“Helena.”
I wonder if it’s physical attraction, or is he just aware that he’s standing in front of a witch, and that he has magical blood himself?
The auctioneer shouted a final call from the front of the house.
“Good luck,” the guy said, “or maybe I should wish you bad luck. Remember what I said. You don’t want this house.”
“Message received. Thanks.”
CHAPTER TWO
HELENA
WE WERE all gathered on the grass, with the air of pent up tension that every auction held. Jake and Jasper were all crossed arms and chill expressions, like they didn’t care how this went. Kiersten had the same ready-to-kill expression I bet she had at her exercise classes.
I’m not sure which made me feel more competitive.
I looked at the house and I tried to take Graham’s words to heart. You always end up cursing and panicking when you actually win houses like this. Remember how much work it was just to squeeze a few bucks out of the Callahan manor? Just walk away and stick to cottages.
Some humans were gathered as well, of course, and they outnumbered us ten to one, but I knew who would be fighting at the end.
The auctioneer went over the basic rules.
Jake shot me a cocky smile.
Hey, babe. Maybe let the big boys have this house, huh? You really need a partner if you’re going to stay in this game.
I glowered at him.
He shrugged and looked at Jasper like, Helena always has such a stick up her ass.
He didn’t say all that, but I knew what he was thinking.
I tried to stay cool and collected. Unreadable and distant as a princess. It was the only defense I had, because it was true. I was the only one in this business on my own. Sure, I hired some jobs out when it was beyond one woman’s ability, but for the most part, this was all on me.
“Five thousand, do we have five thousand?”
A mundane man’s hand went up.
“Seventy-five hundred.”
“Yep.” Now a burly older woman with a younger guy, maybe her son. More mundanes. The auctioneer really didn’t think much of this house. He was starting it off below the value of the land itself, I would guess, but…on the other hand, we were pretty far away from any town of worth. And winters were cold and isolated here.
“Ten thousand.”
“Fifteen thousand.”
It shot up to twenty thousand fast. Then the mundanes started peeling off. None of the magical folk had gotten in on it yet.
“Thirty thousand,” the burly woman said, her voice defiant, like she expected this one to do it.
“Thirty thousand, going once. Thirty thousand, going twice…”
“Forty thousand.” Kiersten slid in through the auctioneer’s patter, with her slow, sexy west coast voice and a smile added in at the end like she was in a pageant.
Man, she really riled me up. Get ahold of yourself, Helena. Buying houses you can’t afford just to get the better of Kiersten is stupid.
I mean, what is she even doing in Pennsylvania, though? I’m the northeastern girl here. I’m a creature of cold, gray skies and gloriously gloomy old houses with sad ghosts and tiny windowpanes. Can’t she stay over on the other side of the continent where she belongs?
“Forty-five,” I said, my hand twitching upward against my will. I swear. I knew I shouldn’t even get involved.
The burly woman was staring at us slack-jawed and then waved me off with a sunburnt arm before heading back to her car.
“Fifty,” Kiersten said, looking so totally chill that she was glancing at her cell phone while she bid.
I was sweating buckets out my armpits and also drenching my socks. I wanted to slap my own face and demand to know, Why are you so uncool? Why are you sweating? Just let her win! So what!
When I found an auction for a wizard’s former home and I was the only witch present, man, it was a rush. I would look around and know I was going to win. It was just a matter of letting it all unfold. My mind would already be holding the key, opening the door, and seeing my prize. But when I was competing against this crew, against Kiersten’s money and perfect life, and the brothers’ muscle and construction skill…
But I’m the best when it comes to magic.
Damnit. This is a true magical house.
“…going twice…”
I opened my mouth.
“Sixty,” Jake said, his hand twitching up as his face was partially shielded by the brim of his Red Sox cap. You knew when you were dealing with werewolves in the supernatural world. They were the only magical folk who found human sports teams interesting. Something about packs of dudes running around outside appealed to them, I guess.
An audible gasp ran through the humans who were still hanging around just to watch, and I choked on my words.
“Folks, we’ve got a live one here. Sixty five, are you in at sixty five?” Looking at Kiersten.
“Yeah,” she said, tossing her hair back.
She’s out. I think she’s out. That hair toss is her tell.
“Seventy.” He looked at me.
If I say yes, I’ll beat her.
“Yes,” I gasped.
“Seventy-five, will you do seventy-five?”
“Yep,” Jake said, while Jasper hissed at me,
“Come on, Hel. This is too much house for you. This project has our names written all over it.”
“No.”
“I’m being serious here. How are you going to renovate that beast? You’re going to lose money. I don’t want to see you fail.”
“None of your business!”
I had nearly forgotten about the coffee date with Graham and it flashed through my mind. When I slid into a vinyl booth (we were in the middle of nowhere, so I would assume the only place to get a coffee would be a diner) across from him and told him I had the house, he would know I was not half as sensible as I looked.
But, fuck ‘im. “Eighty,” I said, locking eyes with
