, rubbing it in disbelief. “Oh, Xavier.” She said, looking back up at him. She wasn’t about to say thank you, not at all. “I hope you return. The sooner the better. But first, while I have my men prepare the jet and your things, will you help me entertain our guests for a while longer before you jet away?” She smiled and although her thoughts would be on her father, she placed her hand in his, “Very well.” But she had to ask herself, would she truly return to him? And did she really have to now? Chapter Twenty-One

“ ou arrived in a limo at our door? Flown in by a helicopter?” Edward Y Sharpleton gave Jenna an admiring smile across his spacious book-lined study. “I’m impressed! It’s apparent that Xavier thinks very highly of you.” Jenna looked around the room; it was sparse of all of Reba’s collections. “Hedera made it sound like there was an emergency. I was worried.” “Then I should tell you that currently my problems have grown and the Cauldron is the least of our worries.” Edward grimaced. “I was in a bind, and so I had to move some money from here to there and well…” Jenna tensed. “Meaning what?” Edward gripped his knees and sat at the edge of his chair. “I’m afraid that certain irregularities in the Turnblatt estate’s accounts have been uncovered. I didn’t have enough time to make it right. You have to believe that—” “You took money from my mothers’ estate as well?” Jenna was appalled and finally grasped the gravity of what Edward was saying. “What were you thinking?” “I don’t care for that tone of yours, Jenna,” her father censured her with a lofty look of reproof. “After all the charity events and always left to wonder: why was there never enough left to do anything with, it was because of you. I trusted you. People, friends, they trusted you.” “I was hoping to pay it all back. But now that’s hard to do seeing as I have no job, no money, and we can barely live in this house.” Her brow tightened. “How much?” Edward winced and mentioned a large sum that made her feel dizzy. “Oh, my,” she sat down on the dusty chair cushion closest to her. “What will we do?” A firm female voice interrupted the stale air between them with venom. “Possibly you could sell that necklace. It’s no good to you anyway,” Jenna looked up in dismay to see her stepsister and her stepmother coming into the room. “Or just ask the wealthy lover of yours to bail father out,” Hedera continued in the same sarcastic tone. “I can’t do that,” Jenna whispered sickly, recalling their blowout earlier. “Sadly, You’re the only hope we have,” her father weighed heavily. “We are trapped here surrounded by the invisible wall that kept us here. I must go lay down. This has been too much on me.” After finishing his comment he left the room. “I can’t,” Jenna said again. “I don’t have any money at all.” Reba spoke up. “If you don’t find a way, then I’ll be forced to divorce your father, and then he’ll have nothing. It's his fault our powers have been stripped from us. I’ve had enough of this.” Jenna sighed heavily. “I can understand how you feel—” “No! I don’t think you do.” “Maybe she does, mother.” Said Hedera, crossing her arms and standing in front of Reba, eyeing her with contempt. “She’s supposed to be like her mother, the grand white witch of Everbrook but yet look at her. She has no powers.” Hedera condemned furiously. “It’s time you listen to your sister and stopped being selfish and shared your wealth with your family,” Reba said. “Shacked up with a Lothian, a wealthy, powerful one and you can’t even ask or make demands for your family!” “That's’ enough, Heddy.” Reba murmured. “I’m sure that Jenna understands.” Shocked by the combined attack, Jenna was hit even harder by the real injustice of the allegations of selfishness. “Sell those clothes or that necklace Eddy gave you. That’s right. He told us you’ve been hoarding a pretty little jewel. It’s got to be at least in the thousands!” “It was my mothers.” She argued, her mind in turmoil. “How can you be so selfish?” Hedera demanded shrilly. Reba wrinkled her nose. “Let’s not be so melodramatic, Jenna. It is evident to us all that what Xavier needs is a little prodding to spoil you.” Angry and frustrated, Jenna leaped to her feet. “Stop! Just stop talking to me like I’m with Xavier because I want to be with him! Xavier made me a deal, and I took it. Why? Because he would drop the charges against father!” As soon as the words left her tongue, she’d wished she knew a spell to reverse time for the minute it took to spew her confession. Silence. Reba looked at Jenna with jaw dropped in disbelief. Hedera appeared mortified. “I had no idea,” Hedera mocked. “What a horrible thing." “Xavier had to blackmail you into a union?” asked Reba with a laugh. “I would have knocked ten girls down just to get to him.” Hedera retorted, hardly concealing her jealousy. “What’s the matter with you? You are the saddest witch I’ve ever met.” Dumbfounded, Jenna walked out of the room. She was taken aback to see Tom with her father near the front door; they were engaged in a heated discussion. “Tom!” Jenna jogged down the hall and hugged him. “What are you doing here?” “I just found out about the new accusations against your father. I came to see if you're alright. But your father—” “Jenna. Don’t you dare leave us. We need to discuss what we will do here.” Edward spoke in an admonishing tone. “Get me out of here,” Jenna begged Tom in a frantic whisper, before turning back to address her father. “I don’t know what to say to you right now. I need to think these things over. Don’t expect me to pull any strings.” “Jenna!” Edward shouted as they sealed the front door behind them. The Day Council’s security watched nearby. She felt horrible sealing her father inside of their home with Reba and Hedera, but she was also rife with anger and disappointment at her father. Tom quickly ushered her to his car. “I have a room at the Ethera hotel. Why don’t we head there? The restaurant won’t be crowded at this time.” Her phone was ringing. It was Xavier calling. She thought of telling Xavier of her father’s latest crime. A wave of anxiety crashed over her, and she switched off her phone to avoid that ghastly challenge.

WHEN THEY ARRIVED at the Ethera Hotel, Tom confessed that he hadn’t eaten for hours. As far as he knew, starving had never solved any crisis of conscience. In the first floor restaurant neither of them mentioned her family troubles over dinner and afterward, they went up to his room to talk. “I’ll be honest. Your father has dug himself into a deep hole that I don’t think there is any getting out of.” Tom explained. “Is Xavier likely to bail him out?” Jenna swallowed hard. “I doubt it. Xavier wouldn’t be so sympathetic towards my father.” “You don’t think you can’t use your ways to make him a little keen to help?” Jenna blushed because she remembered her days when she’d tried to get Tom to feel for her what she felt for him. But there was no magic in the world known to incline one to switch from loving a man to a woman. She could point out that the arrangement between Xavier and herself was purely for her family’s benefit already and for Xavier’s. “I could say more about your father. You know I never liked him, and I’ve been a good judge of character.” “I’d rather you not. I hear plenty these days about the true nature of—” Jenna flinched nervously as there was a knock at the door. Tom opened the door. Jenna’s breath caught in her throat and time suddenly felt like it might stop all on its own. She saw Xavier, and her heart reacted as if it were about to leap out of her chest and over the balcony without her. She jumped to her feet, blue eyes locking in sudden fear to the icy outrage in Xavier’s gaze. As she moved forward, Xavier hit Tom with a blow that sent him backward, falling against the side of the bed. “Stop it!” Jenna shrieked. “Here! Camped out in his room!” Xavier gritted. “Stay out of this. This is between me and—” “I’m no coward.” Tom stood, regaining his composure and prepared himself for another assault. His hands enveloped and brought a ball of energy between them. “I can handle him, Jenna! Step back!” “Both of you don’t do this!” Xavier studied him in incredulous disgust. “You think you're stronger than I?” “I know—” but his words faded as the light slammed Xavier into the ceiling and then against the floor. It disappeared into the carpet leaving a large black burn. Xavier coughed and pushed himself up. He trembled and though dazed, regained his composure quickly that Jenna knew he was about to lay all of his power into Tom if she didn’t do something now. And he had the benefit of his own and her power combined. Tom would be dust if this continued. “Xavier! Enough! It’s not what you think.” Jenna ran to him and struggled against his strong arms as he pushed her easily out of his way. “It looks to me like it is what I think. How can you say—” “He’s gay!” Jenna said as she ran to stand between them, sacrificing herself for both of them. “Gay?” Xavier thundered in disbelief. “Gay,” Tom confirmed as the light in his hands he prepared to send at Xavier dissipated. “But didn’t she mention that already?” Xavier looked at the small picture frame standing up on the nightstand next to the bedside. It was Tom and a man in his arms, smiling at the camera. He could see there was love between them, nothing like what he thought he and Jenna had, and he was beginning to think he might never have. “It was none of his business. I don’t go around outing my dearest friends.” Jenna declared, refusing to look at either man. Xavier strode forward and grabbed the picture frame as if it were a glamour spell, meant to trick him. But it was real. Immediately, he set it down and extended a hand out to Tom. “Looks like I owe you an apology. I’m sorry.” He sent Jenna a glance of challenge. “Why didn’t you tell me? How was it not my business to know?” Jenna crossed her arms and bit her lip. A slinging match of words between her and Xavier in front of Tom was the last she wanted. She felt foolish, angry, and guilty that Tom had been hurt because of her ignorance. “I’m sorry, Tom.” Jenna blushed and left the room, heading down to the lobby of the hotel. She had to get away from them, from the shame she felt. When she realized Xavier had followed her down to the lane, she had to admit to herself that she was pleased. “Are you coming back with me?” Xavier drawled softly. Jenna jerked her chin in grudging affirmation. The limo pulled up, and he opened the door for her. With a whip of her hair, she slid into the dark interior and waited until they were alone. “How could you do that to him?” She snapped. “How could I? I? You are responsible for that stupid charade,” Xavier said with cutting calm as he pressed the button to close the glass partition between them and the driver. “How do you come to that conclusion?” Jenna demanded. “You didn’t answer when I called you. Then I find you dining alone with Tom, and you go back to his hotel room. What am I to think about that?” Xavier’s aggressive jaw line squared. Everyone else, she was all sweetness and light. But with him, she had gone out of her way to put him through the meat grinder. Subtle torture compared to what a white witch could do if indeed provoked. His curse was proof of that. Naturally, he had found it offensive that she was interested in a man who was not interested in her when here Xavier was interested in every part of her. “Without the bracelet anymore I don’t understand how you knew where I was today.” “Someone on my team always knows where you are. I have eyes everywhere. I have enemies. I need to know you are safe.” Jenna could hardly contain her annoyance. “This is like police surveillance.” Xavier laughed, surprising himself that he could find even a chuckle at this moment. “Hardly. They aren’t as good as my men. Your safety is my concern. Now tell me, how did you manage to fall for a gay man?” Xavier invited, determined to satisfy his curiosity. Jenna had sighed before she answered. “I didn’t know for the longest time. By the time I found out, I was in deep.” “How deep? That should have been a wake-up call,” Xavier said dryly. “It’s not so easy to just fall out of love with someone.” “I would find it very easy.” “Since when have you ever been in love?” Jenna tilted her chin. “Ever?” Xavier felt as if he had just walked into a trap, led entirely by his arrogance. He didn’t love, didn’t believe in its existence, didn’t even get close enough to shake its hand. It was the genetic disposition of any Lothian warlock, and what led to the curse of their lineage. His icy reserve was well known. People didn’t ask him any personal questions. They never had the nerve. “How come you ask me questions that you demand need answers, but I can’t ask you?” Jenna prompted in the simmering silence of the limo. “I just don’t fall in love.” Jenna looked at him with her stunning blue eyes. “Never? You sure fooled me.” “So what?” Xavier was infuriated by her compassionate look like he was some wounded animal that needed her more than ever. Jenna wished she hadn’t asked. She felt for him and hastened to rid the awkward silence between them. “I suppose that if I ever met anyone else worth loving, then I would’ve got over Tom. He would be a hard act to follow. His name is known all over for bringing light into the world, his charities, his help for those in need and less fortunate mortals. He uses his powers for good—” “Good? And I do not?” Xavier slotted in with lethal derision. “I do plenty for those around me. I give them jobs to support their families.” Jenna’s expression tightened. “Tom is just a special being no matter what you say.” Xavier felt affronted. He wasn’t looking for love though it was the only thing that would save him and his powers. It was hard for a Lothian to love anything but his power. A curse of all curses: to live without love. But this did not matter to him until now. Xavier decided that pursuing this topic anymore was beneath his dignity and he no longer replied in his defense. It was almost midnight when they arrived at Xavier’s hotel room. Jenna had taken one step through the door when Spottyanna hurled herself at the door in rapturous welcome. “Oh! You brought her!” Jenna swept her up into her arms as the little runt licked at her face. “Thank you.” The words slipped from her mouth before she could stop herself. Xavier wondered how he was supposed to have left the dog in its pet hotel when she wouldn’t eat. That dog had to be the most successful attention-seeker in canine history. Chapter Twenty-Two

