AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Owen’s champagne glass shattered in his hand, then disappeared in midair before it hit the floor. “I’m going to kill him,” he said with calm certainty. “But unfortunately, I don’t think it’ll be tonight.”
“All our players appear to be onstage, so now what?” I asked.
“We play our roles and see what happens. I can break his illusion, but it’ll be easier if he’s off-guard, and much, much more effective if I do it at the right moment. But let’s first give her enough rope to really hang herself. Bringing him as her date is probably enough evidence, but let’s see what else she does.”
It was hard to focus on party small talk when I knew a major battle could take place at any moment. Then we ran into Rod. Now that my immunity had returned, he was the same old Rod I’d always known, which made it easier for me to face him. I could pretend those things that had happened between us had involved some stranger I’d never see again, and in time maybe I’d be able to forget it entirely. For now, though, his split lip served as a vivid reminder of what had happened.
Rod gave me one of his more charming smiles, and Owen responded by putting his arm around my waist and pulling me roughly against him. “Back off,” he said with quiet intensity. “How many times do I have to warn you to leave her alone?”
“At least I had the stones to make a move. And shouldn’t the lady have the right to decide who she wants to be with?”
“She’s here with me.”
I’d had enough of two otherwise sane, rational men acting like rutting stags over me. “Would you two cut it out, please?” I begged. “Let’s put it behind us, okay?”
Owen’s mouth twitched, then he whispered to me, “Play along.”
While I was still gaping at him, Psychodrama Theater continued to play, drawing a growing audience. “Please,” Rod said. “Like you’d even know what to do with her.”
“And you did such a good job that she ran away from you and went straight to me.”
I wondered what my role in this little play was supposed to be. Was I supposed to be horrified, or was I supposed to enjoy the attention? It would have helped if they’d shared the script with me, but I had a feeling they were making it up as they went along, based on a lifetime of being practically brothers who knew each other well enough to anticipate every thought or action. I finally decided that I should go with the way things were when the shoes were working on me and everyone else around me. That had to have been the intent of the scene. They were making Ari think the shoes still worked.
I tried to put on the attitude of a woman who could have any man she wanted. That was something of a stretch. I could, however, fake not knowing why men were acting so weird around me. “Seriously, cut it out, you two,” I said. “You’ve been friends forever, and I don’t want that to end on my account. Besides, we don’t want to ruin the party for everyone else.”
Rod glared at Owen for a second longer, then turned and stalked away. Owen pulled me to the other side of the room with a possessive arm still around my waist. Oh, but that felt good. I chanced a glance at Ari, who seemed to have enjoyed the entertainment immensely.
“Would it have killed you to let me in on that?” I asked Owen when we were out of earshot of everyone else.
“I thought it would be more authentic if you didn’t know.”
“So you two are okay now? You’re friends again?”
“At least enough to cooperate on this.”
“You really hit him, then? Or was that part of the plan?”
“I hit him, and then we came up with the plan. You’re the only one who can see what I presume is a fat lip.”
“Owen! You didn’t have to do that.”
He flexed his right hand. “Yes, I did. He promised me that you were off-limits, and I promised what I’d do if he broke that promise. He wasn’t supposed to ask you out, and the spell wouldn’t have been a factor if he’d kept that promise.”
“What were you doing making him make that promise?” I asked, hardly daring hope it meant he had any interest in me.
“You’ve seen the way he is with women. We agreed that you weren’t a candidate to be one of his conquests.”
“He needs professional help. Seriously.”
“Tell me about it. Now it’s almost time for act two.”
“What’s act two?”
He gestured behind me, and I turned to see Merlin appear at the top of the stairs. “Ladies and gentlebeings,” the ancient wizard boomed in a voice that seemed too strong to come from someone so old and seemingly fragile.
“Oh, act two,” I said, nodding with realization. “And you’re not going to tell him what’s going on?”
“We didn’t have enough evidence going in to say anything, and now we don’t have time. Come on.” With his arm still around my waist, he tugged me toward the front of the crowd that was forming at the foot of the stairs. The instruments stopped playing and hung suspended and still in midair. Ari and Idris were also near the front of the crowd. Rod wasn’t too far from them. I still hadn’t spotted Ethan or Trix.
