Don't Open That Door - GoM 1

BW - 9

Mark and Claire traded a look, shrugged and resumed their chatter. Meddling in the alphas' issues was so not among their priorities.

Alex gulped up a tequila shot, her eyes tightly shut as she bore the burn down her throat toward her chest, where her heart still raced.

She understood she'd been led into a trap and she felt the ultimate fool for falling for it like that. Her guts jerked just to think what could happen to Claire if she wasn't in shape to protect her. The thought burned harder than the tequila, filling her with a hideous mix of rage and fear she'd never felt before.

She ordered another shot, hoping to lock those upsetting emotions away, but a hand snatched it away before she could grab it. Alex set her jaw as Aidan gulped the shot up and put the empty glass back on the counter with a muffled growl.

She looked away. The receding adrenaline gave way to weariness, and she didn't feel like having an argument with Aidan. Especially after what he'd done for her.

Aidan rested his back against the counter by her side without a word. Alex swallowed a sigh and her pride. Even if she hated his guts, he'd earned her gratitude.

"Thanks for saving my ass," she muttered, avoiding eye contact.

Aidan was wise enough to fight back the smug smirk trying to take his face over. Instead, he raised his eyebrows.

"Told you I'm a knight in shiny armor, always ready to rescue a princess in distress," he replied, softening his cocky ways.

She noticed he'd said princess, not damsel. Meaning she ranked higher than the blonde he was bedding? She wasn't sure what her own bitter chuckle was about, and she wasn't interested in finding out either.

"I ain't no princess, Aidan. I'm the frigging queen of fools."

"Don't flatter yourself. You cannot be queen until you reward your savior knight like a true princess would."

Her warning glare was replied with a wink as he waved the bartender over.

"Yeah, yeah, I know a kiss is outta the question, but you still gotta humor me," he said. "So we're having a drink together, you and I, right here and now. 'Cause in case you didn't know, drinking alone after teaming up for a fight is really rude."

Alex kept staring at him with a suspicious scowl, still expecting one of his badass quips to make fun of her. But Aidan grabbed the two beers and handed her one, winking again before sipping his.

On their way back to the motel, Claire drove Alex nuts with her questions about Aidan. Lucky her, the girl gave her a momentary break when they got out of the Hilux at the same time that the brothers got out of the Challenger, parked at the next slot. But the break only lasted until they said goodnight to the Holsters and walked into their room.

"Alex Corban! You better start talking!"

"About what? I already told you we only had a beer!"

"Oh, c'mon!"

"Drop it, kiddo. I ain't poking into whatever you have going on with Mark, right? Shame on you, poor Ollie!"

"Ollie and I are taking a break."

"I can see that!"

"And Mark and I are only friends."

"Yeah, sure. Well, same here. Actually not, 'cause I'd never be friends with that cocky smartass. And lemme tell you, you and Mark? You guys don't look exactly like just friends."

"Can you be so blind? How would we be anything else if he- What're you doing?"

Alex looked up from Wilma's book open on the table, by the paper bag with the ingredients Claire had brought earlier.

"I still have to make the spell bag for you, remember? To keep Beth away," she replied, sorting the ingredients apart.

"I had no idea you knew how to do that."

"What can I say? My middle name is surprise."

"Wait, I wanna see you do it, in case I can learn anything. Coffee, tea?"

"Whatever you're having."

Claire filled the coffeemaker while Alex grabbed a glass bowl.

"Here," she said when the girl joined her back, patting the book. "Read me the recipe."

Claire would've clapped, had she not been holding the book and the mug in her hands. She read aloud happily, pausing to give Alex time to grab each thing in the right amount and drop it into the bowl.

"And that's it," she said after reading the last line. "Really? That's it?"

Her deception made Alex smile. "We're still halfway, kiddo. Now we have to burn this stinky mix while we read the spell. And then, collect the ashes and fill the spell bag."

"And where's the spell?"

"In your hands. It's the text in Latin at the end of the page."

Claire frowned, watching Alex go to their beds and search her rucksack.

"Seriously? How come witchcraft is so easy? I have most of these ingredients in our kitchen back home!"

"You'd be surprised, kiddo. However, this is a very basic white-magic spell. The more powerful the spell, the more complicated the ritual, and the ingredients are harder to get. And you wouldn't wanna know the things black magic uses."

"Oh!"

"Put your cooking skills to work and fill the bag with another set of ingredients."

"Yessir. Why?"

"Just in case."

"Makes sense." Claire worked for a whole minute in silence, hearing Alex move past the bathroom, around the beds. "Hey, Al, the book says you need a red ribbon to close the bag, but you didn't ask me to bring any."

"'Cause I always carry some with me. And the crooked thing keeps playing hide and seek with me."

"Why would you carry red ribbon with you?"

"Protection against envy. There you are!"

"What? That's superstition, Al."

"Says the one filling a spell bag?"

"Drat, you're right."

Alex chuckled, closing her rucksack.

It was then that all the lights went off.