Sage was sleeping next to her, but she also woke up when Kenzie trotted over to her suitcase to extract an outfit for the day. It was spring, and the weather was gorgeous. It wasn’t too hot or too cold; it was just right. She threw some clothes together and ran a brush through her hair before putting it up. She also applied just a tad bit of makeup. At last, she was ready. Or rather, she would be, once she silenced her protesting stomach and had some breakfast.
“Shut up, stomach,” she told it stubbornly. “As if you need to get any bigger.”
Kenzie succumbed to room service and ordered waffles. She indulged in it hastily so she could get moving for the convention. Today was the day the witches would be showcasing their ability to fly on brooms in the arena.
After she finished stuffing her face, Kenzie grabbed her camera to snap some pictures and scooted out the door, Sage at her heels. She typed the broom arena’s address into her car’s GPS and headed out, her hands ripped on the wheel in anticipation.
At last, the large arena loomed ahead. Kenzie parked her car alongside several others and looked for a good place to take some snapshots. This wasn’t like a crime scene – she couldn’t ask people to move so she could take pictures and the area wasn’t blocked off so only she could enter. People were congregated everywhere and Kenzie could hardly hear herself think over all the cacophony.
At last, she found a semi-decent place to snap pictures. She spotted Paige nearby and waved to her before making her way toward her.
“Hey!” Paige greeted her when she saw her. “Great to see you again! How are you?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
“Great! Are you ready to see the show today?”
“Definitely. I wouldn’t miss it!”
“You know you can sign up to ride too, right?”
“What? No, I had no idea.”
“Oh yeah, it should’ve been in the brochure but they probably hid it for liability reasons. If you want, you can pay a fee to ride on a broom through the arena. Think of it like riding an elephant or something around its pen.”
“That does sound great, but…well, I’m terrified of heights.”
“Really? You? You’ve put criminals away, very dangerous criminals, and you’re scared of heights?”
“It doesn’t make any sense to me either.”
The two laughed together before a voice came over the loudspeaker announcing that the show was about to begin. Kenzie backed up and got her camera ready. She was seriously considering facing her fear of heights and just going for it in the broom arena, but somehow she didn’t think that would be the best idea. She’d probably end up embarrassing herself. The last time she’d had to be somewhere high, she’d broken into tears and run away in humiliation. Sure, that was several years ago, back when she was a teenager, but she didn’t want to endure that again. The height, or the mortification.
Plus, she had no idea how those brooms worked. For all she knew she’d have to fully control it and she had no idea how. It was best to avoid it.
Still, the show was an entertaining one. Paige soared through the arena with ease, making it look like child’s play. She even daringly stood on the broom at one point, making Kenzie and the crowd gasp in awe.
Kenzie snapped pictures aggressively until she heard Sage’s low growl. She surveyed the area but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. But Sage’s warning snarls didn’t subside.
“What is it, girl?” Kenzie asked as she knelt down next to her companion. Sage’s animal instincts were picking up on something that Kenzie couldn’t detect. What was it?
She was about to dismiss Sage’s erratic actions until she spotted him. The handsome stranger from yesterday. That was all she could think to classify him as considering she didn’t even know his name.
She was surprised to see him there, considering his dislike of supernatural creatures. Still, her heart skipped a beat when he noticed her and began walking toward her. What did he want? What was he doing? And why did she care?
The closer he got, the harder her heart pounded. She was officially pathetic. Good thing Jillian wasn’t around; she knew exactly what she’d say.
“You again,” he said by way of greeting. Sage’s growling eased up, but she was sniffing the guy in a pretty invasive manner.
“Yes, me again,” Kenzie replied. “You too.”
“Yeah, me too.” He grinned. Her pulse quickened.
“Sage, stop that,” she giggled nervously as Sage’s sniffing persisted. What the hell was she doing? Did he even smell good? She seriously needed to chill out.
The guy laughed too. “It’s okay, I like dogs.”
“I’m glad. Uh…by the way, I didn’t catch your name yesterday.”
“Hayden.”
“Oh. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Hayden. I’m…”
“Kenzie Howell, I know.”
“You, you do?”
“Yeah, I work for our local newspaper. I’ve done a few stories on you. Just things like what cases you’ve closed and the like.”
“Oh, well, hi.”
“Hello.”
Geez, she sounded like a total imbecile. But at least she knew why she cared so much – she’d been denying it since yesterday but it was obvious. Kenzie had a huge crush on Hayden. She didn’t even know him except that he was a reporter for the local newspaper. And he didn’t like supernatural creatures (but he did like dogs).
At that moment, Paige returned with her broom. “So, are you going to try it?” she inquired to Kenzie with a smile. Never mind that she’d been literally flying high only moments ago; her hair was still in perfect shape. Either she’d used a ridiculous amount of hair spray or her powers also allowed her to have perfect hair.
“Uh…I don’t think so,” Kenzie politely declined. “I’d love to, but heights and I just don’t mix.”
“That’s too bad, because it’s really fun once you get the hang of it.”
“You must be new in town,” Hayden cut in.
“Yeah,” Paige replied, maintaining her cheerful demeanor. “I’m from Lucky Palms but I’m in town for the convention.”
Hayden nodded. “You were pretty good on that thing.” He gestured to her broom.
“Thanks, but I’ve had a lot of practice.”
“Practice makes perfect.”
