Page 65 of Taken By the Blood God

I bit back a smile when Sela sipped her tea and tried to hide a faint wince. I knew she didn’t care for the herbal brews that I concocted, but she humored me. If she realized how much the tea would help her focus and control her magic, she would probably drink it of her own free will, but she would still have to force it down. She didn’t have the knowledge yet because she was just beginning her journey as a witch. I wanted her to understand her power fully before she began to use aids in augmenting or controlling it.

“Are you ready to talk yet?” she asked, lowering her cup and fixing her eyes on me.

“I’m not sure where to start.”

Sela scowled at me. “Start at the beginning.”

I took a fortifying sip of tea before I spoke again. Careful not to use Davian’s true name, I told her everything. From how Talant took care of me after he’d been freed from the cave, how he fed on me to restore his magic, releasing his brother and getting hurt again in the process. Everything. Including how we couldn’t keep our hands off each other.

When I was finished, Sela stared at me with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” I asked, feeling squirmy from the complete shock in her expression.

“Because you have your shit together more than anyone I’ve ever met, and I would never have expected half of the things you told me.”

I sighed, and slumped over in my chair. She was right. This wasn’t me. I was doing things I never would have done before and making questionable choices with my safety and my life in general.

Sela rose from her seat and said, “This calls for something a lot stronger than tea.”

“I don’t have any alcohol in the store. Magic and booze don’t mix.”

She shook her head. “Not booze. Caffeine and baked goods. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

It was my turn to gape as she left the reading room. I’d just gotten to my feet and made it to the doorway when I heard the bell over the shop door chime as she left the store entirely. The little bell was still shivering madly as Sela strode across the square, straight for Marjorie’s bakery. As I watched her, I contemplated locking up for the day and driving home to avoid the coming conversation.

Then, I remembered the two arrogant, annoying gods waiting for me at home and decided that staying at the shop would be for the best. At least I would have delicious coffee and pastries to sweeten whatever words Sela was going to use to tell me that I was an idiot.

Chapter

Twenty-Six

Minerva

Sela came back within ten minutes, a tray holding two iced coffees in one hand and a big brown paper bag with thin handles in the other. The scent of vanilla, cinnamon, and chocolate wafted into the shop with her.

She locked the door again. Then, she turned toward me.

“You’re taking the rest of the day off.”

“Oh, I am?”

“You are,” she confirmed.

She ushered me back toward the reading room, using her body to herd me. I found myself laughing as she bumped my hips with hers and said, “Hurry up. I’m dying to dig into this bag.”

“What did you get?” I asked as we went back into the reading room and shut the door behind us.

“I don’t know for sure. I told Marjorie to give me a bag full of treats for someone who was having issues with their love life and to be sure there were two of everything.”

I laughed again. “She probably thinks you and the police chief are having issues.”

Sela rolled her eyes. “She knows that’s not true, but I also didn’t want her to know this was for you. You like to keep your personal life private, and I don’t blame you, so I wouldn’t even tell her if they were for a man or a woman.”

I stopped next to the round table and blinked at her, surprised she’d noticed that about me.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

She took one of the iced coffees from the tray and put it front of me. “Since I went whole hog on the pastries and cookies, I got basic iced coffee with milk.”

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