Page 23 of Stolen Magic
“Umm, what happened to knocking?” I quipped cautiously. “Last time I checked, it was still acceptable behavior in modern society.”
“You have nothing I don’t.” She dumped everything she was holding on the floor and crouched over it. Lifting her face, she narrowed her eyes on me. “You didn’t grow a third nipple or a peen without telling me, did you?”
“What? No.” My automatic reply only succeeded in frustrating me more. “I need to get dressed, Char. Do you mind?”
“Aha!” My friend jumped to her feet and darted out of the bathroom.
My toes had barely touched the tiles under the tub when she returned, and I had to jump back behind the moldy plastic. I had no doubt that steam was coming out of my ears.
“Ta-da,” Char announced, elaborately flinging her arm to the side with a hanger in her hand so I could see what was draped on it.
“What’s that?” The outfit was something I purchased for a Halloween party a few years back when I decided I could pull off a supervillain like a pro. The crossover jacket worn with nothing underneath it and the too-tight leather pants, both in dark green, were definitely not something I had in my duffel bag. I was sure of it. “I’m not wearing that.”
“Yes, you are, unless you are planning on going naked.” Tilting her head to the side, she smirked at me.” That will do the trick, too.”
“I’m not a monkey to do tricks, and I’m not wearing that.” Ready to cross both arms over my chest, I almost dropped the curtain. It took a bit of fumbling and a few choice words, but my virtue stayed protected from the mean woman grinning at me. “Why do I have to wear that?”
“I’m going to do your hair and your makeup, too.” Ignoring my question, she pointed at the mess on the floor.
I eyed it warily. “Why?” I whined like a petulant child.
“Because we want to unsettle him while playing his game.” Char spoke conspiratorially. “But no one said we have to play fair. Dimitri Bell is an asswipe, and powerful at that, but he is still just a man. No hot-blooded testosterone-driven creature can resist a redhead dressed in leather. Trust me, the Alpha won’t know what hit him.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Ifeel like an idiot,” I muttered to Char, who was standing next to me in front of the Ice Matrix CO. building while she enjoyed being invisible a little too much.
While I suffered her makeover talents, my friend told me she’d been busy overnight. So she didn’t wake me up, Char spent the night in the bathroom of the motel room and crafted enough potions to bring Pentagon down. All of them were stacked inside the tote draped over her shoulder, along with the cursed book that belonged to the Alpha, and I twitched whenever the sound of clinking glass resonated in the space between us.
I had to admit, albeit begrudgingly, that it was a very good idea to have Char nearby with the object. It was as good of leverage as any, I supposed, and something I could hold over Dimitri Bell’s head.
“You are one hot mama, Allie.” Char bumped her shoulder off mine and craned her neck to stare as high as she could up the building. “I never understood why a security company needed a skyscraper.”
“It’s all about power and prestige. If you don’t flaunt it, you don’t have, at least with these people.” Something the two of us learned to hide more than anything. We both had solid chunks of money stashed away, me from jobs and Char from what I thought were rare potions sold in the store, but it turned out my friend dabbled on the black market for her savings. The way we lived, I was sure people thought we were paycheck-to-paycheck people.
Which was safe.
Had I known I didn’t have long to live and wouldn’t need a retirement plan, I would’ve had hot guys in Speedos feeding me grapes and fanning me with palm leaves while I lounged at the Bahamas. Hindsight was always twenty-twenty.
The two muscular shifters ignored me from their posts on both sides of the sliding glass doors. Squinting—a bad habit of mine since I had a perfect sight—I checked if they were the same men from my previous visit, but I couldn’t be sure. This time around, both had mirrored aviator glasses perched on the bridges of their noses, so it was hard to know where they were looking, too. Their faces were pointed straight ahead of them, however.
Self-consciously, I tugged my jacket down unnecessarily and squared my shoulders. With my head held high, I strode toward the sliding doors and released the breath I was holding, but only after I entered the building. Chilled air slapped me across the face and ruffled my perfectly styled red beach waves, courtesy of the sorceress next to me. My invisibility spell kept her hidden, but she wasn’t allowed to talk. One word and we would be busted immediately if anyone heard her. Supernaturals, as well as humans, didn’t appreciate anyone poking their noses in their business when they could see them. I really didn’t want to test that theory and see what would happen when they couldn’t see the person sneaking up on them.
My heart stuttered when I saw Pura behind the receptionist desk, her narrow face half hidden by the large frame of the prescription glasses she had on. Forehead puckering, I wondered why a supe would need glasses, but her head turned and all thought about it vanished when our gazes met across the vast expanse of the space. Her hair was in a tight bun at the nape of her skull, and an antique broach held the ruffled high collar of her pristine white shirt together.
“Here goes nothing,” I told Char through unmoving lips before striding straight toward the older woman.
What were the odds that I’d be saved again from her by Dimitri’s father? Zero, that was what. The nicer, older version of the Alpha was definitely not hanging around just to come to my rescue, I was on my own.
“Hello, Pura.” Going for familiarity might help ease my way to the higher levels, so I smiled at the lady. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I came here the other day for an interview.” Her eyelids lowered, and her piercing gaze bore into mine. “Mr. Bell senior escorted me to the office above?”
“I remember you.” There was no smile, no niceties, just a flat tone to her voice.
I fidgeted where I stood, and my nervous chuckle didn’t help any. My eyes widened when Char pinched my side hard, and it took everything in me not to smack her. The spot would bruise in five minutes, I was sure of it.
“I had to come for one more meeting.” Praying that Pura would just leave it at that and allow me to go on my way was a little too much to ask. I hoped I wouldn’t need to mention Dimitri, but it looked like I might not have a choice.
“With?” One of the older woman’s eyebrows arched like she didn’t believe anyone in the building would want to see me twice. I did look like a stand-in from a movie shoot, but she didn’t need to give me a once over that told me she found me lacking.
