Page 10 of Happily Ever Witch
A voice like that should’ve been whispering endearments and promises in the dark. It should’ve been ordering fancy desserts off a fancy menu in some fancy restaurant. It should’ve been reading audiobooks full of epic poetry and dirty sex. And now that voice wasalllllllhers. For once in her life, her luck didn’t suck!
“It’s me.” Esmeralda agreed, bouncing on the toes of her boots with excitement.
Something sparked in his green eyes, but it was gone too quickly for her to read. “My God.” He slowly sat up, his gaze on her face. “I always thought it was bullshit. I never believed the stories about seeing your True Love and just knowing, but…” The movement must have made him dizzy, because he abruptly stopped and pressed a hand to his forehead, like he had a hangover. “Shit.”
Esmeralda winced, hating to see him distressed. “You should try and stay still.” She wasn’t sure how long it took sleeping gas to leave your system, but he seemed groggy. “I think you’ve been unconscious for a long time. You need to recover.”
“Unconscious…?” Memories seemed to come rushing back. “From that fuckinggas.” He drew in a deep breath, his voice going harder. “Hold on.No. This isn’t right.”
“Not right?” What was he talking about? Everything was going great! She was ready to start planning their honeymoon crime-spree. “This is exactly what’s supposed to happen when you find your True Love. I’ve read so many fashion magazine articles on it. Once you get some rest, we can…”
“No, things like this don’t just happen. Whathappenedto make this happen?”
She blinked at his accusatory tone. “I don’t know exactly. I fell down a rabbit hole and they brought me to you. They said you were gassed and only True Love’s kiss could wake you up. And so,” she shrugged, “I kissed you.”
“You kissed me?”
She bobbed her head.
“Because you’re my True Love.” It wasn’t really a question, but he still seemed doubtful about the whole thing.
“Yes, I’m your True Love.” She let out an amazed breath that she could really say the words to someone. That shebelongedto someone. “I’m Esmeralda.”
That would have been a perfect time for him to sweep her up in a romantic embrace. Instead, his expression darkened at her name. “Esmeralda.” He repeated in a harsher tone. “The witch?” He looked her up and down, cataloging all the separate pieces of her. Something new and dangerous burned through his confusion. “Marrok’switch?”
“You know Marrok?” The Big Bad Wolf was part of the Tuesday share circle. He was Scarlett’s husband and Esmeralda loved him like a brother. There was no denying that the guy made a few waves, but she was shocked by the fury she heard in her True Love’s voice when he said Marrok’s name.
“Trevelyan.” The Walrus called from behind her, solicitation in his tone. “Can we get you anything? Coffee? Food? Clothes?”
Esmeralda glanced over at the bastard and then back to her True Love. “Trevelyan?” She repeated warily.
He disregarded that cautious query. His attention switched to the other people in the room, as if he hadn’t noticedthem before. …No, more like they weren’timportantenough to notice and it annoyed him they were talking now.
The beads in his waist-length hair jangled slightly, sounding exotic and seductive and somehow foreign. Like the music from a distant land. The last of the momentary softness faded from his eyes, replaced by cold suspicion as he watched the men.
The Walrus and the White Rabbit both edged closer to the door.
Esmeralda didn’t blame them. The power dynamics had shifted. Even naked and barely awake, her True Love controlled the room. It suddenly felt like they were all prey who’d been unwittingly trapped with a very dangerous, very unpredictable predator.
“Who are you?” Trevelyan inquired and no one was fooled by his calm tone.
The White Rabbit made a small sound of dismay and cringed down into his bow-tied collar.
“Why we’re your newest friends.” The Walrus assured him with false joviality.
“I don’t have any friends.”
The Walrus held up his flippers in a gesture of peace. “You’re wasting your time with the witch. She knows nothing important.We’rethe ones who saved you.” His voice had a submissive “can’t we please sit at your lunch table?” whine to it. “We can help each other.”
Trevelyan kept staring at him.
The Walrus pressed onward, petrified but not giving up. “You have no idea all the trouble we’ve been through to steal your sleeping body from Neverland, and bring it here, and find your True Love, and wake you up…” He shook his head, like just listing all the steps was exhausting. “Butfinallyyou’re conscious and now we can get down to business.”
“Business?” Trevelyan echoed skeptically, not looking at all grateful about the rescue. Some of the tension left his shoulders, though. “You want to strike a deal?”
“Yes!” The Walrus seemed close to tears, thrilled the conversation had reached safer ground. “You hold the Blackest Magic in the world, Trevelyan. Our employer wants a spell.”
Trevelyan.
