Midnight Magic, page 174
Ember flings herself down into the chair next to me and I lean around her to rub her back gently. “This is awful.”
“I know, love. We’re going to fix it. I promise.”
She smiles at me sadly and I feel suddenly guilty. I should have never allowed her to test the cocktails. I was so sure that they’d been tested adequately to ensure her safety.
“I’m sorry, love,” I say gently, kissing her cheek.
“It’s not your fault, Dominick.” Her tone is stern, and she leans down to kiss me on the lips. Her lips are rougher than usual. More demanding and mine give way.
“I don’t know what you guys are complaining about,” Holden tells us with a giggle. “I’m having a great time.”
Ember rolls her eyes, laughing slightly, but her eyes still look sad. I want to take that look away. I need to fix this. Taking her hand under the table, I rub my thumb along her knuckles as I return my attention to my notes with a new determination to find a solution.
Garrick proves quite helpful, making several useful suggestions. Celio returns eventually, taking us all by surprise with a couple of pizzas.
“I thought everyone would be hungry,” he says.
“It’s not even eleven,” Ember replies with a grin.
“Breakfast pizza is a thing, right?” He simply shrugs and offers her a slice.
Eating the pizza, I’m surprised at how hungry I actually am. I rushed over here as soon as I woke up this morning, eager to find a solution to our little problem. We work for the longest time, Ember leaning her head on my shoulder.
“Tired, love?” I ask gently.
“Hmm.” She closes her eyes. “It’s your fault.”
“My fault?”
“Yours and Holden’s, Klaus and Celio’s.”
I chuckle at that, pulling her closer. Where she’s usually all softness, she’s hard lines and muscle. Not at all cuddly. Not that I mind that much, but I really can’t wait to get Ember back in her own body.
“DADDY!” Avery calls from the doorway, looking for me. “I’m back.”
Getting to my feet, I approach my daughter apprehensively. She looks at me with interest, but she definitely doesn’t recognize me.
“You’re new here,” she says. “Have you seen my daddy?”
“Avery, I am your daddy.”
She bursts out laughing at that. “No. You’re not.”
“I am.” I’m not really sure how I’m supposed to convince a toddler that her father is now a woman.
“But you’re a GIRL!”
Atlas is holding her hand, and he’s struggling not to laugh. “What happened to you, Dominick?”
“One of the cocktails last night—”
“You’ve been a woman all night?” He’s laughing loudly now, unable to stop himself. “This is too good. What about the others? Ember?”
“Yeah. Ember is a man,” I mutter.
“Mommy is a man?” Avery’s eyes widen, if that’s even possible.
“Oh, this is too much.” Atlas smirks. “When will it wear off?”
“No idea. It was supposed to only last thirty minutes.”
“Right…” He grins. “Well, I guess you’re only young once.”
I lead them back to the table, explaining what we’re trying to do. Avery hides slightly behind her grandfather, unsure of who the people around her are. Garrick waves at her and she smiles widely at him, grateful for a familiar face.
“How would you like to go skating, Avery?” Garrick offers.
“I’d love to. Daddy, can I?” She turns towards me, pulling on my hand in her excitement.
“Of course, darling.” I then go on to thank Garrick.
He shrugs his shoulders, saying that there’s not much more he can do here. He gives me an icy glare, saying, “Fix this. I need my skater back on the ice first thing tomorrow morning.”
Nodding in agreement, I ask him to drop Avery off at Ember friend Kit’s house after their skate. I don’t know how long we’ll be working and I don’t want my little girl to be bored and underfoot. Not to mention, she’s obviously uncomfortable with the situation.
“Come on, Avery. Let’s go. I might as well give you a skating lesson or two since Ember is a lost cause,” Garrick says, before sticking his tongue out at Ember. She glowers at him furiously.
I kiss her on the forehead and watch them leave. Atlas waves us all goodbye before heading home.
