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“What a mess.” Iris’s voice came through the other line. “Do you think we somehow messed up fate by switching places? Like, was he meant for me?”
“I have no idea. Is a wilderness photographer who is a satyr that spends a lot of his time in the forest someone you’d be interested in?” I asked.
Iris made a snorting sound that told me no. But I already knew the answer. She craved the hustle and bustle of the city. Meanwhile, my dream was moving to the country and spending all afternoon lounging in the shade on the deck reading a good book.But Shane wasn’t in love with me. He was in love with someone he thought was Iris. What a mess, indeed.
“I thought satyrs weren’t the type to fall in love at all. Aren’t they perpetually promiscuous? Like demons?” I asked.
“That’s what I thought. But then again I heard that demons occasionally find their true mates and settle down. Maybe it’s the same with satyrs.”
“Mates! That’s even worse! He doesn’t even know my real name. He thinks I’m you.”
“That makes it easier, actually. He’ll come looking for me, and I’ll smooth everything over. You don’t need to worry about a thing. But hey—other than that, how did it go?”
“Ohh my god, it was so good. Shane is talented, that’s for sure, but I’m not spilling all the details, not even to you.”
Iris laughed. “No. I mean, I’m sure the sex was out of this world, especially if he’s professing his undying love the next morning. I meant the gala.”
Oops. My bad. I clearly had the sexy satyr on my brain.My face heated. “The gala was great. I met Rene and his wife, and Shelby and her mate. I gave your cards out whenever I could. Oh, yeah, you might be getting a call from a pair of eagle shifter musician brothers and another from a lady who owns a juice business.”
“I already got a call from the brothers, thanks. They’re eager to start working together. I figured they were from the gala.”
“Yeah, they were really excited about your services.”
There was a gasp on the other end of the line followed by an urgent, “Holy crap, Ivy, you need to see this.”
“What?”
“I’m sending you the article right now.”
I put her on speakerphone and tapped the link when it came.
“Magical Mishap at the Monsters’ Ball,” was the headline.I scanned the first two paragraphs, which didn’t actually have anything to do with the spell at all, but were just listing all the famous people who had been there. “Yeah, there was some rogue spell. I almost got hit by it, but Shane blocked it with his body. He took the brunt of it. But he was fine. ‘Better than fine’, at least that’s how he put it.”
I was worried now. What if he hadn’t been fine at all and had only pretended to be so as not to make a scene?
“Scroll down to the bottom.”
I did. “A love spell!” I shrieked.
Shane had been hit with a love spell, and the first person he’d seen had been me? That explained everything! I wasn’t his fated mate at all. It was all just an unfortunate accident. I was simultaneously relieved and disappointed.
I must have caught a dose of it too. It explained why I wanted to find him and tell him I was sorry for walking out and ask him to give me another chance, despite only having known him for a short while. I was missing him already, and it had only been a few hours.
I looked down at the t-shirt I was still wearing. I could have changed out of it, but I didn’t want to. It smelled like him. He must have worn it recently. I brought the hem up to my nose and inhaled deeply. Mmm.
“What smells so yummy that you just moaned? Is it cake? Because if it’s cake, you’re bringing some over.”
“Ah, no.” Shit, I had no idea I’d made that sound out loud. “I just, um, had my first sip of coffee for the day.” I hoped that sounded believable.
She bought it. “Oh yeah, that first sip is pretty good. But back to Lover Boy: the article goes on to say that ‘anyone affected by the spell can rest assured the effects will fade in a matter of weeks. Is that true?”
“I’m not sure, offhand. I’d have to look it up at work.”
I worked at Darlington’s Library of Magic & Other Esoterica. Like most people who worked there, I had a little magic. Even the security guards were monsters…shifters, mostly. But I was a very minor witch, whereas some of my co-workers were powerful witches or wizards.
Our family had been ordinary humans living in Darlington, a town full of magical folk. We’d only found out about magic when The Wall fell. When that happened, it explained all the strange things that had occurred around me when I was growing up that The Wall couldn’t quite hide.
Like the time when I was about nine or ten when I swore I’d seen two bear cubs playing in my neighbor’s yard. No one believed me, of course. Now I knew it was because our neighbors had been a family of bear shifters, and the cubs I’d seen had been Shawn and Jason, their kids. I’d asked Shawn about it the next day at school, and he’d cried and made me promise not to tell his mom. I’d been confused by that, but kept my promise.
