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Chapter Three
Ryder
I blink, staring at the spot the witch had been sitting a moment before. People don’t just walk away from me. Like, ever.
Humans and supernaturals alike all fall to my allure. I mean, it’s my thing. My power. Others want to be in my presence. I’m irresistible.
Except, apparently, to this little witch.
A little witch with power the size of the sun sitting inside her.
Except, I can tell she’s holding back. All that magic, and she’s using only a fraction of it. I can sense these things, these energies, just like I put out my own. Reading people comes naturally to me, as easy as reading a book. Most people are simple picture books for children, a few lines of text and not much depth. But this woman… she’s got chapters and chapters.
My intrigue gets the best of me, and I get up out of my chair. I don’t bother bringing my surfboard. One of these bar groupies will claim it, and next time I need one all I have to do is ask and someone will gladly lend me theirs. As I walk through the crowd, I wiggle my fingers and send a little spell of forgetfulness over the people close to where we sat, so they don’t remember the supernatural subject matter they overheard. And then I head out to the water.
I pull in my aura for just a moment as I leave the sea of milling bodies, just so no one follows me. Usually, I have a somewhat Pied Piper effect. Narrowing my eyes, I look for the trail of magical energy left by the witch. All supernaturals have them, and tracking is a specialty of mine. There are about a dozen magical beings in the area, so the air is ribboned with streaks of color left in their wake. But it doesn’t take long for me to find the one I’m looking for, lavender with a bit of a sparkle. I catch her scent, too, a hint of lime from her cocktail and the brown sugar of her body lotion.
I head left along the water.
She’s not too far ahead of me, maybe a quarter mile. Her flame-colored hair whips in the breeze coming off the ocean. I follow her trail, tasting her anger as well as her tears. Is she crying because she’s mad, or some other reason? Fascination tickles along my collarbone, then quickly shifts to an area down lower. No one resists me, and I hadn’t realized how truly bored I was until now.
I need to seduce this enigma of a woman more than I’ve needed anything in my whole life.
Picking up a jog, I move along the shoreline, my feet crunching down into the dark sand. Ven doesn’t hear me until I’m almost upon her. She spins, a ball of magic in one hand as if ready to attack. Her expression is fierce enough to frighten a dragon.
An expression which immediately turns into a giant eyeroll. “Oh, it’s you.”
She lowers her hand back down, though I notice a shimmer of magic still clings to her fingertips.
“Of course it’s me.” I shoot her my best smile. It’s a smile that’s dropped dozens of pairs of panties… and briefs.
“I think I made it abundantly clear I don’t want your help,” she snarls. She turns around and keeps walking. Then she calls over her shoulder, “I’m not really even sure you can help me. Your talents seem to lie in only one area.”
“Not sure that’s fair,” I say, increasing my stride to match hers. “You didn’t give me time to demonstrate my immense talents.”
“You seemed more interested in being a misogynistic jerk. Does that kind of behavior really work with women?” Another eyeroll.
“Usually it works like a charm,” I say with a devilish grin. “But not on you.”
She stops walking abruptly and turns to face me, arms crossed over her chest. “You only came back here because it’s driving you crazy, isn’t it? You just want to see if you can make me change my mind.”
Well, fuck. I tense for the barest of moments. This one is way too clever. “Do you know your eyes are the most intoxicating shade of pale amethyst?” I gaze into them deeply, expression serious, and take just the barest step forward so our body heat merges together.
“I am, in fact, aware,” she says.
She blinks several times rapidly and leans just the most infinitesimal bit toward me. It’s working. Deep eye contact does it every time.
And then she bursts out laughing. “God, you’re the cheesiest.”
Now it’s my turn to blink.
She laughs even harder at my stunned expression. Actually doubles over, clutching at her ribs. “That—that line works on people? Like…for real?”
Tears are coming down her face, and she looks like she’s about to keel over in the sand.
“If you pass out, I’m going to have to perform CPR,” I say warningly.
That finally seems to break her uncontrollable fit of mirth. “Thanks,” she says, breathing deeply to get ahold of herself. “I needed that. I’ve been really stressed, you know?” She finally straightens and wipes the tears off her cheeks.
