Forever Charmed (The Halloween LaVeau Series, Book 1) (35 page)

H
e grabbed my arms. “Calm down. I’m not going anywhere. Yes, for a moment I thought about leaving, but I realize that would be a mistake. I had a job to do and I need to see it through.”

“
You’re darn right you need to see it through.” I poked him in the chest again. It was like touching a rock, by the way.

He
stared as if he had something else to say, but didn’t.

Finally, he said.
“So the books don’t have the spell you need?”

I nodded.
“Not that I can find.”

“
You’re going to trust me with the books?” His left eyebrow rose a fraction.

I
watched for a few seconds, then said, “Yes, I suppose I am.”

The edges of his mouth barely turned upward. But it was a start. I handed him the books. I wouldn’t lie and say that I didn’t have a moment of hesitation, but it needed to be done. I was out of options. Liam
sat on the edge of the bed and I stood by the door.

He looked at me.
“I won’t bite.” He smiled.

This was heading into dangerous territory. I stepped toward the bed. I wasn’t sure why I glanced over at the door on my way there. Wait. I knew why. Nicolas was the reason. Why did
I care if he saw me in the room? He was acting strange anyway.

I eased do
wn onto the bed next to Liam. My heart rate increased. I shouldn’t have been that close to him. I needed to distance myself from both men. Liam handed me one book while he opened the other. I opened my book and began flipping through the pages.

After a few minutes of silence, Liam looked at me.
“May I?” he asked while holding out his hand for the other book.

I handed it to him and he handed me the other one. More silence surrounded us. Finally he clos
ed the cover and looked at me. The expression on his face said it all.

“
You may need to get some outside help on this one. Maybe there is a spell another witch knows of that we can modify.” He ran his hand through his hair.

I nodded. It wasn’t the news I wanted to hear, but it was the news I had to de
al with.

“I’ll see what I can do,”
he said, “but maybe you can ask around too.”

I nodded.
“I will. I’ll contact the Coven.”

Liam stared at me, then reached up and brushed my cheek with the back of his hand.
“I’m sorry if I was upset earlier. It’s your business who you kiss.”

I nodded, but I didn’t know what to say. He
was right, it was my business. He leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips. I closed my eyes, but he didn’t kiss me more. He stopped with the soft gentle kiss. I had been expecting more, or maybe wanting more. When I opened my eyes, he touched my lips with his finger.

Then Liam stood.
“I’d better see what I can find.” He handed me the books.

“
Thank you,” I said.

I stood and made my way to the door.

“I’ll call you when I know something.” His dark hair gleamed in the light.

I nodded and walked out of the room
without looking back. I didn’t want to see his handsome face.

After hiding the books yet again, I headed back to the kitchen.

“What did you find?” Annabelle asked when I stepped back into the room. She closed the magazine she’d been looking at and waited for me to answer.

I shrugged off her concerned look.
“Nothing. I think I’m in serious trouble. But I won’t worry you with that now. You didn’t come over here to hear me complain about magic.”

She waved her hand to get my attention. “
Hello. I’m your friend. That’s what friends do.”

I tried to smile, but came up short.
“Liam is trying to help me figure out the spell, but right now it doesn’t look good.”

She sighed.
“How about we take your mind off it for a few minutes? We can plan the party.”

I nodded.
“Okay, yeah, maybe that is for the best.”

It
should have been a wonderful breakfast, but it had turned into little more than another bizarre game of tug-of-war between two men. Annabelle and I sat down to plan the Halloween Ball. There was a lot to be done before the party tomorrow. Too bad I couldn’t use any of my fantastic magic to help me with the planning. I’d have to do it all without the magic. What if the Coven found out that I no longer possessed special skills? They’d cancel the party and my mother would be heartbroken.

“
Are you okay?” Annabelle asked.

I shook my head.
“Yeah. I guess I’ll figure this out.”

“It’s not so bad,” s
he said. “I mean, you were doing fine before your magic changed and you’ll do fine without it. You were happy without it, right?”

I looked at her.
“Yeah, you’re right. I was happy without it. I don’t need it, right? I was just trying to please everyone else.”

“
Sometimes you just can’t please others though. You need to do things for yourself.” Annabelle’s cheeks glowed rosy as a smile spread across her face.

