Completely Smitten (39 page)

“Do you think so?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve only looked like this for thirty-seven-thousand days out of the last twenty-seven-hundred years, in two-week intervals. And now I’m trapped in this body for the rest of my life.”

“It’s not a bad body,” Ariel said with great understatement.

“It’s not the one I’m used to. It’s the one that made me an arrogant bastard the first time. I might revert.”

“I doubt that,” she said.

His gaze met hers. Munin wasn’t even wriggling in his arms. “Thank you for that.”

“I don’t mean to be kind,” she said.

“Sure you do,” he said. “You’re overwhelmed. I’ve just told you the moon is made of green cheese and I’ve shown you proof. Everything you believe is different now.”

“Or maybe you just explained some parts of my life that seemed very odd to me,” she said.

He walked toward her, still holding the puppy. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m sorry I did this wrong. I’m the one who is supposed to know all about love—that’s what my life lesson was supposed to be—and I screwed it up. I hurt us both, and I didn’t mean to.”

Darius stopped in front of her and put a hand on her cheek. His skin was warm, his touch gentle.

“Dar—”

“Shh.” He put a finger on her lips. Then he leaned in and kissed her. It was a slow kiss, a gentle kiss, so tender that it broke her heart.

Then, just as he had before, he pulled away. “I love you, Ariel. I will until the day I die.”

With his thumb, he wiped his kiss off her lips and walked out the front door.

For the briefest of moments, she didn’t move. He was right. He had turned her world around, but not for the reasons he thought. She had seen hints of things on the side of her vision, things that didn’t seem quite normal. Believing in magic was not a stretch for her.

Believing that someone could love her was.

And he loved her enough to walk away because he thought he had hurt her beyond repair.

She ran toward the door and threw it open to see the last of a white light fading away in the driveway.

He had vanished. Literally. And she had no idea where he had gone.

Nineteen

Darius had zapped himself and his car home because he couldn’t face the drive across town. He landed in the driveway, in the shade on the side of the house, and closed his eyes, no longer feeling safe here.

But he hadn’t known where else to go. He knew he’d replay that disastrous conversation in his mind until the end of time. What he wanted the most was to distract himself from it.

He couldn’t go back to Quixotic; Blackstone had made that clear. And Darius didn’t dare see Ariel again.

He needed to leave Portland, start all over. Sell the house that no longer suited him, discover who Darius was without Andrew Vari, and figure out what he would do with his life. He no longer had a mission.

He was free.

Then why did he feel so trapped?

Darius got out of the car, then helped Munin out of the back. It felt as if he had had the puppy all his rife. Munin seemed to feel that way as well. He wasn’t disconcerted by the magic or the changes in Dar’s appearance. He seemed to accept all of it as normal.

“Sancho?” a female voice said.

Darius turned. Nora was standing on his front porch. He’d never realized how tiny she was. She had always been taller than he was. But not any longer. She was petite and compact, her blond hair catching the sun.

She was holding her purse in front of her, looking uncertain. He hadn’t seen her look uncertain in years. But she clearly didn’t recognize him. There was only one way she could have known it was him.

Blackstone had told her everything.

“I’m sorry, Nora,” Darius said. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. It’s just—”

“Nonsense,” she said, coming down the steps toward him. “All you did was hurt Aethelstan’s pride. He wasn’t thinking about you. He was wondering how he could have missed all of this when the evidence was there. He was thinking about himself, forgetting that this isn’t about him.”

“It’s about him, Nora,” Darius said. “I haven’t been honest with him from the start.”

“Fiddle,” she said, using a word he’d never heard her use before. “You were as honest as you could be. You wouldn’t have been able to help us if Aethelstan had known that you were our matchmaker. He’s so stubborn, he would have found a way around you. He would have chastised you or ignored you or made your life hell. You did the best you could. You always have.”

“You’re very kind,” Darius said.

“No, I’m not,” Nora said. “I’m a lawyer. We’re never kind.”

He smiled in spite of himself.

