Page 36 of The Magic of Discovery
My eyes flashed to pure animal as my fist shot out and smashed his throat. The cashier screamed, and I knew this would be the talk of the town, but I’d be fucking damned if this piece of shit was going to talk about our woman like that. Douchebag was bent over, holding his throat and gasping for air as Bagheera called forblood.
Dude, we’re in a grocery store for fuck’s sake,I thought, trying to make my cat see reason.
I turned my attention to the cashier, my eyes landing on her name tag. “Joanne, I apologize for scaring you. However, I do not apologize for making him shut his filthy mouth. Nobody should talk aboutanywoman like that.”
She nodded, her permed hair bouncing in agreement. “It’s about time somebody did it,” she whispered under her breath. “Why don’t you get out of here before the manager stops by? It’s a shame that I saw a spider and screamed,” she finished with a wink.
Douche-mage left his basket and slunk off like the bitch ass coward he was, not knowing how lucky he was that I’d run into him today and not Fischer. I couldn’t inflict pain on someone without witnesses noticing, but Fish would’ve slipped right into his brain and scrambled it like a goddamned omelette.
I smiled as I handed over the money for the groceries. “Glad to be of service, then. Keep the change. Have a wonderful day, Joanne.”
Picking up the paper grocery bag, I saluted her with my free hand and waltzed out of the store.Damn, that felt good.
* * *
Having packedthe food away in Fish’s backpack, I threw in a bottle of wine and a corkscrew.They’ll just have to drink it out of the bottle.Tossing some napkins and a couple of bottles of water in the bag, I sat down on one of the barstools, satisfaction flowing through me as I scrolled through my phone to kill some time. At four, Fischer walked into the kitchen.
“You look nice, brother,” I told him as I took in his black button-down long-sleeved shirt. His deeply bronzed skin practically shimmered as it met the dark fabric. He’d rolled the arms up to his elbows and tucked the shirt into a nice pair of dark wash jeans. His thick black curls were styled back, out of his face, with the help of some product.
“Thanks.” He shook his arms out. “Fuck. I’m nervous, Kai. I can’t get a read on her at all. How will I know how it’s going? I’ve never had this problem before.”
I walked up to him and put my arms on his shoulders. “You've got this, dude. She’s into you. She wouldn’t have agreed to go out with you if she wasn’t.”
“Maybe she felt obligated after I knocked that asshole on his ass,” he worried, voicing his doubt at my statement.
“Then I’ll ask her out next because I throat punched that little bitch in the grocery store earlier.”
“You did what?” He laughed as his eyes flashed with darkness, making me shiver.Dude is a scary motherfucker when he wants to be.
“Yeah, he came up behind me in line at the checkout, unwisely cocky. I didn’t like the shit he was spewing, so I jabbed him right in the throat.”
Fischer threw his head back and laughed like hell.
“When we got back from our run last night, I smelled a water mage, but I didn’t realize it was him until we ran into him at the store. I don’t know what the fuck he was up to over here, but he was just leaving when we bounded up. We’re all going to have to watch him. He said some really fucked up shit about our girl, and the piece of shit definitely doesn’t realize who he’s messing with.”
Sloane had just walked into the kitchen, chiming in after hearing my last comment. “Fucking abusive meathead. If he comes at her again, I’ll burn his balls off with my bare hands.” He opened the fridge door and bent over to look inside. Pulling out a beer, he held it up with an eyebrow raised in question. I nodded and he grabbed another.
Nothing got Sloane quite so heated as men who beat on women. His father had been a master of all forms of abuse, and after nearly beating Sloane’s mother to death, he’d been locked up in prison where he couldn’t hurt her anymore. Unfortunately, Sloane’s mom wasn’t the only victim in the house. Eyeing the fire mage, I could practically see the heat billowing off him from merely thinking about a woman suffering at the hands of a man. The water mage would get more than a throat jab if he so much as looked at Saige wrong in Sloane’s presence. Dude might be an asshole to her, but he would torch any bastard who tried to hurt her.See? He’s just a big ol’ sweetie, my Sloaney Baloney.
“Want me to come with you tonight to check out the property at Sprout’s?” I had nothing else going on, and I was curious to see those plants again. If there was something evil targeting her, I wanted it banished as soon as possible.
“Sounds good. I’m going to head out at eight.” Rummaging around in the utensil drawer, he pulled out a bottle opener and popped the lids off the two drinks. “Here.” We clanked our bottles together, each taking a healthy swig.
Leaning against the counter, he surveyed Fischer. “You never dress up for me.”
“I’m never dressed long, so what’s the point?” he fired right back at Sloane, and I laughed.
“I can’t argue with that. For what it’s worth, you clean up nice... pet.” Sloane winked, and Fischer’s cheeks flamed.Fucking hell,the chemistry between the two of them was insane, and I was sporting a damn semi.
“Quit fucking with me. I’m nervous enough as it is without the two of you adding to it. I’m leaving before you get ideas or offer any shitty advice. I need to scope out a few potential locations, anyway.”
“Here, don’t forget the fucking food! What a disaster that would be.” I sped over to him and put the backpack on him like a proud papa sending his kid off to the first day of school. “Now, get the fuck out of here and have fun.” I slapped his ass, and he grumbled out a fuck you that held zero heat.
When the door slammed shut, Sloane and I stood there with our thumbs up our asses for a few moments before I couldn’t take the idle silence. “Well, Sloaney Baloney, our boy’s all grown up. What are we going to do with ourselves?” I asked dramatically.
“I’m gonna sit and watch TV until it’s time to go investigate. Did you hear about that show that everyone’s talking about? Something about a gay redneck who owns a tiger farm?”
My eyes flashed, and Bagheera growled.Big cats are not meant to be confined. Fucking humans.“Show me.” With a smug smile, Sloane led me into the living room.
