Take a Chance on Me by Vanessa Devereaux

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME
     
    Perfect
Pairing
     
    Vanessa Devereaux
     
    Copyright © 2012
     
     
     
    Chapter One
     
     
    Disciplinary Hearing: Witches’ Realm Board v. Sadie Sutton
     
    Sadie bit her bottom lip. She wasn’t looking
forward to this day, but it was her own fault. Who would have thought having a
little fun would get her into this much trouble with The Board?
    “And how much damage was done to her neighbor’s
car?” asked the chairwoman, Margery.
    Sadie slid down on the chair. Holy shit. She knew the answer to that: a hell of a lot. Mercedes Benzes aren’t cheap things to fix.
    “Twenty-five thousand dollars, and there was also damage to the
front lawn and part of his house when he drove the car into the living room,”
said Becca , flicking through her notes. That had been his own damn fault. He should have hit the brakes as
soon as he’d felt himself careening into the front yard.
    “And Mr. Mooney. Did he suffer any injuries?” asked Margery.
    Becca turned back to the first page. Sadie glanced down at her fingers,
pretending to check her nails. Sadie knew what was coming next, and for that
reason couldn’t bring herself to look Margery in the eye.
    “He broke his nose. He needed ten stitches in
his forehead, and is still recovering from a broken leg.”
    Sadie slyly looked up for just a minute. Margery
pulled her glasses down to the tip of her nose and glared over their rims. She
tried not to look her directly in the eye, but Margery, being older by 175
years, had more power and Sadie couldn’t resist.
    The older witch beckoned her over to the chair
directly in front of the table with the five head elders.
    Sadie stood, her legs wobbling as she made her
way over to them. She’d only meant to teach her neighbor a lesson and have some
fun at the same time. After all, he’d backed over her newly planted petunias
and begonias.   How could she have known
he’d held no malicious intent but was just one shitty driver? And when she’d
sent a little hocus-pocus his way, how could she have guessed that her powers
would be strong enough to cause mayhem?
    Margery raised her finger and let it fall
swiftly. Next thing Sadie knew her butt had hit the chair with force. Obviously
she’d been daydreaming and hadn’t heard the request to sit. Margery wasn’t
known for her patience, or her leniency, for that matter.
    “And what do you have to say for yourself, Sadie
Sutton?”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “A little late for that. It’s not surprising that we witches and warlocks get a bad name
when you do awful things like this to innocent mortals.”
    Sadie swallowed. She somehow knew she wouldn’t
like the sentence that was about to be handed down.
    “I think the punishment should fit the crime.
I’d like you to do something that will benefit mortals in the nicest possible
way, and am therefore assigning you to work with Nadine.”
    Oh, God. No. The woman wore nothing but pink and
worked with everything connected with love and sex in the universe. Sadie
didn’t know the first thing about either.
    “I don’t think it would be a good match,
because…”
    Margery raised her hand. “Where are your
manners? I haven’t told you to speak, nor to argue with your sentence, for that
matter. You will work with her and take on whatever assignment she gives you,
and hopefully you won’t get yourself in any more trouble.”
    “And how long is this assignment to be?”
    “Ah, yes, I have to decide upon a punishment
level. Let’s say fifty years, shall we? And you’re to report to her
immediately.”
    Margery snapped her fingers and before Sadie had
a chance to even open her mouth again she sat opposite Nadine, who was checking
over Sadie’s council hearing papers. A bright pink boa adorned her neck and
shoulders and she tapped the desk with her frosted pink nails as she read.
    “So I have you for fifty years,” she muttered.
    Sadie rolled her eyes, hoping Nadine didn’t
catch it.
    “I saw that. And might I