t the hotel the following morning, Jenna woke up at eight. In spite of the A previous night, she had slept soundly, and Xavier had left her undisturbed. Maybe he had realized how exhausted she had been. She was surprised he hadn’t asked about the family’s emergency the night before. But after everything that had occurred why should he? She could no longer avoid the anxious thoughts that perused through her mind, the decision she had to make. Ask Xavier to help her father? She didn’t want to take that approach. Jenna still felt that she should do what she could to try and help even if Reba and Hedera were rude and selfish towards her, even if her father treated the matter on hand as an easy task to undertake. But he didn’t know Xavier like she did. When she appeared for breakfast, Xavier was poised by a desk across the room talking into his phone; it was evident he was engaged in business. She watched him covertly while she eyed the breakfast the wait staff had laid out on the table, fit for a family of seven. She was hardly hungry at the prospect of the conversation that lay ahead. Xavier laid the phone down and strolled towards her. In a well-tailored suit the color of rich maroon, a silk shirt and a narrow tie, he was drop-dead handsome, she thought helplessly. “How was your sleep?” he casually asked. “Fine. Thank you,” she replied, sitting down at the table and grabbing a few pieces of food, trying not to think so nervously about what she had to say to him. “How about you?” she tried not to meet his gaze. “I didn’t get much sleep.” Xavier sat in his chair across from her and leaned back. With a throaty sound of amusement, Xavier looked her up and down with bold appreciation. “I picked out that outfit for you.” Jenna was surprised. “I didn’t know you made any decisions on my part.” Xavier admired how the dress was a perfect fit for her luscious curves and the exact shade of green she wore the day they met. “Only a few items catch my eye,” he sighed and leaned forward, surveying the meal. “I’ve decided we should leave for the Isle of Avril at the end of the week. “Are you serious?” Jenna exclaimed. “I have a small cottage there—huge garden,” Xavier tossed in for good measure. “You’ll love the place. So will I.” Jenna studied him with uncertainty. “How come you haven’t asked about my emergency?” Xavier let out a slow, expressive hiss. “I already had a vague idea.” Her smooth brow furrowed. “How? I mean, how could you know and not say a word?” Jenna faltered. Xavier put the tips of his fingers together like he might pray. She didn’t meet his eyes this time as he sorted his words carefully. “He took more money. I know. But your life has moved on. I didn't think it necessary to keep drudging up the past.” Her fork clanged against the plate, “You don’t just move on from family.” His lean face was somber. “You’d be surprised.” “You knew this last night and never mentioned it? How do you compartmentalize things so easily?” Jenna shook her head in genuine confusion. “No wonder you didn’t care to ask.” “What can I say? I’m practical.” Xavier quipped. “But to just ignore the whole issue like that…” Xavier shrugged, keeping his attention on his plate of food. Jenna could feel the chill in the air. She also noticed that he was no longer paying attention to her. “Xavier…” “Don’t go there,” Xavier cautioned. Jenna spun out of her chair and turned around, “You can’t know what I'm about to say before I’ve even said it!” “Are you sure about that?” Xavier countered bleakly. “You’re making this very hard for me. Do you think It’s easy to ask you?” “Ask me?” He stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth. “For money.” She prompted unevenly. “Not at all. I think you’ve tried to make it easy for yourself. The apparent and sudden interest in wearing clothes I’ve purchased for you. Foregoing your casual clothes. You’ve put yourself together very nicely for the challenge,” Xavier derided softly. Jenna scrutinized him in genuine shock. “You think I’m putting on a show for you? I’m not like that—” “I thought so too, but sadly, you seem set on proving me wrong.” Pale and taut, Jenna stilled, her eyes full of strain. “Stop being so damn clever and trying to force me into silence. Don’t you get it? It’s hard for me to ask. I can’t ask you anything because you get like this.” “You honestly believe that your father is worthy of your defense?” His sharp words lashed red into her cheeks. “He’s my father, and I love him. Presently, I’m ashamed to call him my father,” she confided with a trembling voice. “He’s a weak mortal, as most mortals are when they are forced to live in our world. I know he’s broken our laws and betrayed our trust, but he’s still the only living relative I have— he stood by me even when I had no one.” Xavier vented a harsh laugh. “And what if he didn’t stand by you when you thought he had? I mean, he did in a way but only for his selfish nature.” Jenna stared at him in bewilderment. “What do you mean?” Xavier shook his head and veiled his eyes. “Forget it. I had my mind on something else.” She would have to deal with the truth eventually. But not when she was already upset. He would tell her when they reached the Isle, and that would cut her loose. Like most mortals, Sharpleton was a liar, and his life had more sordid details than a soap opera. When she would be made to face reality, she would rethink her sentimental take on family ties. And he regretted that she would lose that trusting naivety in the process, he was determined to set her free from it. Jenna laced her fingers together and threw back her shoulders as she readied herself. “I want my father to have the best chance to turn his life around—” Xavier stood, throwing the chair out from under him as it tossed on its side, he threw up his hands and walked over to the window overlooking the courtyard. “Oh, please,” he said. “Please consider replacing the missing funds,” she whispered shakily. “As a loan, if you must.” “A loan? And what is the security on this loan?” Xavier swung around and rested his eyes on her. “You almost had me there. Convinced that you were different from the rest of them. Almost had me fooled but I can see that the apple does not fall far from the tree. Until now you had the distinction of being the only woman who has never asked me anything of value.” The blood drained from her fine skin. She wanted to grab her necklace and will herself away from him again, but then she refused on leaving him with another smile on his lips. The line between right and wrong was once so clear and now had become obscured. She felt bound in duty to protect her father, but she couldn’t believe how far she might go for him. “I remember you couldn’t be bought,” Xavier reminded her darkly. “But you just named your price.” Hot tears stung her eyes. “Xavier, I didn’t want to speak of this—” “But you did. To pretend that I care about your father would be far from the truth. I won’t play that game with you.” Xavier said with chilling cool. His final words hurt more than an unexpected slap in the face. He was so cold, unemotional, and distant that he frightened her. It was as though the last few weeks never happened and he was pretending to be a callous stranger. “I’m sorry I made the mistake of getting to know you. Or at least who I thought you were beyond that rough exterior. I thought that maybe for once you could have compassion. But I see it was all an act.” “I don’t give out compassion freely, Love. Your father will never be on the receiving end of it.” “Why not? When you give so freely to me, and you buy and spend a small fortune every day at my expense.” “Can you not see that he is using you?” Xavier looked baffled for the first time that Jenna had ever seen. “Does a father and a gentleman ever allow his daughter to be used to pay for his freedom?” Xavier chided. Jenna almost lost her voice but cleared her throat and quickly reclaimed herself, “that’s not fair game. My family thought we—we were involved.” “Oh, but we are involved.” “You know what I mean. They believed that there were actual feelings between us. Not this Proelio which has changed us. Confused our emotions like a drunken night that leaves us both shamed.” Jenna shot back. “But you said it yourself; If he lets me pay for his freedom then what kind of warlock are you to let a man use his daughter as payment?” Anger fired in Xavier’s eyes. “Don’t you dare compare me to that despicable thief.” Xavier sliced with cutting tone. “What sort of gentleman steals his daughter’s inheritance?” The words came out without warning. Xavier swore under his breath as soon as the last word slipped from his red lips. He didn’t intend on revealing so much just yet. Jenna stared back with a clueless expression. “What does that mean?” “Edward Sharpleton forged your mother's will so that he was the sole benefactor.” “Forged? No. No way,” Jenna felt dizzy and short of breath. “It’s a mistake.” “Too much evidence points to yes, he did. Both witnesses have verified that your mother left you everything. Your father's version states he would get Turnblatt Manor and not you. You were just the baggage that came with the house. He’s treated you as such.” Jenna was shaking her head back and forth. “This isn’t. Can’t be. Nonsense. To insinuate—” “I’m sorry. It’s the truth.” “It can’t be. You’re never sorry.” Jena grabbed her jacket and purse from the table in the parlor where she’d left it the night before and grabbed her phone. She started dialing immediately. “Who are you calling right now?” “Tom.” Xavier snatched the phone from her. “What do you need with him?” “Give me back my phone!” Jenna shouted at him. “Or else.” “Think about this Jenna. Should you tell anyone about this right now? It could blow up in your face before we can even keep this contained.” Xavier set her phone down on the table and placed his hands behind him. “He knows the same people you know, if not more.” Jenna snatched up her phone, but she didn’t make the call. She wanted to slap Xavier for making her doubt her confidence in Tom. Her throat was thick with emotion. “My father wouldn’t forge my mother’s will. He wouldn't. This has nothing to do with you, anyway.” “This means he has committed fraud by trying to sell a property that doesn’t belong to him to settle his debts. He’s committed a crime and it will be dealt with.” A chill settled over Jenna. She felt as if she were trapped in a nightmare with no escape. Xavier settled a hand at the nape of her back, and she pulled away. “Someone had to tell you at some point.” Jenna shot him a defiant glance. “I’m going to confront him myself. Today.” “You should look at the evidence first,” Xavier said and left her standing in the front room as he went to the bedroom. She listened as his patient footsteps echoed along the hall. She thought of leaving before he had the chance to return but some doubt kept her there, waiting breathlessly. Xavier returned within a minute and handed her a manila folder. She didn’t take it immediately, only staring at it uneasily. “Just because I look doesn’t mean I believe you at all,” she replied. Xavier left her alone with the folder opened before her on the coffee table. When Xavier appeared a half-hour later, Jenna was proud she stood her ground and held her composure. She stood up. “I’m leaving to speak with him. I want to hear how he’s going to get out of this one.” Jenna said, determined. “He’s just going to give you lies.” “I can handle him.” “I don’t think you can.” “How would you know?” She shouted with an uncontrollable flare of her temper, surprising herself. Xavier remained tactfully silent. “You think I can’t keep my composure, don’t you? Well, guess what! I only lose it with you.” She muttered defensively.

