Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (5 page)

on?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You. You have this need to save

everyone. First, it's that mangy three-

legged cat outside and now Danny. Give

it a rest already.” Athena opened the

carved wooden box sitting on the

dresser then sorted through Ivy's

jewelry. She held up some of the plain

gold chains and sneered before tossing

them back. Apparently, Ivy’s jewelry

didn't sparkle enough for her.

Ivy jumped out of bed and

slammed the box shut, barely missing the

snoop's greedy fingers in the process.

“Hey, paws off.”

She didn't miss the glare the she-

wolf gave her as she brought the box

back to bed with her. Athena strolled

over to Ivy's closet instead.

Ivy stashed the box under her

pillow. “Just because I took the blame

for the rug last night, doesn't mean I have

a complex. He's just a kid.”

“He's a kid that screwed up and

deserved to be punished,” Athena said

while thumbing through Ivy’s meager

wardrobe of baggy jeans and oversized

t-shirts. She pulled out an extra-large

sweatshirt and held it against her,

examining it in the full length mirror.

The look of disgust on her face

reassured Ivy that the older girl wouldn't

be borrowing it anytime soon.

“My gawd, Ivy, you do know

you're a girl, right?”

“Give me that,” She yanked the

sweatshirt from Athena's hands. “And

for your information, I only help those

that

can't

help

themselves.

Mr.

McGregor would've seriously hurt

Danny if I didn't step in.”

“You can't save everyone, Ivy.

Danny's going to have to learn to take

care of himself or he'll never survive in

this world.”

“But, he's helpless. I couldn't

stand by and let him get hurt like that. I'm

not like you.”

Athena

growled

under

her

breath. “I don't want to see him hurt

either, but
I
understand that he'll never

learn

if

he

doesn't

suffer

the

consequences. He needs to figure out life

is hard.”

Ivy stood there, playing with her

leather bracelet. She wondered if the

woman searching through her stuff had

ever worked for anything in her life.

“Says the one who cons men into giving

her whatever her heart desires.”

“It's called survival, Ivy. And

I've served my time. It's not my fault

those men were stupid enough to think I

wanted anything more from them than

their money,” Athena ran her perfectly-

manicured hands through her barely

tousled blond hair. “I learned my lesson,

though.”

“Oh?”

“Stay away from the married

ones. Suspicious wives track every

penny and ask lots of questions.”

“I'll

remember

that.”

She

climbed back under her covers.

“So,

where

were

you

yesterday?” Athena sat at Ivy’s desk and

sifted through the papers lying on top.

“Do you mind?” Ivy asked,

motioning to her school work.

“Not at all,” Athena said as she

continued to snoop.

Knowing the only scandalous

information to be found was the B grade

on her last history paper, Ivy ignored the

invasion of her privacy and mumbled

from under the blankets, “I was at

school.”

“After that. You weren't home

when I came back to get my sweater.”

Athena found a notebook, opened it up,

and read the first page.

“I went to a friend's house.” She

yawned and closed her eyes, trying not

to let on how much Athena’s snooping

bothered her.

“Liar. You don't have any

friends.”

“Ha, ha.” She sat up in bed since

Athena wasn't taking the hint and cleared

her throat. “If you're looking for my

deepest, darkest secrets, you won't find

them in there.”

Athena closed the notebook and

tossed it on the desk. She examined Ivy

from across the room, to the point that

she fidgeted with the comforter. “I know

something scandalous happened to make

you hide out in Salmagundi. That's why

we're all here, right?” She leaned

forward in her chair. “This whole

boring, anti-social thing you do to keep

people away isn't necessary.” She

lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Because nobody cares.”

Ivy kept her face as neutral as

possible and didn't back down from the

older girl's challenging gaze.

After a long stretch of awkward

silence, Athena walked to the door, but

stopped in the entryway. “I almost

forgot, your boss called yesterday and

scheduled you for a double shift at the

diner today. You need to be there in an

hour.”

Un-freakin'-believable.

Ivy

grabbed her pillow and chucked it at

Athena's smiling face, but hit the closing

door instead.
What a bitch.

Chapter 4

“How is the cream of pixie soup

made? You don't use that frozen crap, do

ya?” an old goblin with a gravelly voice

asked. He sat at the counter looking over

the diner's menu.

Ivy had to concentrate on not

staring at all the hair sticking out of his

ears and nose. “Oh, no. Chef Bob only

uses the freshest ingredients. He made a

new batch just this afternoon.” She

leaned in close and whispered, “In fact,

their little screams as he dropped them

one by one into the pot still echo in my

head. Will I ever find peace?”

The malicious smile that spread

over the goblin's face made her shiver.

“Perrr-fect. I'll take a bowl,” he said,

licking his lips.

