Page 40 of Jade Lion and the Witch Boy
I turn and study them. These ladies, my second family, seem to be sternly pleading with me. “What are you…?”
“The greatest magic of all is true love.” Lisbeth shrugs and crosses her arms. “It’s corny, but real. And we need you to hurry up and make that lion man fall in love with you.”
My mouth goes dry, and my head gets dizzy. “Wha…what?”
Lisbeth bristles. “Why do you think I’ve left you two alone every night? The Jade Lion is a gay man, and you’re a single gay witch boy. It was all so perfect until these wizard bastards decided to show up.”
Ashley nods at Lisbeth, then looks at me. Her huge brown eyes sparkle with desperate need. “Seb, we don’t want to lose our chance. Please…”
I shake my head. “Please what? I thought you wanted me to get him to stay here! And I did just that—he outright said that he would rather be with us than with the Union.”
“But the allure of wizards, with their fancy portals and geo arcanum, might be too good to pass up.” Lisbeth shakes her head with a frown. “So you need to hurry up.”
“Shouldn’t we let them make their own decisions?” Taina whispers.
“And what does him falling in love have to do with anything?” I ask. I don’t even know if he wants to stay here with me, but my pulse is pounding in anxiety with this conversation. What are they implying?
“It’s everything.” Lisbeth raises her wrist, and Ashley and Taina do the same. “These protection runes do more than just ward away bad intentions. They link all of us in the coven.”
I look down at my wrist. I’d already forgotten about the tiny metal charm on a rope bracelet we’ve been wearing.
“When the Jade Lion falls in love with you, the rest of us can partake in his arcana. The runes have been infused with a spell to access his arcana, but only when powered with true love. Anika already knows the plan. I’ve been trying to keep it from you, let you two work it out organically.” Lisbeth stares at her charm. “But with the wizards poaching on our precious prize, we might not have him around forever.”
I snap out of it and push off from the kitchen counter. “He’s not a prize! He’s our friend.” The ladies flinch, shocked by my outburst, but my pulse is pounding. I’m confused, vexed, and feeling slightly betrayed. “He’s part of our coven, one of the Boysen witches, not some…wellspring of magic to steal from.”
“He’s not a witch,” Taina says quietly.
“And we’re not stealing anything,” Ashley says quietly. She steps forward and takes my hand. “Not in the sense that we’re removing it from him. Kai has unlimited internal arcana. We would just…share some, and he could replenish in his reserves. It shouldn’t hurt him, but it would help us here in Boysen House.”
Lisbeth steps forward. “I’m sorry, Seb. For hiding this from you.” This is the quietest she’s ever been, so I let her keep talking. “But for the sake of our magic, we have the opportunity to be witches full-time. We can go out, be heroes for witches, maybe grow our own network of covens. We can defendourselves and discover new ways to use magic, to help the witch community.” She touches my shoulder, and Taina flanks my other side. “We want what all witches have always wanted, the equity that wizards have never shown us. Independent magic.”
I study the faces of the important women in my life, my housemates, my coven. Then, I shuck off their touches and stride away. “I gotta go take a walk.” With that, I march out into the cold autumn air.
I clear my head, trying to ignore their words, and fiddle on my phone as I walk around the neighborhood. When I return an hour later, the house is quiet. That’s for the best, as I’m pretty pissed at my coven. I had half a mind to throw my protection charm into a gutter.
But I thought about all the times I could have used magic to make life easier for myself. And all the moments I could have defended myself. Kevin was a threat, but the Other Side is so much more horrifying than any mortal could be. Maybe there’s some merit to their plan. After all, Kai’s limitless power could be helpful for all of us.
Strolling into the kitchen, I notice my muffin mix is gone. A sticky note on the counter reads, “Mix is in the freezer. Hand mixed it 50 times counterclockwise, no more, no less. Just like you taught me. -T”
I smile and head upstairs and finish my nighttime routine. With all this conflict storming in my heart, I want to crash early and sleep like the dead.
I’m walking into my room wearing only a towel when I see Kai, lying in my sheets. He has a sheepish grin, like he’s not sure if he’s welcome. “I missed you after supper,” he says quietly.
A smile breaks out on my face. He’s so cute. I don’t recall the last time a love interest missed me. His hair is all wet, and his white T-shirt hugs his chest in a sexy way, like always.
“Had some…things to think about. Needed some fresh air.”
“Ah. Well, I am glad you are here now. Would you like to sleep?”
“I would.”
“Would, uh…” He looks away and scratches his hair. “Would you like me to sleep here? I can sleep on the floor, too, like normal. I just thought, maybe…well…”
Oh my stars. Is the Jade Lion, mage supreme, nervous at being rejected by me?
I snicker and turn to my dresser drawer. “You can sleep in my bed. I’d like that, Kai.” I hang up my towel and fish out fresh boxer briefs. Yes, I’m giving him a show of my ass. One day soon, I’d like to give him all of it…
I shut off the lights, slide into bed, and we face each other in the dark. His breath fans my face. He smells so good. Kai Zhou has quickly become my safe space.