THE LIMO PULLED down the oak lined drive of Sharpleton’s estate that would soon be recognized by another name. Xavier smiled to himself at that thought. Jenna kept a stone face, but she was seething with disturbed emotions. Outside the limo pulled up and Jenna opened the door without waiting for the driver. “You don’t have to tell him about any of this. Let me deal with him.” Xavier leveled. “No. He’s my father,” clutching the folder, Jenna climbed out, “and don’t step foot inside. I’ll handle this from here on out.” Chapter Twenty-Three

dward Sharpleton leafed frantically through the files in the manila E folder Jenna had shoved into his hands. Finally, he put it down on the table as if its contents were delicate. His complexion had taken on an unhealthy ashen hue as he found his chair behind him with quivering hands. “Did Xavier Alexandros put that together for you?” “Yes, he did.” Jenna breathed. “Please, no more lies. I need to hear the truth." “It looks worse than it is,” Edward declared defensively. “Let me explain how sometimes in life things happen that—” “This didn’t just happen. This,” she whipped the folder off the table and held it up, “you had control over this.” Jenna was trying hard to conceal her emotions from breaking her tone just long enough to get the words out. “You forged my mother's will and left me penniless. Leaving me a small dilapidated shop to tinker in and try to make some money which you still took from me for expenses. Which I can now see those expenses were Reba and Hedera.” “You’re making me into a monster,” Edward argued vehemently. “It all started out quite innocently. When you were but a child, I tried to get your mother to go into business together. We could’ve built a few houses on the Turnblatt estate and made out with a few renters bringing in money every month.” “Build?” Jenna repeated. “But you said it’s against the law to build on a historical site.” “Yes. Yes, this is true, but back then it wasn’t a historical site yet. It was looking like it, but your mother refused any ideas to build on her property. The house was falling down around her, but still, she refused.” “I remember.” Jenna acknowledged reluctantly. “Towards the end, your mother and I were just friends. The affair had ended years earlier.” Jenna didn’t remember it like that. The affair went according to what her father demanded. Her mother’s anger had reached a tipping point when she realized that the mortal she’d given a chance had never cared for her the way she cared for him. She guessed that a part of her never wanted to accept that she had been warned about mortals. The same way Jenna had been warned about the love of a warlock. But still, she felt a chance. She quietly ridiculed herself for thinking of it. “My first marriage was a disaster.” He sipped on some of his white wine and licked his lips like he was content with his little defense. “I’d met another woman, Deirdre, after that ruinous divorce and still had you and your mother to support.” Jenna shook her head. “That happened a lot, right? Finding one woman and sucking her dry like a vampire and then on to the next.” Her father grimaced. “Associating me with a bloodsucker?" he shook his head in distaste, “yes, well, I don’t expect you to understand after having run off to do what you want with some rich man who is the sealer of your family’s fate. It seems he’s made you against us.” He gave her a solemn look. “Deirdre was a powerful witch you got to believe that I’d never have thought she’d want me.” Jenna looked at him and wondered what anyone would see in him now. She had been blinded by a daughters’ love, and now she felt she was finally seeing him for who he was. “I believe you.” Jenna frowned. “But I don’t see what that woman has to do with my mother and forging her will.” “Let me explain.” Jenna sat down across from him and tried not to get too comfortable. Unimpressed by his clumsy attempt to excuse himself from wrongdoing, Jenna stared at the lilies. She always replaced them with fresh ones from the garden; but now they had wilted and turned to a dark-brown in their vase. She was beginning to wonder why she had ever bothered doing anything for them. She felt empty. Nothing he could do or say could right the wrong that he had stolen from her. His child. She had always carried guilt with her about the end of his first marriage assuming blame that her existence was what led to it and he had allowed her to believe it. But now apparently he’d wanted to be done with the ‘troll.’ Comparing his treatment of her, with open eyes, hurt. Hedera, always the complainer, got whatever she wanted. As for Reba, she was never denied any magical relics or spell books to add to her repertoire that was the envy of Everbrook’s Witch Society. Meanwhile, Jenna was exiled to her mothers’ dying estate with a nanny to care for her. At eighteen Jenna moved out of the rundown estate and began living in the room above the shop. She scrimped and saved and worked many jobs just to turn the shabby rundown room into a cozy place. During holidays, her presence in her father’s home was barely tolerated by her stepfamily. Even what she provided as gifts with the meager wages she made from selling potions was looked down on. If she were to speak of any of this to Edward Sharpleton, he would shower her with words of love, and for days she felt as if she was walking on air. “Jenna,” Edward spoke with immediate urgency. “You have to listen to me.” “Then tell me what I came here for,” she muttered with distaste. “This funny love story between you and another witch is beyond me.” “Then listen,” he insisted, “one day a man with golden eyes entered my office. I’d heard of his kind. They're rare and cursed from a time anyone, at least us, knows of. They lose their powers around thirty years old, and I can say that at that rate, this man still had his.” Jenna’s anger subsided, replaced with curiosity. “What did he want?” Jenna asked, realizing she’d given her father more reason to go on now that he had her attention. “Well, he told me that the witch was married and that if I wanted to stay alive, then I would stay away from her. Forever.” “Really?” Jenna thought it served him right if he had been indulging in an affair with a married woman that someone would make him accountable for it. “Maybe if I had a grandfather capable of protecting mom then I’d have had a better life.” “Jenna. The man put a wand to my head—I could have died.” Edward Sharpleton protested furiously. “You do what they say, or you'll find yourself turned into a heap of flesh.” Jenna couldn’t help that his words were aimed at her, specifically that she should understand, but her father didn’t look like he had any clue how relatable she was to them. “I’m sure,” Jenna sighed, wondering where his tale would lead to next. “I was managing her magical items,” his voice lowered, “even sold some rare artifacts of what I believed were of immense power. She made loads of money, we both did. When the warlock came calling I knew he wanted something. I never saw that witch after that, and I was glad of it. But I knew I couldn't take the chance that he would ever return and so I've stayed here. No witch or warlock is allowed to hurt a mortal in its boundaries. So, here in Everbrook I’m safe. I’ve stayed ever since.” “I don’t believe any of it, and you can’t expect me to.” “Jenna.” Edward coaxed. “I did take something before I left her. Remember you and your mother were my dependents.” Jenna frowned, finally grasping his words. “Is there anyone you won’t use?” “Once your mother had passed away, there was an outstanding loan on her estate. I had to cover up the evidence since I’d forged the will and used the property to secure a loan previously.” A ragged laugh fell from her lips. “So mother did want me to have the estate.” “I still gave you a home. Adopted you,” her father reminded her without hesitation. “I hoped to develop the property, and you would have come out more than rich, had it worked. So you see. I kept selling magical items, whatever I could acquire off of the black magic market." “I don’t think so. You just used me to keep money coming in from my potions.” “No, Jenna. I just need to tell you this. Please, listen. The necklace, when you came here the other day.” Jenna placed a hand over the small lump under her shirt that hung by its silver cord around her neck. “Yes?" Edward Sharpleton was stumbling like a fool trying to get his words out. “I took it from Deirdre. It was the one thing I held on to—besides the wand—and would have given up for money had I not seen the look on your face when you saw it as a young child. So I gave it to you, telling you to keep it a secret.” “You said it was from my mother,” Jenna’s words were trembling as she felt this had to be the last shock Edward could ever give her. “You lied even about that?” “You don’t understand I did that to keep it—you—safe. I don’t know, but somehow I felt it was yours. That only you could discover its secret.” “Let me guess. You want it back?” “Well, I...” Jenna stopped listening. She wished she could turn him off, drown out every word without even hearing a syllable or inflection. Jenna lifted the file off the table and got up. “I’m taking the