Ted’s eyes narrow as he straightens against the underlying accusations Brexley threw at him. “First off, I didn’t know she was a mage. How would I? The very few I’ve crossed paths with stink to high heaven because of their power. And if you are referring to the ability to nullify power, I can’t do it explicitly like wolves do.”
Red cocks her head to the side.
I reach for Ted’s wrist, sensing the rising defensiveness. It’s not his fault, or his responsibility to fix my mess.
Ted looks down at me, pain radiating from his gaze. “If I knew what would happen, I wouldn’t have left your side. I can’t target a person or an area and suck away their power like werewolves.”
I start to assure him I wouldn’t expect him too, but he goes on. “I emit a null force I can’t turn off or on. In hindsight, I believe I dampened your powers the other night, but not entirely. You must be an incredibly powerful mage. The few mages I’ve come into contact with lost the ability to use their powers rather quickly around me. But when I left to speak to your boss, I came back, and the energy worked the room up into such a frenzy that it would have taken a while for my presence to bring it back down.”
Cold shock drips from my neck to my stomach. Because this is too many revelations for one thirty-minute period? Or because I've never heard Ted talk so openly about himself?
“Huh,” Brexley says, sitting on the arm of the floral couch across from me. “And here I thought all weres operated pretty much the same.”
A grim curve picks up half of Ted’s lips. “What can I say? Unlike you, I can’t just turn it off. Bears must be more powerful that wolves.”
Brexley’s brow arches, but he wears a genuine smirk of acknowledgement. Not necessarily acknowledging that bears are more powerful, but that he underestimated Ted.
Red pulls me up to my feet, making me realize my knees are shaky and weak. “Hey, let’s get you cleaned up. You look a bit. . . rumpled.” My pink pajamas are dirty, and I can feel the blood has drained from my face.
Red wraps an arm around my shoulders, offering support as she leads me toward the stairs.
I pause to look over my shoulder at Ted. “Are you going to leave?”
He shakes his head. “No. I’ll be right here when you get back.”
I nod, comforted by that. Warmth spreads from the center of my chest. He wants to stay. I shouldn’t be, but I’m not turning my back on him now. Ted grabs his phone from his pocket like he’s a bear on a mission.
Chapter24
An Offensive Air-Conditioner
GOLDIE
“Oh honey, you’re in trouble, aren’t you?”
I look up from where I’m sitting on the bed to find the fairy godmother, Dame Kiki Eleganza, posing in the doorway of my bedroom. The drag queen’s large frame and personality fills the space. It’s midafternoon, so Kiki isn’t yet in drag for her evening performance at the Pumpkin Coach Club. But she’s no less striking in her silky, bright floral button-down shirt and black slacks, her platform boots encrusted with black rhinestones.
I’ve seen Kiki out of drag once before, at the Pumpkin Coach club and heard someone else refer to Kiki as a sir, while yet another called Kiki miss. I asked what pronoun was preferable and Kiki gave a half snort, half laugh as she waved a hand dismissively. “Oh honey, I’ll go by whatever gets me what I want.”
There was something so wonderfully elevated and playful about the way she said it, as if she doesn’t choose, she simply has it all.
Everyone tells me I’m confident, but the Dame possesses je ne sais quoi. That element of fabulosity that can’t be bought or faked.
Red sits with me in my cozy bedroom. Instead of taking the master bedroom, I chose the same one I slept in the summer I stayed with Aunt Astrid.
The faded wallpaper, a tapestry of ivy and roses, covers the walls in patches. I've draped sheer, billowy white curtains over the windows that gently sway when I leave them open. My bed has an aged wooden frame with carved head and footboards, now covered in soft pink sheets and a plush duvet, dotted with mismatched cushions. It’s the perfect blend of boho chic.
Kiki sits down on the bed next to me, her massive hand reaching out to touch my arm. “Now, darling, let’s talk about your troubles.”
“I just found out I developed the powers of a siren, and every dude is acting positively nuts toward me. It’s been causing me a lot of stress.” I toy with a loose string on my comforter. “So I’ve been sleepwalking. Breaking into my neighbor’s house every night. I know you heal people, and I wondered if this was the kind of thing you could uh… heal?”
I keep it to myself that someone might have been in my bedroom, leaving gifts. I don’t want to be greedy with my problems. It still very well could be attributed to my sleepwalking issue.
At the Pumpkin Coach Club, she’s known as the Fairy Godmother. Aside from healing powers, she has a talent for granting wishes and making dreams come true.
Or at least that’s the backstory for her drag persona. Last we had a girl's night, I was the chosen one pulled on stage. She predicted my forever hunk would be on my doorstep soon but instead I got a call about an inheritance..
I’ve yet to meet Mr. Right, and even if he did show up, I’m the evil mage, cursing men with my evil enchantments. Again, I rub my hands down my face, wishing I’d gotten any other power.
