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Wynona sat down on the couch, leaving quite a bit of space between her and Rascal. She hadn’t meant to shock him, but she wasn’t quite sure how he was feeling about her at the moment and she didn’t want to hash things out with the other guests still in the room. Daemon had sucked the magic out of her, which had helped the protective bubble leave, but Wynona still felt uneasy.
As soon as she sat down, Rascal scooted over and put his arm around her shoulders.
Tears pricked the back of her eyes, but Wynona blinked them back. How was it that she got the sweetest soulmate in the history of soulmates?
He leaned into her ear. “If you’d open your mind, you’d know exactly how I’m feeling and it’s not the least bit upset...at you.” His voice was so low it was barely audible, but it was the only way to keep their conversation private with supernatural ears in the room.
Wynona looked at him, letting her guard down just enough to realize he was telling the truth. He was absolutely livid at Celia and her family. Toward herself, personally, however, there was nothing but warmth and love. She sighed and leaned into his side. “Thank you.”
He nodded and turned back to the chief.
“As you can see, Chief Ligurio,” Wynona offered, “I’m not always in control.” She held up her hands. “I don’t even know what all my powers are yet, and those I do have aren’t always easy. I have no idea what that purple...covering was. Obviously, it was protective, but I don’t know how I did it, I don’t have a name for it and I don’t know how to do it again.”
The chief studied her, his red eyes narrowed. “I’d like to offer you a deal.”
Wynona raised her eyebrows. “I can promise to listen, I can’t promise I’ll comply.”
One side of the vampire’s mouth twitched. “Fair enough.” He straightened. “It looks like your family is on the move.”
Wynona nodded and she felt Rascal stiffen next to her.
“But you’re still trying to get control of your magic, which is your best asset against them, correct?”
Again, Wynona nodded.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and staring her down. “I can help.”
Wynona paused. He had helped at the door, scaring Celia with some kind of secret, but Wynona hadn’t paid attention. She’d been too worried about the magic bubbling along her skin that she didn’t know what to do with.
Rascal held up a hand. “Hold up. Where’s Violet?”
Wynona rolled her eyes. “The little she-devil had a date.”
Rascal choked on a laugh. “Really?”
Wynona nodded. “Yeah. Took off without saying goodbye. Must have been someone special.”
He grinned. “Good for her.”
Wynona shook her head, then turned back to the chief when he cleared his throat. “How do you propose to help, Chief Ligurio?” Wynona asked, coming back to the topic at hand. “I’m grateful for what you said a few minutes ago to Celia, but surely you can’t always know what she was doing on a Friday night.”
The vampire smirked, looking a little too triumphant. “I have no idea what she was doing last Friday. I just made an educated guess.”
Wynona’s jaw dropped while Rascal chuckled. “Do you have any idea what she would do if she knew you were lying?”
Chief Ligurio shrugged. “I’m not afraid of your sister.”
Wynona snapped her mouth shut. Chief Ligurio and her sister had dated a while back, before Wynona had ever left the castle. She had gathered that the feelings had been real, but Celia had been pushed by their father to manipulate the situation and when Chief Ligurio found out, it ruined everything. Though Wynona was sure there were still some lingering feelings between the two, the bitterness was going to be hard to overcome if they ever gave it another try. “No...I suppose you’re not.” Wynona couldn’t help but laugh under her breath. “Though that would make you one of an elite few.”
The chief shrugged. “You mentioned before that you weren’t interested in money. If I promised to help use my influence to hold your family off as long as possible, would you promise to help us?”
Wynona had been sure she would automatically say no to his proposal, but he was definitely offering her something useful, and now she wasn’t quite so sure.
Rascal squeezed her shoulders. “You can work with me again,” he teased, his golden eyes flashing.
“I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it,” Wynona said carefully to the chief. “But I want to have a regular life. I love my tea shop and I want to spend time with friends and...others.” She darted a glance toward Rascal, who was still smiling. “I feel like the last month has been one big revelation after another and that everyone around me is wanting not only my time, but wants to control my future.”
