Warlock's Charm Read Free Page A

for
him, she cradled him in her hands and smiled.
    “Just relax, Mr. Stopper. Soon you will be back to your old
self and your days as a living doll will just be a memory. I’m sorry you had to
fall victim to my magic but I had to find a way to hear for myself what Damien
had planned for me. On the upside, I’ll put you and Mr. White together so you
can keep each other company, I’m sure that will please you greatly.” She smiled
when Stopper started to scream another stream of ear-burning obscenities at
her.
    If Damien planned to ensnare her in a bewitching trap of his
own making she’d just have to beat him at his own game and enslave him to her
before he could work the same diabolical magical curse on her.
    She would not bow to him—she could never bow to any man,
least of all a man whose great-grandfather had burned her grandmother at the
stake during the Bloodbayne Terror. She would see Damien’s passions ignite. The
torch he held for her would blaze for her, and only her.
    “Don’t worry, Mr. Stopper, everything will go back to the
way it was, and I will release you from your current unfortunate form. I just
need to work a few things out with Damien, but I will not have you interfering
with any of it. Do you understand?”
    She waited until he gave her a meek and mild “yes” and then
she tossed him into the same drawer that she’d placed White in, leaving it open
a smidgeon so they would not suffocate. She could have put them both in
Damien’s curio cabinet but that would be far too good for White and she
couldn’t take the chance that Damien would recognize Stopper in his doll form.
    She stood up. Stretching, she yawned as the Westminster
chime of the grandfather clock marked the top of the hour. The soothing chime
settled her strained nerves.
    It would be so good to finally purge her blood of the rage
that boiled through it. She despised Damien and yet she could not stop loving
him. It frustrated her to no end and she would never forgive her heart for
betraying her in such a foul way.
    She’d grown stronger in the months they’d been apart. She’d
held her breath the first time he’d seen her earlier that morning. He’d eyed
her quizzically and to her profound relief, he’d opened his mouth to arrogantly
snap out orders to her.
    In a way, she had to feel sorry for poor Mr. Stopper. He was
used and abused by Damien in a most foul way. Damien treated him as if he had a
bias toward those not imbued with magic.
    She knew the only reason Stopper put up with his shit was
because Damien paid very well despite his sometimes asinine behavior. And she
also suspected that Stopper had fallen in love with Damien in the years that
he’d worked for him.
    Back before their nuptials, Anya had been introduced to
Stopper and he’d given her the distinct impression that he felt something other
than just blind loyalty toward Damien—and it made her suspect that Stopper
loved Damien though it was an unrequited love as Damien only had eyes for the
female sex. Nonetheless, Stopper remained with Damien through thick and thin,
she only wished that he would one day break himself free of Damien and one day
find the love he deserved.
    As her life had unraveled at the seams back on Vanguard IV,
she’d clung to her love for Damien. As if it would somehow keep her breathing
and keep her going despite the fact that she just wanted to disappear and
remain alone.
    She should have returned to Earth, to be with what family
she had left there, but she couldn’t bear to face them. How would they react
when they learned what she’d done?
    In her heart of hearts she knew that her cousin Dallas would
never judge. They were like sisters, and Dallas had never judged another soul,
she was as sweet as they came. Dallas’ father and Dallas’ brother, on the other
hand, might.
    She was so ashamed. She never should have fallen prey to
Damien’s charm. She should have suspected he wasn’t telling her everything
about his family history,