“quam alii perfect me” The words rolled from my tongue easily. The bite of energy that touched me was similar to an electric charge. A shimmer covered me so briefly the human eye wouldn’t catch it. I felt dread in the pit of my stomach, praying I wasn’t going too far. I didn’t want to deal with the kind of male attention this had caused last time. My eyes were squeezed shut and I was afraid to open them. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to look. The sunvisor was still down with the mirror in front of me.

My reflection was what I had expected. The Kamlock beauty stared back at me. The gleam of perfection that came from magic alone. Natural beauty was required, but the use of magic enhanced it. This was going to be a nuisance today. I wouldn’t be able to fade into the background looking like this. It had been the easiest answer to the least of my issues this morning and I had to get over my dislike of drawing attention to myself for today at least.

A singular tap on the driver’s side window was not expected and my hand flew to my mouth to smother my squeal. Swinging my head to see who was out there I went from being startled to mildly panicked. It was a brief moment of panic though. He had shown up at the wrong time. I wasn’t in the mood for taking anymore shit from people, family, or strange stalking warlocks. I wasn’t weak, and if he tested me I’d prove it to him.

I took a deep breath and reached for the door knob to open it with more force than necessary, causing mister wanna be rock star to move back with a swiftness I hadn’t expected. I’d hoped to hit him with my door. I stared him down, while stepping out of the car. He wasn’t going to see fear in my eyes. He held a small grin as he stood there watching me with one hand in his jean pocket. Even though he never gave a sinister look, you knew there was danger. I would get answers before he disappeared into thin air this time around. I really wasn’t sure at this point just how powerful he was. He may be here to kill me. Oddly that was the least of my concerns this morning.

“Good morning, Catalina. You appear to be jolly.” The way he spoke to me sounded as if we were friends. Like this was a planned visit.

“Who are you and why are you following me?” I wasn’t doing small talk with him. He wasn’t stalking me for small talk. He needed to get to the point.