Returning to the table, I glance at Ember. Her head is now resting on the table, her eyes closed. I rub my hand into her shoulder soothingly.
“I’m supposed to be skating,” she groans.
I’m not sure what to say. I know just how important her figure skating career is to her. I feel responsible for this. I shouldn’t have let her test the drinks last night. Who knows what could have happened if one of the other drinks had proven faulty?
“I’m so—”
“Don’t apologize, Dominick. This isn’t your fault.”
Ember looks like she wants to say more, but just as she opens her mouth to speak, Harlow rushes towards us. “I think I have it!”
I turn abruptly to face him, eager to hear what he has to say. I’m more than ready to be back in my own body and to have Ember back in hers. Plus, I definitely wish Holden would stop grabbing himself. I swear it’s like when he first hit puberty and realized what his dick was for all over again.
THE ANTIDOTE
Holden’s POV:
“Why me?” I groan. This doesn’t seem fair at all. Why do I have to be the test subject? I get why we don’t want to test the antidote on Ember, but what about Klaus or Celio—or even Dominick? Of course, my democratic big brother insisted we should vote on it.
Ember voted for herself—which is completely out of the question—and the other three all voted for me. Bastards.
“Because the sooner you lose those tits, the sooner we don’t have to see you fondle yourself,” Klaus says quietly.
“That’s what you think.” I laugh, promising myself to get revenge by fondling my dick in front of them for the rest of the day.
“Will you do it or not, Holden?” Dominick asks in that bossy voice of his.
Not for the first time, I wonder why the universe decided it was a good idea to make me share a mate with my brothers. “Fine. Pass it here.”
He passes me a glass and I grimace as I look down at it. The liquid inside it resembles mushy peas, and I retch slightly at its scent.
“I’m supposed to drink this?” I ask, my eyebrow raised.
“Just get on with it, Holden,” Klaus complains.
I want to argue, but I catch Ember’s eye, and notice how tired she looks. And unhappy too. I don’t think I’ve seen her unhappy—not really unhappy—in months. Our lives are pretty perfect except for this minor mishap.
But she looks worried. Like she actually thinks we might end up stuck like this. Or that she’s going to miss her competition. Ice skating means the world to Ember. It’s her life—or it was before she met us. She lives for her time on the ice and she’s bloody brilliant at it, too.
I down the drink in a hurry and wait for it to take effect.
They’re all looking at me expectantly, and at first I feel absolutely nothing, but then I begin to feel a bubbly sensation swirling around me. For a second, I think it might actually work.
But when I look down, I’m still a woman. Except my boobs have shrunk to half their original size.
“Shit! Now I don’t even get to enjoy the perks of womanhood.”
I sigh heavily, glancing over at Ember. Her bottom lip is wobbling and her eyes are misty. I think she’s going to cry. I dart around the table, pulling her into my arms.
“It’s okay, love. We’ll work it out.”
She nods her head, not saying a word. I say soothing little things into her ear, hoping to ease her concern.
“I don’t know anyone better at this shit than Dom. He’ll have us fixed in no time.”
“My competition…” She brushes her tears away. “I don’t think I can skate tomorrow.”
“You don’t know that. We might be back to normal in an hour or so.”
I’m about to say more—something that even sensible Dominick would be proud of—when I feel a sudden tensing feeling in my lower belly. It’s a crippling pain that causes me to double over in surprise.
“Holden?” Ember looks stricken with panic.
“My—” I pause as I feel a wetness in my pants. “Holy shit, Ember. I think I’m having a period.”
“What? Is that possible?” She looks to the others for an explanation, but they’re all staring at us blankly. Although I think I detect fear in my twin’s expression. I guess he really doesn’t want to experience that particular part of being a woman.
Hissing in pain, I grip Ember’s hand. Shit. This actually really hurts. And women go through this every month?
Ember leads me out of the brewery, across the car park and into our house. Her hand in mine, she takes me to the bathroom.
