Page 10 of Stolen Magic
His suit jacket, as well as the white shirt he wore, were stretched over his torso to their limit. The Alpha was fighting not to shift in the middle of my store, and that was the only reason I nodded frantically like an idiot. I could fight with the man on any day of the week. His wolf was a whole different matter. Reasoning with a person was easier than trying to reason with an animal. Even in my moment of insanity, I knew that all too well. With one last long look to make sure I understood the threat clearly written in his eyes, Dimitri turned around and stormed out of the store.
The moment the front door closed with the bell chiming happily above it, I collapsed on the floor. Char darted my way, dropping on her knees next to me when the door opened again and the Alpha returned. I wanted to die because he saw me on my knees, and I was about to struggle back to my feet when his frown stopped me. Something passed through his gaze that was too fast to decipher because he looked away. Bending down, he snatched something and left for good that time.
“Why did he come back?” Char tightened her arms around my shoulders, talking more to herself than me.
My eyes roved over the floor until I found what was missing. Leaning my forehead on her shoulder, I hugged her back, the familiar scent of the fruity lotion she always used calming me.
“He took the candle,” I mumbled in her hair. The bastard took the red candle that I used to draw his blood.
I was so screwed.
Chapter Eight
“Take this.” My friend shoved a small round bottle full of silvery liquid at me. “He so much as comes a foot from you, smash it over his head.”
“What is it?” Turning it between my fingers, I watched the liquid roll inside it. “It’s not just going to piss him off, right? It’ll knock his ass down?”
“Better.” Smiling like a villain, she wiggled her perfectly shaped eyebrows. “It’ll melt the skin off his bones.”
Flinching back, I jabbed it at her chest. “Hell no. Take it back. Are you trying to get us killed?”
“Don’t be daft. We are dead either way after you drew his blood in the middle of the store. This way, at least we can get a head start on running.”
“It came to that, didn’t it?” Groaning, I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Maybe we should just grab whatever we can and disappear. After a while, he might give up and stop coming after us.”
I had half an hour left until I had to meet with the Alpha for his, as he called it, talk. We put valid effort into cleaning up the mess, but after ten minutes, we closed the store for the day. Both of us were too wired to be able to get it in order or deal with people after the fiasco early in the morning.
“We are not letting him chase us away, Allie.” Char tugged my blouse down like a mother straightening the cloths of her six-year-old for their first day at school. “First, we will see what he has to say for himself, then we make a plan of action. We will defend our turf.”
“We are a gang now?” Slapping her hands away when she tried to straighten the collar of my blouse, I glared at her. “We are defending turfs?”
“This is our home town. We will defend it.” Jutting her chin out stubbornly, she folded her arms across her chest.
“I’m a thief, Char, not a ninja.” Scratching my head, I grimaced when I pulled a tiny shard of glass from my hair.
“Could’ve fooled me.” Snickering, she ran her fingers through my hair, searching for more stray glass that could’ve wedged in it. “You should’ve seen yourself with the candles. I was scared.”
“So embarrassing.” My groan was punctuated by peals of laughter bursting out of her. “I have no idea what possessed me.”
“You were defending your turf. We might get matching jackets while we are at it, too.” That time, I joined her when she snorted. “And you are not just a thief, my friend. You are a witch—a very powerful one, may I remind you? If that jerk wants a war, he will get it.”
“And both of us will die because of it. Me for being a witch, and you for hiding one.” It was the truth and she knew it.
“I don’t know what you are talking about. Alaska McCullough is a candlemaker, and I have the candles to prove it, too.”
“I better go before he decides to come back here.” My feet didn’t want to move, but if I didn’t meet the Alpha at the place of his choosing, I had no doubts he would be knocking on the door. Doing what he wanted would ensure he stayed away from Char.
“One second.” Darting around the counter, Char tugged her tote from under it and hitched it over her shoulder. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Where do you think you are going?” I regretted planting my fists on my hips when the cut on my knuckles scraped the fabric. That would teach me to throw candles around glass again. I should’ve just poured hot wax over Dimitri’s head, and if I knew he’d be coming to the store, I would’ve had it ready.
Like I had not spoken, Char was already at the door, holding it open for me to exit. With a sigh, I followed her, knowing too well the wolf wouldn’t be happy if I showed up late for our rendezvous. People were out and about, their cheerful chatter and laughter packing up the dread in my stomach hard enough I felt I could barely walk. But walk I did, dragging my feet one in front of the other until only a long stretch of sand stood between me and the man I could recognize anywhere at that point. With a comforting squeeze to my shoulder, Char veered off to the right in search of a good place she could hunker down and chuck her potions at Dimitri if he got handsy. Or at least that was what she told me in any case.
The man in question stood on the beach just to the side of the Ferris Wheel, hands folded behind him and his back toward me. If that wasn’t a sign he wasn’t scared of me, I didn’t know what was. Never turn your back on a worthy opponent was a motto Char and I lived by. The Alpha made sure I was aware I was a joke compared to him. Jaw clenched and hands balled at my sides, I joined him, my flats kicking up tiny clouds of sand as I stomped across the beach.
“Here I am, your Majesty. Talk.” My hiss did not impress him one bit, and I could tell.
“How did I miss your presence in my city so far, malen'kaya ved'ma?” Dimitri, his accent thick at the last words, murmured under his breath, but he didn’t look at me. The impressive silver gaze roved over the ocean where waves were lapping across the vast expanse of water.
