The Bouquet

To Lexi, the biggest benefit of the old barn is that the office space upstairs doubles as her living quarters, so she never had to leave. Of course, that also brought about the major drawback of living at work, she never had to leave.

She yawned as she stumbled down the stairs. As usual, a cup of iced coffee was waiting for her on the counter on the ground floor. “Thank you,” she mumbled as she took it. She was unsure if it was Stefan who left it there for her every morning or if her own magic was creating it. She knew someone needed to be thanked though— Stefan, herself, her father for giving her the power— so she did.

She headed to the door to unlock the shop, taking big gulps of coffee through the straw as she made her way over. She hesitated at the door. As the Antichrist, she had insight into every moment of her day, but this was a surprise even to her. Awaiting her outside the door was a bouquet of marigolds.

The orange and yellow blossoms were beautiful to her. She sniffed them as she picked them up, but it… wasn’t good. The musky scent triggered something in her though. Her heart fluttered and butterflies were in her stomach. She snatched the card as she placed them in the center of the table.

To You From Me

Did he do this? “Stefan?”

He was always just outside of her field of vision, but she could feel him behind her. A gentle burst of heat always radiated off him as he appeared. “Yes?”

“Did you send these?” She paused. “Make these?”

“It wasn’t me.” He smelled the bouquet and recoiled. “Those are terrible. Pretty but smells disgusting.” He looked at her. “When I send you flowers, they’ll be fire and ice roses. These do seem to trigger something in me though. A memory maybe?”

They looked at each other. Something was changing inside them. Stefan rushed directly over the table, knocking the marigolds on their side, to get to Lexi. Their tongues intertwined. As he lifted her, she locked her legs around his waist, never pulling her mouth away from his. This was right. It felt so right.

He carried her back up the stairs. She bounced after he tossed her on the bed, but he was right on top of her. He ripped his shirt open, revealing rippling muscles, a button hitting her cheek.

She shoved her hand against his stomach, her thumb rubbing his belt buckle. She wanted so badly to pull it off of him. “Wait!” She pushed him back. “What are we doing?”

He straightened his back, his legs curled beneath him. “I think that’s pretty self-explanatory. We’re on a bed, one of us is basically topless.” He pulled his shirt back together.

“I know that. But why?” She freed her legs from beneath him and stood up. “We haven’t had any chemistry like this before.” She rubbed his cheek. “I do like the red scales though, even though they are partially hidden.”

He grinned, becoming redder to Lexi’s eyes. He was blushing.

“Are love spells real?”

Stefan gasped. “Yes! That’s what the flowers were reminding me of!” He kissed her.

She pulled away from him again. “So how do we get rid of the spell and who would send them?”

Suddenly he was holding the bouquet and pulled a singe marigold from the mix. “Burning the flowers should remove the spell. I guess it’s time to show you how to access your powers a little more actively. So far you’ve been doing everything on instinct, which had been fine. This will give you a bit of control though.” He stared very purposefully at the flower. It began to smoke then slowly started burning. He placed the vase on the desk. “Now you. Focus on the flowers and imagine them burning.”

She stared at the flowers for only a moment. The entire bouquet burst violently into flames and was gone in a matter of seconds. A ring of ash circled the now blackened vase.

Stefan laughed and clapped. “You’re a natural with fire!”

Lexi cleared her throat, the butterflies now gone from her stomach. “So who sent them?”

“Ah, yes. Do you remember that bet I had going before we met?” When Lexi nodded, he continued. “I’m a fire demon— hence the red skin— but there are four other demons waiting to be summoned by you, one for each element. They can be a bit devious, especially when they’re tired of waiting.”

She motioned at the vase. “Well this doesn’t make me want to meet them any sooner.”

Stefan nodded slowly. “Then the pranks may get worse, but it’s up to you. We can bring them up whenever you’re ready.”