Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (3 page)

Was she the only one who thought this

was wrong?

“Technically, he was cursed, not

killed,” Thane clarified.

“I fail to see the difference.” She

turned around to crack the window open.

The smell of sweaty socks and low tide

made her woozy. “Are you guys storing

bait in here?” She shuddered at the

thought of what could be lurking under

the piles of filthy clothes crammed in the

corners. She stuffed her hands in her

pockets

to

keep

from

getting

contaminated.

Garren glared at her. “No. My

hockey uniform still reeks of spoiled

halibut. I still owe you for that.”

She smiled. That was one of her

better pranks. He deserved it after

announcing to the entire cafeteria that

she was in need of a more effective

soap. “You started it.”

Garren moved to get up, but

Thane beat him to it and stood between

the two. “That's enough. Can we focus?”

After clearing her head with

fresh air, she ignored Garren as best she

could and turned back to Thane. “Fine.

Why
do you want me to kiss a dead—

excuse me— sleeping prince?” Not that

it mattered since she wouldn't do it

anyway. She was just curious.

“Because I believe it will break

the spell,” he said, settling back down in

his seat.

“And you want to break the spell

because...?”
What’s in it for him?

Thane's eyes grew wide before

he grabbed a folded up Salmagundi

Gazette and shoved it in her hands.

“Because the wards around the town are

failing. I thought you, of all people,

would be concerned about
that
.”

She didn't appreciate his tone

and snapped the paper open to see what

he was talking about. Skimming the

front-page article, she caught key words

like 'secrecy wards', 'failing', 'solution',

and 'reward'.

Reward?

That

caught

her

interest. “I still don't see what one has to

do with the other.”

Thane took the paper back and

slowly rolled it up, never taking his

perplexed gaze off her. After an

uncomfortable moment of his staring, a

look of understanding spread across his

lightly-freckled face. “I forgot you've

only been here a year and don't know all

the history. Legend says that Prince

Sebastian set the original wards on

Salmagundi to protect his lover from her

scorned husband.”

“And you think, if he was back,

he could reset the wards, and we'd get

the money for saving the town.” That

made some sense.

“You could even snag a date to

Senior Prom next month,” Garren said.

“I'm sure Prince Sebastian would be so

happy to be alive again, he'd lower his

standards for you.”

That was it. She grabbed the

closest book on the desk and flung it at

him. He was so busy laughing at his own

stupid joke that he didn't see it coming in

time to shield himself. It nailed him right

in the chest.

Rubbing his sternum with one

hand, he turned the book over and

smiled. “Romeo and Juliet? Are you

flirting with me?”

Blood and heat rushed to her

cheeks as her mouth fell open. Of all the

books splayed on the desk, she had to

pick up
that
one. “What? Absolutely

not!”

“Are you sure? Because this is a

pretty romantic book—”

She snorted. “Romantic? What's

romantic about a girl killing herself over

a guy?”

He leaned forward, his elbows

resting on his knees as he held the book

in both hands. “She was in love,” he

challenged.

“She was an idiot,” she said as

she waved away his lame response,

ending that conversation.

He reclined back against his

pillows and opened the book. “Whatever

you say, Ivy.”

She

leaned

against

the

windowsill and brought her attention

back to the reason she tolerated Garren

in the first place. “So why do you think

we'll
be able to break the spell? I'm sure

others have tried before.” She was

almost afraid to hear the answer.

Thane

had

a

passion

for

experimenting and testing his theories.

He had no problem disregarding the

rules when they interfered with his test.

Not only had he been arrested a few

times, but banned from the pool for life.

“You know how I've been

researching my family line of Potion

Masters?”

Garren groaned. “Oh gawd, don't

get him started.”

She nodded and motioned for

him to continue. He'd mentioned it a few

million
times already, but anything that

annoyed Garren, she encouraged.

Thane sat up straighter in his

chair and grabbed an old, cracked

leather book off his desk and cradled it

in his hands. “About five years ago, I

found a bunch of these old diaries that

belonged to our great-grandmother

Leviena, about twelve times removed.”

He opened the book and thumbed

through the yellowed pages until he

found what he was looking for. He

handed her the book.

“Wow, it's in great shape for

being so old.” She handled it carefully,

not wanting it to disintegrate in her

hands.

“Don't

worry.

There's

a

preservation spell on it,” he said. “In

here she mentions having a secret love

affair with Prince Sebastian right before

he was cursed.” He sat there, staring at

her, as if she was supposed to already

know the rest of the story.

She glanced at the faded words

and shrugged. “Okay, so we have an

adulterer in the family. I don't see what

that has to do with me kissing her

boyfriend.”

“You're going to have to explain

everything or we'll be here all night

waiting for her to get it,” Garren said as

he pushed his black hair out of his eyes.