Cadillac. It’s mine.” “You can’t leave.” Vaulting to his feet, Edward skimmed an anxious glance out the window. “Why not?” She followed his gaze. Xavier was leaning up against the limo. She realized that she didn’t care what Xavier did to her father. Xavier would relish it, and that was fine by her, but it also meant that their Proelio was null and void. Her father would be arrested and charged in court. She would not intervene any longer, and that meant she was free at last, free as a bird, she registered numbly. “That’s Xavier Alexandros?” her father asked, his frown deepening. “He looks younger than in photos. He looks very familiar. Please, before you leave allow me to meet him. Invite him in.” “So you can embarrass me even more? No.” She admitted without an apology. She walked out of the study and into the parlor, she grabbed the keys to the Cadillac and went straight out to the garage. All the while her father was spouting apologies behind her until she crossed the barrier and he was stuck, sealed in his own home, and his voice sounded like he was talking through inches of glass. She got in the Cadillac and relished the feel of the rich leather seat cushion underneath her, finally she would treat herself with respect, and with what she deserved. She drove around the driveway circling the house, braking to a halt beside the limo before she could lose her nerve. Cooly, Xavier lifted his brow. “Is that vehicle equipped for road rage?” “Don’t be a prick,” Jenna breathed tightly. “After a long talk and my father’s confession, we no longer have an arrangement.” “An engagement.” Xavier corrected. Disturbed by the lost look in her eyes, Xavier drawled, “It's over?” “You can press all the damn charges you want against my father.” His dark lustrous eyes glittered. “You don’t know what you’re talking—” “Yes, I’m afraid I do know….all too well.” “I wasn’t referring to your father.” Xavier countered with pronounced care. “You and I…” Jenna stared out the windshield, her profile pale and tight. “There is no you and me,” she whispered. “There would have been, but now it’s over. It’s finished. He forged the will; the courts will see that, and then I get the Turnblatt estate in my possession and—” “This is not the moment or time to discuss this.” “Then take out that little watch of yours and stop time. You won’t keep me here so long as time keeps ticking. Keep the clothes, send my stuff to my home.” With that, Jenna angled her car around the nose of the limo and sped off down the drive. Xavier was shocked by the sudden turn of events. She had finally caught him off guard. He had to laugh at himself for his arrogance. Just when he’d thought he had her figured out, he had to remind himself that she wasn’t like most witches or even women for that matter. Why didn't he realize that once she stopped caring about her father that he would lose his grip on her? Spottyanna appeared round the corner of the house, barking and running around him and dashing down the drive toward the cloud of dust Jenna left in her wake. Xavier stared at the dog for a few seconds, and then, seeing the distraught little animal charging out into the road, he sprinted down the drive. Shouting at his chief of security, Edgar took off after him. Edgar reached the roadside just in time to see Xavier make a dive for Spottyanna, who was barking frantically and hopping through traffic. Scooping the dog up in his arms, Xavier tossed her onto the embankment and lost his balance in the process. He rocked back on his heels, and was clipped by a passing car before he could utter any words to save himself. His brain fizzled and blanked as the rush of hard metal hit his body. Flung up over the hood, he came crashing down again to the sound of squealing tires and panicked shouts. He lay unconscious on the road, blood seeping from the side of his head. Shaking and whining with fright, Spottyanna sought out the protection of a familiar face, and when she found it she immediately pounced onto Xavier’s chest and wouldn’t allow a soul to touch her, or him. Chapter Twenty-Four

enna didn’t want to think anymore about that morning as she drove. J Each thought was heavy with hurt, and she felt unable to cope with any decision of what to do next. When she saw the iron gates to the Turnblatt estate every concern washed away. That part of the property was closed to any traffic, so she parked outside the entrance to the road that had once been paved and now was a mess of upturned cobblestones. For the first time, she wondered if her naivety about her father had led to the further decay and downfall of the estate. The place could have been rightfully hers had she seen the warning signs: ignored, dismissed, scorned as an outsider in her father’s family, alienated among his colleagues, a castaway that had always been eager to please. Whether the necklace around her neck belonged to her or not, it was now, and soon the estate would be too once the courts saw to it that nobody would ever be able to take it from her again. Finally, it could be safe. The shop would now belong to her completely. It had made a small bit of income that she gave over to her father, now she would be able to build the estate back to its former glory, slowly. A glory that Jenna only seen in pictures; lily vines growing up the tresses, the statues in the garden unbroken, and the lane paved with cobblestones. And perhaps one day she could return the interior to the way it had been, when Xavier—she shook her head to try and forget about him. She wanted to ponder and think on the future, and of her ideas. But these ideas hardly gave her any comfort. The only person that she thought had ever unconditionally loved her had destroyed that faith. She explored the severely overgrown grounds of the estate for some time, and the childhood memories made her feel at ease. She saw a slither of two husks protruding from the earth that had been long dead. And she recalled the large red roses that once grew from them in a luxurious bloom. She kept trying to remember how it once looked even though some portions of the estate had been unkempt even when she was a child; there were parts that reminded her of how it probably once looked in its glory days. Even the scent of the cellar when she opened one of the doors at the side of the house brought back memories of Mr. Charter down there humming to himself as he stocked the bit of wine her mother saved. Seems, she recalled, her mother always asked for wine. She felt heartache when she remembered Mr. Charter had passed on years earlier. She quickly pushed the thought away and took a breath of air. She was here now. Things could get better with new memories. She didn’t have to think of all the pain and aching in the world. She also didn’t have to be there ever again for the Sharpletons. Then she found herself thinking of Xavier, again. How had he managed to become so engrained in her life that she felt lonely now without him? Could they reverse the Proelio and draw back the magic that made her feel so connected to him? Why could she not dream of a future without him? She thought of Xavier and how aggressively he lived. His fast-paced life and electric energy, his high expectations and impatience were a part of his genius. At last, among the dead lily bushes, she contemplated the prospect of never seeing Xavier again, and she realized, surprisingly, that it hurt much more than even her father's betrayal. She pressed her shaking hands to her cheeks and wiped the tears away as she sank onto the worn steps of the manor. When had she finally stopped hating Xavier? At what moment did Tom become more of a dearly loved friend and not her source of an unfulfilled fantasy? She tried to wonder at the natural world around her as if it would clear away these thoughts. But her heart held firm. She couldn’t even take joy in the gentle energy in the soil, the low hum of the leaves, or the sweet essence of the cool breeze. Heightened though they were, still she couldn’t keep her thoughts in control. He was attractive, exciting, wild, and sexy. And here she sat, moping about after just dumping the man. The grounds were silent; Autumn was allowing Winter to grasp its deathly grip on everything. It was then that Jenna noticed there wasn’t the incessant yapping or sound of her Spottyanna digging rampant nearby. She had left her behind. Poor Spottyanna! In the grips of her wicked stepmother and stepsister. Racing to her car, she found Edgar peering in. “Oh! Edgar! I’m over here.” She shouted as she ran up to him, but he had a grave look of concern on his face. "What's wrong?" “It’s Xavier. He's in the hospital." Jenna’s eyes went wide, and her heart doubled-back on itself, pounding relentlessly. “Hospital? When?” “He was hit by a car trying to grab Spottyanna.” “Oh, no!” Jenna put her palm to her forward. “I’m such an idiot.” Edgar told her about how Xavier had swiftly raced down to the road to save her dog and how he’d gotten nailed by a man who named himself, Mr. Krepley. “It was an old red rust bucket of a car.” Edgar explained. “If he makes it through the night then if all we have to worry about is tetnis then I'll be thankful,” said Edgar, as they sped towards Everbrook General Hospital.

