Page 9 of Marcus-stiltskin

He shakes his head. “I’ll admit, I still had the image of the kid I used to know, but now—”

“You know the truth of my elderly state!” I tease before he can finish his sentence.

He just shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

Chapter Four

In Which It Was Obvious To Everyone Else

Itry to lay off my lame attempts at flirting with Marcus for the rest of the night. We spend several hours drinking way too many cups of coffee and talking about old times, about his ex, about Lugh and Jacqueline–anything to avoid, I realize later, talking about me. I don’t know why I’m so nervous about admitting what I do. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed. At least I’ve never had a problem before.

I fall into my own bed at five, long after I find myself having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Marcus offered to let me stay and take his bed, but I declined. Since I can’t control my magic, I felt I’d be asking for trouble. Burning his new place down would not be the best first impression.

Back in my room, I pass out the moment my head hits the pillow and wake for nothing until nine when a voice calls my name, demanding I rise.

“Sarah!”

“SARAH!”

“Sarah! What the hell happened last night?” Shania, my roommate, best friend, and fellow dancer at the Wild Hare, yells,her voice growing louder as she makes her way down the hall to my room.

She bursts through my door, beautiful even in her bonnet and ancient pajamas.

“Sleep,” I groan, pulling the pillow over my face. “Go away.” I turn to roll over, forgetting how sore my back side is and end up cursing as I roll into the fetal position.

“You didn’t answer my question, woman. Darla just came by with a package labeled ‘For Sarah’s butt.’ So spit it out. What happened?”

“It’s nothing exciting,” I tell her, groaning as I try to sit up. The soreness has gotten worse overnight. “One of the customers grabbed my leg, and I fell on my ass.”

“Someone touched you and none of the bouncers got to you first?”

“Darla tried, but…”

I don’t mean to say the “but,” but now that I have, I can’t not finish. Shania knows me well enough to know when I’m keeping something from her.

“There was a bachelor party last night, but it was also the night the Lamar’s were having their pack party for Zach’s engagement, so it was a bunch of distant cousins or something working the place. The bachelor was a creepy asshole. He kept harassing the girls all night.”

I blink as I try to open my eyes against the bright morning sun. “He was really… handsy, and it pissed me off. He grabbed my ankle and was shoving his hands down my pants when I accidentally cast a fire spell on him, and now Darla thinks I’m a witch.”

Shania stares at me, open-mouthed for a moment. “I’m sorry. Did you say that you cast a fire spell and now Darla thinks you’re a witch?”

“Yeah. Darla’s a witch, too, and now I’m stuck going to some witch classes she teaches at her house.”

She snorts. “You’re going through an apprenticeship?”

“Yeah, why? Darla said I need to learn to control my power or I can end up hurting someone.”

Shania huffs a laugh and turns to leave.

“No, come back.”

“You told me to go away.”

I sigh. “Noooo, I need to know what’s so funny.”

She smiles. “Nothing.”

I give her a dark look as I try to scoot out of my bed. “Something. Cough it up.”

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