Page 49 of Sugar, Spice, and Magical Midlife

All moisture drained from my mouth as my veins hardened to sludge. “Wh-what? Why?”

“His magic, Luci.” His voice dropped to a deep rumble. “They want it for themselves, and they won’t stop hunting him until they get it.”

Goddess, no!

A scream died in my throat as I shot up in bed, sweat dripping down my brow. I looked around the familiar setting of the hostel room, from watery morning light spilling in through its small, lone window to the faded floral wallpaper, and most importantly, my son sleeping beside me.

“It was only a dream,” I whispered to myself while snuggling against my son. “It was only a dream.”

Chapter Eleven

We found a cute little café for breakfast where we ate the most delicious gluten-free pastries, eggs, and bacon. We piled all our scraps onto a plate and let Puffy finish them off. Then Ethyl and I sipped coffee and Des killed bad wizards in his game while we waited in a cozy booth in the far corner of the room for a friend of Ethyl’s who worked at the Tribunal.

The place was especially dark for a coffee shop, with heavy purple drapes on the windows and low lights around the old wooden tables, probably something to do with the vampires who frequented here. The dining room was crowded, which made me feel safer. Surely, if there were succubi present, they wouldn’t try anything with so many witches around. Horrible jazz music that sounded like a tin garbage can full of feral cats rolling down a stairwell filtered in from above. Ordinarily, I would’ve been annoyed, but the music was one more succubi deterrent.

I kept one eye on the group of vampires who slunk in among the shadows before retreating to a booth in the other corner. It was rather early for them, which meant they probably hadn’t returned to their crypts yet. I hated that their eyes were naturally crimson, making it hard to determine if they were succubi. Luckily, they ordered iced caramel and cinnamon lattes, slurping the sweet drinks down as if they were bags of O negative. I wasn’t sure how they got the reputation for only drinking blood. Sure, it was their main food staple, but so were caffeine and sugar.

“Hey.” Ethyl grabbed my wrist, giving me a pleading look. “Don’t say anything about Frederica’s horns.”

I arched back. “What?”

Ethyl dropped her voice while sinking in her seat. “She’s self-conscious.”

“About her horns?” What a weird thing to worry about.

Her cheeks reddened. “Yeah.”

“Why?” I leaned toward her, my eyes narrowing. “What’s wrong with them?” Ethyl had already told me Frederica was an unseen, a minotaur originally from Germany. Minotaurs, for those who never studied Greek mythology, were big bull-like creatures that walked on two hooves. They were larger than most striga, averaging about seven feet in height. I thought it odd that this minotaur and tiny little Ethyl had hooked up, but Ethyl said they spent most of last summer together.

“Hey,bellisima,” a dark, oily voice with a heavy Italian accent whispered before a vampire with red lips and crimson eyes stepped out of the shadows and knelt beside Ethyl. “Where have you been?”

“Augustus!” Ethyl threw her arms around the vampire, kissing his cheek. “I went back to the states. You know that.”

Ahh, her famous vampire lover. He looked pastier than I’d envisioned, and he gave off the vibe of a gamer who lived in his parents’ basement with his skinny arms and dark, goth clothes.

Puffy sat up and let out a low growl, smoke pouring from his nostrils and the ridge on his spine standing on end as he glared at the vampire.

Augustus stroked Ethyl’s arms with blood-crusted (eww) fingernails while looking into her eyes. “How long you going to be here?”

I looked over at Des, relieved to see he was still engrossed in his game. I didn’t need him watching these two fawn over each other.

She shrugged, casting me a nervous look. “I’m not sure yet.”

“What are the chances we can spend some time together while you’re here?” he cooed before pulling her against his chest.

“I don’t know, Auggie.” She pulled out of his embrace, putting an arm’s length between them. “I’m pretty busy.”

“Aww, come on,Amore.” He turned over her hand and traced circles along her palm. Was this guy for real? Did he think fingering her palm in the middle of a coffee shop was going to turn her on?

I shook my head when Ethyl’s eyelids fluttered and she looked ready to melt into a pile of goo.

She pulled her hand free. “I’m spending time with Frederica. You know she doesn’t like to share her lovers.”

“La testa pene?” He let out a very un-vampire-like snort laugh. “Why her when you can have areallover?”

“You don’t want to cross Frederica, Auggie.” She turned up her chin and waved him off like he was a stray dog. “Now, run along like a good vampire.”

He splayed a hand across his heart. “You wound me.”

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