Enchantment by Nikki Jefford Page A

in the dining room.
Gray didn’t feel like sharing one or making conversation, but she
ended up being joined by a group of Brits. They reminded Gray of
Hannah and Will.
    Will’s head was most likely spinning over
Gray’s desertion. She was disappointed in Hannah’s reaction. Gray
had lost all her friends in one fell swoop.
    She still had Marco’s contact. S eñor Ortega could put an end to this. Gray would make
an appointment with the warlock first thing the next morning.
    “Check this out,” the girl to Gray’s right
said. She held her phone up to Gray’s face. A picture of the
Sagrada Familia was on the screen.
    “Nice picture,” Gray muttered.
    “Are you traveling alone?” the girl across
the table asked.
    Alone . There was that word again.
    Gray straightened in her seat. “Actually I
met someone. I’m meeting him tonight.”
    “Ohhhh,” the girl said, lips extending into a
wicked grin. “Does he have any friends?”
    “No. He’s here alone.”
    Well, he was now.
    Adrian didn’t seem to have a lot of friends.
Gray snorted to herself. Small wonder. It would take a special type
to be friends with someone so dark and vengeful.
    Gray crossed her legs. She had changed into a
mid-length skirt and tank top. Since arriving in Spain, she’d
practically lived in her flip-flops. One of them smacked her heel
as she tapped it against her foot.
    She’d overheated her soup. The instructions
on the can had said No hierva . Don’t boil! Sure enough, Gray
boiled it. The mushy liquid was finally reaching a temperature that
didn’t burn off the roof of her mouth.
    The British girl who had shown Gray the photo
on her cell phone must have told a joke because the group laughed
in unison at the conclusion of her words. Gray forced a smile so
she wouldn’t look like a total lackwit.
    She texted Hannah while her soup cooled.
    I feel bad about the way we left things. Can
we meet for coffee tomorrow? -G
    Gray finished half her soup then excused
herself, wishing the group a good evening as she left to go
outside. Walking quickly, she slowed and came to a stop in front of
a boutique along the Passeig de Gràcia. It
was dark inside, and her reflection appeared with enough clarity
for her to brush her hair back with her fingers. Gray lowered her
hand and stared at the sleeveless gown on the mannequin. Guilt
seized Gray as she met the eye of a passerby, as though the
middle-aged man knew what she’d been thinking—that her fingers had
itched to snap into the beautiful ball gown. Stealing was
stealing.
    Gray backed away then stopped to admire the
gown one last time.
    Then again, there was always borrowing.
    No, not a good idea, and certainly way too
overdressed to call on Adrian at his apartment.
    Gray smoothed down her skirt and made for the
metro. She barely noticed the couples leaning intimately into one
another. There was a thrill inside her, a sense of excitement
beating a rhythm inside her chest like a drum. So this was
love?
    She wondered if she’d ever experience it
again without the interference of magic.
     
     
    * * *
     
     
    Gray walked up to the door of Adrian’s apartment and
knocked. While she waited, she gathered all of her hair into one
hand and pulled it back gently.
    The moment he opened the door, Adrian’s eyes
bored into hers.
    Suddenly she felt shy, which had to be the
spell.
    Adrian looked more surprised than mystified..
“You came back.”
    Gray looked over Adrian’s shoulder. “May I
come in?”
    One corner of Adrian’s lips lifted higher
than the other when he smiled and shook his head. “You know you’re
going to regret this, right?”
    “Not tonight.”
    He leaned against the doorframe. “Living for
the moment?”
    “Are you going to let me in or what?”
    “You know I am.”
    Gray pushed past him. “Who’s the one under
the spell?”
    Adrian closed the door then looked her up and
down. “I’m beginning to wonder if you’re really under a spell.”
    Gray laughed. “Not exactly the