Chapter Four
Halle was exhausted, more so emotionally than physically, although hanging out from her bedroom window was a bit more exercise than she typically enjoyed. She could only shake her head as she thought about the family blowout that had just happened downstairs. Her mother had barged in shortly after her rescue and then proceeded to cry for forty minutes because her “baby was going to get married to some horrible stranger”. So as per usual, things went from being about her to being about how traumatized her mother was. Cripes, how could she have come from the loins of such a drama-queen?
To add insult to injury, when she opened her bedroom door and turned on the lights, there was a strange goth girl with black and grey wings sitting on her bed staring at her. Halle was so startled she almost screamed.
“Hello, Halle!” the stranger said, as she motioned her hand towards the door and it swung shut behind her.
“Who the hell are you, and why are you in my room?” Halle asked as her hackles rose and her claws slid out of her fingertips.
“Goddess, kitty, no need to get all aggro,” she answered as she bounced a few times on the bed. “I’m your Fairy Godmother of course!”
The girl is clearly insane was all that went through Halle’s mind as the female’s black eyes stared up at her expectantly. Batshit crazy or not, this being obviously had some strong magic, and Halle knew better than to bring her claws to a fireball fight. So, how do you get a crazy magical woman out of your house without getting turned into a toad or something?
So she did what all cats do when uncertain about what to do—she froze.
“Halle,” the woman said with a dramatic sigh, “seriously. We need to figure out a way to get you out of this whole mess. You cannot marry Conrad. He’s a bit of a dick, you know?”
Those were the magic words for Halle. She didn’t care who this person was now, not if she was going to help her get the hell away from that leech.
“Right?” Halle said in exasperation as she jumped onto the bed next to her new friend. “I knew he was a dick! But how am I going to get out of this without starting a war, Fairy God … umm, person?”
“You can call me Dori,” she answered with a wink. “I have the perfect plan that will screw Conrad over, get you your Happy Ending, and launch my new career all in one strategic move!”
Wait a minute, Halle thought. New career?
“Hey… do you know what you’re doing? This is not just my life we’re talking about but my family’s, too. Can you pull this off?” she asked narrowing her eyes at the fairy.
“Of course, I can! I’ve already got your rescuer primed and ready to go,” Dori said with a roll of her eyes. “But we’re going to need snacks while we plan this out.”
One wave of the odd Fairy Godmother’s hand and there was a spread of junk food settled between them on the bed. All of Halle’s favorites were there.
“You know, I always thought that Fairy Godmothers were stuffy little old lady fairies, but you’re kind of awesome,” Halle said as she settled in so they could plan her escape.
“I know, right?” Dori said as she popped open a bag of chips. “So here’s the plan, and you’re going to have to stick to your guns on this one because your fated mate is a stubborn S.O.B. and he will probably try to send you on your way for ‘your own good’. But no matter what, do not let him shake you loose or this entire thing is going to go to shit. I’ve looked at all the angles, and this is your one shot at a happy ending, do you understand me, Halle?”
Both Halle’s human side and her cat fully understood that this was their shot at a real mating, and they both would do whatever was necessary. She’d get her happy ending and her family and pard would be safe from Conrad’s machinations.
“So, who is my mate then?” Halle asked excitedly as she helped herself to a big mouthful of peanut butter M&M’s.
“Viktor Krescech, and bitch, you must have a horseshoe up that lucky ass of yours because he is smoking hot!” Dori answered waggling her eyebrows right before a mouthful of wet M&M’s came spitting at her face. “Dude! That’s just offside!”
Halle hacked and coughed as she tried to expel the handful of candies that had just been sucked into her windpipe when Dori said that name.
“Are you fucking crazy? Viktor The Destroyer is my mate?” she wheezed out, tears running down her face. “He’s a psychopath with a reputation worse than Conrad!”
“Now just calm down, no need to be a spazzy-cat,” Dori said, handing her a bottle of water to clear the candy pieces still rattling around in her throat. “Don’t you trust me? His reputation, while totally justified when he was first turned, is mostly just rumor and propaganda now. He’s not actually a bad guy. He won’t even feed off anyone who isn’t a douchebag anymore. He’s just misunderstood really.”
Halle was still a bit suspicious, but Dori was her Fairy Godmother after all. I mean, if a girl couldn’t trust her own Fairy Godmother, then what was this world coming to?
“All right, I’m taking your word on it for now, but he better be really hot,” she finally answered. “Now how do we do this? Conrad’s goons are picking me up tomorrow.”