“I figured you need a friend right now. You were there for me. I’m here for you. I don’t have magical powers yet. I can’t give you your heart’s desire, but I can listen.” She slipped her arm through his. “Let’s go inside. I’ll make you some tea, we’ll talk about your new puppy, and if you want to tell me what you’re feeling, you can. And if you want to be the strong silent type, you can do that too.”

“You don’t have to do this, Nora,” Darius said.

“I know,” she said. “And you didn’t have to stay in Portland after our wedding, but you did. You’re our friend, Sancho—Andrew—what do you prefer?”

“Dar, I guess. That’s me now.”

“Whatever you want to be, that’s you,” she said. “Although I’m not sure about this height thing. I’m going to be surrounded by a male forest.”

“I wasn’t thinking—”

“Of staying; I know,” she said. “You feel like you’ve let everyone down. You haven’t, San—Dar. If you left, everyone would figure out just how very important you are.”

He put his hand over hers. He was touched beyond measure. He didn’t deserve her kindness, not after the way he’d tricked them all. “Anyone could have done the things I did, Nora.”

“Anyone?” she asked. “Just anyone could have cut short his vacation to prove to me that Aethelstan loved me.”

“I didn’t prove anything,” Darius said. “He proved that to you.”

“You kept us together, just like you made sure Michael and Emma got together. And I’ll bet if we go inside, I could get you to tell me about dozens of other couples whose lives you’ve enriched.”

“Because it was my sentence, Nora. My punishment. My job.”

She slipped her hand out of his arm. “It seems to me that there’s a strange little man named Cupid who violated probation because he couldn’t do his job properly. Every single time he tried.”

“He was just—”

“What? Wrong for the job? Bad at what he did? Didn’t care about others? Unable to learn?”

Darius stared down at her. She had her hands on her hips. She looked fierce.

“I’d forgotten what a good attorney you are,” he said.

She smiled. “I haven’t used any of my attorney skills on you yet.”

“But you will.”

“If you persist in thinking you’re the villain of this piece, yes, I will. I will use all my argumentative powers to prove you wrong. Now,” she said, slipping her hand back through his arm, “we are going inside. And you’re going to drink tea and talk with me, and we’re going to have a pleasant afternoon.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

“And I’m going to learn everything there is to know about you, because I want to know,” she said. “Not because I have to.”

Darius let those words sink in. “Nora—”

“If you tell me I’m too kind again, I’ll slap you,” she said. “That’ll put an end to that argument.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And don’t ‘Yes, ma’am’ me. I’m one one-thousandth your age.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

She laughed. “There’s the man I know and love.”

Nora dragged him inside his house, which was built for a man much smaller than he was. His dog followed. And the afternoon, which had seemed so dark, didn’t seem quite as hopeless after all.

Ariel finished washing the orange juice off herself while she tried to figure out what to do. She was feeling disconcerted. The world had changed, just not in the way that Darius thought.

Even if she went to him now, what would happen? Why would the universe put together two people with such radically different lifespans? Had his crime been so bad that he only got fifty years out of four thousand with the person he loved? That couldn’t be fair. Or was he allowed more than one soul mate in that long life of his?

She frowned. She didn’t like that idea. And she didn’t know how to approach him. He was so convinced that she hated him now. Maybe Blackstone had had that reaction, but she hadn’t. Darius’s confession put her last six months in order. She finally understood them, and she felt much better for it.

A knock sounded at her door and she ran to it. Thank heavens he had come back. She had wanted to talk with him, and she didn’t even know where he had gone.

Ariel yanked the door open, started to tell Darius she was glad he’d returned, and stopped.

Blackstone was standing before her, looking as if he hadn’t slept in two days. Considering that he looked fine that morning, she figured something else was wrong with him.

“May I come in?” he asked.

She let out a small puff of air. No visitors the entire time she lived here, then two men in the same day.

“Why not?” She held the door open.

He stepped inside.

“If you’re here to convince me to come back to the job,” she said, “you’re wasting your breath. I—”

“I’m not here for that.” Blackstone shoved his hands in his pockets. What was it with magical men? Did they have to control their hands when they were nervous?

“Then what do you want?” She sounded ruder than she had planned to, but she was angry with him. She hadn’t realized that until now.

“I came to tell you something about Andrew Vari.”

