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When Ella returned to the cottage she shared with her sister faerie godmothers, she flopped gracelessly down on the sofa and called the manila folder back to the material realm. She opened the folder and covered her face with it. Too bad she couldn’t shut herself up into it and pop back to the fae realm. Well, she could, but doing that would be giving up and she wasn’t a quitter. Quitters didn’t get straight As at the Academy. Quitters didn’t get one of faeriekind’s most renowned godmothers as a mentor.
“Wow, what’s wrong with you?” The sofa cushion next to her dipped and she heard the unmistakable sound of crunching. Of course Raven would sit in the living room, eating chips, no doubt getting sharp little pieces everywhere. It would be up to Ella to remove the sofa cushions and vacuum beneath them when Raven was done. Yuck.
“I met my assignment,” Ella mumbled into the pulpy-smelling paper against her face.
“Already? You sure work fast. Is there something wrong with her?”
Ella let the folder slip down off her face and caught it neatly, papers and all, in one hand. “Yeah, she’s beautiful and smells good and runs her own store. I guess I’m supposed to make her slow down or something, like maybe she’s working too hard.”
“So? I don’t see the problem. Making someone slow down can’t be all that difficult.” Raven shrugged and continued stuffing round tortilla chips into her mouth.
“I guess it makes some sense, since she runs her own business, but it still doesn’t explain the reason why another supernatural might be sussing her out. Plus, she’s so beautiful.”
“You said beautiful twice.”
“Oh, did I?” Ella couldn’t figure out why she was talking in circles, but clearly her brain was mush. She pressed her lips together to keep from blurting out the b-word again.
Raven tilted her head and watched her, green eyes wide. This went on for so long that Ella almost yelled at her to go away, but her fellow faerie godmother said, “You know, it’s okay to think a human is attractive. Many of them are pleasing to the eye, despite not being fae.”
“I know.” Ella wondered if defensiveness permeated her forceful words.
“Just don't go falling in love with them.”
Ella rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know that too. They reminded us all the time in school not to develop any emotional connection with our humans.”
“On the plus side, you can have sex with them!” Raven added.
“Who said anything about having sex?”
“Well, you’ve only seen this human once. It’s not like you’ve had time to do anything but build up some healthy lust for her.” Raven put the bag of chips aside on the coffee table and wiped her hands together before rubbing her palms on the arms of the couch. Ella winced, imagining the grease stains that would leave on the fabric. “I’ve had sex with humans. including my assignments. There's no rules against that. When was the last time you had a lover?”
That wasn’t a question Ella wanted to answer, so she buried her nose back into the folder.
“All I’m saying is, once you finish this assignment, you can give her a nice little goodbye fuck if you still have those same feelings.”
“Language, please!” Ella’s cheeks went hot. Leave it to Raven to make her feel worse, not better. She needed to redirect the conversation. “Whatever. Isn't tonight your night to make dinner?”
Raven snapped her fingers and a platter of food appeared on the coffee table.
Ella wrinkled her nose. “Taquitos again?”
“If I’m cooking, then you’ll eat taquitos and like them, blondie.”
She couldn’t very well visit the shop two days in a row, but Ella also didn’t want to let too much time pass before checking in on her new assignment again. Especially since she needed to get to know Addison better and understand the purpose of the assignment. Fortunately, there was a food truck outside the store the next day. Ella purchased two tacos with a smile, sat on a wooden bench, and ate while watching the comings and goings along the street.
Flipping through Addison’s file didn’t give her much intel. The woman was twenty-eight, one heck of a businesswoman, and... that was it. No family or friends mentioned, no personal life, nothing but her work and the potential interest from a supernatural outsider.
Ella wondered what she could possibly have to offer in this case. If Addison was content with her life as is and if she wasn’t in danger, she didn’t need a faerie godmother. Ella wasn’t sure there was a cure for burn-out because so many humans dealt with it these days. They strived and they strived, not for everyday survival, but so much more. So what if Addison was no different? A person had a right to pursue business or pleasure, or whatever, to the exclusion of everything else. Maybe it wasn’t healthy, but who was Ella to judge?