Great. Was Hayden flirting with Paige? That just figured. Kenzie actually got a crush on someone and admitted it, and he started flirting with someone else. Or maybe he was just being friendly. She was doing exactly what Jillian warned her not to do – overanalyze things.
Besides, Kenzie’s priority right now was her PI permit. The last thing she needed was a boyfriend.
Still, she decided to do something about at least one of her fears. “You know what, Paige?” she said, confidently putting her hand on her hip. “I think I will try out that arena.”
“Really? Awesome! Come on, let me get you in line and signed up.”
Kenzie followed Paige as her stomach twisted in knots. What was she trying to prove? That she was just as good on a broom as Paige, the witch who had been flying on one probably since she was a child? Yep, she was pathetic.
Still, she was surprised when she heard Hayden say, “Be careful. The last thing we need is someone getting hurt during the very first supernatural convention.”
Right. Because he was concerned about the revelation of supernatural creatures having a negative impact on humans. Wonderful.
Kenzie paid the small fee and was fixed up on a broom in no time. Paige told her how it worked, and as she suspected, she was in control. Thankfully, the brooms were magically enchanted to not go out of the arena. That made Kenzie feel a lot better.
At the sound of the buzzer, Kenzie gripped the broom tightly and allowed it to levitate, along with the other patrons inside the arena. She had to admit, defying gravity was somewhat exhilarating.
When she got as high as she was comfortable with, Kenzie followed Paige’s instructions to direct the broom forward. She shot forward faster than she’d expected, quickly navigating the broom to the side to avoid hitting the arena bars. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she heard Hayden once again tell her to be careful (though his voice was slightly drowned out by the noise in the crowd).
After a while, Kenzie began enjoying herself. She was starting to get the hang of it when the buzzer sounded again, indicating her time was up. She came back down to the ground as the crowd cheered.
She stepped off the broom and exited the arena, hearing Sage’s shrill barks and seeing Paige’s smiling face. She was clapping enthusiastically as Kenzie approached.
“Great job!” she declared. “I never would have guessed you were afraid of heights!”
“I’m just glad I didn’t crash,” Kenzie added with a chortle. “That was really something.”
“The only way to fly! Or travel in any form if you ask me.”
Hayden sauntered up to them then and said, “Great job, Ms. Howell. I wasn’t expecting that from you.”
“Thanks.”
“I asked her yesterday if she was a witch,” Paige added, “but she swears up and down that she isn’t. I don’t know, maybe she is and she just doesn’t know it. And maybe Sage is her familiar.”
“Paige, I swear, I’m not a witch. Besides, isn’t that hereditary?”
“Yeah, true. I don’t know, I guess I just can’t get over how awesome you are as a human, what with capturing countless crooks and saving people all the time.”
“Me? Awesome?”
“Of course!”
“Damn right,” Hayden blurted at the same time. Both women turned to face him as he turned his face away, as though in embarrassment.
“Uh…well, thanks,” Kenzie said. “Both of you.”
Paige smiled but Hayden continued to avert his eyes. What was up with that? Maybe Sage’s animal instincts could figure that out. In fact, she hadn’t stopped sniffing him yet.
“Sage, what is wrong with you?” she chastised as she reached for her dog. Sage looked at her with eyes that held a message, but what that message was, she couldn’t understand.
Just then, the loudspeaker announced that withes could now partake in a spell casting duel (with basic ground rules, the most obvious being this isn’t a duel to the death).
“I’m off!” Paige announced. She grabbed her wand and headed for a separate arena. Kenzie followed, and found Hayden coming with her.
“I thought you weren’t into this,” she observed.
“I’m not, really. I guess I’m just paranoid.”
“Maybe it’s a good thing that all these supernatural creatures are out in the open.”
“I hope so. Sorry about my attitude yesterday. I didn’t mean to sound like a total ass.”
“Oh, it’s okay. I have bad days like that too.”
Hayden smiled that dashing grin once more. Hopefully he couldn’t hear the effect this had on her heart rate.
“And,” he added, “sorry if I crossed a line earlier. You really are awesome, the way you always manage to catch the bad guy in your cases.”
Oh. So that’s what he’d meant. Of course. But she thanked him anyway.
At last, the spell casting duel began. Paige was pitted against a determined-looking witch (also dressed up in full witch garb like Miranda had been the day before), and the sparks literally began flying. Kenzie remembered the last time she’d seen this – in Barnacle Bay when two witches were fighting to the death over one guy. At least this was purely for entertainment purposes.
When it was over, Paige stated that she was returning to the warehouse to try to sell some more items. Tonight, the vampires would come out to demonstrate some of their abilities. Kenzie had no desire to see that, considering she already had several times.
Trying to decide what else to do, Kenzie was surprised when Hayden asked her, “Hey, I still feel bad about running into you yesterday and then acting like a dick. Can I make it up to you by taking you out to lunch? I’d like to get to know the real you.”
“The real me?”
“Sure, the person I’ve been writing about for so long but haven’t met.”
Kenzie giggled like a giddy schoolgirl. “Okay, that sounds nice. But I did eat at the restaurant last night.”
“No problem, I know just the place for you.”
Kenzie could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. She didn’t know where Hayden planned on taking her, but she was excited at just the thought of it.
This vacation was looking better and better. It was said that things normally got worse before they got better. It was looking like this trip was going to be the best one ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment