“Excellent questions. Yes, I am dating someone right now.” She smiled, showing off perfect white teeth. “Actually, scratch that. I’m dating a couple of guys. Why limit ourselves to just one?”
The audience howled with laughter.
“Do they know each other?” the question-asker asked.
“They do and frankly, I think sometimes they might like each other more than they like me if you know what I mean.” She winked as the crowd laughed again. “I try not to take my love life too seriously. There are so many other things in our lives that are important. I don’t believe the focus of anyone’s life should be a man. I mean, are we the focus of their lives?”
“Hell, no,” the woman replied firmly.
“There are some exceptions, of course,” Selina continued. “Very, very, very few exceptions. But all in all, what should we do with most men?”
She held the microphone out to the audience.
“Curse that creep!” was the unified reply.
“This may be the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my existence,” Darrak said. “And trust me, that’s saying something.”
Eden raised her eyebrows. It was like a cult. A white, sparkly, man-hating cult.
“As far as my past—” Selina smiled like the Cheshire Cat. “Has my heart been broken into a million pieces? Of course it has. Such heartbreak has made me the woman you see before you today. I’ve lived. I’ve loved. I’ve worked my magic on many men.”
“That’s an understatement,” Darrak said unpleasantly.
“One cannot come out of such a romantic history unscathed. But now I know what to do to protect my heart for all eternity and to help you do the same. A little white magic sprinkled through our lives today can save us picking up the pieces of our broken hearts in the future.”
“White magic?” Darrak scoffed. “If that’s what she thinks she does she’s living in a dream world.”
“Maybe she’s changed,” Eden countered quietly so no one other than Darrak could hear her.
“Not possible.”
But the longer Eden listened to what Selina Shaw had to say, the more she became a believer. And it wasn’t all about magic. Sure there were some cute little spells involving candles and flowers and meditative walks through nature, but there didn’t seem to be anything particularly evil about what the Love Witch was selling.
After the Q&A, Selina launched into a reading that only cemented Eden’s feelings about the author.
“She’s kind of awesome,” Eden said quietly, her arms crossed. “I don’t know what she was like in the past but I think she’s changed. She’ll help us if we ask her to.”
“Is that your psychic read at the moment?” He sounded sarcastic.
“I don’t need psychic abilities to tell me she’s changed. Don’t you think it’s possible at all?”
“She—” Darrak began and then was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know. It’s possible, I guess. But unlikely. When I knew her—”
“That was a long time ago. I’m going to get her books. Just relax and let me talk to her.”
Despite Eden’s attempt to talk quietly to herself, a woman holding a stack of books gave her a strange look.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Darrak said. “Maybe we should leave.”
Eden got in the line. “No. Not yet. Just relax and let me handle this.”
“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She ignored the sensation of unease that flowed through her mostly from the demon. The line shuffled forward slowly. Selina sat behind a table draped in red fabric, piles of her books on either side of her. As readers reached her she spent a few moments talking to them, grasping their hands in hers and squeezing, a broad, friendly smile on her face. There wasn’t one moment when her friendly exterior slipped. Was it the real her? Or was she just a really good actress?
Finally Eden reached her. Selina looked up.
“Hi,” Eden squeaked. She hadn’t realized how nervous she was until she spoke.
“Hi there.” Selina reached forward and took her hand. She wore many rings on her fingers as well as a large gray-stoned pendant on a long gold chain that fell between her ample cleavage. “Thank you for coming to see me tonight.”
Eden searched for something casual to say in response. “I wish I’d known about you six months ago.”
Selina studied her. “When your fiancé was unfaithful to you?”
Eden’s eyes widened. “Wow, you’re good. How did you know that?”
“I’m the Love Witch, of course. I can tell these things just by touching your hand.” Then she frowned slightly and cocked her head to the side. “That’s strange…”
“Eden—” Darrak said quietly. “I think it’s time to go. Right now.”
“Silentium!” Selina’s voice rose and her grip on Eden’s hand grew very painful. She rose to her feet. “You dare bring that thing anywhere near me?”
Eden could barely breathe. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She looked around to see if somebody might help her but no one even looked in their direction. The lineup behind her continued to wait patiently. Browsers in other parts of the store kept browsing. People entered and left through the front doors by the cashier area.
She couldn’t feel Darrak’s presence anymore.
Selina stormed around to the other side of the table and grasped Eden’s upper arms before she could back away from the witch.
“Why can’t anyone see what’s going on?” Eden looked around again, panic welling in her chest. “Why can’t I feel…” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t want to say it out loud.
Darrak was right. She was dangerous. Evil. And Eden had gotten too close.
“Why can’t you feel the demon inside of you anymore?” Selina finished for her. “Because I just dampened his sorry ass.”
Eden opened her mouth to say something in reply, but nothing came out.
“I can’t believe this,” Selina said, starting to pace the small area in front of her signing table. “This is horrible. Absolutely horrible. All these years and he’s still existed? I should have known.” She turned to Eden and grabbed her shoulders to shake her. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” Eden managed.
“Yes!” She shook her head. “You poor, poor thing. I’m sorry if I scared you. You’ve obviously been through so much. But I’ve been able to dampen him. We have some time. I can get rid of him right now.”
“Wait a minute. What are you talking about?”