As for potential supernatural interference, all Ella could do was sit back and see if something odd appeared. That could take days, weeks, even months.
“This is a stupid assignment,” Ella muttered to herself as she tossed her paper plate and napkin into the trashcan next to the bench.
Her chest tightened when she thought about walking into the shop again, locking eyes with the woman she’d found so attractive yesterday. Never had anyone affected her so suddenly, let alone knocked the air right out of her.
Then again... Maybe it wasn’t an assignment, but a test. Falling in love with a human was forbidden. What if this was her “final,” a way to confirm she was ready to work on her own with less oversight from the Academy?
Ella rolled her shoulders and straightened on the bench. Yes, that had to be it. The Head Office was working with the Academy to give her this one, last test before formally concluding her apprenticeship. They knew she was ready to move forward, even though it had only been a year under Morgan’s tutelage. Well, then, she would pass with flying colors. She would stand up, walk right into that shop, and...
Her skin prickled with cold, an unlikely occurrence outdoors on an August day in Arizona. Only a few things gave her that awful sensation: dark fae, vampires, shifters, and witches. Not that any of them were inherently evil. It was just the way she sensed their presence and it rarely boded well.
Her focus honed in on the tall, slender, black-haired woman sauntering toward the shop. Power radiated from her, ice cold and sharp. Her green eyes were lined in black and her all-black clothing might have been more fashionable in a high school goth clique. Her energy wasn’t at all inviting, unlike some witches Ella had known. Confidence was evident in the set of her chin, shoulders, and chest. When her hand closed around the doorknob to Addison’s shop, Ella shot upright from the bench.
Just because it was a New Age store, that didn’t mean an honest to goddess, supernatural, power-wielding witch had any business going in there. I better see what’s up.
She jogged across the street and took a deep breath. If she sensed the witch, the witch sensed her. Maybe going in there would turn things on their head, but Addison was Ella’s responsibility now. No one could blame her for keeping tabs on any supernatural who went in there, considering the possibility had been indicated in the file.
Once again, the scent of patchouli enveloped her. She inhaled again and wondered why that smell could put her at ease and excite her, both at the same time.
Addison was behind the counter, ringing up a purchase for a pink-haired customer. Ella watched the transaction as she sidled into the shop, along the far wall. She barely made it two steps when someone said, “Are you for real?”
She jumped, clenched her fists at her sides, and turned to glare at the witch. “What do you mean?”
The woman folded her arms and smirked down at her. Ella hated it when women were taller than her. It always made her feel small, insubstantial. Like a human-sized version of Tinkerbell. It was bad enough that people didn’t take her seriously in the first place with her long blonde hair, blue eyes, and round-cheeked wholesome looks. Being short made it even worse.
The witch seethed with both power and disdain. “You better not think you can stake a claim on this one. I’m Anthea and she’s mine.”
“Yours? You can’t claim humans. That’s not how it works.”
“It is and you know it. You faeries call humans yours, so why can’t we? Now, scoot, faerie-butt. I’ve got better things to do than quibble with you.” Anthea shooed her away with a flick of her hand.
Ella gaped at her before gritting her teeth and propping her hands on her hips. She wasn’t about to let some left-hand path goth girl get the best of her. “You listen to me, witch-breath, you’re in my territory and if you think you can just claim whatever and whoever you want, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Check your notes, glitter for brains. You don’t belong here. Now run along and let the big girls handle this.” Again, Anthea made a shooing motion before turning away and crossing to the other side of the store.
Ella wished an indignant “Why you... you... bitch!” wasn’t building up inside her. But it was all she could do to keep her fists clenched at her sides and her mouth shut. She slid a glance toward Addison, but her new charge seemed blissfully unaware of the supernatural verbal throwdown that was taking place in her store.
While Ella didn’t want to give Anthea the satisfaction of scurrying out of the shop, she did want to reread her file. Maybe it'd be updated with something new thanks to the witch’s interference. She pulled a glamour over herself, one that her fellow supernatural shouldn’t be able to penetrate, and called up the file.
