Page 2 of The Magic of Betrayal
“That woman is unreal,” Sloane mumbled, hopping onto his bike as I did the same.
“She’s amazing,” I breathed and held my hand against my heart for a moment before we were following a tiny cackling witch on a moped. What a time to be alive.
* * *
We’d beenat it for six hours.
Six fucking hours with no change from Saige. She clearly wasn’t going to be waking up on her own, so I was getting more and more impatient with each passing minute and Bagheera was downright pissed.
The three of us were sitting on stools at the counter in The Pig. Bette had hung a sign saying ‘Sorry, we’re closed’ and Sloane threw a shadow spell against the windows so nobody could be nosy about what was going on in here.
Bette had done most of the prep work since we had no idea about the magical properties and ingredients of what she was trying to create. A mixture of five different crystals, twenty different ingredients that varied from herbs to shriveled up mushrooms, and a couple drops of something she said was ‘the best thing since banana hammocks’. After two hours of continuous chanting from the three of us, boom, we had a pentagram shaped pendant the size of a half dollar. It would be worn as a necklace, the green specks of the herbs mixed in nicely with the shimmer of the different crystals. Sparks of purple, green, pink, blue, and white glimmered spectacularly and I couldn’t help but imagine how nice it would look on Sprout’s chest.
None of us had ever created something like this before, so we were combining our knowledge and hoping for the best.
“How did you hear about something like this, anyway?” Sloane asked Bette, who was doodling dick cartoons on a notepad.
“Well, my daughter... she had a bit of a demon obsession. When she went down that rabbit hole, I started some of my own research. They’re pretty isolated, so there’s not a ton to read about demons since the ones that are actually in our realm don’t flaunt it. They exist between the shadows, hiding their true forms, and the powerful ones can use their powers without the victim ever knowing. Nasty creatures, honestly.” She scrunched up her face in disgust. “I was trying to prepare for the worst, so this should tether Saige. I already gave her a bracelet that will let her sense if a demon is near and protect her from possession.”
“It’s a decent idea.” He nodded in thought. “Let's hope it works. Cam just texted and said there’s been no change, so I’m counting that as a win,” Sloane informed us as he strummed his fingertips on the glossy wooden finish.
“How will we know when it’s done?” I questioned, getting really impatient.
“See how it still has a soft pink glow to it? When it’s done, it won’t be glowing at all, the magic will have been absorbed completely into the pentagram, and then it will be safe to try,” Bette explained to us as she added arms, legs, and top hats to her collection of dick doodles.
My mind couldn’t stop wandering to what Saige was doing right now. I’d already cleaned every surface in this damn shop, the bar top was practically sparkling, and there wasn’t a speck of dust on anything. Ugh, it was driving me fucking insane. Bagheera hadn’t stopped his relentless pacing since this morning and as much as he was starting to annoy me, I couldn’t bring myself to scold him. I understood completely. I hated not being productive; wasting time drove me nuts.
Hopping up to look for something else to do, Sloane’s arm snapped out and pulled me back down onto my stool.
“Would you sit the fuck down for two gods damned seconds, K? I swear by the light of the fucking moon, if you don’t settle down, I am going to slap the shit out of you,” Sloane barked and anger began to rise in my chest. But… he was right. Ugh. A whimper from Bagheera slipped out of my mouth and Sloane’s expression softened. Before I knew it, he’d wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug.
“Don’t start purring, you freaky feline. This is a show of solidarity and support. But you really need to try and chill out, brother. We’re doing everything we can,” he reassured me, stepping back and gently slapping my cheek.
“How long will you boys be in town? Saige told me about who you work for and what you’re doing here. I’m just curious how long it will take to close on that property, or what the situation looks like. She’s my number one everything, and this is a discussion that needs to happen.” She leveled each of us with a stare and Bagheera growled through the bond at the thought of ever leaving our mate.
Sloane took it upon himself to respond first, standing up and stretching while he spewed our lies, “The timeline depends on our boss, really. We forwarded all of our videos and pictures from the warehouse, so it’s in his hands for now. We’ll be here in case he wants hands on deck to handle any paperwork or needs us to check out anything else on site. At a minimum, I’d say three more weeks, but real estate is a fickle bitch, so could be a couple of months.”
Bette nodded, thinking over what he had said. I watched her face, trying to determine if she knew we were full of shit. In ten years, I’d never once felt bad about sticking to the cover, completing mission after mission, hitting our marks, stealing items we were sent after. I’d never felt this... guilt. And that was because now, it was personal.
Was I in love with Saige? I wasn’t sure, I’d never been in love with someone in a romantic way. I loved my brothers and I’d do anything for them, and I felt the same way for Sprout. When the mate bond flared from Bagheera the first time we’d laid eyes on her, I couldn’t believe it. Just like that? Instantaneous? Love at first sight? How could something like that ever happen in real life?
What I did know was that I’d kill for her. I’d killed for lesser men, and there’d be no hesitation when it came to her protection. She was a delicate and precious treasure, one that I planned to cherish for as long as she’d let me, which hopefully, would be forever. I was already falling into a serious downward spiral headed straight towards obsession and total admiration.
“If any of you hurt her, I will chop off your cocks and give them to Randy Roger to hang in his wind chime garden in his backyard. You get one warning. She’s been through enough and is still the most resilient witch I’ve ever known. Affairs of the heart are the ones that break people, and I won’t stand for it.”
“All due respect, Bette, it’d be more likely that she’d be the one to break their hearts if we’re being honest here,” Sloane murmured, running a hand through his dark hair. His ice blue eyes were frosty as ice chips, and a hint of sadness flashed before it was lost forever.What was that all about?
“Then let’s just plan on nobody getting their hearts broken, yeah?” I said, suddenly feeling done with this conversation. My woman was laying in bed, lost to us, and I couldn’t process the thought of ever being separated from her.
“Let’s pick up some food and head back. We can bring the pendant with us so the moment the glow stops, we can put it on our girl. We need to eat, even if we don’t feel like it,” I suggested, tired of sitting here doing fuck all. “I’ll probably need to go for a run after lunch. Bagheera is in a downright shitty mood and if I don’t let him have a proper feline freak out, who knows what we’ll be in store for later.”
“Sounds like a plan. Order from the Chinese place. I could eat there every day!” Bette exclaimed, clapping her hands before putting the pendent into her bag. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. See you suckers at home!”
And with that, she flounced out of the shop without so much as looking back. Sloane and I just looked at each other before shaking our heads and chuckling over her antics.
“I’ll call Wok n’ Roll. Go make sure the backdoor is locked and warded. That douche-mage was lurking around here last week and I don’t want him trying to pull any kind of fuckery,” I told Sloane, pulling out my phone and looking up the number to call in the food.
“On it.”
