Page 46 of April's Fool
“Here.”
Barr glanced at the picture, then closed his eyes briefly. “Got it.”
Jorgoth rounded the corner in front of us.
Barr grabbed me again, taking off in a sprint while drawing another portal. This one was bigger, took seconds I wasn’t sure we had.
In a blink, we burst through, the portal snapping closed behind us.
There, surrounded by shifters, was Mori, his eyes wide with concern.
“Hey, did you miss me?”
Heatwave
Amorandes
Unable to help myself,I darted forward and wrapped my arms around Damon. Without even thinking about it, my wings burst free, thankfully not ruining my suit, my magic created space for them. They wrapped around him, cocooning in my protection.
“Are you alright, my love?” The words just slipped out so naturally. I was in love with Damon. Had been in love with him for a while. Now was not the time to admit that, though.
“There’s a lot to discuss, but we need to get Cody and Toth out of the castle.” Damon relaxed into me, his arms around my waist.
I went rigid with fear. “Is he in danger?”
Damon stepped back to meet my eyes. He pushed at my wings so he could see me. “Jorgoth is under contract to Basil. I’m sure of it. I’m not sure why he came for me rather than Cody—“
“He’s a prince.” I stepped back, forcibly pushing my wings away, returning them to their place insideme. They almost had a mind of their own, wanting to keep Damon tucked up and safe. Subconsciously, I believed it was my duty to care for my human lover, yet he was more dangerous than me. I touched the crown on my horn. “This doesn’t just protect us from witch contracts. It prevents a witch or demon from attacking us physically, butonlyin our realm,“ I stressed my point. “Royals have limited protection here, in the human realm, our magic forms a basic shield. Getting around the protection it provides is incredibly difficult. I’ve never known a witch to hunt us like this.”
“So Jorgoth can’t just go and take him or Toth out? He can’t take them to Basil?”
“Not unless they went willingly.”
“Like if Basil had me?”
Realization dawned. “Basil could use you to get Cody. He’s powerful enough to control you, to force you to harm him unless he’s figured out a way to do it himself. He’s certainly powerful enough.”
“I would never harm Cody!” Damon spat. Though his anger wasn’t for me, I still flinched. Thankfully, Damon missed the movement, too caught up in his fury for the witch that had hunted him for months.
“You wouldn’t have a choice. Do you really think that a man so crazed he sent a hitman after ahitman wouldn’t use the dark arts? He wants Cody gone. I don’t know why.”
“I do,” Thyme said as he walked in the doors of Heatwave, Oak, and two new witches by his side.
Beside me, Damon stiffened. His fear around witches made sense after some things he had told me about his past. My last words about being controlled wouldn’t have helped, either. Damon needed a way to be safe from their magic. Perhaps I could ask the shifters if the elves had any suggestions. Their magic was different. They might know something.
In unison, Damon and I moved closer to each other. We clasped hands, each giving a squeeze that said, “I’m here. I’m with you.” Having someone to protect made Damon feel stronger, so I was willing to be that for him even when I was perfectly safe from the witches.
“Why is he so obsessed with Cody? What does having a hit on me achieve? None of this has made sense from the start.” Damon glowered at the witches as if they were agents for Basil, which, after our last encounter, some of them could be.
“What is Cody? He’s the first—“
By the magic! “That we know of. Just because no other witch-demon hybrid has been documented, doesn’t mean one hasn’t existed.” I recalled my visits to the archives. There was no information on such a mix in a child. We knew nothing about their powers.
Thyme inclined his head. “True. Basil doesn’t care about that. He sees a witch that has demon powers and abilities. Imagine, like he probably has, a witch with a great well of power who can replenish that well quickly by feeding off emotions such as lust. How powerful would such a being be?” Thyme looked directly at me. “Your son is a threat to Basil retaking the coven because Basil believes he is the only person that could stand in his way.”
Damon shifted closer to me. “Cody wouldn’t want that. He just wants to live a peaceful life with Toth.”
“Do you really think Cody would stand aside and let the coven, let Poppy, be harmed because of a madman?” Oak spoke for the first time. “We all know he wouldn’t. He would be the first in line to do something about it.”
