Chapter Four
Date night with Paul.
I was going to a fairy ball. Whatever did one wear to a fairy ball, anyway?
A dress, obviously, but it needed to be extra magical. I had my mother’s wedding dress, but I wasn’t sure if that would a good luck charm or a bad luck charm, considering.
It was, however, a beautiful dress.
“Oh, that’s the one,” Finvarra said, as he appeared at my side.
“Listen, you’ve really got to work on this. You just appear whenever. I could’ve been naked.”
“That’s never been a problem before.”
“It’s a problem now. I don’t appear in your house when you’re naked.”
“You’re not naked.”
“You’re missing the point.”
“So what you’re saying is, I should be naked?” He grinned.
I narrowed my eyes at him and he laughed, but I found myself laughing, too. “So, you like the dress?”
“Yes, it’s perfect. It’ll be good for your dinner, but with a few magical tweaks, will be perfect for the fairy ball, too.”
“Magical tweaks? What’s it missing?”
“You’ll see. Later. It’s a surprise.”
“I don’t think I like surprises.”
“You’ll like this one.” He looked down at me. “Unless you don’t trust me?”
I did, though. “I do trust you.”
“Good. You’re going to look beautiful and have an amazing time. Don’t worry about the end goal. Worry about right now.”
“That’s the complete opposite of everything you’ve been saying.”
“I know. I just had to get you moving forward. Now, you are. Things will happen in their own time. I promise you. You just needed to give it a chance.”
I didn’t want things. I didn’t want them to happen in their own time.
I wanted him.
I looked up at him and when our eyes met, I could swear there was a moment of…something. Something new. Unsure. Something unexpected.
Then it was gone.
“I never thought I’d be asking you this, but can you come?”
“What, on your date?”
“Yeah.” I bit my lip. “I’m nervous and…”
“It’s good to be a little nervous. Butterflies, and all that.” He put his arm around me. “It’s going to be okay, and you’re going to have a great time. Without me.”
“What if I need you?”
“You won’t, but if you do, I’ll be there in an instant.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“You won’t have to.”
Things were suddenly much different between us. I spent all this time wanting him to go away, now I only wanted him to stay.
“Fin…”
“This is how it’s supposed to be, Poppy.”
Against my better judgement, I agreed and nodded. “Let me get dressed, then.”
“I’ll dress you, like a proper fairy godparent. With some bippity boppity badass.” He pulled out a magic wand and waved it around with a flourish.
Suddenly, I was wearing my mother’s dress, and it sparkled with fairy dust. I pulled up the hem, and saw I was wearing glass slippers. Flats, even. He remembered how much I hated heels.
I tried not to sniffle.
“You better not ruin your makeup. Do you know how long it took me to learn that spell?”
I laughed. “Okay. I wouldn’t want all of your hard work to go to waste.”
“Just so. Come here.” He pulled a full-length mirror out of the ether and let me look at myself.
I looked every bit like a princess, right down to the delicate silver tiara that was hung with opals. I was all pale fire and it seemed to fit.
My mother’s dress that I thought would be barely passable was gorgeous with the sweetheart neckline, and the flowing gossamer sleeves. The pearl beading had been turned to opals to match my tiara and I couldn’t help but feel beautiful.
“He’s going to fall in love with you.”
“Is that what you wish, hope, or have you cast more magic?” I asked quietly.
“It’s what anything male would do. No help from me.”
“Stop being so nice. I don’t know how to deal with it.” It was supposed to come out like a light tease, but it was too close to the truth.
I found myself looking up at him again, and our eyes met.
He dipped his head and for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. For a moment, I thought I wanted him to.
So did all the butterflies slam dancing in my belly.
But his lips fell on my forehead in a chaste kiss that shouldn’t have lit me on fire, but it did.
“It’s all going to be as it’s supposed to be. Have fun tonight. I’ve left the passes and instructions for how to get to the ball in the carriage.”
“It better be a pumpkin,” I said.
“I wouldn’t disappoint you.” He disappeared again, and the mirror went with him.
I looked outside and saw that the horses and carriage, pumpkin-shaped, as promised, waited for me.
And Paul had just stepped up to the front door.
Well, here goes nothing, right?
I waited for him to knock before I opened it. From the way he looked at me, he obviously liked the dress. He looked really nice, too. His tux fit him as if it had been tailor made just for him.
There were butterflies. They fluttered, but they didn’t slam dance like they did with Finvarra.
I had to give it a chance. If Finvarra actually wanted to be the one to break the curse, he’d have kissed my lips instead of my forehead, right?
Right.
“You look beautiful, Poppy.” He offered his arm.
I took it with a smile. “My fairy godfather has provided us with transportation to dinner and the ball.”
When I looked over at the carriage, it was no longer a carriage, but a white Bentley, which would do much better in a human setting, which I assumed was where we were having dinner.
I couldn’t wait to tell Zelda about this.
“Looks like it’s self driving, too.”
“Does that work for you?”
“Sure. More time for us to talk.” He held open the door to the car.
So far, I liked everything about Paul Pierre. Except for the part where he wasn’t Fin.
Gah, I had to get that out of my head. It wasn’t helping anything.
Once we were in the car, silence reigned for a long moment before he laughed. “So what’s a nice girl like you doing in Assjacket?”
All the tension dissipated. “Zelda convinced me to move here. She was sure it would be a good place for me. So far, it seems like it is. Mostly.”
