Page 69 of Tricky Magic
“Then why the fuck did you think about killing her?” Billy barked.
“She was—is— dangerous.”
“Is or was. Or does it matter now that you got her into your bed?”
“Got her into my bed?” Ros hissed. “How dare you?”
“How dare I?” Billy’s lips pulled up in a snarl, reminding Ros that the creature in front of him was not just a pretty face. She leaned in close to him and her eyes glowed with menace. “She is too good and too special to be toyed with.”
“I fucking know that now!” Ros bellowed, and the entire coffee shop silenced in the wake of his outburst. His chest heaved with the insult and everything Billy was throwing at him. Slowly, the sound of people and coffee being brewed picked up. Billy leaned back in her chair with a thick brow cocked at him.
“I know better now,” Ros promised, lowering his voice.
“Do you?” Billy accused. “From what I hear, you like killing dangerous things.”
“She’s different,” Ros growled.
“Different because she’s prettier and accessible? Will you try to kill her once you grow bored or if she becomes toodangerous?”
“No,” he said sternly. “She has always been different, I was just too dumb to see it.”
“Finally,” she said, clapping quietly. “You’ve finally said something true.”
Ros rolled his eyes and took a breath. “Look, yes, I made a mistake, and I will live with that for a very long time.”
“I’m not sure,” she said, thoughtful. “You’ll only get to live a long life if I don’t slice your cock off with my claws the next time you threaten to kill Ellea.” She paused, tapping her long nails on the table. “Or my mouth. That would be more fun.”
She grinned at him wickedly. Ros scoffed, but closed his legs and turned them away from her.
“Ellea popped into my life at a weird time,” Ros tried saying.
“That’s not her fucking fault.”
“What do you want me to say?” he demanded.
“I want to know why,” she said, leaning into the table. “And I want to hear that it will never happen again.”
“It won’t,” he promised. She gave him an accusing look. “In the past, it was easy to get caught up in ‘kill first and ask questions later.’ I acted naturally to her powers.” Billy looked as though she wanted to claw his eyes out. “Again, I was wrong. Look, do you want me to explain?”
“Fine.” She waved her hand. “Continue.”
Ros took a steadying breath. “The line between stopping something before it happens or after it’s too late is a hard one to dance on. I have too many regrets of those I couldn’t save during my long life. And maybe even more regrets of those I’ve killed.” Ros paused as guilt washed over him. He let his eyes meet hers and tried to put so much more into his look. “I want to help Ellea, and...I want to be with her.”
He truly did. That night by the lake with Ellea may be one of his biggest regrets, and those screams he heard were ones he never wanted to hear again. Ros would spend all the time he had left to make it up to her.
“Good,” she said as warmth crossed her face. “I would hate for you to lose your perfect cock.”
Ros’ shoulders relaxed as someone walked up to his right side. Billy looked at the person and smiled.
“Perfect timing,” she said to the young woman who was holding two hot coffee cups. Billy gestured for her to leave them on the table.
Ros grimaced at the coffee shop employee as she retreated back to the counter.
“Ellea likes lattes with whole milk or cream,” she said, sliding the cups toward him. “And any type of autumn syrup will do.”
Ros choked on his words. “Thank you, Billy.”
“You’re welcome, stud muffin.” She winked at him.
