"Willow's Missing Tail" 23

Perfidia walked down the stairs but stopped when she saw Jon; had he waited for her?

“I told you I wouldn’t be long;” she shrugged, continuing down the steps, “You could have gone in with Dillon to the dining room.”

Jon shook his head. “I was going to but...I’m never quite sure how to read you’re cryptic personality Perfidia.”

“Oh? Cryptic, am I?” she chuckled.

“Yes, but this time I’m pretty sure you were hiding something from me when you went upstairs. Am I right?” His eyes soul searched hers.

Perfidia hesitated, unsure what she should tell him, or admit to. She decided to avoid the truth, for as long as possible. “I don’t know why you’d think that,” she said and looped her arm through his, “Come on, everyone else is in the dinning room.”

Jon didn’t budge even when she tugged harder on his arm. 

“They can wait Perfidia but my curiosity can’t.” He took her hand in his and felt her pulse jump. He knew it was fear, not longing, that had caused it. “Why don’t you trust my feelings for you Perfidia?”

Perfidia’s expression first telegraphed confusion but guilt clearly followed; it hovered in her eyes. “Why would you think that?" 

“Because I know you; you doubt me when I say I love you.”

“That’s not true; I believe you love me and...I love you too.” she said with a breezy smile and looped her arm again through his, "Now let's go; I'm ravenous." Jon still wouldn't budge. "What more do want me to say?"

“Start with why you had to weave a love charm into a bracelet and explain how that shows your confidence in my feelings.”

“I…how did…when did-”

Jon shook his head. “I've known since the night of the festival; I saw it on your wrist Perfidia and felt its mist of influence."

"Then you know your feelings were influenced."

"No, I was never under that spell.” Jon lifted his hand and the overhead light glittered off a ring on his left index finger.

“Is that ring charmed?” 

“I think you know it had to be, to counteract your charming jewelry,” he defended taking the ring off and placing it in his pant pocket.

“So you knew what I was doing and you didn’t say anything about it?”

“Perfidia, I think we both know it was you who needed to confess” he said pulling her closer even as she resisted him, “I wanted you to be sure of us and If it took you longer to trust me, I was willing to wait,” he said softly then leaned down and kissed her.

Perfidia melted at the touch of his lips; she didn't deny what she felt for him; she just hadn’t been able to trust what he felt for her. 

Jon hugged her and sighed, “I’m glad you’ve finally taken off that bracelet and accepted what’s between us is real.”

“Uh, yeah…of course that’s exactly why I took it off,” she said quickly, leaning in to kiss him again but he placed his hands on her shoulders keeping them separated. Perfidia looked up to find a troubling speculation in his eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

“You didn’t remove the bracelet because you trusted my feelings; did you Perfidia? You had another reason for doing that. What was it?”

Perfidia didn't like his intuitive bend. She'd like to tell him he was wrong and she had removed it because she trusted he loved her, but that would be a lie. She frowned and wished she could lie but she had to be honest with him, especially on a night soon to be bereft of magic. She gave him a weak smile and confessed. 

“You’re right; there was another reason.”

“Care to tell it to me?” he asked, crossing his arms and taking a step back from her.

“Not really…but I will,” she said without enthusiasm, “We had to set up the room for the sibling cats to combat their rivalry.”

“The sibling cats…?”

“Yes, Willow and her twin Thistle are locked in a need for ultimate power and we found the remedy for it in the Care of Familiars book. After Martha was granted permission from the ancient forest to set up a place for the battle here, in my home, I found out…all magic will be drained from my house and any part of my land it touches, not just that one room. So, once the sun sets my house and all of my land will be devoid of magic.”

“And you realized the bracelet would lose its power over me.”

“Yes, but that’s because I thought you were under its spell but now I know you never were, so-"

“You didn’t trust that I’d still love you when the magic ceased.”

“Uh...well...no, I didn't. I believed the charm had influenced your feelings and was why you’d said you loved me.”

