Page 24 of That Mafioso Magic
Sage smirked. “Yes, how much do your services demand? And do take into account that I am your partner in this. I’m expecting a discount.” He winked.
“Are you serious?” I asked.
He shrugged with a smile, flashing the pearliest of white teeth. “Maybe.”
I rolled my eyes and huffed. “Can you wait for me to investigate the house?”
“I can, but maybe Shi can go with you both. She may be able to scent something even your magic might miss. I’ll stay here and look through the book,” Sage suggested.
I looked over to Xavier to see him checking Shi out, eyebrow raised as he apparently admired the view, but he was also judging her ability to be of help. “Well, you good with that?” I asked him.
Xavier looked at me and nodded. “If we’re going to be sneaking around, she might want to change shoes.”
“‘She is just fine with the shoes she is wearing,” Shi said, referring to herself with extreme attitude.
I looked at Shi, and she was just standing there, ready to do whatever Sage commanded. She was an intimidating figure, that was for certain. I wouldn’t want to fuck with her. Shifter or not, I bet she could do some serious damage. Six-inch heels notwithstanding.
“Whatever,” Xavier said, crossing his arms over his chest.
I turned back to Sage. “Okay, we shouldn’t be gone too long.”
Sage nodded and grabbed the book. Bringing it closer to him, he turned to the first page and began reading it.
“What does it say?” I asked him.
“It’s a spell for removing someone’s body part. I find this one particularly useful,” he said, then he looked at me. “What do you see?”
I walked over to him and looked at the page. “A spell for restoring a person’s body part,” I said.
Sage pursed his lips. “It’s as if you’re the opposite of me.”
“Opposites do attract,” Nadia said.
“It’s like you’re the yin to his yang,” Shi said.
Sage sat back in the chair, those beautiful lips of his pursed as he pondered what Shi had said. He nodded. “And like the yin-yang, both sides are not completely light or dark. There is a dot of each in the other.”
“Well, before you two start picking out matching china, maybe we can pause on the whole yin-yang theory,” Xavier drawled.
Sage looked at him, brows slightly furrowed in his annoyance. “Why don’t you go warm the car up.”
“What we’re not going to do is fight amongst ourselves,” I said, stopping the animosity from escalading, at least for now. Xavier just wanted to protect me, I got that. But Sage and I had to deal with what was going on between us without his interference.
Xavier huffed, but nodded. “Fine.”
I turned back to Sage. “Getting back to what we were talking about. The yin-yang is as good a theory as any as to why some of the spells we both can read,” I said. “So, what does that say about us?”
Sage shrugged. “That I’m not all dark and you’re not all light. I’m fine with that if you are.”
“I’ve accepted who I am a long time ago,” I said.
“Oooh, sassy with the southern accent to match,” Sage said, smiling widely. “I love it,” he growled, and I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. Jeez, now I was blushing in front of everyone like some school girl.
“Ugh, let’s go,” Xavier said, as if just entertaining the idea of Sage and I becoming more was nauseating to him. He didn’t like the fact that Sage was a dangerous man, but for some reason, that fact was turning me on. I followed Shi and Xavier out of the door.
~*~
There was an awkward silence inside the car. We were driving in Xavier’s car, the three of us. I knew Xavier was dying to speak to me in private. I was sure he had some unsavory things to say about Sage he didn’t want to say in front of Shi for obvious reasons. It would just have to wait. I turned the radio on just to fill the silence with anything instead of the tension I was feeling. Thirty minutes later, we were pulling up a few houses away from the home of the Marshalls. Yellow police tape still blocked off the home and there was one squad car parked right in front of it.
