Something Wicked (16 page)

"I do not," I said, taking another step back.

"Just like I make your magic stronger," he
insisted.

"Prove it." I crossed my arms over my chest
defiantly.

"I don't know," he said, exasperation leaking
through. "Send your coffee mug flying this time."

I glared at him. "Yeah, right. On command? The picture
frame was an accident."

"Maybe it wasn't," he challenged.

I snorted. "If this is about the sex...I mean, I don't
know why it would be. You get plenty of it from loads of other women."

"It's not about sex." He tossed his hands up in
frustration and paced the room. "Okay it is about the sex, but it's about
the sex with
you
. Now send that goddam coffee mug airborne."

My face burned red with anger. Ready to prove him wrong, I
raised my hand in the direction of the mug and gave a quick flick of my wrist.
"See," I huffed, suddenly interrupted by the mug flying off the coffee
table and directly at Finn's head. Good thing his reflexes were on point, he
ducked just in time for the cup to smash against the wall behind him.

I stood, slack-jawed at what I just did. "But, I
never...I don't..."

"I know, tarot and potions, and even those are
questionable." He smiled at me and took a few tentative steps in my direction.
"Well done, Iz."

"I don't understand what this means," I said, my
voice trembling.

"It means that our magic is stronger together," he
said, pulling me to him.

I pushed at his chest, wrenching myself away from him.
"What, you just expect me to be okay with all this? You lied to me. About
everything. About my
mother
," I choked back a sob. "We are far
from okay Finn. Far, far from okay."

I turned on my heel and stormed out of the living room. I
had to get out of the house. No idea where I was going to go, but I slipped
into a pair of flip flops and grabbed my bag. Maybe check on Johnny, I mused to
myself, yanking open the front door, pushing my way into late summer morning. I
shivered, blaming the bite of chill in the air rather than my witchy situation.

Just as I stepped off the front porch, Danny's Land Rover
tore up my driveway, stopping just inches away from Finn's Jeep.

The car was barely parked when he fell out of the driver’s
side, waving a piece of paper.

"Foreclosure process," he shrieked triumphantly.
"Here's your notice of default!"

I stopped short, hanging onto the porch post to keep from
falling over. He shoved the paper at me, but I sidestepped him, refusing to
take the paper that fell from his hands.

"I'm not taking that," I said, watching the piece
of paper float gently down to the pavement, coming to rest in front of my blue
nail polish painted toenails (slightly chipped).

"Yes you are," he said, picking up the paper and
shoving it me again. This time, he pushed it into my chest, winding me with the
force of his impact.

Finn charged out of the door, jumping in between me and
Danny. "Don't touch her," he said, shielding me from Danny with his
body.

"What are you going to do about it?" Danny
sneered. "You can punch me again. I'll just add on the hospital bills to
what she already owes."

"She owes nothing," Finn said, pulling out the wad
of cash from the envelope he was holding. "I think we should go to your
offices and settle this. Now."

"What's that?" I asked, gob smacked at the sight
of all that money.

"Fifty grand," Finn said, holding the money out to
me. "The money your grandmother spent on the detective that tracked down
your mom. Plus more than enough to cover whatever insane interest and late fees
they tacked on."

Since I was too shocked to take the money, Danny reached for
the pile of bills.

"Nope," Finn said, snatching them away before
Danny could grab it. "This needs to be completely official and air tight.
After this, you are out of Izzy's life. For good."

Danny nodded, his anger at me subsiding at the sight of all
that cash. "Follow me to the office then," he said. How quickly he
got over his infatuation.

"This is from your mom, Izzy," Finn said once
Danny got into his car and started the engine. "She wants you to be free
and clear of this debt, especially since she caused it."

I nodded. "I appreciate that she stepped up, but it
doesn't change anything. I don't want her, or her coven, in my life."

"Fair enough," Finn said.

"So where does that leave us?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said, getting into his Jeep.

At least he was honest.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

All I wanted to do was sleep. It was barely Noon, but I felt
like I'd been up for 24 hours straight.

Finn took me to Mr. Stevenson to pay off the ridiculous
loan. I still felt funny about taking the money, but on the way there, Finn
convinced me that it was rightfully mine, since my mother never paid a dime of
child support to Grams. So with the paperwork in hand that said the property
was paid for in full, I was free of one debilitating financial problem.

There was even some money left over. While it wasn't much, I
could pay for a few fixes around the house, like a new water heater.

So now it was time to check on another problem. I had to
check and see if the spell worked on Tara.

