Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (4 page)

barricading the door with his body.

“Wait. Why don't you want to do this?”

He towered over her by at least a

foot, but she was a fighter and could

easily take him down. But he had one

advantage over her, Garren.

Garren was six feet of solid

muscle. Being an athlete, he was strong,

and together they could possibly put up a

good fight. It just wasn't good manners to

beat up and humiliate her hosts on her

first visit.

She sighed. “Look, I'm not sure

it's a good idea. Sacramento is crawling

with dark creatures. Mean ones, from

what I've heard. And where there are

dark creatures, there are Eradicators.”

She stood in front of Thane, arms

crossed, waiting for him to move away

and let her leave.

Garren's warm breath tickled her

neck as he leaned in from behind to

whisper in her ear. “Where's your sense

of adventure, your sense of justice, your

sense of obligation to the town that took

you in?”

Damn it, he had to pull the guilt

card
. She turned to face him. He didn't

back away but locked gazes with her, his

blue eyes daring her.

“What are you talking about?”

He grinned. “You could be this

poor man's only hope of returning to the

living, not to mention all the people in

town you'd be keeping hidden. And you

don't want to help because you’re scared

of some hunters?” He scoffed as if he

thought the Eradicators were nothing to

fear.

Her fists clenched at her side.

She wasn't going to let this jackass make

her look like a coward. Facing Thane's

pleading face, she said, “I'll think about

it.”

His worried expression melted

into a broad smile as he stepped aside

and let her leave. At least this bought her

time to come up with a better excuse to

refuse the mission. She’d find another

way to pay Mr. McGregor and make

amends for her past. There was no way

in hell she'd ever step foot in

Sacramento again.

*****

connected the boys' apartment to their

family's apothecary shop. As soon as she

landed on the bottom step, the odor of

various potion ingredients assaulted her

nostrils. The pungently sweet odor of

cinnamon camped out among her nose

hairs, wreaking havoc on her sinuses.

She scrubbed her nose on the arm of her

sweatshirt to ease the tickling that

threatened to turn into a sneeze. How

anyone could work here and not develop

debilitating allergies was beyond her.

She caught sight of Thane's dad

working at the counter by the front door.

He was her father's identical twin and

the closest she would get to actually

seeing her dad. She wasn't ready to face

her uncle yet, especially since he didn't

know she was family. Thane hadn't told

his dad about what he found.

Waiting for an opportunity to slip

out while he was distracted, she lingered

in the back by the contraceptive potions.

Over the year she'd been living among

magic, she had gotten used to the idea of

using potions to make life easier. The

migraine elixir was truly a miracle in a

bottle. But she also knew of the

horrendously malicious potions that

could be created, too. Concoctions

brewed for the purpose of melting your

enemies internal organs came to mind.

She backed away from the shelf of

brightly colored vials in front of her.

Thane's family wouldn’t sell such items

in their store, but the very idea made her

shudder.

Creeping closer to the exit, she

observed her uncle from behind rows of

bottled dragon parts. He looked nothing

like her. Where she had dark, curly hair,

his was straight and blond. She was

short and slender while he was tall and

bulky. She was tan, he was fair. Maybe

Thane was mistaken. She couldn't

possibly be related to that man.

Which means no kissing dead

guys.

She saw her chance to slip out

unseen when a customer bombarded him

with questions about sleeping potions.

She kept her head down, hair shielding

her face, as she made a beeline for the

door. Just as she touched the door

handle, she glanced over to see him

looking right at her. Her heart jumped in

her throat when she saw his eyes—
her

hazel eyes.

He opened his mouth to say

something, but she didn't want to hear it.

She didn't want to get to know him,

didn't want to like him. Not yet.

“Bye, Mr. Brasser,” she called

out as she sped out the door.

She dropped her skateboard to

the sidewalk and hopped on. The last

remains of the day's sun lingered in the

sky behind the mountains circling the

town. A few stars made their appearance

in the blackness directly above.

She concentrated on the path in

front of her and pushed back any

thoughts of her father. Thinking of
him

meant thinking of her mother. She didn't

want to go there. Even though she

unexpectedly had more family than ever

before, she had never felt lonelier.

“Watch it!”

She swirved just in time to avoid

colliding with Glenn, an obnoxious,

bright green faery.

“Sorry.”
Tool.

She kept pushing forward, not

caring if the guy was all right. The fae

were rumored to 'borrow' humans to

serve them in the fae realm. She avoided

them at all cost even though they never

took someone with magic.

She banked around the next

corner and headed toward the harbor.

The cool breeze wafted over the cold

canal water and into her face, making

her shiver.

Salmagundi sat along the Lynn

Canal in the Southeastern part of Alaska.

The only way to come to the hidden

town was by ferry. Only those with

magic, and who needed the protection

the town offered, were able to buy a

ticket. The ferry that brought her to town

over a year ago was docked at the wharf

with another load of refugees. Climbing

aboard that vessel was the scariest thing

she ever did, but she didn't have any

other choice. The fear and anxiety of

constantly running from Eradicators

wore her out.

