Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (8 page)

“So, Ivy,” Thane said, breaking

her out of her thoughts. “What's your

specialty?”

“My what?” She shook her head

to bring herself back to reality. Was she

spacing out of a whole conversation?

“What kind of magic can you do?

I've never seen you practice before.”

Her brows furrowed as she

kicked a rock out of her path. She'd

rather get her legs waxed than talk about

her magic. But she knew Thane well

enough to know that once he wanted to

know something, he wouldn't stop

hounding her until she fessed up.

“I don't know what to call it. I

can move stuff around, basically. Pretty

boring.”

“Really?” He actually seemed

impressed. “That's pretty rare.”

“And useless,” Garren added as

he strolled behind them. “I can move

stuff around, too. That's why we have

hands and feet.”

She threw a glare over her

shoulder, not wanting to let on that she

agreed with him. If she had to be a

witch, why couldn't she do something

cool that she could use in a fight, like

super speed or invisibility? Her magic

didn't even work right whenever she

tried to use it, so why bother?

“But that's only the basics. If you

train hard, you could control people's

movements,” Thane said, excitement

ringing in his voice.

At first, her pulse raced at the

thrill of having such power. That would

definitely be a beneficial skill to have

when facing an enemy. But, having such

an advantage was why the Eradicators

were fighting against magic in the first

place. Her stomach churned at the

thought of the hunters. Being a witch was

more curse than blessing when people

wanted to kill you because of it.

“Well, you can have it. I just

want to go back to the way things were

before.” She needed to change the

subject. “So, what's in the case?”

Thane shifted the case to his

other hand, showing it to her. “Some

potions Irene's going to sell. We're

trading them for a case of Goblin

chocolate.”

“Okay. I didn't realize you had

such a sweet tooth.”

“It's not for me. It's our ticket to

Califor...”

The crunching of leaves and

twigs could be heard a few trees ahead.

She held her breath to concentrate on the

noise. Her body tensed, automatically on

alert. The small dagger she always kept

strapped to her belt was now in her

hand. She was prepared for an attack.

Garren stepped in front of her and Thane

with his hands held up in front of him.

She rolled her eyes at his attempt

to protect them, but since that was his

main role in their quest, she left him to

it. After about a minute of standing

frozen in the middle of the forest, she

was about to give up when something

small meandered around one of the trees.

“It's a chicken,” she said as a

brown rooster strutted across the ground,

scratching at the dirt. A few more

chickens

followed

the

first,

all

scrounging around the forest floor for

breakfast.

“Why are there chickens out

here?” Thane asked.

She moved past Garren to get a

better look. A neighbor of hers used to

raise a few varieties and she loved to

help at feeding time.

Before she could even get close

enough to identify what breed they were,

Garren grabbed her arm and pulled her

back behind him.

“What do you think you're doing?

You don't walk up to wild animals in the

wilderness.”

She yanked her arm out of his

grip. “I'm not stupid. I just want to get a

better look.” She continued forward,

Garren a step behind her.

About ten feet away from the

birds, the rooster jerked his head up and

studied them. She slowed her steps, but

didn't stop.

The rooster had the brightest red

feathers she'd ever seen. She needed to

get closer. Garren touched her shoulder

just as they passed between two large

trees. Suddenly, a strange prickly

sensation washed all over her body. She

froze.

“Ivy, will you stop—” Garren

collided into her, almost knocking her

over. “Don't move,” he said as he held

on to her arm, keeping her upright.

“Don't move,” he shouted to Thane, who

was still behind them.

They each held perfectly still,

waiting for something to happen. Even

the chickens seemed to stare at them in

awe. She turned around to look at

Garren and gasped. His skin grew paler

and his short black hair shimmered. Her

own head started to tingle. His eyes

were wide as he pointed to her. She

reached up and touched her hair. It was

no longer curly, but felt odd, soft. “What

the hell?”

Her whole body tickled and

itched. Garren shrunk, his clothes falling

around him. His eyes were the size of

half dollars as he gaped at her. “What

did you do?”

White feathers popped out of her

arm. She covered her mouth with her

hands to keep a scream from escaping

but found a hard, pointy beak where her

lips had been. The trees around her

seemed to grow taller and the ground

came rushing up. She tried to talk, but

could only cluck.

I'm a chicken. I can't believe

I'm a freakin' chicken!

A sharp pain hit her arm, or

wing, and she turned to see a big black

rooster staring at her.

What was that for?
She pecked

back.

He scratched her with his claws.

She did the same. They fought, kicking

dirt and debris up all around them,

feathers flying everywhere. They only

stopped when the sound of laughter

filled the air.

Thane bent over at the waist,

holding on to his stomach. She strutted

over to the laughing boy and pecked at

his legs and arms, anything she could

reach.
This. Isn't. Funny.
She punctuated

each word with a peck to his shin.