“Have you met many people yet?”
“Not too many. Zelda was going to have a tea, but there was that thing with the badgers.”
“Ah, the badgers.” He nodded. “Your fairy godfather seems to know what he’s doing. Brutus liked him a lot.”
“We liked Brutus a lot.”
“He used to be a fairy. That’s why he can see them.”
“Are you telling me I let some fairy lick my face?”
“Oh, he is one hundred percent dog now. His curse wasn’t broken, but he makes a much better dog than he does a fairy. Although, he chases my sister more now when she’s shifted than he did as a fairy.”
“I don’t think I want to know.”
“Probably not, but she’ll be more than happy to tell you, if you meet her.”
“Do you have many brothers and sisters?”
“Tons, really. A couple litters. I mean, we’re skunks.”
I laughed again. “No, seriously.”
“Okay, seriously. I have a brother Nigel, and a sister, Griselda. You?”
“Nope. Just me. Frogcrunchers only ever have one child, and it’s always a girl. You know, to carry on the curse.”
“I’ve heard the story. All because your ancestor didn’t want to kiss a rape-y frog. That sucks.”
“Yeah, if I could go back in time and fry his ass up into frog legs before he could even jump on her face, I would. I got teased so much as a kid.”
“Me too.”
“For what?”
“Uh, you know. The obvious. Being a skunk Shifter.”
“What’s wrong with being a skunk Shifter? Skunks are the bee’s knees. I love them.”
“Oh, well that’s good then. I think?” He grinned. “I won’t lie though. I used to spray some of the squirrel Shifters in school. They said we were just squirrels from the wrong side of the tracks.”
“That’s pretty awful. I got teased a lot about being a Frogcruncher.” I shrugged. “But I always said fuck it. I’d rather be a Frogcruncher than a frog kisser.”
“I like how you think. Hell, I’m a skunk, and I wouldn’t kiss a frog that decided I didn’t have a choice about it.”
“I think we’re going to be great friends.”
“Me too.”
Yeah, we were going to be great friends. That was all that was in the cards for us. In that moment, we both knew it.
And Paul laughed. “It’s one of those things, isn’t it, where you just know?”
“Yeah, I guess it is.” I felt a kind of relief.
“You’re in love with your fairy godfather, aren’t you?”
“No.” But I was, wasn’t I?
“Please. It’s all over your face.”
“I hated him up until… two days ago.”
“Ah, the old enemies to lovers. It’s a good one.” Paul grinned. “So why isn’t he in this carriage with you on the way to the fairy ball?”
“Because he’s been saddled with me for a hundred years. I’m very stubborn, you see. He can’t go home until I break my curse.”
“I see.” Paul nodded. “But maybe he’s the one to break your curse.”
“Yeah, I thought about that.”
“It’s a fairy ball. He’s a fairy. He should be there, right?”
I felt a little sheepish. “I actually tried to get him to come with us. I was nervous. He said no.”
“I bet he has the same feelings for you. You know, I am so sure of it, that if he doesn’t, I’ll marry you anyway. Just to break your curse.”
“You’re a good egg, Paul Pierre.”
“Don’t say that too loudly. I wouldn’t want that to get out.”
“I promise, I’ll keep your secret.”
While it was nice that the pressure was off my shoulders and I could just enjoy dinner, I couldn’t stop thinking about Finvarra.
I just wanted to see him. Talk to him.
How dumb was that?
Maybe that’s why I’d been so difficult because I always knew he was the one. On a deep, dark level that was hidden even from me.
Dinner passed in a blur, and it wasn’t that I wasn’t enjoying my time with Paul. It was just, I knew a thing for certain now, and I had to tell Fin. No matter what came of it.
The Bentley turned back into a pumpkin carriage and started down the road to the fairy ring.
“Don’t be nervous,” Paul said. “Everything is going to turn out as it should.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
The carriage suddenly stopped just short of the fairy ring.
“This is your stop, Frogcruncher.” But the way he said it, it was a promise.
The door opened and it was Finvarra standing there in all of his fairy finery. Including that damn nimbus. Which, now, I could admit I kind of liked.
My heart was in my throat.
“I called him at the restaurant, Poppy. He’s who you should be with,” Paul said as the carriage turned back into a Bentley.
“Keep the car, Pierre.” Finvarra’s eyes didn’t leave me. “Is it true what he said?”
“I don’t know what I he said, so I don’t know if it’s true.”
“He said that you love me. That you want to go with me to the ball.”
“Then it’s true.”
“Are you sure?”
“Totally. Surprised, but sure.” I put my hands on his shoulders.
“A hundred years is going to be forever. I’m not going to let you go. It won’t be a marriage of convenience. You’ll be Poppy Connaught, Princess of the Sidhe.”
“And wicked witch extraordinaire. I want a nimbus just like yours.”
“You won’t be able to turn the damn thing off.” But he didn’t sound like he thought it was a problem. “This is your one chance to say you changed your mind. That you don’t want this. Me.”
“If you’d asked me a week ago… but no, Finvarra. I want you. Only you.”
And with that, my curse was broken with a kiss. The best kiss. The only kiss I remember. I know I’ve kissed other men, but I think his was magic.
Or he cast a spell on me, which I wouldn’t put past him.
But I didn’t have to kiss, or crunch a frog to get my happily ever after.
Amazing Magic & Mayhem Authors