Forever Charmed

  Chapter Forty-Six

  I hurried over to her and touched her arm. “Is everything okay? What’s wrong?”

  She glanced over at me. Her face was completely red. That was not a good sign. I hadn’t seen her that mad since someone ate her box of Thin Mints at work. She should have known better than to leave those things lying around.

  She pointed at the group of women in the corner near to us. “Them. They were talking about you and I’m going to give them a piece of my mind.”

  She took off for the women and I grabbed her arm. I didn’t get a good grip though and she got away. There was no stopping her at this point.

  “Annabelle, it doesn’t matter. Just ignore them.”

  She was mad enough that I knew she’d want to stomp on their witches’ hats. The women looked over with shocked expressions when Annabelle approached.

  “I heard what you said about my friend.” Annabelle pointed at them.

  She did realize they were witches, right? Had she temporarily forgotten? Stress had really gotten to her.

  The woman with the stark blonde hair and black feather mask looked Annabelle up and down, then said, “What exactly do you think we said about your friend?”

  “You said she was an embarrassment to the Coven. That her witchcraft had always been terrible and it would never change, no matter what house she lived in or who her great-aunt was.” Annabelle clenched her fists at her side, ready to punch.

  I looked at the women and then to Annabelle. “They said that? Well, now that is just plain old rude.”

  They were just lucky that I hadn’t overheard their comments. Right now I had to worry about calming Annabelle down rather than being angry at these women.

  “Annabelle, don’t listen to what any of them have to say. They’re insignificant.” I glared at them.

  Their mouths gaped open, obviously shocked at what I’d just said. The Coven could take a flying leap off a cliff with their ratty brooms.

  The dark-haired woman glared back at me. “I’ll just come out and say it to your face. It’s the truth. You are an embarrassment. I can’t believe they asked you to host this party. It was just because they thought you had some kind of special powers. We should have known that was all a lie.”

  So they knew about my diminished powers? I didn’t care what they thought at this point. I didn’t need them judging me.

  Annabelle lunged forward and grabbed one of the women’s dresses. She pulled on the satin sash around the woman’s waist. She would have pulled it until it ripped right off if I hadn’t stopped her. This was officially the disaster that I had worried about.

  “Annabelle, please,” I said, grabbing her arm.

  She must have realized that everyone was watching us because she stopped resisting and ran out of the room. People had stopped dancing, drinking and eating all to stare at us. My mother had entered at that point. I didn’t even want to have to answer her right now. If she wanted to be a part of this Coven then that was all on her. I wanted nothing to do with these women.

  I stepped out onto the veranda after Annabelle. “Are you okay?” I asked when I grew near.

  “I’m sorry, Hallie. I don’t know what came over me. I just got so mad at those women judging you.” She placed her head in her hands.

  I touched her arm. Her whole body was trembling. “I’ve learned to ignore them by now. They are insignificant in my world.”

  She gave a half smile. “You’re right. What difference does it make what they think.”

  I gestured toward the manor. “Exactly. I don’t need people like that in my life. I’ve decided to just ignore them. They can think whatever they want, but I know what kind of her person I am.”

  “You’re a kickass fun person,” she said wiping away a tear.

  I laughed. “Yeah, well, so are you. I’m sorry for even having the party here.”

  “You didn’t know.” Annabelle adjusted her dress, trying to regain her composure.

  “Yeah, just the same. I should have never wanted the attention or acceptance of those women. I have all the friends I need… true friends like you.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s enjoy the rest of the evening.”

  Annabelle had just given the Coven members a verbal tongue-lashing like they’d never had before. Obviously, she didn’t care what kind of animal they could turn her into. At least she wasn’t afraid of going back into the party.

  When I stepped back inside, I searched the crowd for Nicolas or Liam. Neither of them were in sight. My mother was chatting with a group of women, probably telling them how my friend was crazy. I avoided them and turned the opposite direction.

  “Where are your mysterious guests?” Annabelle asked when she caught up with me.

  She had another glass of champagne in her hand. The flowing bubbly had probably contributed to her confrontation with the witches.

  “I don’t know where they are. I haven’t seen them since the party started. It’s very odd. I’m getting a strange vibe. It’s not a good feeling.”

  I glanced at Annabelle and noticed that her eyes had widened and her mouth had dropped open. I looked in the direction that she was staring and I almost collapsed when I saw Isabeau.