Barely Bewitched by Kimberly Frost Page B

magic, I’d never interfere with it. Everyone knows witchfolk who directly cross the fae end up with an arrow or a sword through the heart.”
    I shivered at the thought. “What if a witch unleashed some faery magic by accident? Wouldn’t they want her to fix it?”
    “I think not. The less meddling, the better.”
    “I’m sure that’s not true.” I clamped a hand over my mouth. Doc Barnaby had taken off his shirt and was two-stepping Mrs. Potts around the bonfire, nearly tripping over a bunch of mismatched couples who were lying in the grass, kissing like they were warming up for prom night.
    Oh boy.
    Raised voices made me narrow my eyes. A pair of guys across the park was arguing loudly about whether Coach Cal was to blame for the high school football team’s losing streak. Punches erupted, and I started toward them, but the scuffle ended before I got there. I heaved a sigh, but knew this was only the beginning. With people’s inhibitions gone, there would be trouble. It was only a matter of time before someone got hurt.
    “All right, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, turning to the street.
    “Where are you going?” Jordan called.
    “To eat some crow,” I grumbled and broke into a run.
    When I got to Bryn’s house I was doubled over, rubbing a stitch in my side. I pressed the buzzer, sucking air.
    “Yes?”
    “Steve?”
    “Tammy Jo?”
    “Yep, turns out I’m back,” I said between gasps.
    “Are you hurt?”
    “Only my pride. Can you open the gate?”
    “No.”
    “No what?”
    “No, I can’t open the gate.”
    “But I’m on the list. Bryn’s list of people you’re supposed to let in automatically.”
    “Not anymore.”
    I leaned against the iron bars and shook my head. Well, this was a fine how-do-you-do. One little fight and Bryn had told his security guy that I couldn’t set foot on his property? And speaking of feet, I’d run all the way from the park without shoes. My soles were stinging along with my ego.
    “Tell him I’m here to say I’m sorry.”
    “I can’t do that. I’m not allowed to tell him when or if you show up.”
    My jaw dropped open. “What if I was bleeding to death or something?”
    “I’d call nine-one-one.”
    I rested my forehead against the nearest bar and squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t believe this. People did occasionally get mad at me, but nobody had ever locked me out before. “Look, Steve, this is an emergency. The town has lost its mind, and I need Mr. Lyons’s help to put things right.”
    “Sorry.”
    This was not good. I had a spellbook of my own that I’d acquired the week before, and I’d flipped through it more than once. Faery folk were mentioned very briefly, along with some other magical creatures, but there were no spells directed at them or their magic. I definitely needed access to Bryn’s library and his brain.
    “Steve!”
    “I’ve been working for him for almost two years, Tammy Jo, and I’ve never seen him so pissed,” Steve’s voice said from the intercom. “I overheard the way you talked to him. No one talks to him that way. Ever .”
    Zach talks to him that way. Of course, without a warrant, Zach probably couldn’t get past the security gate either.
    My heart sank to my ankles. I could see it from Bryn’s point of view. He had been helping me a lot over the past couple weeks. I owed him probably a half dozen favors. And it had been ungrateful of me to mouth off to him, but I’d been under the influence of a magical curse, for pete’s sake.
    Anyone would’ve gotten angry about being trapped and kept prisoner. I know I’d never have let him spell-cast on me otherwise, but he could’ve tricked me instead of trapping me. What was the point of him being so brilliant if he didn’t use it to manipulate his friends into agreeing to stuff that was for their own good?
    Besides, Bryn’s differences with me aside, Duvall was his home, too.
    “Okay then, don’t tell him I was here, but tell him the town’s in