Page 51 of Minnie: Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

“About what?” I ask, my mind racing while I look bored.

“In private.” He grabs my hand and pulls me out the door.

My heart starts to race, and Formula M pumps me full of calm.

Amber shouts after us, Julian calls out her name, and then the door slams shut, silencing them both.

My maybe-mate pulls me down the street and into an empty alley. It’s a lot like the one where Natty and I wait for the invisibility spell to wear off, so I’m pretty sure no one will notice us, and Formula M won’t let me scream.

I should probably be worried about being murdered, but I’m calm as a cucumber. What’s the worst that can happen? He tells me he’s my fated mate, and that we’re meant to be? Or he admits Montgomery put him up to this, and he’s about to remind me of the power she holds over me?

But instead, he does something completely different. He shifts…

…into Danny Stravinsky.

Who’s Damien Starr to literally everyone else in the world, except maybe his parents.

Rock star. Former lead singer of Not a Vampire. Man with the world’s biggest ego. Abandoner of friends. Breaker of hearts.

He backs me up against the wall, and my heart pounds in my chest. There’s so much of the boy I once knew in his face. Those eyes, that smirk, those cheekbones. I can’t get over how familiar he seems, and yet how foreign. And I can never forget that he ditched me and my ‘unclean’ wonky magic for a better life.

But he also looks like a different person entirely. All grown up and hot as hell.

No, wait, definitely not hot as hell. Lame. I meant lame.

His distressed leather jacket is so overrated, and I can’t stand the way it clings to his muscular frame and how his faded tee is tight enough to hint at defined pecs and six-pack abs. I hate his black skinny jeans, slightly torn at the knees, that lead down to worn-in combat boots. And I’m so not attracted to his slightly tousled hair, or the dark eyeliner that emphasizes his eyes. Who does he think he is, dressing like this off the stage?

It’s probably not even him. Just another shifted form. Because there’s no way Damien Starr would come find me after all this time, or turn out to be my fated mate.

My mind is still racing when he reaches inside his leather jacket. For a split second, my crazy brain screams gun.

That is, until he says, “Minerva Montgomery, will you marry me?”

Then, I expect a ring, but he holds up a ziplock bag with a slightly yellowed, faded piece of paper inside. The marriage contract Danny and I drafted up when we were kids.

And all I can think is that he really is Damien Starr, and not just another chameleon trick, and he is my fated mate.

Chapter 26

Damien

I’m not sure what I expect. Maybe for her to laugh in my face and say, ‘hell no.’ Or at least for some shock to register on her face at the sight of our marriage contract, drafted in crayon when we were seven, and signed in blood—her idea, not mine, because she’s a Montgomery.

But Minnie doesn’t look the least bit surprised at my blast from the past. She just rolls her eyes. “Well, if it isn’t Daniel Stravinsky.”

“I go by Damien Starr now.” Ever since I was sixteen and my agent told me the only type of music I’ll ever be known for as a Stravinsky is classical and I might as well take up violin. I figured it was easier to change my name, and Damien Starr stuck. Suits me more than Danny, the nerdy little kid who never fit in.

“And I go by Minnie Alexander now.” Minnie examines her fingernails, and a wave of annoyance courses through me.

She’s changed so much since I knew her. She used to be vibrant and full of life, and now she’s the same spoiled socialite witch as her mother. Like two peas in a pod.

I want to tell her exactly what I think of her, but considering I just proposed, it probably wouldn’t be such a bright idea. I need to marry Minnie. I don’t have a choice. Not unless I want to live in a gilded cage.

I hold up the marriage contract a little higher. “Remember this?”

She shrugs. “Not really.”

I know she’s lying. She has to be.