Page 13 of Sugar Plum Fae
“Does it ever get tiresome?" she sniped at him. "Feeding off people's misery?"
"About as tiresome as you showering them with false hope." He cupped her cheek and gave her a fast kiss on the mouth.
A surge of frustration and desire coursed through her veins. She couldn't let him get under her skin like this, but a part of herwanted to drag him down to the forest floor and ride him until he admitted that he wasn’t as bad as he was pretending to be. Or maybe that was just her heart’s desire.
“This isn’t false hope,” she said, pushing down her traitorous thoughts. “We’re granting wishes here.” She tried not to dwell on the fact that she was zero for three.
“And what wonderfully selfish wishes they are.”
A man named Raphael stepped forward. He looked like trouble, and his mind felt oily and slippery. Candace had a sinking feeling that his wish would only lengthen Roderick’s lead.
Raphael drank deeply from the well. He wiped his mouth off sloppily with his arm. "I want to know everyone's secrets. Let me read their minds."
The well responded with an eerie glow, and Candace glanced at Roderick, her concern evident. He merely shrugged, seemingly unperturbed by the potential consequences.
"Enjoy your newfound power, nosy neighbor," she muttered under her breath, trying to ignore the uneasy knot forming in her stomach. "And may you choke on the knowledge."
"Do I know my townspeople or what?" Roderick asked, holding up four fingers.
"What is wrong with this town?" As Candace struggled to rein in her frustration, she studied the crowd once more, searching for any hints of hope or kindness among the faces. But all she could see were the dark undercurrents of desire, the selfishness that tainted each wish made at the well. It was a far cry from the innocent dreams she had nurtured in her own realm and a stark reminder of the harsh realities of moonsidhe territories.
Perhaps it's time to change strategies, she thought.If I can't appeal to their better nature, maybe I can show them the consequences of their choices.
"Is it too late to say I told you so?" Roderick's sarcastic voice grated on her nerves.
"Never too late for you to be insufferable," she shot back, her attention fixed on the woman named Melissa, who stepped forward with a sly smile plastered on her face.
"Grant me irresistible charm," Melissa wished. "Let everyone fall under my spell."
The well shimmered in response, and Melissa's smile turned triumphant. Candace gritted her teeth.
Five-zip.
As Melissa strutted away, Candace caught a glimpse of her already charming the pants off an unsuspecting man. She swallowed hard, feeling a twinge of guilt for granting such a potentially dangerous wish.
"But it only lasts for twenty-four hours," Candace said quietly, wiggling her fingers at Melissa’s back.
Roderick snorted.
She didn’t care. She was getting tired of granting these selfish, misguided wishes.
“I like the caveat,” he said. “You’re learning.”
“I’m not learning anything.” She crossed her arms and tried not to huff in frustration.
"Look who it is," Roderick drawled. "David here fancies himself quite the ladies' man."
David swaggered forward and drank from the well. "I wish to be irresistible to women," he proclaimed boldly, the words echoing through the clearing.
As the magic flickered in response and another hashtag appeared in his tally, Roderick chuckled darkly. "This is like taking candy from a baby—or a sugar plum fairy."
Candace couldn't help herself. “But David, you will be unable to get excited by their attentions because you’ll know it’s only because of your wish that they want you.”
“Ouch,” Roderick said, looking at her aghast.
“What are you complaining about? You’re leading six to nothing.”
“I’d say I’m rubbing off on you, but that gets me thinking about other things I’d rather be doing than granting wishes and proving you wrong.”