Page 52 of The Magic of Discovery
Anger issues were common among Pyros. Fuckin’ cliche, but true nonetheless. My picture was probably in the dictionary next to the term ‘hot head.’ I’d die before I’d ever raise a hand to a woman, though. The thought of it alone had my skin heating, and I took several deep breaths to stave off the oncoming flare of anger.
Fischer must’ve picked up on some of my emotions because he started tapping his fingers on the table, drawing my attention to him and out of my own head. I flashed a cocky smile and ran my hand through my dark hair, swiping it out of my eyes.
“There are a lot of things in there that line up, Sprout, as well as a lot of things that don’t. That’s the joy of prophecies; you can interpret them so many different ways, not knowing how things will turn out exactly,” Kai told her, turning his back to the grill and crossing his arms across his chest.
“He’s right. I can definitely draw some hypotheses, but it talks about five mates, change, manifestation? I have no idea what that means...” Fish trailed off, focusing on something in the distance, probably sorting through his thoughts.
“When’s your birthday?” I asked despite already knowing that information.
“June twenty-fourth, in like three weeks.”
“Okay, so on the off chance that this is actually about us,” I contemplated aloud, circling my finger around, including myself and my brothers, “there are only four of us. Who’s the fifth?”A growl tumbled from Kai’s mouth as he snatched the meat off the grill and slapped it down on a plate, his lip lifted in a snarl when he turned back to face us. No doubt Bagheera didn’t want to hear shit about another possible boyfriend.
“Kai, it’s okay,” Saige cooed, stepping away from Cam and moving to the snarling shifter then wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her cheek against his chest. The aggressive sounds slowly turned into purrs, both the man and the beast settling down.For the love of Jupiter’s cock, these whipped assholes...
“Let’s move this inside, boys. Everyone can process this information overload once we refresh our drinks. Plus, I’m starving, and I do love a big hunk of meat,” Bette purred, trailing her fingers over Fish’s arm as she swept past him with a surprising amount of grace.
“For the love of the moon,” Red groaned as she checked to make sure Fish wasn’t offended.
“She’s fine, sweetheart. Honestly, she’s hysterical,” he assured her, pushing to his feet. Red reached out for his hand, and they laughed together as they walked inside, leaving Cam, K, and I alone.Okay, now that Red’s gone, let’s take care of this.
Holding off to speak until the door closed behind them, I just had to ask, “I mean, does anybody else think it’s weird that the ground is tainted with demon magic, Red is seeing demons, the seers had a vision involving the five of us, and all of this starts happening right when we show up to town? What about the fact that she’s showing some telltale demon qualities?” I threw it all out there, leaning back in my chair with my knees splayed wide.
Growling came from K, low and menacing, again.
“Dude, get your shit together! Your panther is in a fucking tizzy over this witch, and you need to settle the fuck down!”
We stared each other down, not like a dominance thing, but in a ‘come on, you stubborn fuck, get a grip’ kind of way.
Cam grunted, breaking the tension and leveling me with a glare that said he was clearly done with my shit. “She’s not a demon. That’s not even possible. We’ve seen her cast magic, and I’ve never heard of a mixing of the two races before. Maybe a possession of some type? That was mentioned in the prophecy, wasn’t it?” He crossed his arms over his wide chest, pausing for a moment. “What I find bizarre is that Larson’s been looking for this witch Laura, and she happens to pop up here of all places, then we arrive, and shit starts jumping off. It’s too weird to be a coincidence. She’s gotta have something to do with all this fuckery.”
Oh, brother. If only you knew how much she had to do with your woman.I expected guilt to hit me, but it didn’t come. Instead, sadness did. When all of this turned to shit, these guys were going to be downright miserable to be around, and oh my gods, the feelings. So many fucking feelings. I might have to live in a hole for a while or something.
“Let’s get inside and eat. We can discuss it further tonight after we leave. I just want to make sure that Sprout has a nice evening with herboyfriendsand her gran,” Kai chuckled. Having finally snapped out of that growly shit, he carried the tray of steaks toward the sliding doors, a smile on his face. “That old witch is next level nuts. My only wish is to be the male version of her when I’m her age. In fact, I’m going to make it my personal mission.”
Following K inside, we walked in to see Fish helping Red carry stuff to the table and Bette laying down the final place setting. Dropping down into a chair, I watched as Cam and Kai went to help gather up the rest of the food, Cam begging him not to become the male Gran.He’s already at least sixty-five percent on the gran scale. It’s too late to stop that train.Awareness prickled along the back of my neck, the sensation of being watched. I flicked my gaze over to the older Wildes witch and raised a brow. Beckoning me closer with a dramatic flick of her hand, I leaned in to see what fresh hell would come from her mouth this time.
Whispering so that only I could hear, she said, “There’s darkness inside of you, child.”
I scoffed, “Ya don’t say?”
Her face remained serious, a no-nonsense set to her previously smiling face. “So tell me why, when you focus on Saige, does the turbulence in your eyes fade away? Why are you fighting against what you need?”
“I’m not. I don’t know what you think you’ve seen, but I have everything I want,” I whispered harshly, not dropping eye contact. Why did that feel like a lie, though?
“Need and want are two very different things, but it’s not only you who will suffer if you continue to lie to yourself. She needs you, too. Something is brewing, and you’re all supposed to be there with her. Get your head out of your ass,” she bit out. Pulling away from her, I slumped back against the chair.
“Everything okay?” Looking up, Red was standing between us, taking in both of our faces, and I hadn’t even heard her approach.Damn it, Sloane. Keep your head in the game.
“I was just getting to know Mr. Sullivan a little better, child. Let’s eat.”
Slicing and dicing my steak, I silently listened while the guys asked questions about the visions and changes that she’d been experiencing, Red answering each one. When Cam demanded to know what security precautions were in place around her house, Gran explained everything in detail. Everyone seemed satisfied with her explanation, especially when she informed them that she’d given The Pig the same treatment.
Remaining quiet through dinner, Bette’s words ran through my mind in a loop. Why did I feel so unsettled, like she’d seen a piece of me that I wasn’t comfortable sharing? Did I need Red? No, this was a fucking mission. I needed to keep my head and focus. Though it was good to know that her gran wouldn’t suspect a thing when I made moves on Red.I have to. I’m doing it for Cam.Now that Larson had granted permission for a personal assignment, that was my goal. It didn’t hurt that my career would also be getting a boost, but the difference was that now it wasn’t my main motivation.
Once dinner was over, Bette addressed everyone. “Boys, it has been a lovely evening. I’m happy I finally got to meet the men who were exceptional enough to catch Saige’s attention. With everything going on, I think we all need to be diligent and aware at all times. Keep communication open so that nothing falls between the cracks. For now, let’s keep everything we discussed within this circle. The last thing we need is for this to leak to the town. It’ll be chaos, especially since most don’t know demons exist. How did you know about them, anyway?” She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms on the table.
“We learned about demons in our schooling, ma’am,” Fish smoothly provided.
