Page 4 of Wed to the Devil

What the fuck is Talia thinking? There’d better be a damn good reason for this little rebellion.

Olivia and Aunt Minnie. Those are two names that I have heard Talia repeat over and over again. I have the vaguest sense of who Olivia might be. A quiet blonde with oversized glasses and an ill fitting dress swims up in my vision.

But I know next to nothing about her. I have no idea what her phone number is or where she lives and while I can have my security team look into it, it will take some time. Talia’s Aunt Minnie though…

I certainly know where she works. I try to remember if Talia said that they lived together. I think that they did, before I proposed.

I text Rob and ask for the address of their little house. He responds fairly quickly with the address and I am out the door as soon as possible. I leave instructions with the security team to coordinate their efforts with Rob. I feel sweat pooling at my back, running down my spine.

The rev of the Porsche drowns out the persistent thumping beat of my heart. I clench the leather wrapped wheel and peel out, glad that I have a stick shift. It allows me some measure of control, a feeling that I desperately crave just at this moment. Working the clutch and speeding up or slowing down in response to the curves in the road takes my mind off of the sick cycle of racing thoughts. In minutes, I speed through downtown, running red lights recklessly and barely avoiding collisions with other vehicles. I am certainly not new to speeding or switching lanes heedlessly. But by the time I pull up in front of Aunt Minnie’s bookshop with a squeal of tires, my engine practically roaring, I’m having heart palpitations. What if Talia is not here?

She might have run here because she didn’t think it through. But a sneaking suspicion comes over me that she wouldn’t be so thoughtless. I bound out of the Porsche the second I can throw it into park. I leave the keys in it in my rush to get inside.

I stalk up to the storefront, noting the weathered brick and the wide glass display window. To the right is a plate glass door laid into a wood foundation. Stepping close to the display window, I notice that it is covered in gold and silver sparkling glitter. The words ‘enchanting’, ‘fairytale’, and ‘happily ever after’ are written in white cut out letters and taped in the corners of the window. Bending down to see through the sparkles, I cup my hands around my eyes to seal out the intruding light. Right in front of my face is a white shelf covered in glitter with several fairytale books displayed nicely. I can make out several dark, shadowy blobs just beyond it that might be bookshelves. But though I strain to see more, nothing beyond that appears to me in the gloom.

Pushing off the thick window, I head over to the glass door. Though it's obvious that the store is closed from the quaint sign that has been turned to ‘closed’, I still try to see in. I can only make out vague and shadowy shapes, possibly another bookshelf on my right and a cash register beyond that. But again, nothing clearer. I shape my hands into fists and bang on the door, rattling it.

“Fuck!” I swear. “God dammit, Talia. Where the fuck are you?”

The bookshop looks back at me as I stagger backward, holding my arms out wide. I grimace and turn my face up, beseeching silently.

I don't believe in anything more powerful than money. There is no God that can save me now or deliver Talia to me. But still, I bring my hands together, folding them and bowing for just a moment. Genuflecting, if you will.

Then I turn on my heel and stalk toward my car. A few seconds later, a cold voice stops me in my tracks.

“Dare?”

It's a woman's voice, much older than Talia’s. I whirl to face it and there is her Aunt Minnie, glaring at me from the doorway of the bookshop. She is dressed in a flowing violet robe and her hair falls around her shoulders like a cloak, gray and wild, bordering on scraggly if it weren't quite so thick. Her eyes glint blue and I see the resemblance in her proud nose as she tosses back her hair.

“Are you Dare?” She asks.

I cross my arms. “I am. Are you Minnie?”

Aunt Minnie looks me up and down, her mouth puckering slightly. “I am. What are you doing here? And where is Talia?”

I spread my hands wide and shrug. “I came here to ask you the very same thing. I thought she might have come here.” I watch Aunt Minnie closely, expecting her perhaps to fidget or act as though she is hiding something. But she merely seems perplexed.

She raises a hand and beckons me closer. “Come here.”

I stride closer, glaring at her. She doesn't even flinch, just sizes me up.

“Talia left without saying where she was going?”

I feel a flash of heat spread across the back of my neck.

“That’s why I’m here.”

“Ah.” She leans against the door frame and considers me for several long moments. Her silence seems to crackle in the still air as I wait, heart thumping in my chest.

I need her to say something, to tell me where Talia is. I crack my knuckles.

“Where is Talia?” I ask.

“Hm.” She straightens, pushing off the doorway. “I don’t know. She’s not here.”

“Did she call you?”

Aunt Minnie looks down her nose at me. “If she had called me, I don’t think she would want you to know it. You seem to have a short fuse. Maybe her disappearing is a sign. Maybe you should give her a little bit of space.”

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