Spellbooks and Shortbread by Denise D. Young

Author:Denise D. Young [Young, Denise D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christmas romance; fae romance; holiday romance; paranormal romance; single father; small town paranormal romance; secret identity romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2021-08-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Magnus frowned. He stepped around the sofa, almost seeming to put himself between me and the hallway—protecting Kenzie, no doubt.

“I would never, ever hurt your daughter,” I assured him. “I don’t hurt people. That’s not what I do.”

“You steal from people, though.”

“Bad people. I steal…” I sighed. “No. I’m tired. I’m tired of justifying it. The truth is they pay me, and I do their bidding.”

He narrowed his eyes, the brown deepening from warm chocolate to coffee without so much as a drop of cream. “Whose bidding?”

I snorted. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

He crossed the room in wide strides. He was tall, and I was suddenly aware of my short stature. He towered over me, demanding answers.

“I invited you into my home, Juniper. Where my daughter is asleep. Are you joking? Making this up? You think it’s funny?”

“Nothing about this is funny,” I snapped. “It’s not a joke.”

“Tell me the truth,” he growled. I didn’t think he was the sort who got angry often.

“It would be easier if I showed you.”

I was still clad in his robe and Kenzie’s playfully patterned socks, but at that moment, I didn’t care. Before I could second guess what I was about to do, I opened the door and headed downstairs, toward the back room of the bookstore and the safe I’d spotted earlier that day.

“Juniper!” Magnus huffed after me as I went. “June,” he hissed again.

Downstairs, I twisted the knob to the office of the bookstore, but it didn’t turn.

He leaned against the bottom of the banister, crossing his arms. “It’s locked.”

“Watch,” I said.

What I was about to do violated a dozen or so rules of the fae—and a few dozen rules of the magical community in general—when dealing with non-magical humans. Mortals.

But I wanted Magnus to know, to understand. Why, I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t bring myself to board that train of thought.

I held my hand out so my palm hovered a couple of inches from the brass doorknob. And then I unleashed my magic.

Green wisps of magic flickered around my palm, like emerald-hued flames. They encircled the doorknob, finding their way into the locking mechanism.

It clicked open mere seconds later with a subtle pop.

I let the magic dissipate and then twisted the knob again. This time, it turned easily at my touch.

“Voila,” I said, deadpan.

The spell cast, I turned to him. What would I see on his face? Fear? Contempt? Panic?

“Did you just…?” His voice trailed off as he gestured at the now-open door.

“Yup. If you think that was wild, want to see me crack the safe?”

I flipped on the light inside the office. It revealed the safe, an old, weathered rolltop desk, a couple of metal file cabinets, and a small console table with an electric tea kettle surrounded by assorted mugs and tea tins.

Magnus peered at me, but he didn’t seem angry anymore. “You’re what, some sort of witch?”

I shook my head. “No. Witches are human. I’m a faerie.”

His eyes widened. “I guess all those stories my uncle told me as a kid are true, then.

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