Jon took another step away from her and his eyes held a deep disappointment.

"I know you love me now," Perfidia offered and reached out a hand to him but he didn't take it.  

“All these months, you had no faith in us, in me," he said with a weary resignation.

“Maybe not, but now that I know you were never under the charm’s influence, I accept that you do love me…so, it’s all good; right?” she concluded with a bright smile and waited for him to agree with her, step back to her, and kiss her. None of those things happened.

Jon’s eyes remained disappointed.

He sighed heavily, “Tell me the truth Perfidia; you’d have kept up that magic safety net if magic wasn’t being cancelled tonight?”

“No…probably,” she confessed miserably, hating having to be honest.

Jon looked as if he'd wanted to say more but he didn't. He turned and walked to the front door.

“Where are you going?” Perfidia asked him, a sick feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. She knew his answer.

 “I think we both need time to reconsider what’s been real between us, with or without magic charms. Goodnight Perfidia.” He opened the door and walked out; it closed behind him with a thud of finality.

Perfidia hadn’t felt this small and alone since her dad died. The deep sorrow she’d banked since then was back and she felt like that vulnerable child afraid of never seeing her dad again. She stared through unshed tears at the closed door experiencing that same feeling of emptiness. Jon had walked out and might never coming back.

 

Martha placed the large platter of succulent beef on the table as Daphne poured wine into each glass.

Dillon stepped back into the dining room from letting Frankie out into the garden and settled into a seat at the table. He tried to catch Martha’s eye to see if she’d softened on the idea of his canine companion or forgave his omission, but she wouldn’t look at him.

"You're lucky you put that dog outside, those cats aren't too happy with him being here." Daphne chuckled.

It was true, Willow, Chaos, Ram and Thistle were all staring out the closed French doors leading from the dining room to the garden, eyeing the canine intruder outside with distaste and ticking tails.

"I'm not worried; I know Frankie will win them over." 

"Your confidence is amusing Dillon but felines don't easily befriend canines; don't you agree Martha?"

Martha frowned at Dillon, still annoyed at his lack of openness, but to Daphne she said in a pleasant, if forced, tone, "I guess time will tell." 

“I guess so," Daphne shrugged then she looked back at Dillon, "Didn't I hear you say Jon was here with you?”

Dillon nodded, “He's in the hall waiting for Perfidia to return from upstairs; she had to take care of something.”

“But it’s been awhile since Perfidia answered the door,” Daphne mused and turned to Martha, “You don’t think they’ve decided to go out for dinner instead of joining us; do you?”

Martha didn’t think Perfidia would have changed her plans and not told her but something didn’t feel right. “I’ll go find them,” Martha volunteered.

 

Martha stepped into the entry hall and found Perfidia sitting on the stairs staring forlornly at the front door.

“What are you doing sitting here? Where’s Jon?”

“He left.” Perfidia said in a voice just above a whisper.

Martha sat down next to her. “Do you want to tell me why?”

Perfidia shook her head. “Not now; give me a few minutes and I’ll join you all in the dining room.”

“Take whatever time you need but just know, I’m here when you want to talk.”

Perfidia nodded, “I know.”

 

“So will they be joining us?” Daphne asked when Martha returned to the dining room alone.

“Perfidia will be in shortly but she told us not to wait for her, so let’s eat.”

Dillon sent a quizzical look to Martha which she deflected by picking up the serving utensils to take up a portion of beef and place it on her plate. Daphne passed a bowl filled with tarragon and honeyed carrots to him and Dillon thanked her but his eyes remained on Martha.

They filled their plates in silence and it was only broken when Perfidia stepped into the room.

“Decided to finally join us huh?” Daphne smirked, "Where's that hunky Jon?" she wiggled her eyebrows.

“Jon had to leave, something came up,” Perfidia said with a casual shrug as she sat down and immediately began to fill her plate to avoid any more questions. She'd just lifted the platter of beef when the door bell rang and the chords of Für Elise filled the air. She nearly dropped the platter but managed to place it down gently. Her eyes lit with hope; had Jon decided to come back?

