Witch In Charge - Celia Kyle Page 0,57
one surprised. Kalliope let out a startled gasp as Owyn slid into the booth beside her, essentially pinning her to the wall. Kelly was right behind him and slid in beside Ronun, instinctively putting a protective hand on his knee.
“What the…” Ronun started to speak, but the snarling of Owyn’s quiet voice shut the whole table right up.
“I thought I told you never to come back here.”
He glared at Kalliope, who squirmed closer to the wall to escape his contained wrath. As much as she tried to smile and laugh it all off, it was clear she knew she was in hot water.
“What is this, Kalliope?” Ronun was thrown, but clamped a palm over Kelly’s hand. The feel of his warm, protective grip let her know how much he needed her there.
“It’s nothing,” the trapped witch said with a wave calculated to look casual.
“Nothing?” It had always been clear that nobody should cross Owyn Stahagan, and the wannabe curse breaker was right in his crosshairs. “I exposed you as a fraud and a charlatan months ago. Not only that, I told you in no uncertain terms that if you ever set foot in the Judiciary again, the consequences would be dire. Yet, here you are, peddling your bogus services.”
“Bogus services?” Ronun looked stung.
“Ooh, this is gonna be good,” Kelly said, enthralled with the drama unfolding before her. She'd never seen Owyn so pissed off and Kalliope looked like a cornered wild animal.
“How dare you call what I do bogus, you old goat!”
“How much?” Owyn wasn’t taking the bait. There was no way she would get under his skin with some simple name calling. He was too focused for that.
“My finances are none of your—”
“How much?” He ignored her, firing the question directly at the injured party. The genuine curse breaker was not to be denied.
“Holy shit, this is thrilling.” All Kelly needed was a tub of over-buttered popcorn.
“Ten grand,” Ronun said flatly.
“Ten thousand dollars?” Owyn was livid.
Kalliope really writhed in her seat. The jig was up. When he turned the full fury of his gaze back on her, the table itself nearly shook in terror.
“I want you to know something, Miss Le Blanc,” he said. “I’m in a good mood.” He sure didn’t sound like it, and Kalliope swallowed hard. “If I wasn’t, I’d have the security guard here take you straight down to the dungeons. As it’s after hours, you’d be able to sit and think about what you’ve done before they come in to work on you.”
The way he said those last three words chilled Kelly to the marrow. All she’d ever suffered under this man were some stern words and hard looks. Now he was proving what she had always known—Owyn Stahagan was a fucking badass! And it was terrifying.
“But you wouldn’t do that to me, would you, Owyn?”
Did she just bat her eyes at him? The audacity!
“No, I wouldn’t,” he smiled back, venom dripping as he matched her flirtatious tone. “Because you’re going to pay back every penny you took from this man.”
“I— What?!”
“You heard me,” he leaned in so close Kalliope had to smell whatever he'd eaten last. “You knew the whole thing was a sham and bilked this poor man out of ten thousand dollars anyway. You’re going to give every penny of it back.”
“Oh, snap!” Kelly whispered. Yeah, she was totally the kind of girl who talked during movies. But this was the coolest thing she had ever seen!
“Miss Holloway, please.” Owyn put up a hand without looking at her.
“Yeah, babe,” Ronun patted her hand. “Not now.”
“Sorry.”
With a sudden move, Kalliope reached behind her and opened a portal on the wall. The old man might have her penned in place, but she was about to apparate right on out of there. It was a daring move, given the proximity, but the cunning witch might just get out of the tight spot, if she was fast enough.
She wasn't.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Owyn clapped a palm down hard on the table, blocking the spell. The portal whistled shut, clamping down hard around Kalliope’s forearm.
“Ow!” Now she was genuinely caught.
Kelly winced. She’d never been pinched in a closed portal herself, but she could imagine it hurt like a bitch. Given the way the trapped woman writhed, it probably hurt even worse than that.
“Pay him. Now.” For a second, nobody moved. “Either you pay this man or I will have him take you downstairs. With or without the other half of your arm.”
This old guy was a