Page 25 of Handcuffs and Hexes

“So you’re saying that Seth isn’t just a wizard? He’s a witch too?” Hazel asked.

“Considering that for centuries, elite wizards have been seeking out women with magic to boost the next generation, it would make sense that many of us are both,” Seth said. “But witchcraft is considered lowly women’s magic and not worth exploring. Their loss. Working both together is what gives me an edge.”

“And it’s the reason why Seth recharges his magic through sex,” I explained. “He could recharge in other ways too, but this way is much faster and more effective. Which brings us to my taking a female form to... tempt him.”

Seth huffed. “Which was totally unnecessary, by the way. I like you in this form more.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know that then.” I ruffled Seth’s platinum-blond hair, which looked spikey but was soft since he used magic to keep it up and not a excessive amount of product. “It was during Seth’s final year at the Academy of Arcane Arts. It was an all-boys school, and this one here starts disappearing on weekends. This was after the thing with Elena and Desmon—”

“Elena?”

“My mom,” Seth clarified.

“Oh yes, you told me about her.”

“I’d started dabbling in witchcraft before meeting Desmon, but he really pushed me to keep going.”

“He did,” I agreed. “But this was before we got our memories back, remember?”

Seth nodded.

“It took me a while to figure out he was going out to recharge his magical battery because he’d set spells to prevent me or his father from finding out.”

“You were picking up chicks!” Hazel reached over and punched him playfully on the arm.

“I was so jealous,” I admitted. “It was the first time I’d felt that way before.”

“Lemme guess,” Hazel said. “The next time he needed a pick-me-up, you offered yourself in female form?”

“You got it,” Seth said. “I worried it was a trick at first, but Liam already knew I was using witchcraft and had hidden it for me for so long. Even though I didn’t fully remember the episode with Desmon yet, I was starting to get bits and pieces of it back and I knew Liam and I had other secrets. So, I trusted him.”

“Then the next time when I started to change into my female form, he stopped me, saying he liked me the way I was.” My heart hummed at how happy that had made me and how happy Seth still made me every day.

“Aww, that’s so sweet.” Hazel was grinning from ear to ear now as she looked from me to Seth.

“It was hard, though, to keep the secret,” Seth said. “Technically, my father stillownedLiam, and if he found out he’d probably kill him.”

“You can kill a demon?” Hazel asked. “I thought you guys weren’t alive.”

“We aren’t, so we can’t be killed in the same way. But the soulstuff we are made of can be permanently destroyed.”

“How did you two break free?”

I was glad to see Hazel so invested in our story. We’d never shared the details with anyone else before.

“When Seth finished his studies, his father asked him what he wanted as a reward, and he asked for me to keep. It isn’t uncommon for wizards to transfer bound souls between themselves; we are, after all, just possessions to them. Things. Less than human. He didn’t have much use for me, so he transferred the bond to Seth.”

“I dissolved the bond that evening.” Seth reached for his drink and downed the rest of it.

“He did, essentially freeing me from bondage. For the first time I had the choice to do anything I wanted. I could leave, disappearing forever. Or turn on Seth, right then and there, ending the line that kept me captive for so long. He freed me without casting a shield of protection over himself. I could’vekilled him before he even had a chance to protect himself. But I couldn’t do it.”

“He disappeared that night with his newfound freedom.”

Hazel gasped, punching me in the gut just hard enough to make me go “oof.” “You didn’t!”

“I did. But I returned a few days later. I’d realized that what I really wanted to do with my freedom was stay. You know that saying about if you love something let it go? Seth did that for me and I chose to stay. We kept up the charade, with Seth putting fake bonds around me so the other wizards wouldn’t know.

“Then, slowly, we started to get our memories back from when we’d left Elena with Desmon,” I said. “Desmon encouraged Seth to hide their connection and maintain his status at the WEC.”

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