Finn's Jeep sped along the winding back roads of rural
Connecticut, heading to the sorority house. With the music cranked up and the
wind whipping my hair around, I felt almost carefree. Almost. The weight of the
loan was off, but there were plenty of outstanding bills to pay, and if Tara
still had the hots for Finn, I was screwed.

"How will we know if the spell worked?" I yelled
over the music.

Finn shrugged. "Guess I'll kiss you in front of her and
see what happens?"

"Not funny," I said. "If the spell failed,
that will definitely keep me off the sorority payroll."

I needed the sorority business more than ever. No way was I
stepping foot in Danny's frat house ever again. There was a chance that I could
find a new cleaning position on campus, but with the semester about to begin,
it wasn't a sound bet. It was very likely that I was taking an early
retirement. So, The Witchery needed business to boom not bust, now more than
ever.

If Finn worked with me on the witchcraft, there was a good
chance that The Witchery could really take off. But the best way to prove this,
was for the spells to work for the sorority sisters, and Tara was the key. I
inwardly seethed that she could make or break me.

Of course, it also meant that Finn had to be willing to
stick around.

Finn reached over and gave my knee a squeeze, as if he knew
what I was thinking. "I'm betting it worked. And if not, we'll just try it
again." He gave me a sly smile, and his hand creeped up my thigh.
"Although I almost hope it didn't."

I grabbed his hand before it went any further, pressing it
into my leg. "Let's not hope for that."

"How about celebratory sex when we find out the spell
worked?" he asked, winking at me.

I smiled. Maybe he was willing to give it a try. "Keep
your eyes on the road, Romeo."

"It would be easier if you didn't look so damn hot in
that t-shirt," he moved his hand from my leg to where my cleavage just
peaked out of the V-neck of my t-shirt.

"How can you even find this sloppy t-shirt
attractive?" I asked. How was a plain old white Haines men's V-neck
t-shirt sexy? With my second hand denim mini skirt and flip-flops, I wasn't
exactly a fashion plate.

"I think you look hot in my t-shirt," Finn said.

"This is not yours," I said.

"Remember when the laundry got screwed up a few weeks
ago?"

Crap. It probably was his.

"Maybe you should take it off then," he teased
when he caught a glimpse of my expression.

"Let's just check on this spell and then we'll deal
with our laundry issues."

As we got closer to the sorority house, the knots in my
stomach wound tighter. By the time we pulled into the parking lot, I was pretty
sure I was going to throw up.

Finn killed the engine and looked at me. "You
ready?"

"Not really," I mumbled.

"How about this? You do this, and then we'll go home
and I'll give you the best orgasm you've ever had?"

"You're a hell of a negotiator." I tumbled out of
his Jeep and smoothed my hair, which was sticking out all over the place after
the windy ride.

"You look stunning." Finn sidled up beside me, sneaking
his arm around my waist, and pulling me closer to him. "Stop freaking
out."

We walked to the front door of the sorority house and I rang
the doorbell. Then I shrugged him off me, just in case. Tara swung open the
door.

"Izzy!" Tara's voice was actually friendly.
"Come on in!"

I crossed the threshold of the sorority house uneasily, Finn
followed just behind, pressing his hand gently against my back for support. I
followed Tara into the living room, where she plopped herself on the couch and
draped her body over Johnny. They both had Xbox controllers in their hand.

"Hey, Iz," Johnny said with a small wave and a
huge smile. The black eye did nothing to make him look tougher. His face
clouded over when he saw Finn. "What are you doing here?"

"Making peace, Johnny," Finn said, raising his
hands in mock surrender. "I'm sorry about what happened..."

"What happened?" Tara asked absently, her focus on
the video game.

"She doesn't remember?" I mouthed to Johnny. He
shook his head, looking just as confused.

"Do you?" Finn asked.

"I remember you..." Johnny shrugged.

"I didn't mean it, and I'm sorry."

"Can I punch you and call it even?"

Finn scowled.

"Kidding!" Johnny said quickly as Tara leaned into
him.

"Johnny," she purred. "I can't seem to kill
this one."

"I got you, Babe," he said, taking the controller
from her hand to kill whatever mutant monster her character was battling. He
had one eye open while she distracted him with kisses.

"You guys want to play?" he asked once the
carnage, and the kissing, was over. He handed the controller back to Tara.

I pried my jaw off the floor in time to decline. "Maybe
some other time."

"Watch out for that one, gorgeous! It's a baddy!"
He and Tara both laughed as the sounds of her character dying blared over the
surround sound. "That's cool, we don't have enough controllers
anyway."

"Um, Johnny, can we talk to you in the kitchen?" I
asked. "We'll just be a sec."

