Page 83 of Tricky Magic
“So after that, things were your basic dramatic story. I went back to school in my teens, dealt with your typical mean girls, dumb boyfriends, and mean parents. Had another outburst at sixteen, got pulled from school, and the rest is history.”
“What about your twenties?” he asked.
“That was okay; mean adults instead of teens and even dumber boyfriends, if I would even call them that,” she grumbled.
“What did they think of your magic?”
“Did you also study psychology on your hunt for magic?”
Devon smiled sadly at her. “No, but I’ve had my own experiences.”
Ellea searched his face and realized he wasn’t trying to get a story out of her; he was trying to understand her, and maybe he did. She shook her head at the weird feeling.
“Some of them didn’t care, others thought things would be different or fun since I was the ‘crazy witch with the unknown magic.’ Little did they know that I didn’t even use that side of my powers.” Isaac popped into her head, and she scowled. “Some saw me as a powerful thing they should obtain.”
“You know Ros isn’t like that,” he interrupted.
“Of course not. He’s way more powerful than me.” She laughed. “Why would he need me for anything?”
Devon gave her a dubious look. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”
Ellea snorted at his comment. Why would he even think that? Ros was a freaking demon prince with some crazy magic, not to mention ancient. He was only interested in her ass, and now, her coffee.
“Can we go inside now, or do you have more therapy tricks?”
Devon’s eyes softened, and he grabbed her hand again. “I’m not trying to piss you off. Thank you for sharing all of that with me. It sucks you went through it.”
Her chin dropped. She was such an ass, and he was too nice for her. “I’m sorry, I’m just a bitch and today was a lot.”
“I know, but I’m glad we did it,” he said, squeezing her hand and releasing it. “Let’s go grab some stuff, and then I have a surprise for you.”
Ellea looked up to the sky and took a breath. “I think I’ve had enough for one day.”
“I don’t know about that,” he said with a wicked smirk.
46
Ros
Ros leaned against his truck, kicking at some rocks while grumbling about nosy mutts and their even nosier boyfriends. He didn’t know what they expected of him, and this was a ridiculous task. His sweater was itchy and these jeans weren’t as worn as he liked. But as soon as Ellea stepped out of Ag’s, smiling at Devon, that all disappeared.
She was wearing a light gray sweater that matched her eyes, along with her typical leggings and her boots. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, and he wanted to wrap his hand around it, letting her silken strands run through his fingers. He cleared his throat and shook away the thought before he got too distracted. He had to stay on task. She heard him, and a wide grin spread across her face that had his heart beating too fast.
“Ros, creepy as always.” She smirked as she and Devon walked toward him. Devon stopped her and grabbed her bags.
“I’ll drop these off at the house for you. I…need to get back.”
“Oh, I’ll come with you. Let me just see what the old, scary man wants,” she said, and Ros’ eyes rolled to the sky.
“No, I’ll take you home,” Ros interrupted. “Run along to your boyfriend, witch.”
Ellea scowled at him, but Devon just winked and turned toward his SUV. She crossed her arms, stopping in the middle of the darkening lot.
“That was rude.”
He walked up to her, taking up her space, and she craned her neck to look up at him. “And what are you going to do about it?”
She squinted at him, and he took his hand and grabbed her ponytail, holding her in place. Her eyes quickly heated at the pressure, and her lips parted.