“I don’t think it’s wise for you to try and use tampons or anything,” she’s saying matter-of-factly, as if her mates regularly have periods. This is just an everyday experience. She’s perfectly calm while I’m on the verge of hysteria and I don’t think I can blame it on female hormones. This is the most insane experience of my life and I really don’t like it.
She begins to pour me a bubble bath and tells me to undress. I’ve never felt quite so uncomfortable. I’m not usually disgusted by Ember’s periods, but this is different. It’s my body expelling blood. Not hers. And I really don’t like it. This might actually be the most traumatizing experience of my life and I can’t even complain about it because Ember’s experienced it twelve times in the last year alone, and god knows for how many years before that.
“It will help the pain,” she promises.
I do as she says, and she leaves me alone only to return a moment later with a glass of water and some painkillers. I quickly take the tablets and sip the water, allowing my head to drop back against the back of the tub.
She cups water in her hand and starts to pour water over my head soothingly.
“You’ve been enjoying playing with your boobs,” she says softly. “You could masturbate.”
“Right now? When I’m bleeding?” I think I might actually be blushing.
“It might seem a bit icky, but an orgasm will ease the pain,” she says with a shrug.
I can’t believe I’m even considering this. I guess I wouldn’t need to put my fingers inside. Just play with my clit, perhaps.
I do as Ember suggests, and she’s right. It does help. Although the relief is short-lived. Soon, I’m out of the bath wearing a sanitary pad and curled up on the sofa with a hot water bottle while Ember fusses over me. I feel like a great big baby. Women go through this all the time, but I can’t bear it. My gut keeps cramping and I feel clammy and dirty and fatigued.
I don’t want to complain though, because it doesn’t seem fair. This is the only period I’ll ever experience and I’ll only suffer for a few hours if I’m lucky, but my mate deals with this every month.
Grumbling, I tell Ember that she better tell my brothers to hurry the hell up. She chuckles deeply, coming to sit next to me.
“Don’t worry. It will all be over soon.”
I don’t understand how she can be so sympathetic when this is a common occurrence for her. She should just tell me to man the fuck up. I’d deserve nothing less.
“Next time you have your period, I’m going to pamper you,” I promise here.
“Is that right?” She smiles blandly. “I’m quite used to them. They’re not that bad.”
“Not that bad? This is awful.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been having them for over ten years.”
“Fuck. You’re a saint.”
“Not really. Just a woman.”
NEVER AGAIN
Celio’s POV:
Exhausted, I stretch my arms over my head. We’ve been working all through the night and are no further forward than we were before Holden and Ember went home.
“I think we’re going to have to tell Ember that she won’t be able to skate today,” Dominick says, rubbing his tired eyes.
“This shouldn’t be that complicated,” Harlow grumbles. “I can’t work out what we did wrong.”
He’s been studying the list of ingredients, looking more and more forlorn with every passing hour. He’s taking this personally—blaming himself for the mishap. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to hand in his resignation. That would be a disaster. We need him here so that the Sterling brothers will have more time to spend with our family.
“I’ll go tell Ember,” I say softly. That's all I can really do. I know next to nothing about the brewery process or the magic they use.
“Thanks Celio,” Dominick replies without looking up. “She’s going to be so disappointed.”
Harlow isn’t the only one who feels responsible. Dominick is taking this pretty hard, too.
I get to my feet and make my way home to find Ember pacing back and forth in the kitchen.
“Any news?” she asks.
I shake my head. “No progress.”
Her shoulders droop, and she breathes a heavy sigh. “I guess I should go to the rink and tell Garrick.”
“I’ll drive you.” I stride towards her, wrapping my arms around her waist. “I’m sorry, love.”
“It can’t be helped.” She kisses me briefly before pulling away with a resigned expression on her face.
“How is Holden?”
“Sleeping. I think he’s getting used to the pain.”
