Page 3 of The Magic of Betrayal
I placed an order with enough food to feed a fucking army, and after Sloane and I made sure everything was good to go, we headed over to the restaurant to pick up our deliciousness. My stomach rumbled so loud, I nearly mistook it for Bagheera getting bitchy again.
“Last one to the house has a micropenis!” I hollered at Sloane, attempting to lighten the mood and laughing as he cursed me, both of us running to our bikes with backpacks stuffed with Chinese food. It was fun when we did these races since Ialwaysbeat him. My bike was faster, and he would be such a pouty bitch over it.
The laughter felt forced from my lips as the shadows from massive clouds drifted over the sun, matching my emotions. The excitement I would’ve normally felt over beating him in any competition no longer felt as good as it usually did.
* * *
The sun was sinkingin the sky, casting hues of pinks, oranges, and purples in its farewell.
Bette had given Cam and Fischer the rundown on the tether once we returned. With nothing left to do but wait and worry, we’d all stuffed ourselves at lunch and afterward, everyone decided to take a nap, exhaustion setting in after the huge surge of adrenaline we’d all felt. But I had to run. We stood on a large rock, staring at the sky, just lost in thought. This whole situation was beyond fucked up, and after Bette’s questioning earlier about our timeline, there was so much weighing on my mind and conscience, I was having a hard time dealing with it.
What kind of a mage lies to their mate? A scum bag. An unworthy one. And on the other hand, one that is keeping his woman safe, one who has a secretive job, one that could put her in further danger. For every positive, a negative was right there waiting, and I’d ruminated on this line of thinking all gods damned day.
My usual cheery attitude was nowhere in sight, and a flare of concern came through the bond multiple times today, my panther checking in to make sure that I was okay, that the depression I struggled with off and on was still in check.
And it was, for now.
It had been years since I’d had a really scary low time, but it happens. There was no trigger, no event that set it off, it was just how my brain was wired. A chemical imbalance, that’s what the healers told my parents when I was first diagnosed at age seventeen with MDD —major depressive disorder.It was so much easier to just say MDD, especially when I would be so fucking depressed. The less words needed to use to give a history, the better.
Learning coping skills and utilizing therapy services had been monumental in taking my life back from the darkness, the suffocating sadness that seemed to hit like a ton of bricks without any justification or warning. I refused to let it happen right now, though. Saige would be fine, this tether would work, we would all figure out what the next step would be in our relationship, and perhaps a transfer was possible if we convinced Larson to buy this fucking building after all. We’d spearhead the project and oversee the development of Radical Inc. Kingstown Branch.
Maybe he’d be more interested if we played it up as a recruitment and training center. Sloane and Fischer had said the space was there for it; that could be a great change of pace for us. Train the next generation and all that shit. Like Karate Kid. My stomach twisted uncomfortably though at the conversation we’d have to have sooner rather than later about our real careers and why we were here.
The dead sprint back to the cottage passed in a blur, and our muscles were screaming, but the anxiety was ebbing away, so it was fucking worth it. Shifting fluidly back into my body, I entered through the back patio and snagged the pair of shorts I’d left, quickly slipping them on. There was no sound coming from upstairs, so the others must have still been snoozing.Good, they needed their rest.
Grabbing a cup and filling it with water from the tap, I slammed three of them before taking some deep breaths.There, that’s much better. Stretching out a bit, I felt like myself again.I can do this. This is my gods damn mate and I’ll be a son of a bitch if some demon fucks think they’re going to take her from me. I’d die before I ever allowed that to happen.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I turned the corner and my heart melted at the scene before me. Our beautiful woman was lying in the middle of her bed, Cam’s arm underneath her head, his face buried in her hair. Fischer took up the other side of her, his arm thrown across her waist, his body pressed as closely as possible. Sloane was sprawled across the bottom of the bed on his stomach, but his grip was firm around her ankle. My pack. My family.
Figuring I should shower before staking a claim in the puppy pile that was happening, I intended to do just that, but as I walked past the dresser, I saw the pentagram tether, and it wasn’t glowing.
It. Wasn’t. Glowing.
“WAKE THE FUCK UP, ASSHOLES!” I shouted, and the guys all leapt from the bed, jostling poor Sprout as they landed in pure attack mode. Should I have felt guilty? Maybe? But I felt fucking proud as hell, my team was still as quick as ever and ready for any trouble that should come our way.
Their wild eyes scanned the room and when they landed on me, all three of them wore matching scowls and began to stalk my way.
“Now, now, boys,” I held my hands up in surrender, “let’s not do anything hasty. It’s time to get our girl back!” I scooted backwards when they didn’t stop advancing on me. “What? Would you rather I left you sleeping and took the role of the sole hero when she comes to?”
They froze. Ha.
“As I thought. I believe the words you’re searching for are ‘Thank you, Kai. You’re the best friend a mage could ever ask for, I’ll never stride towards you in anger ever again, and you have the nicest looking cock—’” I’m not even going to lie, a girly ass scream left my throat as Sloane barreled into me, tackling me to the ground.
“Stop. Talking. Feline,” he growled, pushing his weight down on top of me.
I smirked up at him. “Is that the world’s largest magic wand or are you just happy to see me, Sloaney?”
“You wish, K.” He chuckled, hopping up and giving me a hand.
“What do you mean it’s time?” Fischer asked as his curiosity got the best of him and he joined Cam in eyeballing the necklace.
“Well, you heard Gran. When it stops glowing, that means it’s party time, right? Someone go get her, I’m going to take a lightning fast shower, and then we’re gonna get our woman back where she belongs.”
“I’ll do it. Hurry in the shower, K. I want her back as soon as possible.” Cam’s no nonsense bark to his voice had me spinning on my heel and speed walking to the shower.
We were going to get her back. My Sprout, my mate.
Something cold and smooth pressed against my cheek as my eyes fluttered open. Voices drifted into my ears, but they sounded distorted and I couldn’t figure out what the words meant. My head was pounding, like the lingering effects of a bad hangover, and I felt groggy, like my brain had been reduced to nothing but a pile of rubble.Where am I?
