She felt as if she’d stepped back in time. To when women were sex objects dressing to please their masters. Apprehension slid through her, and she was just about to turn around and leave when a woman pushed aside the curtained doorway behind the counter and said, “May I help you?”
Too late to bolt.
Mira forced a smile as her pulse picked up speed. She stepped toward the counter. “Yes. Um, maybe.” She glanced around the shop, making sure it was truly empty, then lowered her voice and added, “I’ve come to inquire about the Firebrand opal.”
The woman’s eyes hardened behind wire-rimmed glasses. She looked to be in her mid-forties, round in the face, plump through the hips, more motherly than madam. But her eyes…her silver eyes…were assessing. And knowing. And hinted of dark, seductive secrets.
Mira swallowed the lump in her throat. As the uncomfortable silence stretched out, she realized hightailing it out of this place really was the best idea after all. But before she could move her feet, the woman motioned with her hand and said, “Come.”
Curiosity got the best of her. It was her biggest flaw. She always needed to know how and why things worked, and when she’d heard about the Firebrand opal, she hadn’t been able to think of anything but the—supposed—magical stone. She knew that was the reason she was here now.
Part of the reason, at least. Or so she tried to convince herself.
Mira’s hands shook as she made her way around the counter and stepped through the curtained doorway. The back room was nothing special. An old box-style TV sat on a chipped table. A love seat covered by a blanket was pushed up against the far wall, and inventory boxes were scattered through the small space. When the woman pointed to the couch and barked, “Sit!” Mira did as she was instructed, not sure what to expect.
The woman opened a curio cabinet Mira hadn’t noticed, extracted a wooden box and brought it to the couch. She sat next to Mira and studied her with those weird, silver eyes once more, her hands resting on the top of the aged wood as if protecting an ancient treasure. “How did you hear of the Firebrand opal?”
“A…friend told me about its…unique…properties.”
“And what do you seek from the opal?”
Mira’s pulse beat like wildfire as she remembered what Claudette, the woman who was most definitely not a friend but who’d been seated next to her at the salon, had said about the opal.
Wicked pleasure, mind-numbing fantasies, your heart’s every secret, sinful desire come true.
Though Mira wouldn’t mind experiencing a few X-rated fantasies brought to life, it wasn’t what she wanted most. “I seek…a man.”
The woman’s brow lifted.
“Not just any man,” Mira corrected, feeling suddenly foolish as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “A specific one. Devin Sloan.” Her face heated. “I work with him at my architecture firm. He’s gorgeous.” Defeat rushed through her. “And he doesn’t see me as anything but a friend.”
“The opal does not have the power to make someone fall in love with you.”
Mira knew that. Claudette had said as much. Though Claudette hadn’t actually used the necklace, she claimed she knew someone who had. “I don’t want him to fall in love with me. I mean, I do. Eventually. But I wouldn’t want him to fall in love with me because of a wish. I want him to fall in love with me because he wants to.” Her cheeks literally burned. God, she felt foolish. “All I really want is for him to notice me. I want to…learn…how to gain his attention. And then how to keep that attention, once I’ve got it.”
Because that was the real issue here. She met lots of men, and she dated. She wasn’t locking herself away somewhere. But she’d yet to find one who was as interested in her as she was in him. Which was why none of her relationships ever seemed to get off the ground.
The woman’s eyes narrowed once more. “Are you a virgin?”
Mira couldn’t help but laugh. But it came out stilted and awkward, not confident as she’d hoped. “No. Definitely not.” She was thirty-two years old, for crying out loud. “I’m just not…” Okay, now she sounded pathetic. She drew a deep breath. “For whatever reason, I’ve yet to meet a man who is enraptured by me. And I’m thinking that’s got to be related to the way I react to them. Dating is one thing. Taking a relationship to another level and keeping a man’s interest for more than a couple of dates is something completely different. I guess I just want to learn to be more desirable.”
She thought of Devin. His sandy blond hair and devastating smile. He definitely didn’t see her as desirable, even though she’d had a crush on him forever. He saw her as any other girl in the office. And that chapped Mira’s ass more than anything.
The woman smoothed her hands over the box. Seemed to debate…something. Just when Mira was sure the woman was going to boot her out of the building, she said, “The opal’s power is not to be underestimated. It will burn through you, tempt you, and if you are not careful, it has the power to destroy you.”
Mira didn’t like the way that sounded. Claudette hadn’t said anything about being destroyed. She’d simply said the opal had the power to grant wishes.
The woman opened the box and extracted a silver chain before Mira could ask what she meant. A tear-shaped fire opal, alive with red and orange hues and edged in silver, hung from the bottom of the chain. Light from the opal seemed to glow throughout the room, sending shimmering ribbons of color across the walls. Mira’s eyes widened. The woman held it out to her, and before Mira could stop herself, her fingers were brushing the stone, its warmth searing her skin.
“When you leave here, put this around your neck,” the woman told her. “Once you make your wish, do not try to remove it. You will not be able to until your wish is fulfilled. But heed my warning: Choosing to wear the Firebrand opal opens yourself to consequences you may not yet foresee. Be sure it is a risk you are willing to take.”
Mira held the opal in the palm of her hand, stared down at the red and orange colors dancing like fire as her entire arm warmed. Though the woman’s warning made her pause, the longer she stared at the opal, the less worried she grew.
She’d never seen anything so beautiful. Couldn’t seem to look away from the stone. An uncontrollable urge to keep it with her…always...consumed her. “Wh-what happens to it when my wish is fulfilled?”
“The opal will find its way into the hands of another. That is all you need to know.” The woman rose as if in a hurry. With the box tucked under one arm, she gestured toward the curtain. “Now go. And do not put the talisman on until you are far from my store. I’ll not have its magic unleashed here.”
In a fog, Mira found her feet. She was still having trouble looking away from the stone. When the woman pushed her toward the curtain and out into the store, though, Mira finally snapped out of her trance and tucked the opal into the pocket of her jacket. “What do I owe you?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? That doesn’t seem right. This necklace has to be worth something.”
The woman’s silver eyes narrowed once more. “You will discover its price soon enough.”
Before Mira could ask what that meant, the woman disappeared through the curtains, and a chilling silence settled over the shop.
CHAPTER TWO
Mira bit her lip as she stared at the opal laid out on her kitchen table an hour later. It wasn’t glowing anymore, and looking at it now, she was pretty sure she’d imagined that to begin with. The thing was nothing but a pretty necklace, really. A trinket.