Page 33
“Actually,” Alessandra said, pulling up her usual stool, “I’m here to talk to you.”
On the plumper side, with a muted shade of Toni’s red hair that was styled faithfully each week by her beloved hairdresser, Birdie was five foot nothing of pure intimidation. She was also one of Alessandra’s favorite people in the world. When her mother came to visit, she always brought Birdie a gift to thank her for looking after Alessandra.
Birdie was also more than a touch eccentric. Hence the nickname.
She and her husband had owned Ye Old Curiosities since the early seventies. Not much had changed about it since, and Alessandra often teased that it was a front for her aunt to practice magic or something of the sort. Birdie believed in all manner of things, including ghosts, and the shop’s merchandise reflected her fascination with a different world.
One Alessandra had never, before now, believed in.
“Well, then, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
Alessandra waited as a young woman and her toddler walked up to the counter. “Just this, please,” the woman said, sliding her selection across the counter.
Edgar Allan Poe temporary tattoos.
She’d once bought an old-fashioned Poe lunch box and candies for Charlotte, assuming every English teacher liked the poet. But while Charlotte had appreciated the birthday gift, she’d later admitted she found Poe a bit creepy.
Some would say the same about this entire shop. It carried everything from inspirational bracelets and quirky birthday cards to items bordering the macabre. Potions and ancient swords shared shelf space with fake skulls and candy tombstones.
When the customer finally left, Alessandra looked into Birdie’s kind face and wondered how much to tell her.
Ah, the hell with it.
“Has Toni told you anything about the two men who just moved to town?”
“The ones that purchased the mansions on the hill?”
Of course she would have heard of it. If only one of them had been sold, it would have been the news of the century in Stone Haven. But both? In the same week? To two equally gorgeous young men?
The town might never recover.
“Yes. So she mentioned them?”
Birdie nodded. “Only to say you went on a date with one of them.”
Her conspiratorial smile almost made Alessandra change her mind. She hated to get anyone else caught up in this, but she didn’t know who else to go to for help. And help was something she desperately needed.
“Yeah, well—”
“I take it the date didn’t go so well?”
She had a flash of Kenton’s face, his eyes twin wells of desire as he pulled her to him and . . .
Birdie’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
If only it were something as simple as, It turns out he doesn’t like me, or He’s not a very good kisser. But her life had become so much more complicated than that.
“I’m coming to you because I know you have an open mind—”
Birdie frowned.
“And I know you won’t judge me or think I’m crazy—”
“Alessandra, I know you to be anything but. Now tell me, what’s—”
“The one I went out with, Kenton, claims I am something called a Cheld, descended from a medieval healer whose children were gifted with special powers. It sounds ridiculous, but strange things have been happening to me this week. Actually, it began last weekend. I can run faster, without getting winded, no matter how far I go. And hear better. It’s like—”
“Slow down.”
