Once Upon Stilettos

“I came here with one of your own employees,” Idris said with a smirk. “Says a lot about your company loyalty, doesn’t it?”



While watching Idris for signs of treachery, I noticed Ari’s wings moving away. The little rat was trying to sneak out of this. Not on my watch, I vowed. I slipped through the crowd toward her, trying to keep an eye on her while also watching for any illusions or other magic that might be a danger to Owen or Merlin. The bitch had taken my powers, enchanted me, and screwed around with my life. She was not going to get away with it.



“It says something about that particular employee,” Merlin said. “Don’t assume it says anything about the rest of us.” His eyes scanned the crowd, like he was looking for who the traitor might be. Ari moved faster.



I knew I couldn’t keep up with her if she used her wings, and if she got away without being exposed, we’d be right back to the widespread paranoia and suspicion that had swamped the company when we first learned we had a traitor. “Hold it right there!” I shouted to her back. “Stop her!”



Isabel was standing closest to Ari, and she looked at me in shock and horror. “Katie?” she asked softly, and I could feel every head in the room swivel to look at me.



Ari, ever the schemer, turned to look at me with wide, innocent eyes. “What are you talking about, Katie? You aren’t trying to create a distraction, are you?”



That was a low blow, even for her, one I hadn’t been anticipating. “Wha—?” was all I could say.



“Who would have guessed it of sweet little Katie? Investigating the traitor, when the whole time, you’re the one stirring up trouble. It seems like in the last month, you’ve dated half the company, broken up a lifelong friendship, and now you’re trying to frame me?” With an air of affronted innocence, she looked around at the enthralled crowd. “Maybe you should ask her where she got those pretty red shoes, and what she’s doing with them. How else do you think she got all those men interested in her? She’s had her eyes on Owen Palmer since before she joined the company, and she’s stopped at nothing to get him, even if it takes getting someone to put a Cinderella spell on her shoes to make him want her.”



By this time, I was well over my shock and on my way to anger. “How would you know the shoes are enchanted?” I asked.



“Please! Like he’d see someone like you any other way? I wish I’d thought of it. If you didn’t have him under a spell, he wouldn’t notice if you threw yourself at him.”



I kicked off my shoes and tossed them at two nearby people. “Do they seem enchanted to you?” I asked them. I felt a lot shorter in my stocking feet, but I was also better prepared to run if I had to give chase.



She wasn’t done, though. In fact, she seemed surprisingly confident, probably because she knew for a fact that the shoes had been enchanted. “You may not have noticed the enchantment, since you’re immune. Or are you? Maybe you’ve been lying about that, too.”



The crowd parted, and soon Merlin was standing beside me. “Katie, is this true?”



Wishing I’d been honest with him sooner, I said, “Yes, sir. It was. I completely lost my immunity for a couple of weeks. It turned out someone had been drugging me. The water in my building was tainted, and then the effect was reinforced with enchanted candy sent to me by my secret Santa.”



“Ari!” Isabel blurted out, moving to block any possible path for Ari to escape. Then she turned to Merlin. “It was Ari. I assigned her to Katie because I thought it would be fun among friends.”



“But now I’m okay,” I added. “Totally back to normal.”



“Why didn’t you say something?” Merlin asked me, sounding disappointed.



“I was afraid I’d lose my job, so I kept waiting and hoping it was temporary. And then, once we found the source, well, we figured that the only person who’d know about it would be the one who did it.”



“That was my idea, sir,” Owen’s voice called out from behind us, loud and clear. Every head in the room turned. Most of them had probably never heard Owen speak before tonight, let alone speak that loudly and firmly. “It was part of our plan.”



Now Merlin looked amused. “Your plan? Please, let’s discuss this.”



Ari tried to back away. “You’re going to believe her? She was lying to you.”



“At least she wasn’t conking people on the head and leaving them tied up in a broom closet,” a male voice said from the top of the stairs. I turned, along with everyone else in the room, to see Ethan and Trix at the top of the stairs. Both of them looked bedraggled and dazed.