Carve My Pumpkin (The Night Realm: Halloween Marked #3)

Chapter 19

NINETEEN

COLETTE

“I knew it.” Mateo stopped just inside Peggy Bow’s private workshop in the back of her store. He pointed in front of him. “You brought me here to sacrifice me to the angels.”

I snort-laughed and shoved him aside so I could see what he saw. “Shut up, butthead.”

“ Butthead? ” He scowled. “No one has called me a butthead since middle school.”

“Maybe not to your face.” I frowned.

He turned to face me. “What movie is that from?”

“ Legally Blonde, ” Peggy said from right behind me. She slipped around me with a giggle, her strawberry blonde hair bouncing with every step. “Elle Woods says it in the car to Luke Owen’s character.”

Mateo cocked his head to the side. “I don’t think that’s his name—oh, I see. You mean to confuse and distract me so I won’t see the spell coming.”

Peggy cackled like a movie villain.

His face fell. “That’s not reassuring, Peggy.”

I snort-laughed again.

Mateo shook his head and put his hands on his hips. “I hope you’re getting something good from the angels with my sacrifice.”

“Oh, who are we sacrificing?”

Mateo and I turned to find Bash leaning in the doorway, his big body filling the entire door frame basically. The light streaming in from behind him made his long pale-blue hair look whiter while making his eyes even more vibrant blue. He just watched us with open curiosity as he peeled a wrapper off a cupcake and bit half of it at once.

“Me, Bash. Me. Look.” Mateo pointed to the middle of the room. “Tell me this isn’t an altar for sacrificing me to God or the angels.”

I finally followed his stare to the altar in question . . . and grimaced. He wasn’t wrong. The wooden work table had been cleared off except for a circle of salt with only one opening of about four inches. Inside the circle were crystals of every color, several different types of flower petals, a lush green vine with thorns, and small piles of herbs. Peggy sat on a stool behind the table with an evil smile on her face.

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing . . . and failed. “Okay, he might be on to something. All you need is blood?—”

“Oh, the blood comes during the spell.”

Mateo and I gasped.

Bash cackled. He strolled over to stand beside Peggy. “Mother, this is more of a ritual than a spell, is it not?”

She grimaced. “The word ritual freaks people out.”

“Yup. I’m about to be sacrificed. Well, I guess it’s good to keep Araqiel and Zuriel happy.”

Peggy scoffed. “Please. All Araqiel needs is a taco.”

Bash pursed his lips and nodded. “I think Zuriel would prefer to kill his sacrifices himself.”

Something heavy banged on the door. Loudly.

Mateo’s face paled.

The door opened . . . and Zuriel walked in.

My eyes widened. The whole room went quiet. The air seemed to grow colder. I’d never been able to see an aura, but suddenly there they were clear as day, like flashing signs. A cloud of color hovered around each of them. Sadly, I never learned what they meant, so I was still clueless. But it was like Zuriel’s angel power overruled whatever made me a fae failure and gave me a glimpse at what I should’ve been able to see.

Zuriel glared at us. His big white angel wings fluttered at his back, and with the all-black outfit and overall energy around the angel, he was the definition of intimidation. Then he smirked. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself. The timing was too good.”

Bash threw his head back and cackled. He clapped his hands. “Amazing.”

I exhaled in a rush, then pressed my hands to my chest to try and comfort the heart he’d just stopped. “Oh my God.”

“No, I’m Zuriel, but I get why you’d be confused.”

“Dammit, Zuriel.” Mateo leaned over and put his hands on his knees. “I think I died for a second.”

Bash grinned. “That was greatly enjoyable. Thank you. I needed the dopamine boost today.”

Peggy buried her head in her hands.

“Anyways, I’m here for Bastien.” Zuriel looked to the fae prince and current ruler of Third Realm. “I was hoping you could help me with Prince Riven.”

Peggy and Mateo cursed.

Bash’s grin widened. “Happy to help. I find him entertaining and fascinating.”

“Excellent. Come with me?—”

“Can I have just a moment?” Bash pointed to Peggy. “She needs my help with this ritual.”

“This spell stopped working shortly after Tephine died. I was hoping Bash’s presence would make it work?”

Zuriel nodded. “It will, but Bastien cannot be in here for the whole spell or it’ll only show you Collins.”

Peggy nodded. “Understood.”

Zuriel arched one black eyebrow at Bash. “Bastien, you’ve got sixty seconds, then meet me outside.”

“Be right there?—”

And then Zuriel was gone.

Mateo cursed. “Bash, you’re not afraid of him?”

Bash chuckled. “I am going to make him my best friend. I just decided.”

“Come on. Let’s hurry so he doesn’t decide he wants a sacrifice after all.” Peggy winked. “Bash, just stay right there. Mateo, sit on the stool.”

I cleared my throat. “Should I wait outside?”

“No, stay.” Mateo gave me a small smile.

Bash pointed across from him. “Park it.”

I hurried over and stood beside Mateo. “Okay, now what?”

“Mateo, stick your left arm inside the circle opening. Lay your arm up, soulmate mark out and visible.”

He did as she asked. “Will this hurt?”

“Physically, it shouldn’t.”

Bash giggled. “This sounds fun.”

Peggy smiled as she quickly started sitting all of those ingredients onto Mateo’s arm. “It never hurt before, but after Tephine’s death, I cannot be sure.”

