They take their time now. Even as magic continues to shrivel in the wake of the orb, Jaylie and her party step quietly and stealthily. She imagines that Kain and Morgana are eager to catch Shira off guard—the rogue has always been a master of surprise attacks—but Jaylie finds herself more curious than anything. As she pausesbehind one trellis wall, thick enough with greenery to hide their advance, Jaylie can hear the voices well enough to finally distinguish words. Intrigued, she bends to peek through the leaves.
“You’re unhappy here, aren’t you, my dear?” Jaylie immediately recognizes Shira’s deep voice. The witch is dressed casually, with a billowy violet shirt tucked into high-waisted black trousers. The heels on her knee-high boots, however, are vicious. She reclines in her chair, sipping delicately from a pink porcelain teacup.
“I wouldn’t call itunhappy.” Jaylie never got a good look at Alora underneath all of her lace at the wedding, but upon recalling Donati’s description of her, this woman certainly fits the bill: pale, pretty, and redheaded, with her curls cropped short right under her ears. She wears a dress of light blue that leaves her shoulders bare and sparkling.Sparkling?Jaylie leans forward for a closer look. Where the sun shimmers on Alora’s skin, especially on her cheekbones and shoulders, Jaylie swears she can spot a light pattern of scales.
“It’s only that it’s lonely, Shira. It’s quiet,” Alora says with a sigh. “I miss my family. I miss our parties. Hell, sometimes I even miss my stuffy office in the Academy.”
Shira nods, and her black hair falls over her shoulder, hiding her expression from Jaylie. She plucks the teapot from the table and refills Alora’s cup.
“I miss when you’d come to me in disguise at my father’s balls and sweep me off my feet…” Alora delicately walks her fingers across the table and strokes the inside of Shira’s wrist.
“You liked that, did you?”
“You always used the most charming accent. I loved the stories you came up with, pretending it was our first time meeting.”
“I was the best dancer there,” Shira preens, lips ticking up in a smile.
“Oh, I think you just loved to watch the others seethe with jealousy at the way you commanded my attention.”
“Oh my god.” Loren’s voice is barely a whisper in Jaylie’s ear. He presses himself close to her side, just as enthralled as she is.
“Oh mygod,” Jaylie agrees.
“Oh my god!” Loren sighs wistfully.
Shira bends forward, just enough so that she can lace her fingers in Alora’s. “I could take you back, you know. You could stay with your family until we figure out what to do next.”
“No. You know there is nowhere else I’d rather be than by your side.” Alora squeezes Shira’s hand gently and leans forward to press their foreheads together.
Shira angles her jaw for a kiss just as Kain hefts his axe over his head, sweeps it forward at a savage angle, and carves the trellis to kindling. “Murderer!” he bellows, charging toward them. “Enchantress! Free her from your spell before we free your head from your neck!”
Three inharmonious shrieks erupt simultaneously from Jaylie, Alora, and, hilariously, Loren. Morgana holds out her knife uncertainly while Shira immediately jumps into action. Her teacup shatters against a wall as she desperately flings it away to begin casting a spell.
But Kain is faster. He slams the base of his staff into the ground. “Glorvalk!” he thunders.
The two women shiver under the sudden beam of green, and Shira hisses in anger as her spell flees her fingertips. Kain advances forward to take advantage of her weakness, but Alora steps between them, hands planted firmly on her hips.
“What is the meaning of this?” She sounds nearly as imperious as Donati.
“We’re here to rescue you, miss,” Kain growls. “You are free now. You are no longer enraptured by her dark hold over you.”
Shira’s face is a storm cloud. “You think I would enchant her against her will? Like some fucking love spell? You’ve got me confused with some other—”
Gently, Alora presses her hand to Shira’s side. The witch stills then quiets.
“Enraptured?”Alora laughs. “No, it’s nothing like that.”
“It’s not?”
“No, of course not,” Alora says, exasperated. “Shira and I—we’re in love.”
Chapter
Twenty-Four
“What?” Kain’s hold on the orb staff wobbles slightly, then straightens resolutely. He continues to pin Shira and Alora in its beam. “Prove it. Prove you’re not under her spell.”
“First of all, yourthingwould have dispelled it immediately.” Alora waggles her fingers toward the staff and rolls her eyes—but Jaylie can see how they gleam with playfulness. “And if I were a poor damsel, and Shira was a nasty, mean witch…do you suppose I would do this?” Suddenly she trips Shira—who’s a good deal taller than her—with a swift kick, sweeping the woman’s feet out from under her. Shira gasps in surprise, but before her ass smacks against the ground, Alora catches her with one arm around her waist and the other behind her head. “My darling,” Alora says sweetly before diving down and kissing her passionately.