The dinner crowd thinned out,

along with most of her patience. It had

been a long day, and her whole body

ached. After two shifts, it was going to

take hours to scrub off the smell of fried

meat and onions that permeated her skin.

She was so ready to go home.
Just one

more hour
.

As she set the steaming bowl

down in front of the goblin, little wings

floating on the surface, the bell above

the door announced another customer.

Thane strolled in with a huge stack of

books in his arms. He set them down at

his usual table in front of the front

window and said hello to the other

waitress on duty.

“Hey, Thane. Read much?” she

asked as she walked over. She barely

caught a falling book before it slid to the

floor.

“When it comes to research,

there's no such thing as too much,” he

said, doing a double-take when she

stood closer. “What happened to you?”

Her hand automatically went to

her neck. “Oh, nothing. I just tripped and

fell into the briar bush in our back

garden.” That was the story she dished

out all night to explain away the bruises

and scratches still visible from her fight

with her landlord. Picking up one of the

books, she thumbed through it, curious.

“
The Bonehead's Guide to Curse-

Breaking
. Seriously? Is this really going

to help wake Prince Sebastian?”

Suddenly, he threw his hand over

her mouth. “Shhh. Don't say that out

loud,” he whispered. “We can't have

people knowing what we're doing.”

“Why?” she asked, her voice

muffled under his palm. The clanking of

plates and boisterous voices throughout

the diner surely drowned out their

conversation. He was overreacting.

He removed his hand and

motioned for her to take a seat on the

opposite side of the vinyl booth.

Glancing around, he leaned over the

table.

“We

don't

want

someone

following us and claiming the reward for

themselves.” Not only was he a touch

insane, but paranoid, too.

She nodded her head and smiled.

“Speaking of reward, how much is the

city offering to solve the wards

problem?”

“$50,000. Split four ways, that's

twelve-and-a-half apiece.”

“Four ways? Me plus you, plus

Prince Sebastian equals three. Who's the

fourth?” The chili fries she had on break

churned in her stomach thinking about

who the mystery person was.

“Garren, of course.”

She dropped her head on the

table with a thud. “Of course.”

“I know he's not your favorite

person...”

She lifted her head and glared at

him.

“But he's one of the best wizards

with defensive magic I know. He's

undefeated in Wizard Duels
and
his

shields are practically impenetrable. He

can protect us from any Eradicators we

might run into.”

She huffed a humorless laugh and

crossed her arms over her chest. “I'm

more than capable of protecting us. We

don't need him.” She’d rather be a

midnight snack to a hungry vampire than

tolerate Garren.

“Oh, really?” He leaned back

and eyed her intently. “What can
you

do?”

I can kick
your
ass.
But she

couldn't give herself away
.
“Enough.”

Her arms dropped to her lap as she

looked away from his stare. He wasn't

going to back down and she really

needed that money. Karma wouldn’t quit

using her as a punching bag if she didn’t

do everything she could to keep Danny

safe.

Her boss already turned down

her request for a salary advance.

Apparently, he didn’t feel she was a

good enough waitress for the amount of

money she asked for. How was she

supposed to know boiled dragon eggs

explode in a fireball if not served right

away?
His eyebrows grew back
.

She sighed and fiddled with her

leather bracelet. “Fine. We'll split it four

ways. When do we leave?”

His face beamed as he smiled at

her. “You'll do it? That's great. We

leave next weekend, before spring

break. Oh, I brought something that might

make this whole thing easier for you.”

She

waited

patiently,

foot

tapping on the floor, as Thane searched

through the mountain of books. Unless

there was such a thing as True Love's

Handshake, she doubted anything he

found would make this whole situation

any easier.

He pulled a large volume free

and flipped through the pages until he

found what he was looking for. Pushing

the book forward, he pointed to a

portrait of a dark-haired man. Written

under the picture was Prince Sebastian's

name.

She

studied

the

charcoal

drawing, tracing the outline of his nose

with her finger. A small bump sat on the

bridge where it might have been broken

when he was younger. Dark hair fell

about his face to rest on broad

shoulders. Her finger drifted lower,

running along the curves of his full lips.

He wasn't smiling, but she was drawn to

his mouth anyway. But what really held

her attention were his eyes. A crease ran

between his brows, as his black eyes

bored into hers from the page. It was as

if he was deciphering her thoughts as she

stared at his picture. She shuddered and

tore her gaze away.

“I thought if you saw him, you'd

feel better about what you had to do,” he

said.

She glanced at Sebastian's mouth

again,

not

feeling

disgusted,

but

strangely intrigued. He wasn't movie star

handsome, but striking, in a brooding

sort of way. A small thrill sparked

through her veins and she shoved the

book back. “He may not be a troll, but

that doesn't make him any less dead.”

“He's not—”

“Cursed. Whatever.” She waved

his argument away. “So, how old was he

when he was... you know?” Prince

Sebastian appeared rather young in the