Bad Luck, Baby

15 - Hard Luck

"Ro, wait..." I gasped as he opened the back of Evangeline's car and deposited me on the seat. "We can't leave... without... 'Angeline."

"I know," he said, glancing around the deserted parking lot. "She's got the keys."

"But... the wedding..."

Pain made it hard to think or speak. Angry red blisters covered my hands, as if I'd grabbed a searing hot pan, and agony pulsed up my arms with every heartbeat.

Ro leaned over me distractedly, pressing his fingers to my throat beneath my jaw.

"Never mind the wedding. You're in shock. Just lie still, and try to stay awake. I'll have to cause some commotion before I find Evangeline. Something to explain your burns and draw suspicion away from you. An accident in the kitchen should do it. You're sure to have set off alarms with that spell, and it won't be long before someone finds what's left of Lucian's dogs. If we're lucky, the two incidents won't be connected."

"Poor d-dogs," I mumbled, teeth chattering as I shivered. "I didn't m-mean to..."

"Don't waste your tears," Ro said. "They were possessed – probably illegal – and they'd have torn you to pieces if they'd got a hold of you. If you hadn't decided to play 'exploding puppies,' that is. Idiot."

"But... you..."

"I'd have been fine," he snapped, but as he looked down at me, his expression softened, and he swallowed. "But thank you, anyway, for protecting me. Your father... Well, never mind. Just do as I said, and lie still. Janelle will fix you up, but first, we've got to get out of here before more of Hell breaks loose."

He left me, and I drifted in a haze of pain. I felt at once hot and cold, and my ears rang with the beat of my pulse. Clouded thoughts slipped through my brain, like a fever dream, and exploding dogs and cupcakes got jumbled in my mind.

I don't know how much later—it could have been minutes or hours—voices drew me back a little.

The car was moving. Ro sat up front with Evangeline, who was staring at him more than she was watching the road.

"Lords' balls," she whispered, awestruck. "No wonder you stay in cat form. I thought you were just shy, like my Sophie. Ellie didn't tell me he was high-born."

"Ellie barely knows what that means," Ro replied. "They're new to all this, and... prone to accidents."

"Oh, gracious goddess! I've heard of stories like that—orphans and such that grow up with no idea they've got magic in the blood. What on earth happened, anyway?"

"One of the other caterers asked Ellie to help heat up some sauce that had gone cold. Ellie thought magic would speed up the process. It did, only too well. Bit embarrassing, honestly."

"Oh, poor dear! Will he be alright?"

"Janelle's seen worse. Once Ellie's energy's restored, they'll heal up fast enough."

"I hope so. Why must the sweet ones have all the hard luck?"

Ro snorted. "If by 'sweet' you mean 'incompetent and naive,' you don't know the half of it."

"How can you speak of your witch that way?" Evangeline gasped. "I barely know him—them—but even I can see Ellie's sweet as icing!"

"Ellie's not really my witch," Ro said, and I heard the shrug in his voice. "Our arrangement is temporary, and we're not truly bonded."

"Oh. But then... How does he balance his power?"

"Ellie? They don't," Ro scoffed. "Not very well, anyway. The sooner they find a more suitable replacement, the better."