Page 19 of The Magic of Betrayal
Of course they are. Nothing about this gods damn mission had been straightforward, so why start now? The sight of her soft body wrapped around Kai, the snapping of her hips as she rode him, my cock had been so hard in that moment, I probably could've stabbed someone with it. My bike roared as I gave it more gas, a perfect representation of how I was feeling on the inside.
I'd bolted after the first hour of listening to them fucking upstairs. Cam had joined us in the kitchen, looking stoic as ever. The air had been heavy with the discussions that we'd need to have sooner rather than later, but nobody was brave enough to start throwing them out there. As far as I knew, Kai had never experienced a rut, and I knew I'd never fuckin' seen it before. The way he'd fucked her into that table, it shouldn't have been possible for any man, supe or human, and I couldn't look away even if I had wanted to.
There would be no separating Kai and Red now. I could only hope that this shit with her mom wasn't going to be as bad as I was anticipating. Red was a good person, but damn, she was fucking up my world. For my entire life, the three of them were all the family I'd really needed. My father was a disgusting piece of existence, and thanks to him, I'd been an only child. My twin sister had been stillborn thanks to an 'accident' that ended with my mom 'falling down the stairs'.
Yeah, by the time I was seven years old, I knew that story had been a crock of shit. For years, I'd begged Mom to leave him, we could've gone to literally any of the guys’ houses and they would've taken us both in, but she wouldn't do it. It's not like what happened in our home was a fucking secret. A broken arm here, a bloody lip there, Mom wearing her big sunglasses in the dead of winter, the sky as grey as my outlook on life. By the time I'd turned sixteen, all I'd had was resentment for her and hatred for the piece of shit who'd fathered me.
So, I worked my ass off, and made my own fucking luck. The thought of not being in control of my life, my career, my finances...fuck, did that burn me up. The fire inside of me was swirling, seeking an outlet, and I was only slightly concerned that the tiniest bit of oxygen to the flame right now would cause a fucking inferno that I didn't want to deal with.
My mind raced with all the possible outcomes of this situation...what would happen to the team? Would Kai stay here? Would they all? WouldFischer?
Snarling, I ripped the helmet from my head and hung it off the handlebar. Movement drew my eye and I caught the back of a man darting around the corner of Vlad's bookstore. Intrigued, I quickly hopped off my bike and leaned around the building just in time to see him disappear around the back corner of the store. There was just something about his movements, this dude was sneaking.
A flame ignited in my palm, just in case, and I peered around the corner. A blonde guy was at the backdoor of the shop, his hands pressed against the frame. This must be the abusive ex...perfect.
"I can't tell if you have a death wish or if you're just plain stupid," I called out, my hands behind my back, fire whirling, ready and waiting for action.
Douche-mage, as Kai lovingly calls him, turned around, a ball of water swirling like a cyclone in his hand. A dark smile slashed across my face.
"Ah, you must be the bad boy asshole," Bryce observed, sizing me up.
A deep chuckle left my throat. "Nah, douche, that's you."
Bryce tossed his head back and laughed, but not before I saw the flash of fear on his face and a sort of manic look to his gaze. "I should've known that whore would be fucking all of you. Not surprising that you'd all want a piece of that ass."
Leaning my head to the side, my neck cracked, the urge to fight quickly rising.
"Hmm," I hummed, walking towards him. His back was pressed against the door, the water ball in his hand pulsing with power. "You think you're a top dog, Bryce? You aren't shit. Nothing but a throwaway, I can guarantee you that you don't cross Red's mind,ever.Seems that's not the case on your end though, is it? You just don't understand that you need to fuck off."
What was this guy doing here again?Kai had mentioned he'd seen him slinking around in the dead of night last week. If he was hoping to catch Red off guard, he'd be in for a fucking surprise.
"See, I think that's where you're wrong. Saige needs a firm hand, she craves it. Aren't you concerned at all that she's going to destroy your little crew?" Darkness flashed in his eyes, but I kept my own face impassive, I wasn't giving this guy a scrap of ammunition to use against any of us. He was up to something, and I was going to find out what.
"Actually, quite the opposite," I lied, because I was concerned, but fuck if I was going to let him know that. "She's really talented at bringing us all together," I hinted, the innuendo clear.
Bryce's face deepened to a dark red that had him strangely resembling a tomato with hair. A slight shift in his shoulder was all the warning I got before he launched the ball of water in my direction, having turned it to ice before it left his hands.
Bringing my hands around, I held them before me and willed a wall of flame into existence, the ice melting before it even had the chance to reach me. My feet carried me forward, right through the fire, and just in time for another round of ice daggers shooting straight for me. A wave of my hand had a wall of heat taking care of those as well.
"You wanna fight me, douche? Get over here and let's do this shit. My fists are itching to fuck up your face," I taunted, and then Bryce was sprinting at me, two ice knives gripped in either hand.
My heartbeat increased in anticipation. Just as he reached me, I dropped into a crouch and spun low on the ball of my left foot, sweeping my leg out, throwing him off balance and causing him to crash into the pavement. A wave of water propelled him upright and we circled one another. He must have a decent amount of power to be capable of the things I'd just seen, but he wasn't as strong as I was.No fucking way.
"Why are you here, Brian?” His eyes flashed when I called him by the wrong name on purpose. “Didn't you get the memo enough times? You're not wanted. You're nothing but a piece of shit woman beater.”
He snarled. "Like I said, she loves it. She'll be back, begging for my cock, and the other things I love doing to her. She bruises so prettily."
All I saw was red. Launching myself at him, I hadn't given him time to react and his eyes widened just before I tackled him to the ground. My fist swung through the air, connecting with his cheek, his head snapping to the side. He rallied quickly, though, blasting me with a shot of water that pushed me backwards. His foot came up and he kicked me squarely in the chest, sending my back flat against the warm asphalt.
Rocking back on my shoulders, I jumped up fluidly, not seeing the ice shards he'd fired my way. The kiss of pain tore through my upper arm, leaving a few rips in the black t-shirt I'd been wearing. A small trickle of blood ran down my forearm and I smiled maniacally.
"You should probably run, motherfucker," I said, calm and deadly.
"Bring it, fire bitch."
Well, that's a new one.
Dropping the barriers on my magic, the fire rushed to freedom, erupting from my body like a volcano. I was a walking flame, fire circled every inch of my body, nothing more than an extension of who I was on the inside. I'd worked my ass off to be able to master this skill, and it was fucking rare that a mage could completely push his power from the inside out. I was going to grab this son of a bitch and turn him into char.