Chief Ligurio pushed his lips to the side. “I can understand that, though I don’t necessarily agree with it. I don’t want to control you, Ms. Le Doux. I want your help. I’m asking for it voluntarily, but offering something of value in return.”
“And after this? Are you going to continue coming to me each time a case gets difficult?”
“Are you saying you never want to help again?” Chief Ligurio snorted. “You forget, I’ve seen your face when the last piece of the puzzle clicks into place. I know you enjoy it.”
“I didn’t enjoy being trapped by a witch and almost watching Rascal die,” Wynona blurted out before she could think better of it. She had mostly kept those feelings hidden. So much had been happening when she’d woken up from the hospital that her fear over losing Rascal had been shoved to the side.
Talking about another case, however, was bringing them all to the forefront. Especially now that she had acknowledged how much she loved him and understood that their bond was something special, Wynona was terrified of losing him. One moment with their guard down had almost cost her the other half of her soul and she wasn’t sure she could do it. She had barely gotten Rascal. She couldn’t let go yet.
“Ah...” Chief Ligurio nodded his head slowly. “Now we come to the crux of the matter.” He leaned forward again, his face deadly serious. “Wynona, there’s no way for me to convince you that your soulmate’s job isn’t dangerous.”
Those dang tears pricked her eyes again and Rascal pressed her in closer to his side.
“And we both know that I can’t promise he’ll never have his life threatened again.” The vampire took a deep breath. “But I can say that he’s gotten the position he has for a reason. Strongclaw is a good detective and he cares deeply about justice. That witch caught you all off guard, but his track record is excellent when it comes to dealing with criminals. He lives for it and is better than anyone I know at containing them.”
Wynona glanced over at Rascal, who gave her a soft smile.
“And yet he’s better with you at his side.”
Her head whipped around, her eyes wide. “Excuse me?”
Chief Ligurio put his hands in the air. “You see things outside the box. You have a book education that most of us will never achieve and now you’re developing powers that only make you stronger. The two of you are a nearly unstoppable team. You’ve had a close call, but instances like that only make officers better, because they’re determined not to let it happen again. Next time you won’t be caught off guard because you’ve learned that lesson.”
Wynona scrunched her nose as she felt her heart softening toward the chief’s pleading. “You don’t play fair. You know that, right?”
He straightened, a rare, wide smile on his face. “Yeah, well, you didn’t either when you first stepped into my office. Do you have any idea how long I’ve spent keeping the Le Douxs as far away from me as possible?”
Wynona folded her arms over her chest. “Are you really sure you need my powers?”
The chief nodded solemnly.
Daemon raised his hand and Wynona looked his way. “We’re not in school,” she teased.
The large man shrugged. “I didn’t want to get zapped for insubordination.”
Wynona rolled her eyes while Rascal snorted.
“I just wanted to say that the deputy chief has promoted me to being his personal assistant, though my officer title hasn’t really changed. I’ll be around to help in case you’re having trouble...” He grinned. “Like a few minutes ago.”
Wynona threw up her hands. “You all have an answer for everything.”
“Then I guess all that’s left is for you to say yes,” Rascal added.
Wynona took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. I’ll do what I can to help.” She looked at the chief. “But I might need that protection. I won’t have as much time to practice if I’m investigating.”
He nodded. “You know I will.”
And she did. The chief might have been difficult to get to know, but Wynona was one-hundred-percent confident he was a man of his word. “So what now?”
Chief Ligurio stood up, grabbed his tea cup from the side table and walked over. “Can you read this?”
“You still want a demonstration, huh?” Wynona took the cup.
Chief shook his head. “No. I’m hoping it’ll give us a little insight since I’ve been involved in the case.”
Wynona nodded. “Okay. I’ll try.” She closed her eyes and let her magic begin to swirl. “You might want to let go,” she whispered to Rascal.
He huffed and stayed where he was.
Wynona pushed her worries out of her head. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate on her reading if she was worried about him. Hopefully her magic didn’t feel threatened during this. She’d hate to shock him again.