Mateo looked nauseated. Beads of sweat dripped down his temples. “Okay. I’m cool. This is cool.”

“What do we do?”

“Nothing. Colette, put your hand on his shoulder. Mateo, just don’t move.” Peggy looked up to Bash. “Son, your flames around the circle please?”

“ Flames? ” Mateo’s voice raised.

“They won’t touch you.”

I gripped Mateo’s shoulder. He smiled up at me. I stared into his sapphire eyes. Then blue flames danced around the circle. We both gasped and flinched, then looked away.

Peggy smiled. “Thank you, Son. Now, don’t keep Zuriel waiting. But be careful!”

“Of course, Mother.” He kissed her cheek, then waved to us before rushing out the door.

“Right, okay, so this spell I made when I was young to help a friend. It works the best when the soulmate in question is fae. That’s when we get the clearest answer, so let’s hope your girl is fae.”

I’m fae. Kind of.

I frowned.

Why did I just think that? This isn’t going to say it’s me, Colette. You know this already.

“I’m going to recite the spell, then we should see a visual of her face.”

My stomach rolled. Panic surged inside of me so strongly that I felt the need to run away even while that emotion made no logical sense to me, unless I was picking up on Mateo’s energy. Peggy was chanting her spell. I heard her words echo in my mind, but I was too busy hanging on the cliff into a nervous breakdown.Suddenly I was terrified of this answer, and I wasn’t going to get the time to dissect that feeling before the end. A silvery cloud of mist shot out of his arm like fireworks, but then little flashes of color burst from within. I sucked in a deep breath and held it.

And then a girl’s face appeared within the silver cloud, as clear as if she were standing there in front of us—as if it were a photograph or a video chat.

My breath left me in a rush.

It was a gorgeous young-looking woman with dark-green hair and green eyes. The high cheekbones and pointed ears confirmed she was, in fact, a fae.

I gasped in my mind. A Fae? Is it me? Wait— I know it’s not me. She’s a dark-green-haired fae while I’m a blonde fae. I don’t have a soulmate mark either.

Wait.

Oh no. I really did want it to be me, didn’t I? I thought this was just a crush. I thought I still had a chance to hang on to my heart after last night. But I don’t, do I? I’ve fallen for him hook, line, and sinker, haven’t I? Is that my problem right now? My heart was pounding in my chest so hard I was starting to feel lightheaded. It was like I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t take a breath in. I gripped Mateo’s shoulder harder, fisting the material of his thick sweater in my hand. Oh, no, no, no. This can’t be right. This isn’t happening! He’s my boss. He’s a Vauntero, a prince. A realm royal. I’m just a fae failure who can’t fly.

I saw the signs far, far too late.

I had strong, very real, feelings for Mateo Vauntero.

I’d fallen for the most emotionally unavailable man ever . . . He had a soulmate.

What am I gonna do? How am I supposed to work with him now?

WAIT.

I can’t.

My mind was whirling with strategy and schemes for self-preservation. I couldn’t let Mateo know I had feelings for him. He did not need to know since there was no way it was reciprocated. But even if it were, he had a soulmate. His heart and soul were taken. Forever. Once he found her, this would feel like a bomb detonating for me. I wouldn’t be able to travel with him. It would hurt too much. But I’d still be able to work. As a matter of fact, Kallahan and Orson worked in the travel department Mateo started. They traveled. I could easily request that Mateo make Kallahan hire me as his executive assistant, otherwise I’d continue to be the third wheel forever. I just had to help Mateo close the deal on his soulmate.

I had to keep up a good impression, so I pulled out my tablet and snapped a picture of the girl’s face, then with a few short taps on my screen, I sent a copy of the image to Mateo.

“Wow.” Mateo exhaled, then scrubbed his face with his hands. “So that’s her. That’s what she looks like. Right?”

I cleared my throat. “Thanks, Peggy. This is a huge help.”

She grinned and waved me off. “It’s what we do for each other. Now, do you need any other spells?”

Mateo looked to me with wide eyes like a sad, confused puppy.

I swallowed through the hot lump of emotion in my throat. “I don’t know. Maybe? But I think we need to process all of this while we look around for her?—”

“Don’t forget, she could be back in Las Vegas right now.”

My stomach turned.

“Well, she’s not a siren, so I guess we just got out of going underwater for their haunted house.”

I opened my mouth, then shut it and nodded.

Mateo scowled. “I don’t understand one thing . . . Colette, we saw the playback of Ria’s looking glass spell. We saw everyone I saw before the mark appeared. That girl wasn’t there.”

I cursed. “You’re right. She wasn’t. How is that possible? We’ve watched it a few times now. We would’ve seen her.”

Peggy cleared her throat. “Maybe she’s a jinn? That is part fae so this spell working makes sense. Jinns can make themselves invisible whenever they want. Torren and Indi do it, so maybe that’s how you didn’t see her?”

“She does have wild colored hair like them, so it tracks?” I bit my lip. “I could reach out to the sisters and see if they recognize her or have any ideas?”

He rubbed his hands together and leapt to his feet. His eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky. “We finally have our first real lead, even if it’s not as clear cut as we’d hoped. We can talk to the jinn sisters, and we can show Bash when he gets back. If she’s a fae he might be our best bet.”

Peggy nodded. “I’ll let him know you’re in need of him as soon as he returns.”

Mateo smiled. “Thank you, Peggy. You’re the best.”