"When your done with him, we should work out the
details on the Halloween party," Tara called out as Finn and I followed
Johnny to the kitchen. "All the other sorority houses want you too, and I
want first dibs."

"Of course," I called over my shoulder. I was
officially in the Twilight Zone.

Johnny sat at the kitchen table, and I dropped into the
chair across from him. Finn leaned easily against the kitchen counter. Johnny
eyed him cautiously.

"Look, Johnny, about last night..." I started.

"Yeah I think I got it," he said slowly.
"Finn likes you and not Tara, right?" I nodded. "So him punching
me was about me telling you that they had a thing going." I nodded again.

"I'm really sorry," Finn interrupted. "It was
a really big misunderstanding."

A smile spread cross Johnny's face. "It's cool, she
thinks I got it defending her honor. She digs that."

"Really?" I asked.

Johnny could barely contain his excitement. "Izzy, I
don't know what happened, but she called me at like two in the morning, asking—no,
not asking,
begging—
me to come over. Said she was sorry about blowing me
off. Said she wanted to make it up to me!"

"And did she? Make it up to you?" Finn asked. I
shot him a dirty look. "What? We need to know."

He was right. "Sorry, I know we're prying, Johnny, but
we do need to know. Did you guys, you know?" I felt my face flame in embarrassment
for asking the question.

Johnny's grin told us everything we needed to know. But he
pulled at the collar of his t-shirt and showed us a good-sized, brand new
hickey. Yup, Johnny got lucky.

"It was amazing," he started, his eyes opening really
wide.

"That's great. We don't need a blow-by-blow!" I
jumped in before he could expand on their hook up.

"And you've been hanging out ever since?" Finn
asked.

"She wanted me to show her some video games! Weird,
right?" he added in a low voice.

"Kind of," I admitted.

He smiled shyly. "Can you handle the frat house on your
own today? I don't think I'm getting out of here any time soon."

"Sorry, I can't," I said. "Danny and I had
some issues last night, so I quit."

"Seriously? Did Mr. Masters flip out?"

"Well, I haven't officially quit yet. That's the next
stop."

"Oh damn. Can you quit tomorrow?"

"No way," Finn jumped in. "I don't want Izzy
anywhere near that punk Stevenson."

"Wow, what'd I miss last night? He seemed so nice,
bailing me out and all."

"Sheep in wolf's clothing, my friend," I said.
"Our first impression was the right impression."

"The guy's a dick." Finn clarified, in case any
question remained of our opinion of Danny.

"Who's a dick?" Tara slipped into the kitchen and
dropped herself in Johnny's lap. Then she took at better look at Finn. "Do
I know you?"

Finn tread cautiously. "Huskies maybe. I bounce there
sometimes."

"Maybe," she said, tilting her head to look at him
from a different angle. "Yeah. I think you tossed out one of my girls for
a fake ID. Confiscated it."

"All part of the job," Finn said.

"Hmm, we'd like it back."

"I have to turn those in at the end of the my shift,
can't help you."

Tara turned to me. "Is he with you?"

I recognized her expression. It was the one she wore when
she threatened to ruin my business if I didn't give her a love potion. She also
wore it when she threatened my business while she tried to steal my man. My
blood started to boil. Now she was going to threaten my business because Finn
confiscated a fake ID? When he was doing his
job
?  

"Yes, and is that a problem?" I challenged her.

"No, no problem," she said quickly. "I just
thought I'd check. For the sisters."

Finn winked at me. I pulled myself up a bit straighter.
Being more assertive felt great. It also made me kind of horny. I felt a slight
wetness along my upper thighs, something I was acutely aware of since I wasn't
wearing any underwear. With everything happening, I missed laundry day.

I took a deep breath, and refocused on Tara, pulling the contract
for the party out of my bag. "You'll see the terms are exactly the same as
my grandmother's. I just need to fill in the date of the party."

She glanced at it quickly. "Alright," she said.
"Halloween night?"

Finn shook his head. "The veil is too thin to work the
cards. It's too dangerous."

Tara pouted. "I don't like you very much."

Finn and I both smiled. That's a relief!

"He's right, Tara. You don't want to invite spirits in
here that you can't get rid of. Pick another day."

"How about the 30th then?"

"As long as we're done before midnight," I told
her.

"Fine," she said. "We'll all be too drunk my
midnight anyway."

She signed the contract with a flourish. More importantly,
she handed me a check for 50% of my payment as a deposit. Finn and I walked out
of the sorority house triumphant.

"Celebratory dinner?" Finn asked as we climbed
into the Jeep.

I shook my head no. "How about celebratory sex?"