She felt the wind begin to pick up and her hair fluttered across her face.
COMING!
Wynona’s eyebrows shot up, but she managed to keep her eyes shut. I thought you had a date.
It was a dud, Violet explained. This is much more interesting.
Wynona felt the tiny claws grip her legs as the mouse scrambled up to her usual spot on Wynona’s shoulder. Once they were touching skin to skin, Wynona felt her worries dissipate.
The strength of her magic was always awe inspiring, but with her familiar at her side, Wynona felt much more in control. She focused her mind on understanding what the tea leaves had to say just as she felt a tug on her fingers. She opened her hand to let the mug rise, and when she opened her eyes, it was spinning in a very similar situation to what she had experienced before.
I think we can do this, Wynona thought in shock.
Violet snorted.
Feeling the flow begin to wind down, Wynona reached out and took the cup, bringing it to her eyes, which she guessed were glowing purple at this point. She studied the dregs, her mind immediately responding to the vague shapes contained therein.
“Knots...changes...anchor...” Wynona’s eyes floated from one symbol to the next. She allowed her intuition to guide the order in which they were read. “Sum...” Wynona looked to the last one. “Heart.” She blinked rapidly, bringing herself back to the present. Using her magic seemed to separate her from the outside world and Wynona always appreciated coming back to herself.
“And what do those mean?” the chief asked. He was several steps back from where he had started and Wynona realized she must have frightened him.
Her cheeks heated. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m really not trying to be flashy.”
He held up his hand. “I’ll get used to it. Let’s just worry about the clues.”
Wynona nodded and swallowed hard. “Um...Knots mean you hold anxiety and stress.” She glanced up as the chief nodded.
“Comes with the job.”
She shrugged. “Easy enough. The changes mean you have challenges ahead.” She tapped her fingers against her knee as she worked to remember what came next. “The anchor says you don’t change easily.”
Rascal coughed, hiding a grin behind his fist, which only grew wider when his boss glared.
Wynona bit her lips between her teeth. “I don’t think a lot of the reading was about the case,” she hedged.
Chief Ligurio put his hands on his hips. “Just spill it, Le Doux.”
She hesitated, but finally gave in. “The sum means there will be a bringing together...and the heart refers to romance.”
The vampire stiffened and Rascal’s jaw dropped open. Daemon began choking so hard he headed to the kitchen for a glass of water.
“Are you telling me you just read a fortune of the chief’s love life?” Rascal choked out.
“Shut it, Strongclaw, or I’ll shut it for you,” Chief Ligurio growled. He turned back to Wynona. “Next time tell me to shut up.”
She nodded. “Sorry it wasn’t what you wanted.”
He waved his hand. “My fault. I’ll take responsibility for this one.” His eyes narrowed. “This time.” With stiff legs, he began walking toward the door. “Strongclaw! Skymaw! Out!”
Rascal kissed Wynona’s cheek and jumped to his feet. She followed and walked them all to the door. Chief Ligurio turned and handed her a card. “It's my cell. Call it if you need it.”
Wynona studied the card, then nodded. “Thank you.” She sighed. “And first thing tomorrow, I’ll come in before opening to see what’s been done on the case.”
“Thank you,” Chief Ligurio said, his voice back to being sharp, as if their evening had never happened.
Still chuckling, Rascal kissed her again before disappearing into the dark, Daemon on his heels. Wynona closed and locked the door, resting her head against it. “That was a disaster.”
I don’t know. I thought it was very eye opening.
Wynona shook her head. “He wanted clues about the case. I read him a love letter.”
Ah...but the question is, whom will he be sharing hearts with? Violet rubbed her paws in glee. I could fantasize about this for days.
“And on that note, I’m headed to bed.” Wynona walked toward her bedroom. She could feel her legs beginning to shake with each step, a testament to using so much magic. She would look forward to the day when her magical endurance was beyond that of a five year old, but for now...sleep was the only cure.