“
If I’m happy, then I can make others happy too, right?” I leaned back in the chair.

“
Yes, that’s the way to think of it.”

I smiled.
“Thanks, Annabelle. I appreciate that you always stand by me.”

“
That’s what friends are for. Now, what type of theme did you have in mind for the party?” she asked, pointing at the blank pad of paper in front of me.

“
I want a traditional costume party with lots of candles and gauzy material hanging around… all done in black and white.” Visions of the grand ball flashed in my mind. Of course, in my mind the night turned out fantastically. Unfortunately things didn’t always turn out as I planned.

“
Oh, that sounds beautiful,” Annabelle said.

I waved my hands through the air. “
I want lots of pumpkins too. Spooky meets elegant is the theme. The men can wear tuxedos and the women can wear elegant ball gowns with elaborate feathered masks.”

“
It sounds beautifully haunting,” Annabelle said wistfully.

“
The good thing about the manor is it doesn’t take much to dress it up for the party.” I pinched off a piece of the now stale toast and popped into my mouth.

“
That’s true.” Annabelle tapped the pen against her lip. “What about invitations? I guess everyone knows where the party is being held.”

I nodded.
“Yes, but they still need official invitations. Considering they need to deliver them in the morning, I know there is magic involved. But I just have to design them. They’ll be hand-delivered.”

Annabelle reached for my pad of paper and began writing.
“How about if they say something like this?” She handed the paper back to me.

In her pretty handwriting she’d written,

You’re invited to a party under the moon and stars for an evening of enchantment and celebration. Your face should not be seen on this Halloween. Your presence is requested at LaVeau Manor for Enchantment Pointe Coven’s annual Halloween Masquerade Ball.

“
That is perfect,” I said. Annabelle had always had a way with words.

“How many people will be here?”
she asked.

“
Over a hundred, I think.” I shrugged.

“
Wow, that’s a lot. What do you do for food?” Annabelle asked.

“
The Coven has hired caterers. They’ll be here the day of the party to set up.” I scribbled more notes on the pad.

“
Thank goodness,” Annabelle said, then immediately covered her mouth with her hand. “Oops.”

I
quirked my eyebrow.

She held her hands up in surrender.
“I wasn’t saying that you would be bad at preparing the food.”

I glared,
then laughed. “You don’t have to say it. We all know it.”

She shook her head.
“Well, yeah. I guess we do.”

After another hour, I walked Annabelle to her car.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” she asked.

I nodded.
“Yeah. I’m okay.”

“Call me if you need anything,” s
he said as she climbed into her car.

“
I promise I will.” I watched as she pulled out of the drive and onto the road. Nicolas’ car was still parked in the drive. It would be just the two of us in the house. The thought made my stomach flip. I wanted to see him, but there was the little matter of finding a spell that was weighing on my mind.

I had to find the spell before it was too late—a spell that none of the witches at Enchantment Pointe knew how to perform. The fact that I’d lost the powers was d
evastating. Not because I’d lost the magic, but because the Coven would once again think I was a failure. My mother would be so disappointed.

When I turned around to go back inside, Nicolas was standing at the front door. Why did I feel the need to run into his arms?
I wanted to find comfort in Nicolas’ embrace. Was what Liam and Nicolas said true? That Mara would use my power to take over the Underworld? I should trust Nicolas, so why did I doubt him? All Mara needed was to get the book and get rid of me. Given what they’d said about her apparent determination, I figured she could easily achieve this.

Nicolas wanted me
to give him the book to destroy, but I wanted more answers. There had to be another way. How did he know all of this anyway? Why was he getting involved in the first place? Why was he being so secretive? I still couldn’t trust him completely, no matter how much I wanted to.

I forced my legs to move slowly, but it was impossible not to walk straight toward Nicolas. My gaze was locked with his and my heart pounded. I wanted to feel his lips pressed against mine; I couldn’t stop the feeling. 

When I reached the door, he pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed me passionately
, urgently, his lips moving over mine with swiftness.

When he lifted his lips from mine, he looked me in the eyes and said,
“I just want to help you, Halloween. I don’t know what the right answer is for this problem, but I want to try what I think is best for you.”