"I HAD to tell them you’re his wife,” said Edgar as they walked through the lobby of the hospital. “Wife?” asked Jenna. “Please, you have to go along with it Ms. Reness. I’m concerned that when his colleagues get here, that they may not have his best interests at heart, but I know that you do.” “He isn’t awake yet?” “No, Miss.” “Please Edgar, call me Jenna.” She said as she bit her lip considering the ramifications of the responsibility Edgar had placed on her. “But I don’t think it’s going to work.” “That’s the only way you can see him. Miss—Jenna.” The risk of being denied any chance at seeing him was enough to keep her quiet. “Decisions must be made quickly. We have to hurry.” Xavier was extremely wealthy. That gave enough reason to Edgar’s qualms about who could be trusted with Xavier’s life. The doctor thought Xavier’s head injury should be scanned. Meanwhile, the lawyers and his colleagues were fighting over whether his treatment should continue. Time was of extreme importance as noted by his doctor and the delay was more costly to Xavier’s life than it was to his wallet. As soon as Jenna and Edgar flew into the room, she started making demands. “Make the arrangements, Doctor,” Jenna instructed. The doctor held up his hands. “Mrs. Alexandros, if I may. You’ll take all responsibility on this matter?” “Yes. Absolutely,” Jenna tried to give an air of importance, which she drew from seeing her stepmother rule the room. “Now get to it!” She rushed to Xavier’s side. He was pale, bruised badly on the side of his head, and very still. She closed a hand over his and seated herself next to the bed. Xavier had tolerated Spottyanna, and yet he had put himself in harm's way just to save her. Jenna knew he had only done it for her. Wiping at her eyes, she cursed herself for not being more attentive and being so caught up in her distress. It was a mere few minutes before the hospital staff came to disconnect him and prep him for transfer to another room to be scanned.

XAVIER AWOKE from what felt like a beating of more than twenty broomsticks. And he’d been there before. His hand was being squeezed tightly, and he was sure that was the only thing that had pulled him from one of the worst nightmares he’d had in a long time. It was either that or the man who was speaking with contempt in his voice. “This was a ridiculous waste of money, and time Ms. Reness,” the lawyer chided Jenna. “You have stepped in where you don’t belong and now look! Look at him! He’s probably worse than ever. And you can be sure that you will be held responsible as you agreed!” “Who do you think you are?” Jenna reached down to find the strength and the stern and scolding voice she’d heard from Reba and Hedera all her life. “A lawyer paid for his time? Or a greedy man unconcerned for his client's well- being?” “You acted without any kind of authority! I know who you are Jenna Reness. Daughter of a criminal who is being investigated. Don’t think that for one minute you—” Xavier’s eyes opened, and his gaze burned bright enough behind his contacts that even the lawyer duly took notice. “Stop your contempt for my love,” he growled, “you will treat her with respect, or you will get nothing more from me. Not a dime, not even a cent. You will no longer bully her or abuse her with your empty words. Understand?” Jenna hardly took notice of the lawyer as he nodded his head quietly and looked at the floor as he made his retreat, backing out of the room. She was too happy that Xavier was conscious of caring. Her eyes filled with tears. “I thought you’d never wake up. I’ll get the nurse.” She turned to head for the door, Xavier pulled her back, groaning at the sudden pain in his neck from pulling her to him. “Not yet,” he looked at her, admiring the smudge of mascara beneath her eyes, the worry in them. He had never seen anyone with such passion for life, nor even worry about his own. “How long has it been since I—” “A couple of days,” she replied. She still wore the same shirt, dirtied now with smudges of mascara. “You’ve been with me all this time?” “Of course,” she hardly slept, never leaving his side. Xavier couldn’t imagine any witch or woman he’d ever known to care so much for him and so little of how they looked. He was touched beyond measure. “You stood your ground even with my lawyers. The most formidable bunch, perhaps even scarier than my Perithian partners.” Jenna looked at him and then lowered her eyes, “Listen. After what I said to you before the accident I—” “You’re here now. That’s what matters.” Xavier cut in. “Are you running out on me again?” The future had been uncertain while Xavier was unconscious. But now life had resumed and was calling out for her to make up her mind. If she said yes then she would walk out on him. The alternative was to stay, and she felt she had already decided. Love, she was discovering, came when it was not called. “I still want you to come to the Isle with me,” Xavier said. “We both know that you owe me nothing at this point.” She only had to look at him to feel the lure of his eyes. What was it about them? Had it been the Proelio all this time? He was giving her a way out, wasn’t he? She had stood her ground, made her point. He knew he had nothing to hold her to any longer. But he wasn’t ever going to say he was sorry for plunging her into the seal with him and he probably never would. She still needed him, wanted him, and she felt guilty for betraying her conscience. But nothing else mattered. There came a knock at the door as the doctor, and his nurse entered, checking his stats while Xavier's eyes never strayed from her. “I’m waiting for an answer,” he said as if the company around them didn’t matter. She finally gave him the only answer she could, “I’ll come with you.” Chapter Twenty-Five

wo weeks later, once Xavier was given the all-clear by his doctors, T Jenna met him at the Isle along with Spottyanna. Vibrantly colorful tropical gardens surrounded the property. A path lined with hedges and vegetation led down through a grove of olive trees to a private beach of white sand. Jenna had come to recognize that Xavier was indeed making an effort to please and entertain her. He gave her flowers, jewels, and even bestowed a jeweled collar and toys on Spottyanna. But none of that hardly mattered to Jenna, and he seemed unaware that just being with him brought her joy. She knew that their agreement did not include the consummation of their bodies, but she yearned for it, and she was mentally as well as physically prepared to give it all to him. But for some reason whenever she brought it up, he was quiet about it. A hint of a breeze sent the billowy drapes fluttering away from the windows. Jenna strolled across the marble floors out to the balcony to enjoy the dazzling view of the Mediterranean sea. “I’m in paradise,” Jenna said with a pleased sigh, reveling in the warmth of the sun on her skin out on the white sandy beach. “I love the sound of the waves. It’s so soothing. When I was a kid my mom had a friend with a house at the beach, and when we went to visit I used to fall asleep listening to the surf.” “How well do you swim?” “Like a mermaid,” she rolled over to face him while he peered up at the clouds scattered across the sky. “Xavier?” “Yes?” “Why don't you talk about your childhood, ever?” Jenna asked abruptly. His lean body tensed as he closed his arms around her. ‘What is there to say? After my mother had been stripped of her power I was sent to boarding school. I never knew my father.’ Xavier’s dark eyes were smoldering beneath his black lashes; he dropped a kiss on top of her head. "Let’s not think of these bad things from our past," he urged. “Let us look toward the future,” and they did. The days turned into weeks. Weeks of relaxation and contentment on the Isle of Avril had put a healthy glow in her cheeks and spring in her step. Xavier had shamelessly bribed his way into Spottyanna’s affections with treats. It had amused her that Xavier, so hopelessly competitive in every way, would not settle for mere tolerance from her pet. Spottyanna now adored Xavier, and one of her favorite spots to sleep was under Xavier’s desk. Unfortunately, Xavier did not appreciate Spottyanna’s loud snoring. The moments that every new day brought with it were fantastic. She was euphoric, but occasionally a cold chill would run over her when she considered the inevitable end of the Proelio. Would they hate each other? Nothing lasted forever, and she knew it. He was sure to get bored with her once she had no longer served a purpose. She couldn’t believe that she had what it took to hold his attention much longer. But she was determined to live for the moment.

THE NEWSFEED SCROLLED across the television screen all morning, and when Xavier saw the first headline, he was flooded with uneasy feelings. Blanking them out, he finally clicked the television off and went outside to take some much needed fresh air. He used binoculars to locate Jenna; she was on the beach larking about with Spottyanna. Dressed in pink shorts and a yellow top, she looked delectable. She was like solid gold; unspoiled, honest and kind, as well as being the first woman to value him for more than his wealth. But sometimes, when deep in thought, Xavier was spooked by what he had done to Jenna. Once or twice he had endeavored to get himself to the point of discussing his attitude and, ultimately, his deceit about who and what he was. Time was running out. The day of dusk was drawing close, and Xavier wondered if the Lothian curse was going to work on him. Considering the course of events leading up to that day, it appeared that the Proelio had worked its magic, even though he'd lied to Jenna about the consummation of the seal not being contingent on the union of their bodies. But he couldn't bring himself to do that against her will. There were times he tried to force himself to do it, to convince her to love him in that way. He knew it was the only way to be sure that when the Lothian’s curse worked its age-old magic on him, that he wouldn't be left as a simple mortal and, in effect, abandoned by his brethren of warlocks. But in the end, he couldn’t. Over dinner Jenna noticed that Xavier was unusually quiet. So, he was having an off day, she thought. She was annoyed that she was so over-sensitive, and when he went down after dinner to the beach with a bottle of brandy, she resisted the urge to follow him. She did something she hadn’t done in a while since she’d reached the Isle: she turned the television on. There were plenty of televisions inside the house; she’d walked by every one of them and not once felt like turning one on but with Xavier gone she decided to find something to keep her company. The news channel was already on, and it was broadcasting breaking news about an old man who’d left his great grandson a huge sum of money, property, and assets. A noise behind her startled her. Jenna looked up and focused on the tall, dark male poised beyond the circle of the lamplight on the veranda. “Xavier, where have you been?” “You sound like a wife,” his speech was slurred. The empty bottle hung from his grip. "If I were your wife I'd have followed you and made sure you were safe," Jenna admitted without hesitation. Xavier flung back his cropped dark head and laughed with raw amusement. "I like your candor." Xavier looked mean, moody, and magnificent. Her heartbeat speeded up. He threw himself down on the cushion beside her. "So, you’re watching the news about Joseph Fioretto. He was a wicked mortal, and yet he never went to prison for his crimes." Jenna blinked because she wasn’t accustomed to Xavier showing his thoughts on matters other than business. Jenna, glancing back at the television, asked, "Did you know him personally?” Xavier, ignoring her, clicked off the television and thrust the remote clumsily off the couch. He reached out and hauled her down to him, kissing her breathless and with a pang of hunger that could have burned out a bonfire. "I need you," he confided hoarsely. "I need you with me tonight.” "What on earth—” Jenna began but faltered. The clumsy way he held her prisoner enticed her. “I’m not drunk,” Xavier groaned. Jenna smiled, tracing her finger over the scruff of his chin, "I didn't say you were." She cradled next to him, not worried about moving or seeing where this night would lead them because as he kept hold of her, he quickly passed out.