“Poor guy.” I can’t think of anything worse. I seriously hope that I’ll be male again before I suffer the same ailment.
Ember is quiet on the drive over to the rink. I hate to see her so disappointed. I wish there was something I could do to put this right. Ember is a phenomenal skater. She deserves to compete and win this competition.
I open her door for her like a gentleman—even though I’m currently anything but—and take her hand. Giving it a reassuring squeeze, I tell her everything will be okay even if she can’t skate today. There will be other competitions. But it’s just platitudes and I’m not sure it actually helps.
Garrick’s face drops as soon as he sees us. “I guess you’re not skating then.”
“Sorry, Garrick.” Ember looks so dejected.
“Can’t be helped. But I’m not letting you drink in the run up to a competition ever again.”
Ember doesn’t even try to argue. She lets him carry on, laying down the law. No alcohol. No magic. No—I stop listening.
“Do you want to stay and watch?” I ask when there’s a break in Garrick’s ranting.
Garrick doesn’t give Ember a chance to answer. “Of course, she’s staying. She needs to study her competition.”
We settle down in the stands, Garrick still talking. Ember’s hand is still in mine and I squeeze it again. I can’t imagine how awful this is for her. She’s a goddess on the ice. Pure fire. I hate the idea of her missing this opportunity to shine.
Garrick is pacing in front of us, furiously complaining about one of the other skaters, when he suddenly stops.
“Bloody hell, is that Dominick?”
Ember and I get to our feet and sure enough, Dominick is running towards us—thoroughly male.
“He’s got the antidote?” Ember asks, suddenly more alive.
Garrick starts flapping, gathering Ember’s skates and costume before practically forcing the antidote down her throat.
“Right. Go! Get changed. You’re up in five!”
Dominick throws himself down into the seat next to mine, breathless and a little sweaty. “I didn’t think I’d make it in time.”
He thrusts another test tube containing the antidote to me without another word. I don’t wait a second. I really can’t wait to get my own body back.
“So, what was wrong with the drinks?”
“They stirred the damn thing one extra time,” Dominick grumbles. “It was a damn easy fix once we knew that.”
We both go quiet as Ember steps onto the ice. She looks amazing—obviously female—dressed in a flaming red and orange leotard. She stands in the center of the rink, head held high.
The music begins to play, and she begins to move and I can’t take my eyes off her. She skates with a seamless grace that takes my breath away. I watch her do all sorts of jumps and swirls, totally awed by her.
“Do you know what any of those moves are called?” I ask Dominick.
“No fucking idea,” he admits sheepishly. “She has told me some names, but I can’t really remember what is what.”
I smile at that. Grateful that I’m not the only one that can’t remember.
“She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Dominick says, a small smile lighting up his face.
Nodding my head, I can’t quite find the right word to describe how incredible she is. When she comes to a stop, once again in the center of the rink, I know from the look on her face that she thinks she’s skated her best. Even if she doesn’t win, she’ll know she’s given it her all.
Garrick smirks. “She’s got this in the bag.”
His words are reassuring. Ember skates off the ice and comes to join us. She hugs us all, eagerly telling us about a moment where she thought she was going to make a mistake and then didn’t. She describes every move, using more technical words than I can process, and then she’s hugging us again as Garrick praises her practically non-stop.
This is a side of Ember’s coach I haven’t seen before. He’s usually very stern. Always correcting. Always demanding. But not now.
When the scores are announced, Ember’s smile is intoxicating. Avery and Kit join us congratulating Ember, just as Klaus and Holden arrive. Our entire family gathers round Ember, hugging and cheering. She’s so beautiful like this. Exhilarated from the competition, with pure fire in her eyes.
“You were amazing, Mommy!” Avery says as Ember pulls her into her arms, spinning around with her.
“Thank you, darling,” Ember says, her eyes slightly teary. “I didn’t think I’d be able to skate at all.”