Ariel slammed the door. Blackstone jumped.

“He was just here,” she said. “I know everything.”

“Everything?” he asked.

She nodded. “And I think you are being colossally unfair to him. He just had his whole life screwed up and you blamed him for not being honest with you? Where’s your compassion? Don’t you know what it’s like to go through life taking care of others and doing nothing for yourself?”

Blackstone winced. “Nora already gave me this lecture.”

“Good,” Ariel said. “Dar left here all upset. You should make sure he’s all right.”

“Why aren’t you doing that?”

“Because he thinks I hate him.”

“Do you?” Blackstone asked.

“No,” she said. “I’m in love with him.”

“Does he know that?”

“I told him this morning.” She crossed her arms.

“This morning he was someone else,” Blackstone said.

“No, he wasn’t.”

“But you thought he was.” Blackstone peered at her. “You need to tell him now.”

“You’ve been mad at him all day and suddenly you’re arguing his case?” Ariel took a step away from him. She had respected Blackstone until today, but now she wasn’t sure what kind of man he was. “What’s going on here?”

Blackstone closed his eyes and shook his head. “Nora reminded me that I mixed up my role in this little drama.”

“Role?” Ariel asked.

Blackstone nodded. “I’m not the center of this story. I’m the sidekick. And the sidekick’s job is to make sure everyone lives happily ever after.”

“How do you plan on doing that?” Ariel asked. “You’re not the matchmaker here.”

“That’s right,” Blackstone said. “But my best friend is a good one, and I think it’s time that you and he have a little talk.”

Nora had found some chocolate chip cookies in his cupboard, and then she had brewed some Awake tea—apparently on the theory that Darius’s system hadn’t been stimulated enough that day. She fed Munin some of his puppy chow and made up a bed for him. The little guy ate as if he’d been starving, then fell into the sleep of the pure at heart.

Darius had just started his fifth cookie and fourth apology of the hour when the air crackled. Then Ariel appeared before him, Blackstone at her side.

Ariel looked confused. She blinked, then seemed to recognize where she was. And she didn’t seem at all angry that Blackstone had brought her here.

“What’s this?” Darius asked Blackstone. “Yet another way to make me feel guilty? I know what I’ve done to you. I know what I’ve done to Ariel. I’m trying to convince Nora to stop being so nice to me. You can all leave me alone. I’ll be fine. I’ve been fine for three thousand years. A few more won’t hurt.”

Blackstone raised that eyebrow of his in that odd way he had and then he smiled. “I’m the one who should apologize,” he said. “I treated you very badly this afternoon. You’ve always been a good friend to me, and when you’ve needed someone I haven’t been there. Well, I’m here now— and I’m in the way.”

He held out his hand to his wife. Nora smiled and stood, slipping her fingers around his. They suited each other so well. Ariel watched them with clear envy. Darius felt that envy too.

“You couldn’t tell couples they were meant for each other,” Blackstone said, “or you’d screw up your stupid sentence. Well, I don’t have a sentence, so I can tell you that you two are meant for each other, and if you don’t get together, you’ll screw up your lives.”

“Aethelstan,” Nora said, pulling on his arm, “that’s enough.”

“No, it’s not.” Blackstone’s gaze met Darius’s. “We’re still friends, you’re staying here, and you’re not fired from the restaurant. You can come back if you want to work for an idiot boss.”

“So nothing’s changed then?” Darius asked, with a touch of Andrew Vari’s humor.

Blackstone seemed to catch it. “Nothing’s changed. Yet.”

He put his hand behind Ariel and pushed her a step forward. She staggered toward Darius as if she hadn’t expected the motion.

“Have fun, kids,” Blackstone said, then he raised his arms. He and his wife disappeared in a clap of thunder. Ariel blinked, as if the magic had blinded her.

“I wonder what they’re going to do about the car,” Darius said.

“The car?” Ariel asked.

“Nora drove here.”

Ariel put her hands on the back of one of his kitchen chairs. “Somehow I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

She stared at him for a long moment, as if she wasn’t sure what to say. He stared back, feeling guarded and alone and manipulated. He’d already said his goodbyes to her. What right did Blackstone have to throw them together again?