AT DAWN, she woke to see him emerging from the bathroom. He was toweling his hair, and she studied him with tired eyes. A look of concern was etched on his handsome face. "I have something to tell you," he breathed loudly. "I’ve kept a secret from you." Jenna stiffened. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know. The past few weeks had been bliss. She wanted to shove a brick in his mouth. Xavier meant to tell her the truth. He meant to leave the contacts out to show her who he really was, and what. But every day he felt it wasn’t time. So every morning the contacts went right back on. It was time to remove his contacts and show her who he was, and what he'd brought her into. Instead, at the last minute, he found himself telling her something else, “I have forgiven your fathers' debt.” Jenna gazed at him in disbelief with wide blue eyes. "Why?" It was a reasonable question. Xavier never did something for nothing. Xavier sat down at the foot of the bed. His thoughts continued to flounder in the truth. How could he keep lying? Was he just like his great grandfather? “Now that you will own the estate. This makes a clean getaway for you. You won't be held liable for any of your father's misdeeds with Everbrook's Day Council or any individual debts." "And what about the Cauldron company?" she pressed. "It won’t suffer." "But it’s just not right.” Xavier hushed her with anxious fingers raking them through her tresses. "It feels right to me." Jenna rested her cheek against his bare chest. He smelt of aftershave and soap. She wasn't trying to but she smiled softly, and drifted back to sleep.

JENNA WOKE up to the sound of voices speaking in Greek. She was alone in bed, and she was surprised Xavier hadn't woken her. The sun peaked in through the veranda. It was almost lunchtime. The second floor, where Xavier conducted all of his business and had two offices, was rushed with people hurrying from one office to the next, and phones rang off the hook. The business world of Xavier Alexandros was in an obvious upheaval. In his back office space his door was left open. Xavier sat at his desk in his big leather chair. Instead of busily shouting into his phone or looking pissed off, he was doing something he hadn't ever done in her presence. He looked lost to the world. Jenna reluctantly knocked. He looked up at her and smiled, absently gesturing with a wave of his hand. Jenna closed the door behind her and took the small seat in front of his desk. “Will you talk to me and tell me what’s wrong?” she pressed. “Did something happen? When you left last night I didn't know where you went. And you were drunk as a skunk when you came back.” “Skunks drink?” he asked, almost forgetting the world of turmoil he was in. Jenna noticed the corner of his lip almost turn into a smile but then it vanished. “I needed some time to think. Recent events have been in the news, all over the internet and social media, that just can't be ignored or swept under and forgotten about.” “Is it that bad?” she said gently, striving to be tactful. His grim dark eyes rested on her. “Alexandros is not the name I was born with," Xavier admitted harshly. "My heritage is…complicated." “What heritage?” “My mother was Anthony Fioretto’s daughter, and the granddaughter of Joseph Fioretto, son of Perlin Fioretto. My mother married an Alexandros so I escaped being known as a Fioretto, thankfully.” He pointed at the small screen on the wall; it was the same newscast she'd caught the night before. It took Jenna just a second to work out what he was telling her, "You could have told me. I had no idea. I could have been there for you when he passed.” "I wasn't upset over that,” Xavier launched at her in an immediate denial. "He was an evil warlock who became an even worse mortal." Jenna saw he was upset. She would've hugged him and put her arms around him if such sympathy didn't infuriate him. But she had another question on her mind: a mortal and a warlock? How? She wasn't going to worry about a question like that, not at a time like this. "You may have despised him, but he was still your great-grandfather," she reminded him gently. "I can see that it is still affecting you." "And where did you get that from?" Xavier derided, “a crackerjack box?" Jenna stood defiant. "What you do with your life matters more than what he did with his. No matter if you share the same blood." Xavier gave up a laugh. “Once I found out we shared blood. There was no denying it, though I tried. Even though I have my father’s last name, I am still so much like him.” Drawn by his bitterness, Jenna moved from her chair to the side of his desk. Jenna put her hand on his. "You've done well enough without him. I don't see why you're beating yourself up over a man who you say was wicked." Pulling her to him, he sat her on his lap and closed his arms around her. "Joseph decided to have the last laugh, and he’s blown my reputation sky-high. The contents of his will have been conveniently leaked. He’s left me everything. So now, in death, he has made our relationship impossible to deny." "Then he must have had some adoration for the kind of man you became. A strong warlock which rivaled his empire. He probably felt prideful about leaving all of his worldly possessions to a great grandson such as you. Right?" She leaned her head on his shoulder, wishing he would just relax a little. "That's not all," he said, eyeing her. The mild scent of his aftershave still lingered. "I found out that he had financed my early education," Xavier said bitterly. "I feel like a moron. I never wanted him to take care of me." "Well, you could make something good of all of this, can't you?" Xavier grunted at the incredulous thought, “and pray tell, how?" "Charity," Jenna said, directly. "Give it all away to a good cause. Use his worthless and wicked acts and turn the world in the direction of good." A light dawned in Xavier, of course. He had only thought of how all of this affected him. His selfish nature it seemed to him had only gotten in his way, as it were with all cursed Lothians. That thought led him to another, and he had to confess just one more horrible thing. "There is something else," Xavier said. Preparing himself for his full-on confession of the truth and only hoping that Jenna would understand and stay. Jenna smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, gazing lovingly into his eyes, "With you, there is always something, isn't there?" Suddenly, a knock interrupted them. Xavier, not at all pleased by the interruption, snapped, "Yes?" A muffled voice spoke on the other side of the door. "For God sakes! Just open the door, I can't hear you!" he shouted. The door opened and the short maid, Mrs. Posie, looked worried as she cradled her hands in her apron, "Sir?" her voice shook. After all the years that Xavier had screamed, and ranted about things to Mrs. Posie. Things that he knew were meaningless. In her good nature, she had withstood all of it. "I-I'm sorry, Mrs. Posie.” Xavier soothed his toned. "What's wrong?" "There is a phone call on the main line for Ms. Reness. It is an emergency." Xavier tried to hide his irritation. He did not want Mrs. Posie to feel bad because of her interruption, although he could have done without it. Leaping off his lap, Jenna hurried to the door and turned back to him, "I’ll be back in two minutes. Don’t go anywhere." Xavier smiled and then felt very surprised that he was truly smiling. But as she left him alone, it quickly faded as the realization of what he would have to say next dawned on him. Chapter Twenty-Six