“Ow, stop that.” Thane stood and

shooed her away. Garren flapped his

black wings and crowed as he advance

on Thane, too.

“Shhh. Do you hear that?” Thane

asked.

They stopped attacking Thane

and

stood

still.

The

sound

of

approaching footsteps grew louder.

Garren stepped in front of the other two

and lifted himself up as tall as he could,

fluffing up his feathers. She rolled her

eyes, or would've if she was human.

Being a chicken, it didn't have the same

effect.

“I think we got another one,

Keishka,” a woman's voice said.

A gigantic gray and white dog

bounded over from between the trees. It

stopped a few feet in front of them and

growled, baring its teeth.

A minute later, a woman with

bright red braids came up behind the

dog. She was bundled up in a thick,

over-sized green sweater, jeans and fur-

lined boots. The wrinkles on her face

betrayed her age, but she had the step of

a much younger woman. She clutched a

brown wand in front of her, pointing it at

Thane's chest. “Who are you?”

Thane held his hands up in

surrender. “I'm Thane. I spoke with you

the other day.”

Slowly, she let her arm fall to

her side. Her gaze dropped from Thane

to the chickens at his feet. Her brow

furrowed. “They aren't your friends, are

they?”

“Yes. Can you fix them?”

She

slowly

nodded

and

examined the birds carefully. “This is

very strange.” She waved her wand over

Garren and muttered some foreign words

under her breath. Where a proud black

rooster stood, a very naked Garren sat.

Ivy's eyes swept up his body

from foot to head, until she remembered

who she was gawking at.

Ew
. She blinked rapidly and

turned away. She didn't want that image

burned into her brain.

“I apologize, the traps I set up

aren't supposed to go off unless...” Irene

didn't finish her thought as she spotted

the pile of Ivy's clothes.

Fully dressed, Garren stood in

front of little chicken Ivy and waited. “I

saw you staring at me,
Poison
Ivy. Now

it's my turn. Go ahead, lady. Change her

back.”

Her tiny chicken heart thrummed

away in her chest.
He's going to see me

naked!
She flapped her wings and

scurried behind the nearest tree.

“Oh, no you don't,” Garren said

as he ran after her. “I showed you mine,

now you show me yours.”

Panic choked her as she raced

around the forest. Thane and Irene joined

in the chase. No way were they catching

her
.

“Both of you, stop,” Irene yelled.

“Follow Keishka to my house, straight

ahead. I'll help your friend. Alone.”

Ivy stopped running and watched

the boys walk away, Garren peeking

over his shoulders every few seconds.

Once they were out of sight,

Irene kneeled before her and sighed.

“Hold still and I'll get you back to

normal.” She waved her wand and

repeated the words she used on Garren

and soon she was human again.

She gathered up her clothes and

dressed quickly, but right before she

snapped the leather band around her

wrist, Irene caught her arm.

The red-headed witch ran her

thumb over the iridescent tattoo on the

inside of Ivy's wrist. She yanked her

hand away and covered it with her

bracelet. Adrenaline pumped through her

body as it prepared to fight or run. What

would Irene do to her, now that she

knew her secret?

The older woman regarded her

for a moment, making her squirm. Her

blue eyes sparkled as she spoke. “You're

a witch, right?”

“So they tell me, though I haven't

ruled out Super Hero. I would totally

rock a cape.”

Irene laughed and put her arm

around the girl's shoulder. She was

shorter than her and had to stretch a bit

to manage it. “You must be Ivy. Are you

part fae?”

She scoffed. “No!”

“Oh.” Irene led her in the same

direction the others went. “Sorry you

tripped the wards. If I had known... But,

of course, how could I?” She squeezed

her shoulders a little harder. “Living

alone and outside of Salmagundi's

wards, I have to protect myself. You, of

all people, should understand.”

She did understand. Eradicators

and other predators hid in the shadows

just waiting for a chance to take down

any magical being they came upon. She

nodded. “That's an interesting spell, but

why a chicken?”

“Well, I don't want to kill or hurt

anyone. I usually take them far away and

turn them back to normal, after making

sure they won't come anywhere near my

place again with a well-placed memory

charm.”

When they met the boys again by

the bright pink cottage, Garren was

leaning against the wall, his eyes

following her as she approached.

“Disappointed

I'm

fully

dressed?” she asked with a smirk,

following Irene past the house to the

back of the property.

“You wish. I'm actually glad I

left before being traumatized for life.”

He closed his eyes and shuddered.

She had the sudden urge to punch

him in the stomach.

Finally, Irene led them to a

small, brightly colored warehouse.

Painted on all four walls were pictures

of rainbows, birds, flowers, and

animals. The preschool she attended had

something similar by the playground.

Next to the building was a large

chicken coup with about a dozen

chickens pecking the ground. “Those

aren't...?” she asked, pointing to the

birds.

“Oh,

no,”

Irene

chuckled.