Witch In Charge - Celia Kyle Page 0,45
Ken dolls.
“Someone introduce me?” Tiffany appeared by Kelly’s side, her kohl-lined eyes fixed hungrily on the band of brothers.
Kelly choked back a laugh, knowing that look all too well. She half-turned toward Rhys to introduce them, and when she looked back to Tiffany she gasped in shock. There, hanging over her friend’s head, throbbed an absolutely massive cartoon heart.
“Um, Tiff…” Kelly grimaced and stared pointedly at the heart. Everyone did.
“Huh?” Tiffany grunted dreamily. Only when she noticed Rhys staring above her head did she look up, her expression quickly shifting from adoration to mortification. “Oh.”
She tried to get rid of the heart, but as soon as she looked back at the boys, it returned. When Lock gave her a skin-crawling wink, a stream of little red hearts spurted out of the big one and spiraled around her in an adorable tornado.
Tiffany looked about as close to panic as a girl could get while still trying to save face in the presence of her crush. Or crushes, as the case seemed to be. Her cheeks darkened and she tried once more to pop the floating hearts, only to have a fluffy puppy materialize in her arms.
“Th-thank you,” Tiffany stammered, her tone strained. “I, uh, I mean… Nice to meet you. I’ll be back later. Hopefully, I’ll be sane by then.”
Cradling the puppy, she slunk away into the crowd. The brothers shared a very clear ‘wtf’ look all around.
“Thank Beelzebub that those pink hearts went away.” Rhys gave a full-body shudder.
“Hey, she was cute,” Lock objected.
The other brothers made sounds of disapproval.
“Wrong magic.” Duval stated flatly. “Aurora wears pink, but her magic is anything but. That one looks demon dark, but puppies? I mean—”
From the direction of the front door, there was a high-pitched squeal, reminiscent of a panicked piglet. Kelly’s face went white as she abruptly left the conversation and hurried to find out what the actual fuck was going on. As she rounded the corner into the foyer, Kelly skidded to a halt. Just inside the doorway, a giant rat hung in midair, held by an invisible hand that had its tail. She didn’t need to look twice—she knew him even disguised as a rat.
Poor Louie! She’d only invited him to make things right and her house had attacked him like a poorly trained dog.
“House!” she yelled, stomping her foot. “You put him down right now!”
The house groaned. It seemed to sway back and forth, the walls shimmering as if the house was breathing. It heaved and whispered. Kelly put her hands on her hips.
“You put him down and change him back or I swear I will get a team of landscapers in here, glamor them so you can’t touch them, and we will mow the fucking back gardens!”
This time the groan was more like a gasp. Louie was deposited on the floor and changed back into human form almost at the exact same time.
“Anyone I invite here is to be treated with respect, you got it?”
The house murmured but did not respond. She was about to help Louie up when a golden dragon landed in the yard. He flapped his wings mightily, roaring and breathing fire. Guests crowded to the front windows to watch him.
“Hey, Spence!” she called, waving. “How’re the wings, buddy?”
“Magnificent!” He shook his huge dragon head, rearing up on his hind legs. “I just had to stop in and say thanks!”
“Come in for a drink!” she yelled. He nodded.
“I will. I’m not done using my wings yet. Can’t get enough of that sky right now!”
Kelly’s smile stretched her face so wide it hurt. She was so happy to have helped him. It gave her confidence that she could keep working in this field and, ultimately, help Ronun.
Instead of trying to get back in the front way, Kelly took a detour around the house, noticing clumps of dancing people out on the lawn and others twisted together in the shadows. She giggled, thinking of hookups like that she had enjoyed over the years. It seemed as if everyone was having a great time and she was pleased—until she heard arguing coming from the kitchen.
“I’m telling you, you want white. Dry white. It’s pork.”
“It’s pork if its fucking lucky!” That was Nathan. “It’s a goddamn pig in a blanket. I’m willing to bet less than five percent is pork. Serve a light red.”
“No effing way! You’re out of your mind. No, wait. I’m being unfair. You simply have no taste buds,” Ryan retorted.
“Oh, shit,” she muttered as she