“Shocking.” Sarcasm drips from my voice. Obviously she wants him. Cathy might as well have the words GOLD DIGGER stamped on her forehead, she’s so obviously interested in him. “Well, good luck.”
I start to walk away, but her voice stops me. “Is that a challenge?”
The hairs on the back of my neck soldier to attention as I turn to face her. “A challenge?”
“Yes. Are you challenging me to seduce Storm Grayson?”
No. I want to say it, I really do, but I just can’t stand Cathy, and Storm asked me to dance with him, and we had chemistry. The sparks practically knocked me across the room! So against all my common sense, I say, “Yes, Cathy. May be the best witch win.”
Her eyes sparkle with malice. “You just sealed your doom, Thornrose.”
Oh, am I supposed to be intimidated because she called me by my last name? I’m not. “We’ll just see about that.”
She folds her arms and sneers. “By the time I’m finished with Storm, I’ll have him wrapped around my little finger and he won’t even remember your name.”
“Oh yeah?” I drop a hand to my hip. “Because by the time I’m finished with him, he’s going to be down on one knee, proposing.”
She laughs. “As if. You haven’t gotten anyone to marry you yet. You’ll never get him.”
Anger burns through me in big, long ropes. I want to grab Cathy by the hair and toss her into a mud pit. But in spite of that, all I say is, “You’re on. May the best woman win.”
7
Cathy’s words keep playing in the back of my mind.Try not to influence him into falling in love with you, like you did with Devlin.
Like I did with Devlin.
My stomach churns in anger. It’s the same old cut, opening the same festering wound. When Devlin dumped me, he told the entire school that I’d influenced him into caring about me.
I’d never been so humiliated in my life. It felt like a knife had been plunged into my gut, then twisted, pulled out, shoved back in and twisted some more before being pulled out again, put back in…you get the idea.
That wound didn’t heal overnight. Not sure if it ever healed, now that I think about it, and whenever I see Devlin, it’s hard not to remember how he betrayed me on so many levels.
It wasn’t so hard to forget when you were dancing with him.
Shut up, self.
I would never, not ever influence someone into liking me. What a horrible thing to do to another person.
I attempt to shake off those old memories and focus on something else. From where I’m standing, I’ve got a great view of everyone and everything in the ballroom. Witches dancewith werewolves. A few fae are here, too, talking to guests. I inhale, and the smell of spicy cologne mixed with floral perfume permeates the air. At the buffet table is an arrangement of petit fours and fruit.
I might not influence someone into loving me, but that won’t stop me from getting someone to bring me a plate of food.
Yes, it’s lazy. Yes, it’s using my power. But right now sugar is what will make me feel better.
I spot Chelsea standing off to the side, and I decide to give her a little nudge.
That’s what I call it—nudging. Nudging a person in one direction or another. I’ve never tried influencing anyone into doing anything huge. It’s merely a suggestion, one that they either accept or reject.
But mostly they accept.
I push through the shield around my mind and toss out my power like a lasso. Though I’ve never seen myself when I do this, my sisters have told me that my eyes turn black the moment that my power is used. Then just as quickly as they turn black, they become normal again.
A hard snap tightens in my stomach, and that’s the sign that I’ve roped Chelsea with my power.
Very gently I send over the idea of me and cake. Next thing I know, my sister has a plate of dessert in her hand and she’s bringing it to me.
She has a funny look on her face, almost like she’s laughing at an inside joke. “If you’d wanted cake, all you had to do was ask and I would’ve brought it. You didn’t have to nudge me, because of course I want to know all about your dance.”