“Aren’t all the invited guests already here?” Daphne asked.

No, all the guests weren't here, Perfidia thought, but maybe that missing guest was returning. "I’ll get it," she said happily and left the room.

 

 Perfidia opened the front door and her happy expression soured. “Oh it’s you...and your cat, but you’re early. Sunset isn’t for another hour.”

“I know but I couldn’t wait," Avery said as Max sauntered into the house ahead of him, "Just knowing Daphne’s in here and I can finally confront her, makes waiting impossible. She’ll know she’s trapped, with me and that's too tempting an opportunity to linger over. I had to get this party started!” he said with a smile of presumed victory.

“Come on in then; this should be entertaining.”

“Mmm, what is that delightful aroma?” Avery asked sniffing the air.

“Beef Bourguignon and you’re welcome to join us in the dining room.”

“Thank you: it smells delicious.”

“Follow me,” Perfidia said leading Avery into her house, grateful for the distraction he was about to provide. It was just what she needed to take her mind off of Jon, at least for a little while.

 

Avery walked boldly into the dining room and Martha’s eyes snapped to him in surprise, unsure of his early arrival. Avery nodded to her before he sat down at the table, directly across from Daphne.

Daphne was refilling her wineglass and hadn’t looked up at the newest arrival but a heartbeat later, the wine poured over the glass and onto the pristine white tablecloth.

“Hey! Watch what you’re doing,” Perfidia scolded and grabbed up a napkin to soak up the wine.

“What’s he doing here?” Daphne demanded slamming the wine bottle down on the table. She looked for her parrot, Sahara, to request a dark havoc but Sahara had been content to live in the back woods of Perfidia's open land lately and was nowhere to be seen. 

“I invited him.” Martha responded breaking into Daphne's plotting thoughts.

Daphne turned accusing eyes on her. “You invited him? Why?”

Martha shrugged. “Because you both need to clear up some misconceptions you have of each other," she said it in a reasonable tone but Daphne’s eyes remained angry slits of emerald.

“I cannot believe you invited him!” Daphne’s tone was vehement, “I thought you understood how horrible he’d treated me. Why would you think I’d care to listen to anything he had to say, or want to look at that deceitful face ever again?” Daphne questioned then stood up, preparing to leave.

Perfidia placed a comforting hand on her cousin’s shoulder. “Pris, listen to me. Martha and I are here for you but Martha is right. You do need to confront everything about that man that upset you, make him answer your questions. That’s the only way you’ll get rid of the anger, and him.”

Daphne frowned at the idea of conversing with Avery but she did want to get rid of that anger; she’d carried it around for far too long. He shouldn’t be allowed to ruin one more day for her; he’d wasted too many of her days when she thought he’d loved her. She sat back down. “Okay fine; I’ll stay and he can eat with us but he’d better not talk to me, not a word, until I say he can!” Daphne sent the directive to Avery with a chilling stare that matched the ice in her voice.

Avery in turn sent her a charming, if tinged with annoyance, smile. "Suits me, I’m starved and this meal looks incredible,” he said and turned his eyes to his hostess, "Thank you for the invite.”

Daphne hated seeing his too handsome face across from her and mumbled sharp expletives under her breath before shoveling a forkful of food into her mouth, to stop what would most definitely be a heated retort.

"Hey, where'd that dog come from?" Perfidia asked, staring out at the canine in her garden. No one answered her question so she turned and looked at Martha, who she noticed was frowning at Dillon and then she felt the volatile tension shivering between Avery and Daphne. 

"Okay, someone can fill me in later," she answered herself and sat down at the table absorbing the irrational, emotional frequencies pinging between the four dinner companions. She thought of Jon as she poured a liberal amount of wine into her glass and concluded, all things considered, this night of cancel magic was going to be a bumpy one for everyone.