Carrying her skateboard, she

wandered down the weather-worn

planks toward the large boat. Passengers

from around the world disembarked and

passed her by on their way to town. Only

a handful of people got off, including a

rather smug looking goblin no taller than

a fire hydrant. An Elfin mom dragged a

small boy behind her as they stepped

down the plank. The looks of wariness

mixed with hope on their faces reminded

her of the day she stepped off that ship.

“Ivy girl, 'ow are you doing?”

Orpheus, the Jamaican wizard who

worked on the ship, asked as he stepped

off the boarding plank following the last

traveler. The radiant smile he always

wore was contagious and she couldn't

keep it from tugging at her lips.

She strode across the wharf to

meet her friend. “Surviving. What do

you

know

about

this

batch

of

castaways?”

Orpheus had a talent for getting

people to talk about themselves within

minutes of meeting him. It annoyed her

when she found herself spilling her guts

to a perfect stranger. But now they were

friends and he was her main source of

news from the outside world.

“They're from the Pacific rim,

mostly. De Eradicators are spreadin' all

ova Japan, now.” Orpheus frowned as

he inspected a pallet of supplies to be

loaded onto the ferry. “At leas' they will

be safe here. Well, as long as de wards

hol' strong.”

Guilt rippled inside her. Just

because there was a slight chance she

could help keep the wards working,

didn't mean she was responsible for

them in the first place. Garren’s words

about owing the town offering her

sanctuary wore on her.

Damn him.
“I gotta get going,

Orpheus. See ya.”

Chapter 3

“Hey, Ivy, are you awake?”

Groaning loudly, she rolled over

to see at what ungodly hour she was

being pulled from her much needed

sleep. Five A.M. was way too early to

even think about getting out of bed. The

sun wasn't even up, for goodness sake.

Obviously, whoever was on the other

side of the bedroom door didn't care as

they knocked again.

“Go away!” She pulled the

covers over her head and did her best to

ignore the incessant rapping on the door.

It wasn't working too well because the

pounding grew louder. Giving up on

falling back to sleep, she yanked off the

blanket and stomped to the door, nearly

ripping it from its hinges when she

opened it.

“Oh good, you're up,” Athena

said as she strolled past her. The blonde

sat on the bed, still looking immaculate

in her date clothes. The twenty-

something practically lived at the clubs.

The stench of stale perfume and second-

hand smoke trailed after her.

Ivy rolled her sore neck around,

loosening up the kinks. The bruises left

behind from Mr. McGregor’s fingers

still ached. “What do you want,

Athena?” She closed the door and

crawled back into her nice, warm bed,

kicking Athena out of the way as she got

comfortable.

“I

was

wondering

what

happened last night. It's a mess

downstairs.”

“Hmm? Oh, your pack leader and

I had a little discussion,” Ivy mumbled.

“A little discussion? It looks like

World War III started in the parlor.”

Ivy sat up and smoothed her

unruly hair out of her face. “It's not that

bad.”

“Not that bad, she says.” Athena

walked to the window and peered down.

“There's glass scattered all over the

sidewalk.” Her breath fogged up a little

circle on the window.

Streetlights glinted off the shards

of glass on the ground.
Oops.
“I guess I

should clean that up.”

“Ya think? What about the

wall?” Athena asked.

“What wall?”

Athena stared at her as if she

were new to this planet. “There's a giant

crack in the plaster next to the window.

It's kinda hard to miss.”

“I didn't stick around to survey

the damage. He cracked the wall, so he

can fix it.” She was a lot braver when

Mr. McGregor wasn't staring her down.

Athena rolled her eyes and

laughed. “I'll be sure to tell him that.”

She turned to walk away, but then

stopped and leaned in closer to Ivy's

neck. “Are those hickies?” She brushed

Ivy's curls behind her shoulder to get a

better look.

Ivy swatted Athena’s hand away

and pulled her hair forward to cover her

neck. “No, they're not. Mind your own

business.”

Athena wandered over to Ivy's

dresser and picked over all the odds and

ends lying on top. “So, what'd you do?”

She stopped and glanced over her

shoulder. “This doesn't have anything to

do with the pup and the juice stain, does

it?”

She cringed inward at her

apparent transparency. “Kinda. I don’t

suppose you have $5,000 I can borrow,

do you?” Hope crept in her tone, though

she tried to hide it.

Then I won’t have to make out

with a dead guy for the reward money
.

She sat back on her bed, pulling the

warm covers over her flannel-clad legs.

Athena laughed as she dropped

the pewter, skull-and-crossbones hair

clip back on the tray.

I guess that’s a no.

Regaining

her

composure,

Athena asked, “What's with the Knight in

Shining Armor complex you got going