Almost the moment she opened the manila folder, a puff of purple smoke wafted into her face. She waved it away and suppressed a dry cough. Even with tears in her eyes, she could see the update emblazoned in bold, red letters on the top page. DANGER. Rival factions may be in pursuit of the subject. Birthright questionable.
Ella closed the file and wrinkled her nose. What the heck could witches possibly want with one little human? And what did “birthright” mean? She’d have to check in with Morgan and Raven on this one. It was the first time she’d seen that noted in a case file.
For now, though, she couldn’t let Anthea think she’d gained any ground. Ella dropped the glamour, but not before sneaking another look at Addison.
Gods, she was beautiful. Something about her made Ella’s heart race. The rules didn’t say she couldn’t look at or appreciate a human she liked. She just couldn’t fall in love with them. Of course, Ella had never asked why. It wasn’t her place to question, let alone challenge, the rules, merely to follow them.
That meant telling off the witch who thought she could just barge in here and issue orders to a faerie godmother on assignment. Ella wished she was wearing long sleeves, so she could push them up like she meant business. All she could do, though, was walk over to Anthea and glare up at her.
“Whatever you think you’re doing, you won’t get away with it. Addison Blaine is under my protection.”
“That’s very cute.” Anthea wrinkled her nose at her. “You’re like a sweet, adorable little bunny, you know that? All fluff and no substance. Don’t worry your pretty little head about her. This is coven business, not faerie business, and we’ll take good care of her.”
Ella glanced around the shop and tried to look unimpressed. “I don’t know what good incense and candles marketed to humans will do you, but there are plenty of other places to buy that stuff. Have you tried Sedona?”
The way Anthea laughed, high and thin, grated on Ella’s nerves. “Oh, Fluffy Bunny, you really are clueless. Even real witches use those things, but I’m not here to check off a shopping list. Now, move along before you get hurt.”
There were things witches could do, even to faerie godmothers, that might hurt. But only for a minute. Ella folded her arms and retorted, “I’ll have you know I was first in my class, especially when it came to hexing. There’s nothing you can do to me that I can’t throw back at you.”
“Newsflash, Fluffy Bunny.” Anthea leaned over her and sneered. “This isn’t your little godmother academy, so back off before all that’s left of you is a pile of faerie dust.”
Ella wanted to push back, harder than before, but there were humans in the shop. Not just humans, but the one she was supposed to protect. A supernatural fight would go very badly for them. Especially if a fae ever released the full extent of their power which, sometimes, was what it took to fight another supernatural.
Biting the inside of her cheek helped keep her from talking, but it didn’t quell the nausea roiling in her stomach. For once, she was going to have to let the bully win. She’d done it plenty of times in school until she’d proven herself. Apparently, the mortal world wasn’t much different. No one would take her seriously until she gave them a reason to, and words weren’t enough.
“Fine. I’m leaving, but this is far from over.”
Anthea laughed again, a sound that left Ella itching to punch her in the face. “Oh, ho! So dramatic, aren’t you? I wouldn’t expect anything less from the cute insect-winged bunny. Now run along and nibble something, sweetie. I’ve got work to do.”
Rather than leave right away, Ella wrapped her fingers around the first item she touched, marched to the cash register, and yanked her wallet out of thin air without thinking. When she lifted her gaze, Addison was staring at her, but quickly smiled.
“Nice choice. Those are my favorite.” Her voice was as warm and sultry as her face.
Ella glanced at the item on the counter. It was a pink gemstone of some sort. “Oh?”
“Yup. Rose quartz. Perfect for attracting love. That’ll be two-fifty, unless I can help you find anything else today.”
After fiddling with the human money and handing it over, Ella tried to keep her gaze down, focused on the gemstone. She heard a crinkle and watched Addison’s slim, capable hands put the crystal inside a small, brown paper bag.
“You know, you weren’t anywhere near the crystal bins, but when you reached out, it came to you.” Addison offered her the bag. “It must really want to belong to you.”
Ella’s chest tightened and she couldn’t catch her breath. Without a word, she left the store.