Page 39 of That Mafioso Magic
She shook her head. “Sage isn’t going to like this.”
“Let’s make sure he lives first. I’m sure he’d like a war with the vampires even less. Like you said, we’ll deal with the consequences later,” I reminded her of her own words. The words that had helped guide me to my decision.
“Oh fuck, you better be able to save him, mage.”
“I’m certainly going to try.”
We got back to my place of business with forty minutes to spare, because we had to stop off at a few places so I could gather more ingredients. This was a complicated spell and I didn’t want to screw it up. There were armed guards standing outside of my home/business. Even if a potential customer did want my services, I doubted the extra security convinced them to come in. They let us walk past and inside, still on the floor, lay Sage. He looked dead as he lay there, head on a pillow, motionless.
I ran into my home, gathered the grimoire, and returned to where Sage was. I flipped through the book to the page that contained the only spell I prayed would work. “When the potion is complete, we need to make him drink it.”
“Not a problem,” Shi said.
“Will this work?” Nadia asked as she stood off to the side.
I took another look around the room and everyone had expressions conveying their concern. Not one person looked happy or hopeful for Sage’s death. Their loyalty was commendable, that was for certain. Xavier was standing near me, but was giving me enough space for what I had to do. No telling what he was thinking. He was a master at the poker face when he wanted to be, and he was wearing it now.
“I hope it does,” I said, not making any promises. I’d made enough of those for one day. “Please, I need space.”
Shi, who was the closest, took the hint and joined Nadia and they both looked on, watching my every move. I read over the spell three more times, committing it to memory before I began. This was one that Sage and I could do together, and it required asking favor from a neutral god. One that had dominion over life and death, Azraelle. Once I was confident in myself, I began mixing the ingredients, grinding the sage into granules. I had to also mix in wolfsbane, which was toxic to all shifters, not just the werewolves. Something about having to fight poison with poison. Then, the most important ingredient of all, Salino’s blood. Everything had to be poured into a bronze chalice, then I had to channel Sage’s power as I ask for Azraelle’s blessing. If she gave it, then the mixture would react, if she didn’t, then it would just look like a bloody mess. It began to smoke and boil as if I had it on a fire, which was a positive sign. I continued to stir until the contents became black. That was when I knew the goddess had given her blessing.
My freezing spell was wearing off on Sage and his body twitched as the spell released his limbs. I looked up at Shi and Nadia. “I’ll need you to help me force this down his throat. You should also hold him down; we don’t know how he’ll react.”
Not only did Shi and Nadia join me, but three other females took their places around Sage’s body, holding down his legs and thighs. Nadia pressed her hand to his chest, and when our eyes met, she nodded. To be honest, I appreciated the trust they had put in me. It was obvious they loved Sage, and it couldn’t have been easy for them to accept my help. Maybe it was because they knew Sage and I had something going on between us. Whatever the case, I liked having their confidence.
Shi lifted Sage’s head and pried open his mouth. I quickly poured the liquid potion down his throat and she closed his mouth, sealing it with her hand. She began to rub his throat, forcing him to swallow and when he did, his back arched so powerfully, Nadia was almost tossed back. She braced herself and pressed down on his chest with both hands. Two more females joined us, holding down his shoulders and arms as he began to thrash on the floor.
“Is he supposed to do that?” Nadia asked, looking at me, worry plastered on her face.
I stuttered, “I—I—I don’t—don’t know. Never did this spell before.”
“Fuck!” she snapped.
I did my part, holding Sage’s hand as his body fought the two poisons flowing through his veins. Now, I was panicking, because I was hoping that I hadn’t just made shit worse. Sure, Sage and I had studied that book for hours like we were two nerds studying for the college finals. But that didn’t make me an expert. Not yet, at least. He was sweating now, pretty badly, and his pulse was racing. I didn’t know if it was a sign that the potion was working or not. It wasn’t as if the book spoke about side effects or what to look for to make sure the spells worked. This was the guesswork part of magic.
“We need to get him back home. Someplace safer than this place,” Nadia said.
“I agree,” Shi added.
“Should we move him?” I asked, not fully certain that was a good idea.
“He’s vulnerable… too vulnerable to stay here on your lobby floor,” Shi said. “The only reason I didn’t move him before was because you had him in that frozen spell and I didn’t want to interfere in any way. This is different. We need to get him back home where we can better protect him.”
I looked around at the room full of no doubt mafia members who were also members of Sage’s pride. They had expressions on their faces that told me they agreed with Shi and Nadia and I had better not try to say otherwise. This was Sage’s people doing what they thought was best for him. And in all honesty, it was probably a good idea to get him out of my home. The fact that he was attacked here had set me on edge. We still didn’t know who wanted him dead, but if it was a rival mage, then they may also have me in their sights.
“You will come with us,” Shi said.
“Umm… sure… got to see this through,” I said. I agreed with her, but I was pretty certain Shi wasn’t going to give me any other option.
“If he’s going, so am I,” Xavier said.
“Fine. We leave now,” Shi ordered, then she scooped her hands under Sage’s body and lifted him as gently as she could. Nadia assisted by cradling Sage’s head as he shivered in Shi’s arms.
“Oh fuck,” Xavier gasped as he witnessed the sheer strength of the female shifter he’d been giving some attitude toward since she had first walked into my office.
“I told you they were strong,” I said.
“Yeah, I see,” he said.
