Page 30 of That Mafioso Magic
“Can you help him?” Shi asked as she pressed her hand to my wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
“Uhnnn,” I groaned because the pain was excruciating. Not even a silver bullet hurt this fucking much.
“Let me see,” Adrian said, and Shi moved her hands. He ripped my shirt open and the look of horror on his face told me that what I was feeling wasn’t in my mind. I was dying. “Oh fuck!”
“Can’t you pull the bullet out of him? I mean, you two were in there for hours with that fucking book. Do something!” Shi snapped.
I grabbed her hand. “Find out… who… who…”
“Don’t talk,” she said. “Save your strength.”
I was feeling myself grow weaker. It wasn’t just a bullet that was taking me out. It was the magic inside the bullet that was doing the real damage. I could feel its poison flowing throughout my limbs. As a shifter, I could have survived a gunshot wound from anything. Even a silver bullet didn’t kill me and could be extracted and I would heal. This… this was something else entirely.
Adrian’s hands trembled as he examined the wound, opening it a little wider to see if he could find the bullet. “I’m sorry,” he apologized when I screamed out in agony. I wasn’t a lightweight when it came to pain. My tolerance was high, but this shit here was maddening. I hated being so vulnerable.
More blood gushed from my body, leaving me feeling dizzy, lightheaded. Oh fuck, I’d lived for over a century and this was how I was going to go out. Ain’t that about a bitch.
“Do something!” Shi screamed.
“I’m thinking! Fuck, stop yelling at me,” Adrian shouted. He stood up and began pacing.
“It’s… poison,” I said, but damned if I knew what kind. “In… in my… my blood.”
Adrian dropped down to his knees again. “I’m not going to let you die. Fuck… I hope this works.” I saw him close his eyes and I knew he was drawing magic into him from the ether. He opened his eyes and reached over, snatching the watch off my wrist and he held it tightly in his hands. “I call upon time, to behold as mine, to freeze in place, to hold in space,” he said, reciting an incantation from a level two spell he’d learned on this very night. “I pray this worked.”
“And if it did, what?” Shi asked.
“Then, he’ll be frozen,” Adrian said as he put the watch back on my wrist. Before I could say anything, everything went dark.
CHAPTER NINE
“I’ll be damned, it worked,” Shi said as we both looked down at Sage frozen in place like a mannequin.
“Thank God,” I sighed.
I was on my knees in a pool of Sage’s blood. My heart was pounding in my chest and as I looked down at my bloodied hands, I had to fight back the nausea that was climbing its way up the back of my throat. Everything had happened so damn fast, I barely had time to think. Freezing Sage was the only thing I could think of to buy us some time. I was so grateful that we had spent hours reading that book, because I wouldn’t have known how to do this otherwise.
“What now?” Shi asked as she looked at Sage. “Even the blood has stopped flowing from his wound. This is amazing.”
To be honest, it kind of freaked me out to see someone who was animated a few minutes ago look like he did now. “As for what we do next, I… I don’t know. I mean, we have to figure out what kind of poison was used. This spell isn’t going to last forever and I need to figure out how to counter it.”
“Why… I mean, do you really want to help him?” she asked.
I frowned and looked at her. “Why wouldn’t I?” The question took me aback. Like, why wouldn’t I try to save his life?
“I love Sage, but I also know and accept what and who he is. I would do anything for him. I just want to make sure you are really serious about helping him,” she said.
I gestured to his body. “I did this much, didn’t I?” I said, referring to the freeze spell.
“You did, and I’m grateful. Please understand, I’m only looking out for my king’s wellbeing,” Shi said.
“Because he’s a mobster, you think I’d let him die?”
She nodded. “You seemed to disapprove.”
I sighed. “I’ll admit, it isn’t my career choice, but…” I looked down at Sage. Even in the clutches of death, he was gorgeous. There was something more to him than just being a mobster. He wasn’t all merciless killer guy. I knew that much, because the spells in the book told me as much. Just like I knew by those same spells that I had a darkness inside of me. I was capable of doing bad things just like Sage was capable of doing good things. Helping me find a spell to try to save Lacey, for example. Which I wasn’t going to be able to do if he died. Not only that… I personally didn’t want Sage to die. Not at all.
“But?” Shi pressed.
