Chapter 7: Rulebreaker

Amelia was already outside Silvana's house when Silvana pulled into the driveway. Amelia's hair was up in pink curlers, she had a green cucumber face mask on, and even her purple and gold silk pajamas were extravagant. She held two steaming mugs in her hands.

"Oh!" Amelia shrieked gleefully, careful not to spill her drinks. She handed one to Silvana and said, "Pumpkin Spice and Rum lattes that I whipped up in your kitchen, along with a few daiquiris for your father. I figured some rum might help your daddy sleep so we can chat uninterrupted."

They clinked mugs in a cheers to their friendship.

Amelia ran a hand down Silvana's dress, so proud of how amazing Silvana looked. Amelia picked up a trussel of Silvana's strawberry-blonde hair and said, "Your hair's a mess and your makeup is streaked. Am I taking this as a sign that you found Mr. Hunk and spent some quality time together?"

Silvana took a large gulp of the spiked latte and through a foamy smile licked her lips and said, "Yes and no, and it's very complicated. Good, but complicated."

"The best relationships are bred from a few twists and turns, my dear!"

The two walked around the house and inside the screen door of the patched hole in the kitchen. Silvana's father had magically restored most of the heart-shaped hole, though only enough to make a sturdy wall and door that wouldn't blow away in the wind. Silvana figured that because her father was growing weaker each day, he didn't have the strength to fix the wall entirely. Then she figured that if she were around more often and a better witch herself, she may have been able to help him.

Instead, she'd broken the one rule her father asked her to never break, and met with Bruce despite being forbidden not to.

Amelia and Silvana entered the somewhat renovated kitchen and crept upstairs to Silvana's room. On the way they saw Solaris sitting in his armchair by the fire, sipping at his second daiquiri with sleepy eyes, ready to doze away.

Silvana shut her bedroom door behind her and said, "Amelia, you really are the greatest, which is why I can't lie to you, and why I need you to help me with a spell."

Amelia blew heat off her latte, shrugged, and told Silvana, "Honey, you know I'd do anything for you."

Silvana kicked away clothes on her carpeted floor underneath her bed, lifted a candle off the wall, lit it, and began pouring wax in a circle.

"Are you casting something devious?" Amelia asked, taking another candle and helping Silvana complete the circle.

"Yes, a spell to reveal a hidden object," Silvana replied, sprinkling orchid leaves in the middle of the wax. The wax transformed into a circle of blue flames with a hiss, though since Silvana was in control of this spell, focused on how it would bring her closer to Bruce, the flames did not burn the carpet or the walls, and they warmed the room the same way Bruce had warmed Silvana, his large arms nestled on her back, bringing her so close to him their lips almost touched.

"Oh this is juicy," Amelia said.

"We've got to find the potion that will heal a Spirit Scar," Silvana said, holding her hands above the sapphire flames, guiding them. Embers and wisps small as bugs floated around the room and throughout the house. With a flash, the cerulean silhouette of all sorts of objects were revealed through the walls and on every floor of the house.

"Whoa, Silvie," Amelia gasped. "This is some serious spellcasting. I always knew you had it in you, but damn, girl."

But Silvana hardly heard her. She was too deep in concentration, too lost in the thought of picking up where she had left off with Bruce, on top of him and on his bed, feeling him throb and wanting his lips on hers. She remembered when he had stitched her up, his fingers gliding across her smooth skin, and his protective voice ringing out against her father. She wanted to feel Bruce's strong shoulders again and have him over her, taking full control of her body the way he did when he separated her legs apart on his bed.

She'd been so ready.

"He makes me feel cared for," Silvana said, opening her eyes. "And that's why it doesn't matter that he's a werewolf. We'll figure that part out later."

Amelia's jaw dropped and in a whisper she asked, "He's a werewolf?"

"Not only that, Amelia, but he's an Alpha."

"An Alpha is into you? You're a bigger rulebreaker than me!"

Silvana's cheeks went red and she said, "The only thing that stopped us from ripping off our clothes was a call from his sick aunt. If we can find that potion and cure her--"

"Then he'll just have to sleep with you!" Amelia exclaimed, as silent as could be so Solaris wouldn't overhear.

Silvana frowned. "When you put it like that."

Amelia tapped Silvana's shoulder and told her, "I'm teasing! I know exactly how big your heart is. And I can see how in love you are. Let's find this thing."

Dusty pairs of shoes, sets of keys, coins caught underneath furniture, and all sorts of other abandoned objects glowed a bold blue that only Amelia and Silvana could see.

"It should be in a vial or bottle," Silvana said, "so look for the outline of that."

The two searched, pointing to various bottles of old booze that Solaris kept tucked away for special occasions.

"You're not upset that I broke code and want to be with a werewolf?" Silvana asked.

"Oh shush with all that," Amelia said. "This is the first time in a long time where I've seen you at your best. That's what he brings out in you." She sipped some more delicious latte. "And those old codes don't mean much to me anyway. Not when there's hair and nails and clothes. Who could be bothered? It's not worth it for me to be a part of a hate I've got nothing to do with. "

"I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate you," Silvana said.

"That's a two-way street, sister," Amelia said with a satisfied grin. Then she pointed to a glowing object by Solaris in his chair.

"There, Sylvie! Right by your father. In the picture above the fireplace."

The blue flames settled without a single bit of ash on the carpet. The spell was successful, and they had located the potion.

Stealthily, Amelia and Silvana crept downstairs. Solaris was snoozing peacefully, the half-finished daiquiri on a coaster by the easing flames of the fireplace. Silvana pulled the picture of her mother off the fireplace's mantle. In the picture her mother was young and joyous with bounds of hair rolling down her shoulders.

Silvana reached around the frame and tore the tape off quietly, then held the powerful potion in front of her and Amelia. Even from inside the bottle, the golden potion strengthened the two of them, and filled them both with confidence, eagerness, and dedication.

Silvana set the picture back down and Amelia adjusted it slightly so the picture fit exactly in the dusty marks that it had been lifted from.

Just as the two had set the picture back, Silvana's phone started ringing again. The two stormed out and into the kitchen where Silvana answered the number she didn't recognize, hoping that it would be him.

Before anybody greeted her, Silvana asked, "Bruce?"

Solaris stirred in his chair, yawning. The clump of his cane came from down the hall.

"I didn't mean to leave you for so long," Bruce said, filling Silvana's heart with such passion she gripped her phone. "Would you come back to me?"

"Of course, I'll be over soon," she said hastily.

She hung up before Solaris entered the kitchen, and she tucked the potion into the sleeve of her dress.

"And where are you going?" Solaris asked.

Amelia stepped forward. "Another change of plans, Mr. Sparks. Sylvie's coming back to my place." Amelia held up Silvana's arm that didn't have the bottle in it and pointed to her fingers. "She's in desperate need of a manicure, and thankfully she's best friends with the best in the city at them."

A little buzzed, Solaris nodded. "Yes, well, you both be safe and have fun," he mumbled. Solaris returned to his armchair, and right before falling asleep, the thought crossed his mind that maybe Silvana was going to see that man, the Winters boy. The man who had saved her life. The man who was a werewolf.

The werewolf who may just be the cure to his own illness.

Solaris got up again to check on his daughter, but Silvana and Amelia had already left.