Free Charmed in Vegas: Bad Potions by Michelle Fox

him glow. Every woman in the place had swiveled their heads at the sound of his voice and now stared, utterly riveted. Marion felt the pull of his attraction as well, but remembering he might just be Eric in disguise dulled the effect.
    Of course, she didn't recall Eric ever being that tall. She found the observation mildly reassuring. Glamour casting could disguise a person, but it didn't add height or weight. Mages didn't have the ability to shapeshift like Dougal did. That was a fay thing. Mages only commanded illusion, not reality.
    Smiling at him, she said, "Hey."
    “Everything okay? Calling home?” He nodded toward the cell phone still in her hand.
    “Just trying to reach Raven and see how things are going,” she lied, stashing the phone in her pocket and hoping he didn’t suspect anything.
    “I take it you didn’t get through?”
    Marion shook her head. “No.”
    “Keep trying. She’ll answer sooner or later.” He extended a steaming cup toward her. “Here, I got you some coffee.”
    “Oh. Thanks.” She took the cup, but stopped short of drinking from it. Eric wasn’t above using drugs or poison. But Aidan probably wasn't Eric. Or was he? Ugh. She hated having to question every little thing. Still, better safe than sorry.
    She pushed the coffee back into his hand. “I’d better skip it. You don’t want me hyper in such a small car.”
    “Are you sure? It’s hazelnut.” He sniffed his cup with an expression of bliss. “Good stuff.”
    “I’m sure, but thanks. It was sweet of you.”
    “No problem. I could use another cup anyways. One thing Fairy never has is good coffee.”
    “I think I’ll get a bottle of water to take with me though,” she said looking over to the convenience store that stood to the side of the lobby. “Do you want one?”
    “Sure. That’s probably a good idea. Driving always makes me thirsty.”
    Well, just so long as he wasn’t bloodthirsty.
    ***
    B ack in the car, Marion clasped her hands around her water bottle, her mind racing. How could she prove, without a doubt, whether or not Eric was masquerading as Aidan? She thought back to her Introduction to Magic class, trying to recall what the professor had said about the art of illusion.
    Illusions were always visual and never stood up to physical contact. So anyone wary of touch should be suspect. All she had to do was touch him. If he avoided her, she would know the truth.
    But wait. She’d already been touching him and he had been more than willing. Plus, as she'd just noticed, he was physically bigger than Eric. He probably really was Aidan the elf. Relief dispelled the tension tying knots in her spine and then one thought had the knots coming back tighter than ever: What if Aidan's height was part of the illusion?
    Eric wouldn't be able to change his actual height, the rules of magic were clear on that, but he could maybe make it seem like he was taller. She didn't know the magic well enough to be sure, which meant she still didn't know if she was safe.
    Damn it.
    She had to know, had to be sure who was who. Did Aidan really exist or had her ex lured her out of Vegas intent on murder? There was nothing to do but find a reason to touch Aidan so she could check for Eric's mole. If they kissed again, she could run her hand across Aidan’s cheek. She should be able to feel the mole through any illusion. Then she would know for sure that Eric hadn’t out-magicked her and that she could trust Aidan.
    Just one kiss and she would know.
    “So, where are we going?” she asked with a bright smile, trying not to obviously stare at his face. She gripped her water bottle tight, countering the urge to reach out and just touch him and get it over with. Now wasn’t the time. Not with the speedometer registering well over a hundred miles per hour.
    Aidan zipped the car around a lumbering semi. “I have a small house in an oak grove about five miles from here."
    She looked at the rock filled desert outside her window. "Oak