Three's a Spell

A Witch's Curiosity

“They are not my boyfriends,” I said sharply, then winced. “They’re a married couple. And I am… I don’t know. The girl that spilled a potion on them.”

Hazel arched a brow. “That’s a slippery slope into snuggling on velvet sofas and catching feelings if I’ve ever heard one. Vampires are dangerous in that way.”

“Sylas offered to make dinner,” I mumbled, more to my tea than to Hazel.

Hazel gasped. “Dinner? That’s practically a marriage proposal,” she joked as she shared rummaging through the jars of nuts and seeds on the shelf in front of her.

“It’s just dinner,” I groaned, flopping back into a pile of spell books. “Not a pact of eternal darkness. Besides, you know I don’t date...” ‘I wouldn’t be against having a little bit of fun though’, I thought to myself.

But the thing was… I couldn’t stop thinking about them. About Vernon’s quiet steadiness and the way he actually listened when I spoke. The way his eyes would gaze into mine with such intent. About Sylas’ infectious laughter and how he made me feel like I was the most fascinating creature in that room. I found myself wanting to hear that laugh. Together those two were the sun and moon, opposing forces orbiting each other for centuries — and somehow, in only a day, I had gotten caught in their gravity.

“I need to stop thinking about them,” I muttered.

Hazel dropped a glittering acorn on her chest and it melted into her skin, spreading a fine pink holographic shimmer across her whole body. "If that is truly how you feel, you could always come to my club tonight instead," she teased, knowing darn well I would say no.

I didn't think twice about her using my tinctures and enchantments as her own personal vanity closet. She has spent almost as much time in this place on the weekends as I have, and she is the one that set up my whole labeling system so she wouldn't have to keep asking me what everything did. Now, as long as I keep up my enchanting logs, all she has to do is search the desired effect or even just a body part, and it helps her find what she is looking for.

She even got a goblin that works in tech that she dated a while back to computerize my logs to add to my website. Now all Elvyra the siren would have to do is search "vocal cords" on my website and she would scroll through and be able to order any tinctures, potions, and creams that I have ever listed. I still don't understand how it works since all I do is write each new item down in a leaf-bound tome that glows like a nightlight whenever I am not touching it.

"I am still recovering from the social-battery draining from the last time you convinced me to go out with you!" I thought back to a few weeks ago; her uncle brought in several cases of a special fae liquor to serve for free to anyone over 21 as an advertisement for all of their newest flavors. Although many people took off earlier, all the fae that were present were keeping the party alive well past 5:00 am. Hazel took me back into the dressing rooms, where any performers would come to cool down between sets, to change clothes three times, because our endless dancing was making us sweat through any outfit we would put on. The only reason I left at 5:00 am was because it seemed the entire crowd began getting frisky, and I know how those fae parties end.

"Oh come on, you left before all the real fun started," she said, smirking at me. "Besides, you know that is not what my club is like every night."

"I'll still have to pass on that Haze," I started, staring back into my tea. "I want to go to dinner."

“Well if you want to go, but you don't want to marry your new gay vampire boyfriends, then maybe just don’t wear your sexy lipstick to your non-date dinner with them,” she stated as if reading my mind.

I felt like I was in high school again, thinking about what outfit I should wear or what shade of berry-stain to apply to my lips. I am thinking of my short, black dress with a queen-ann neckline. It sits wide on my shoulders but exposes and perfectly frames my collar bones and cleavage. I love wearing it under a knee-length, flowy, black, lace dress that has long 'bell' sleeves. I love the way the tapered ends of the sleeve pass my fingertips.

I sat up straight. “Do you think I should bring wine?”

Hazel rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn’t fall out of her head.