enna, knowing that she had given Xavier hopeful advice, felt J appreciated, and understood that she had finally broken through his barrier. It was a challenge for her to leave him immediately following that breakthrough and all the while as she followed Mrs. Posie, all she could think about was how much she loved him. "Hello?" Jenna said into the receiver. Her phone hadn't worked here in this part of the world, and the only way to reach her was on the house phone or Xavier's mobile phone, but there was no chance of anyone risking a conversation with him. "Jenna!" The sound of her father’s desperation made her grit her teeth. “What is it?” “Xavier Alexandros is Deirdre’s son,” Edward Sharpleton said as though he had broken wide open life’s biggest mystery. “What do you mean?” "Haven’t you been watching the news?” he argued, “oh course you haven’t. You’ve been living in the lap of luxury, haven’t you? Away from the worries of the world. Your fiancé is Joseph Fioretto’s great grandson!” “Yes, I know. He told me. Contrary to what you’ve implied, I know all about it. But Deirdre? Who is she?” “She’s the Sorceress Deirdre! Or was, for that matter, but I didn’t know she had anything to do with him. It must be that he shares his father’s last name. Once I heard Fioretto left everything to his great grandson, Xavier Alexandros, it wasn’t hard to figure out the rest! Fioretto was the man who came and threatened me with the wand to my head. Back when he was a powerful Lothian warlock, much like your beloved warlock.” Jenna was finding it hard to believe all of this at once. “So…” “Don’t you get it? Don't you see what all of this means?” he huffed into the phone, “Don’t be stupid Jenna, darling. The world isn’t that small. You think he just happened into our lives? We’ve been set up! Framed from the start!” “We? What are you talking about? You did all of those things! You weren’t framed!” “I may have ditched Deirdre when Joseph threatened my very life, and maybe life didn’t get much better after that, but it's hardly all my fault that all of this crap has hit the fan!” “You were guilty, you confessed—” “And you, my darling daughter, must have been the ultimate goal: to steal you away and watch my fortune crumble in my hands, just as his mother's crumbled. This bad luck is no coincidence. He came to Everbrook to settle a score. I let his mother down, and quite badly, I admit. But what are his plans for you? Look into his eyes, Jenna. If my memory serves me correct then he is just like Joseph Fioretto, a cursed warlock. Look into his eyes! Lothians are known —” “You’ve had your comeuppance. But I’m not going to keep up with this conversation. It’s over.” Jenna hung up. She swallowed hard. Could Xavier have been using her all this time? She didn’t want to believe it. But she had been used so much lately, even by those who she thought loved her, anything was possible. Jenna steadily strode into Xavier’s office before she could lose her nerve. “Xavier,” she said with one big breath, “what was your mother's name?” Xavier stopped and placed his pen down, carefully he looked up at her. “Deirdre.” The name was practically as heavy as a sack full of bricks that might as well have knocked her right in the knees. As much as she had wanted her father to have been proven, once more, to be the liar that he had always been. He had finally been telling the truth. She felt like she hated him even more for it. “Was that your father on the phone?” Xavier felt a change in her. Her face was tight, pained, and her eyes were dull and wary. His mind bottled up and wouldn’t give up any thoughts to say to her to ease her pain. He was speechless. He knew he had hurt her and he couldn’t take it back. “A month ago,” said Jenna as she began feeling for the small stone she’d always worn around her neck. “Father told me about a witch. At first, I thought he was bragging again about his many insignificant conquests. But then he spoke of a cursed warlock in search of a stone..." Jenna told him the whole story as tears welled in her eyes. “You’re cursed, aren’t you?” “Yes,” Xavier lowered his voice, “The Lothians were ruthless, greedy, and a narcissistic tribe of magic practitioners, and one of them used a powerful young witch’s heart without so much as any sympathy or love for her. Scorned, she used blood magic and whether she meant to or not, the curse bound all Lothians. The effect of which has become a children’s rhyme and turns me mortal. None of us have ever broken the curse, no matter how much we tried.” Xavier lost his color, his tan he’d acquired during their stay had become pale. He stared at her with his incredulous dark eyes. “Father never knew who you were then. He didn’t realize that you were the son of Deirdre until the television news reports about Fioretto linked you together.” Jenna began to sob, her shoulders heaving. “You used me. All this time I was just a plaything of yours.” Xavier flung his fists in the air and brought them down again against his desk. “That is not true!” “Did you set out to destroy my father and caught me in the crosshairs?” “That's a question that is hard for me to answer.” “I think after all the lies. I deserve an honest answer, Xavier.” Xavier breathed deep and quiet, “Don’t do this Jenna, it’ll destroy what we’ve created between us.” “You’re already destroying me!” she fired at him as she tried to choke back her sobs. Xavier took another breath and looked her in the eye, “I received information that the man who destroyed my mother's future resided in Everbrook. I found him, and I invested time and effort in finding out just what kind of man he was. When I discovered all of his mortal faults, I convinced my Perithian brotherhood to buy the Cauldron and Broomsticks company. After that, it was easy to uncover all of his deceit.” She swallowed hard, not sure if she wanted another answer to the lingering question on her mind, “and me? What about me Xavier?” “You?” Xavier said hoarsely, “I can’t explain you. I saw you the first moment at that fence, unlike any woman I’d ever wanted before.” “So, it gave you fancy to have a witch like me? Did it?” she said with disgust. “All of this time, it wasn’t him you were hurting. It was me, Xavier. Me!” “I’m not proud of it. I—you,” Xavier was losing his grip on his words, “I just didn’t want to let you go.” “All this time I was a business arrangement,” she shook her head, “I should have known better." “No, Jenna we passed that point a long time ago. You continuously refused me, but now you came here because you wanted to be with me!” “Maybe it was the Proelio, or maybe it was a charm you cast on me. You were never going to even admit to me the truth were you?” Xavier bit his lip. “I did not want to lose you, Jenna. I thought we would consummate the Proelio by the time—” “Consummate?” Jenna’s heart ached. “So sex was on the agenda?” “It’s not like that now, Jenna. I’m—” “No! I was never yours to lose,” Jenna lied, determined not to show him any weakness. She knew that she loved him and perhaps it was all due to the effects of the Proelio. But how could she just accept him so lovingly back in her arms. She was tired of being stepped on like the flowers in a children’s garden. He hadn’t truly loved her, had he? Like her mother, she had settled for a demeaning role in a man’s arms, a warlock’s grip. Jenna approached his desk and crouched down, pulling Spottyanna out from under his desk. “I’m going home.” Jenna snapped something from around her neck, the small silver chain she always wore with the green amulet. “I believe this was your mother’s,” she placed it on the desk and abruptly left him to his misery. “Wait, Jenna. Please you cannot go. We have to reverse the Proelio before tonight or else—” “Or else.” Jenna replied and continued to her room to pack her things. Xavier watched her walk away, and he didn’t know if he should stand and chase her, wrap his arms around her and keep her from leaving or let her go. He looked down at the small stone and gathered it up in the palm of his hand. It began to glow, but it did not matter to him now if it could ever break his curse, there was only one thing in the world he knew that he wanted. Chapter Twenty-Seven