The book she threw at him lay next to

him on the bed, forgotten.

She glared. “Why are you here

again?

Don't

you

have

some

cheerleaders to chase after?”

“Nope. Taking the day off to rest

my lips; chapped.” Garren said with a

smile.

She rolled her eyes and sighed.

“What else do you have to tell me?” she

asked Thane.

“Right. Well, since learning all

this, I've been reading everything I could

to learn more about Prince Sebastian.

Did you know he was a brilliant Potions

Master? He discovered how to keep fire

thistle from exploding when adding it to

—”

“We don't care!” Garren said,

running his hands through his hair. “Just

get to the part about breaking the damn

curse.”

“Everyone should care about all

the contributions he's made, not only to

the art of potion making, but spell

creation, charms—”

“You're obsessed with the man.”

Garren said. “It isn't natural.”

Thane rolled his eyes as he

ignored his stepbrother and spoke to her.

“I'm not obsessed, just fascinated.”

Garren stood, walked to the

overflowing bookshelf and pointed to

each spine on the second shelf. “Prince

Sebastian, Prince Sebastian, Prince

Sebastian,” he said after touching each

one. “It's like you're in love. Maybe
you

should kiss him.”

Her head snapped back and forth

between the stepbrothers, like watching

a tennis match. She was glad they

weren't talking about
her
kissing a dead

guy anymore.

Thane swatted Garren's hand

away from the books and grabbed one.

He set it down on the desk, cover side

up.
Love Potions and Curses
. “As I was

saying,” he glared at Garren, who'd sat

back down on the bed. “I looked up

different spells and curses to find out

which one was used. I've narrowed it

down to two and the way to end the

enchantment is the same for both— True

Love's Kiss.” He leaned forward in his

chair, elbows resting on his knees.

“That means he needs to be

kissed by his true love,” Garren told her

after a moment of silence.

“Well, duh,” she said. “That still

doesn't explain why you want
me
to kiss

him. I've never met him, so I couldn't be

his true love.”

“Yes, but I believe Leviena was

and she died before she could break the

spell,” Thane explained.

She glanced back down at the

diary in her hands, filled with her

ancestor’s deepest, darkest secrets.
That

has

to

be

the

saddest,

most

heartbreaking thing I’ve ever heard.

“Bummer.”

“So, I came up with a theory that

since she can't kiss him any longer, being

dead and all, maybe a direct female

descendent can. That's where you come

in.” He sat there beaming, like he was

waiting to be smothered with praise.

He'd be waiting awhile.

“Can't you get another cousin to

pucker up?” She still didn't like the idea

of kissing this guy.

Garren laughed. “Tell her the

best part.”

Uh-oh
. She didn't think she was

going to like anything Garren found so

amusing.

“That's

another

interesting

discovery. You're the only female

descendent of Leviena's I can find. And

believe me, I've searched.” He took the

diary back from her and laid it on the

corner of the desk.

“Wait a minute,” she said, her

head swimming with confusion. “What

about your sister, Cora? Why can’t she

do it?” The twinge of guilt that arose

from trying to involve the freshman girl

was easy swatted away with the

possibility of escaping all involvement.

Garren’s earlier enjoyment fell

away as he jumped to his feet. “No, no,

no. Cora is
my
sister and we are in
no

way
related to you too. Two totally

different sets of parents.”

Ivy

raised

her

hands

in

surrender. “Fine, I get it. And quite

frankly, I’m relieved to know you and I

aren’t genetically linked.” She dropped

her head back against the wall, her

tongue playing with the piercing on her

bottom lip. If she agreed to help Thane

out, and it worked, then the wards

keeping

Salmagundi

hidden

from

Eradicators—a secret organization of

humans whose mission was to rid the

world of all magic— could be repaired.

If it didn't work, then all she did was

kiss a dead guy. Gross, but harmless. As

long as he wasn't decaying or anything,

she could handle it. Maybe breaking the

prince’s curse was what she needed to

do to score some karma points and

redeem herself. But, she had a sneaking

suspicion this master plan wasn't as easy

as Thane made it sound.

“I told you she wouldn't do it,”

Garren said as he flipped through the

latest issue of
Wizard Weapons
.

Grabbing the magazine from his

hands, she plopped down on the

opposite side of the bed. She needed

more information. “So, where exactly is

Prince Sebastian lying in rest?”

“He's been moved around a few

times since he fell under the curse, but

the last location I've found is in

Sacramento, California.”

Ah, hell no
. Of all the places in

the world, he had to be there. “Well,

boys, this all sounds real exciting, but

I'll have to pass.”

She bolted off the bed and to the

door before they could argue. With a

stomp on the end of her skateboard, it

was in her hand as she reached for the

knob, but she wasn't quick enough.

Thane blocked her escape by