Page 31 of That Mafioso Magic
I looked at her. “Listen to me. I’m going to do whatever, and I mean whatever, it takes to save Sage.”
“Because you need his help?”
“That’s part of it. But there is something between us, something the book made apparent. I don’t want him to die, so I’m going to need your help, okay?”
“Anything,” she said.
The door opened and Nadia and Xavier walked back inside.
“Did you see who did this?” Shi asked.
Nadia shook her head. “By the time we canvassed the area, they were gone. What the fuck happened to him?” she asked, her voice rising in confusion as she pointed to Sage. “What did you do?”
“Calm down, babe. We just froze him to stop the poison from flowing to his heart. Whatever kind of magic poison was in that bullet, it is powerful and it was killing him,” Shi said.
Nadia turned her head and I could tell by how tight her jawline was that she was trying hard not to cry. “I will save him,” I said, trying my best to reassure them. Truth was, I wasn’t sure I could. I did know that my best chance of saving him was inside the pages of the book.
“I see that you are more powerful than before.” Xavier was checking me out and seeing what I’d done to Sage.
“I need to put a barrier spell around this place,” I said, noticing that the one Sage had cast disappeared the moment his body froze. I gathered the magic around me and put a level two spell around the building, which would only allow someone inside if one of us allowed them inside. Anyone else would be repelled by fear if they tried to enter. I was betting the one Sage had conjured would probably result in death if someone tried to breach it. “Listen, if you need to let anyone in, the key to open the barrier is ‘buttercup.’”
“‘Buttercup’?” Nadia repeated.
I nodded. “You’ll have to say that before you’ll be able to open the door, and you’ll have to say it when you close it to reinstate the barrier. Stay inside.”
“Got it.” Nadia nodded.
“Who do you think is trying to kill him?” Xavier asked.
“If it’s a rival mage, that puts me in danger as well,” I said.
“Because of the visions, what happened to your family?” Xavier asked.
“If someone discovered that Sage was bound to the book and they wanted to kill him before he could get to it, they might think that I am too,” I said. “We’re both mages without clans, after all. They might start suspecting I’m the other half.”
“No one has been trying to kill you, though,” Xavier pointed out.
“Not yet, and that might be because my birthmark is protecting me. I’m not sure. Maybe they just haven’t discovered that I exist because my mark is on my ass and Sage’s is on his neck in clear view,” I said.
“How come I never knew you had a birthmark on your ass?” Xavier asked.
“Why would you, though?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Good point.”
“We still can’t rule out a rival mafia who is using magic to take Sage out either. It’s no secret that Sage is also a mage in our world. Perhaps someone thinks they are fighting fire with fire,” Nadia said.
“True. Listen, keep an eye on him and the door. They know he’s in here and more might come to finish the job,” I said.
“Not if I can help it,” Shi said, pulling out her phone.
“Who are you calling?” I asked.
“Back up.”
I had no doubt they wouldn’t be caught off guard again. Both her and Nadia were on high alert. Me, I had a job to do. I ran to the bathroom to wash Sage’s blood off my hands. I stared at the red flowing down the drain in a swirl, almost numb. I may not have had Sage’s high-octane life, but I did have one that was dangerous in its own right. Becoming more powerful was a dream come true for me. But I was only at half strength without Sage at my side. I knew this from the way it felt. The moment I had to freeze him, I felt weaker. The energy of the magic dulled ever so slightly, letting me know the other half of me needed to be alive and breathing if either of us was going to be at our full potential.
Once my hands were cleaned, I changed my clothes, because the ones that I’d been wearing were also covered in blood. Now that I was fully dressed, I could put the book to use. I went back into my office and begin thumbing through the pages, looking for any spell that might help me. An hour passed before I came across one that might do the trick. It was a complicated spell, one that would require me to draw on Sage’s power. But more importantly, it called for the blood of the “living that is also not living”. After three minutes of pondering whatever the hell that meant, I figured it out.