enna twisted and dug the trowel deep into the earth. She mumbled J and cursed under her breath at how she’d been so stubborn and pig- headed that she didn’t reverse the Proelio. She stabbed the soil as if it were the only thing standing between her and working her magic, a magic that was irreparably gone. It had been two days since she felt her powers slip away when she’d left Xavier, and the necklace. Since that night, she had tried everything; from planting a seed in the earth and placing her palms over it, to searching through stacks of old grimoires for a cure. But all she could find were warnings that cautioned a witch not to share her powers. Sealing oneself to another means taking on their powers, and their curses. Too late, she thought. She could only blame herself now for not being aware of these things, and so she did. Jenna blinked back her tears and took in another breath. If she had to do things the mortal way, then so be it. She would get used to it, wouldn’t she? Like a person who had lost one of their senses, she would overcome this, it would become easier, she hoped. It was stupid to think that she had given up everything for a family that did not appreciate her, and for a warlock that had only used her. She was done with the wicked ways of the world, and it seemed to her that everyone, except for Spottyanna, who sat eyeing her with curiosity, was the only good being in her life. Nobody knew yet that she was virtually a mortal. She wouldn’t dare tell anyone either, or else they would confiscate all of her magical items, including her mother’s grimoire. Not that it was any use to her now. But eventually people would talk…people would know. As for Xavier, she pondered, he was probably free now, with all of his family’s powers. The world was at his feet now. Thanks to her. But did she get any thanks? No. Nobody ever thanked her. Her father had made out a free man though she’d rather he had gotten his dirty tricks threefold. Maybe then he would learn how to be a good man. Reflecting on all of it, she reminded herself that Xavier had abandoned all thoughts of vengeance against her father. That he’d forgiven his debts for being sure that she made out. But was it only because he felt bad for what he had been about to do to her? What he did do to her. Every time she thought she was able to get control of herself her mind launched off into a rant. Suddenly, Spottyanna began barking and jumping as she ran up the broken cobblestone path. “Spottyanna! No!” “Jenna!” A stranger's voice called out. Jenna’s heart stammered in her chest. There was a figure coming up the walkway, strolling toward the gate where Spottyanna was bouncing, waiting to set her teeth on the broad-shouldered man in a leather jacket. “Hello, Jenna,” Xavier huffed. He came to a halt at the white picket gate. “I know I’m the last person you want to see but—” “What brings you here?” she tried to sound as stern and uncaring as possible when she scooped Spottyanna up. “Do you need something else from me? Perhaps now you’ve come to claim my property again?” “I’m sorry how everything turned out,” he bowed his head. Xavier had never looked so torn and downtrodden since she’d met him. But there was a defensive edge to his tone, “First, you must listen.” “Now you want to say something to me? You had your chance at the Isle. Instead—” “I deserved your anger, your ridicule. That's why I didn’t defend myself. I had nothing to defend. I was a selfish warlock who got his way. Always.” Jenna’s anger slightly eased, and her eyes brightened. “Joseph Fioretto knew how to take me down, and I wasn’t used to that. I’ve been at the top of the warlock world for a long time. I had to claw my way there, and I made enemies doing it. I was arrogant, and Joseph baited me with a tale of my mother and your father and how he destroyed her future. But your father weaves a different tale.” “You spoke to him?” Jenna’s eyes widened. “Yes. Earlier today I went to him. I noticed that the imprisonment barrier had been removed from their estate and most of their belongings returned. I should have done it to begin with, but instead I wanted to be deceitful, vindictive, and take his whole world down. I shouldn’t have trusted my great grandfather to never be corrupt even on his deathbed.” Jenna was astonished that Xavier had been so forgiving of her father, so civil in seeking out the truth. “How did it all go?” Jenna’s thoughts flashed back to the night at the hotel between Tom and Xavier. “I can’t blame him when Joseph came to threaten him to leave my mother, and hand over the stone, the very one which you gave me. He had hoped to end this curse using the very necklace used to create it.” Xavier pulled it from his jacket pocket and dangled it before her. “You mean this whole time that necklace was what had cursed your family?” “Take it,” he grabbed her hand and opened it, laying the necklace within her palm. It glimmered in the daylight, and he closed her hand over it. “Ages ago, my mother, after she had me, knew I would be bound like all Lothian’s to the curse. She sought out the answer, and she found it. Here. In Everbrook. The necklace belonged to a Reness, an ancestor of yours had the unfortunate happenstance to fall in love with a Lothian. It was your grandmother, Chastity Turnblatt who, according to my mother’s letter, had given it to her when she confided in her the truth about the curse. But then she met your father and, well, you know the rest.” “But why then did your great grandfather want to rile you up?” “One last amusing trick before he left this world in defeat. He wanted to show me that even a mortal could control me with what seemed like powerless words. I thought it was fine to use my powers to expose your father’s corruption, as though I were, in essence, doing good.” He laughed at that last word. “Good.” He shook his head. “But you are good.” “I used him to feel better about myself,” Xavier admitted. “And you used me,” she added softly. “Please, Jenna, forgive me.” “I don’t know if I can.” Xavier’s face drained of all color and his head bowed again. “I never wanted anything more than how much I’ve wanted you. As much as I tried to deny it and prove it by treating you badly, I should have just relented to all the powers that be and accepted you, my fate. But power corrupts a man's thoughts, his beliefs, so that he thinks he is above all things, including nature itself.” Jenna realized why he was here in front of her, ashamed, unable to keep his eyes on her. “If you’re here to tell me that you’re sorry. Then I want you to look me in my eyes.” He responded by gazing longingly into her eyes. “I remember the childhood rhyme,” she said, “but I thought the wily man had golden eyes?” “It was true. But no longer.” Her brow furrowed and she stared at his dark pupils. Before, they had been a black color with, at times, a shimmer of gold. But now she noticed they were a chestnut brown with a veneer of honey. “You were wearing contacts?” “Yes. I had worn them to fool you. They actually made me feel almost normal. For a time, I kind of liked it.” “They were just another part of the lie,” she smirked as her heart sank. “Yes,” his tone softened. “I screwed up. I’m sorry I lied and kept you from the truth for my agenda, my selfish needs. But if you give me one more chance —” “My whole world has been a lie. My life built on fantasy and delusions of love. I’ve lost everything because of you and your plan of vengeance. You should’ve just left everything alone.” Jenna’s voice cracked but she swallowed the frustration and sucked the tears back with one deep breath. “You deserve to be mortal. Whoever the witch was that cast the spell, knew what she was doing.”” Jenna turned to walk away but Xavier grabbed her wrist and swung her back around to face him, she stiffened, but raised her head in defiance. “I want you to see my eyes when I tell you this. I am wrong about every thing I’ve ever done in my life. It was all for greed. But if I had to do it all over again, I would. Because I’m a different person than I was. You did that to me. But I love you with every part of my being. I’ve never felt such feelings before for another living soul.” Jenna was taken aback, breathless, speechless. Her blue eyes brightened and glimmered, and she felt something rising inside of her. Had love come back to capture her heart? She struggled to find an answer to his declaration, to clearly relay all of the anguish that she had felt but as she looked at his sorrowful, and eager eyes, she couldn’t help but let it all go. This man before her meant what he said, and there was no deceit or condescending tone in his voice. He was a different person. There was no doubt now what her answer was. “I love you, too.” Xavier jumped to his feet and put his big arms around her, Spottyanna yelped as she was almost crushed between them. “Oh, sorry my little Spottyanna. I haven’t forgotten about you.” Spottyanna made a small growl and Jenna placed her on the ground. She ran off, barking at the bees in the garden. “You forgive me then?” he asked. She pretended to think about it, “I forgive you.” Before she could protest, he lifted her into the air. “I love you, Jenna.” He sat her back on her feet and kissed her hands. His smile so big she thought he might fly right off his feet. “I love you, Jenna.” He said, again and again, cupping his hand in hers. The necklace, still in her palm, forgotten, had slipped and dangled between their entwined fingers. “I love you,” she smiled as the words rolled off her tongue. It felt good to say it, and strangely, a tremor shuddered from her feet to her heart. Dizzy and faint she gripped Xavier’s hand to steady herself. But he too seemed to waver as her limbs warmed and she felt a hum of electricity rocket through her and into him. A glow caught her eye as she saw the necklace pulsing, a halo of bright green surrounded it. “Xavier!” she cried out, but her words could not be heard. Time stood still. She saw the look on his face, concerned and confused. Suddenly his eyes began to spark, and a fire lit the rim of his pupils as it encircled and emblazoned his gaze with that of the color of gold. Her feet felt a warm energy flow from the earth and into her limbs. She felt strong again, her power restored. There was a snap in the air around them, and she could hear Spottyanna again, barking in the yard. Xavier's soothing, concerned voice cut in, “Jenna?” he asked. “Are you okay?” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close before she could speak. He already knew the answer. Xavier felt every fiber in him imbued with strength; his eyes appeared to burn brightly at their rims like an eclipse of the sun. The Lothian power had somehow, curse be broken and damned, returned. Chapter Twenty-Eight

n the balcony of Turnblatt Manor, Xavier and Jenna stood above the O assembled charities that received a donated interest of all of his great- grandfather’s assets. A buzz among the media crew took pictures and video, anticipating the grand opening of what was once a small shack, converted into a shop and had now become a grand building known as the, ‘Reness School for Underprivileged Witches and Warlocks’. It had seemed that life had finally decided to be kind to them both. Edward Sharpleton had never fully recovered from the scandals that rocked the town of Everbrook. His marriage never recouped either. He was forced to move and never return to Everbrook. Jenna tried to help him, but he was a sad man, and after being fired from three jobs he was only able to hold down a job as a busboy. Reba and Hedera had found an unfortunate warlock to enchant and last she heard they had stolen off with his money and his magical items, which he’d recovered soon after, though no one has heard from the two witches ever since. Hand in hand Jenna and Xavier smiled. Xavier’s bright golden eyes no longer hid behind a pair of sunglasses or contacts, and Jenna, she was finally happy in her own home. The property had taken less than a year, using their combined magics and funds, to restore the entire estate to its previous grandeur. Tom had even lended his powers to the white granite columns used for to support the new building and grown from the earth. Something she had yet to learn how to do herself as a hedge witch. But Tom had promised her, along with Xavier’s full blessing, to teach her how it was done. Xavier thought Jenna looked beautiful in her sparkling green evening dress, hemmed with emeralds. He was proud of her and how strong she’d become. She was no longer the shy, withdrawn and soft-spoken witch he’d first met. But he was the envy of every warlock. Spottyanna barked madly, running amok around the estate, harassing the camera crew until she met up with Tilly and Serene and a group of young children—first year enrollees of the Reness school—and played fetch throughout the day. She was content with just a bone, so long as Jenna never left her alone again. “This day has been a long one, well worth the wait, however,” said Xavier, pulling her close to him as he heard cameras clicking and lights flashing. “I just can’t wait ’til I have you all to myself tonight. My love.” A tremor of excitement ran through her. The thought of cradling in his arms, her head snug against his bare chest, the feel of his arms around her, made her ache for time to propel forward. She felt she was the luckiest witch in Everbook maybe even the world. She peered back at times, though briefly, on how she once viewed the ways of the world and was grateful that she saw life so differently now. She was thankful for it, thankful for Xavier. The evening was wonderful. After they had posed for more photos, and Xavier, using that magic glimmer of his eye to make sure that the reporters were going to focus on the school for the children, they said their goodbyes to the guests. Jenna gave Spottyanna a pat on her head and scooted her into her bed by the old granite fireplace. The fire had slowly died out as embers sparked and sent small ashes into the chimney. Jenna glanced back at the room, with its new furnishings and polished fireplace, and recalled how her mother used to lazily prop her feet up and fall asleep by the fire. She smiled at the warm memory and brushed away a tear. Taking the necklace gently in hand she locked it safely away in her mother’s old jewelry box. Gazing at the motifs of flowers on the lid and casting a loving glance over the antiques she had kept safely all these years, she wondered what her mother would have thought of the house and how she’d made sure it would survive for more generations to come. Somehow, a strange feeling inside of her, perhaps it was a voice, or maybe just a thought, popped into her head. Mother knows, and she loves you.

TOGETHER IN THEIR BEDROOM, Jenna and Xavier were entwined and gazing lovingly at each other. Jenna adored Xavier’s golden eyes and the way they sparkled when he was trying to use his powers over mortals. “Did you really make those news crews swear they would promote the school and not focus solely publishing photos of us?” “What?” he grinned, “It was a good thing. It wasn’t like I was using my powers for selfish reasons.” “For personal gain?” “How is that personal gain? It’s a free school for children of magic. I just want all the young witches and warlocks of the world to know of it for their sake.” She would have smiled at his good nature if it weren’t for the kiss he planted on her mouth. His kiss was sweet, and it lit a fire inside of her. “How did we ever get so lucky enough to find each other and make it through such turmoil and emotion and still come out?” She looked around the room with its big canopy bed, and oak dresser and tall Victorian mirrors. She’d allowed Xavier enough of his fancy furnishings to make the place as it had been ages ago when they’d seen into the past and danced with her ancestors in the home a year ago. “Because I love you, the world over.” “Are you sure it was you and not me that—” her breath caught in her throat as he pulled her hips close to his. The move melted her insides, and she grabbed her hands around his neck. “I’m sure.” He grinned. “Sure as ever that I love you.” She ran her fingers through his black hair, and a well of happiness and contentment filled her heart. “I love you, too.”

End.

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About the Author

Elisa Covey is an emerging author with her hands in all kinds of paranormal romps and romance stories. Stay tuned because you’ll be hearing more from her.

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