Page 43 of The Magic of Betrayal
Even after it happened and Bagheera was standing in my bedroom, Sloane took care of him, too. He didn't back down, or leave me. He was my brother, through good and bad, and I loved him with all my heart.
"Ya know, we still have to kill him one day," I murmured and Sloane's eyes flashed with fire.
"Trust me, I think about it often. If the bastard wasn't locked up in Seventh Circle, we would've done it a long time ago."
He wasn't wrong, but I still was convinced that he wouldn't ever be whole until that asshole was nothing but a pile of ash in the wind.
His gaze went to his book again, but I couldn’t let it go. He was self-sabotaging and what kind of protector would I be if I didn’t try to protect him from his own miserable ass?
"Don't push her away. She's good, and you deserve something good. Don't self-sabotage this, I can see the way you hold yourself back. She could be perfect for you, Sloaney Baloney."
Before he could respond, I hopped up and left him in the living room. His dad had been locked up for a long time, the only thing standing in the way of his happiness now was himself.
Bryce hadn’t spoken to me since last week at Dinner Thyme, and as much as I appreciated that, it also made me feel more on edge. I’d see him at random times, catch his face in the crowd, or walking down the street, and each time I had to push my panic deep down. He was probably plotting. And that was enough to make me want to puke. I was also feeling pretty guilty about not telling the guys about what had happened… but I was terrified of what Bryce would do to them.
I also hadn't seen much of Sloane, or their new roomie, Johnny. I’d seen a bit more of the latter, but I couldn’t read him at all and every time I felt like I was able to look at him a little closer, he suddenly had something he needed to go do for work, especially if one of the other guys was near me. The way he scowled in my direction led me to believe he wasn’t a big fan of mine, but I had too much shit going on to deal with yet another man.
Being iced out by Sloane stung, though. He'd seemed to revert right back to his true self and I wasn’t even sure why. I guessed I should just be thankful that he was showing his true colors now, before I got involved any deeper with him. I didn't ask Fischer about him either, I didn't want to put him in the middle. Fish assured me many times that he and Sloane weren't boyfriends, or in any kind of relationship, aside from their BDSM sessions they did together, but I wasn't so sure that feelings weren't involved.
My fingers traced the pentagram that hung around my neck and my heart ached a little when I thought of Bram. The necklace did its job well, and I hadn't had any more projections since the last one that had put me in a comatose state. Surprisingly, I found myself missing Bram and his crazy ways. Hopefully, he wasn't too upset when he realized I'd given him completely fake information about myself.
"What are you thinking about, child?" Gran asked, sipping on her mimosa as we took a break from gardening and kicked back in the lounge chairs on the patio.
"Oh, just everything. The guys. My birthday."
She chuckled, "I'd be thinking about the guys too." She held up her index finger and thumb in a circle and jammed her other index finger through them and I snorted.
"You're ridiculous, you know that, right?" I asked, shaking my head.
"You love it. I can't believe you're going to be twenty-eight in a few days! What's the plan? Party? Low-key hang out? Strippers?"
"Okay, settle down. I need to call Miranda later to sort out the rest of the details, but we're going to Magic Stixxx, so strippers are happening."
Gran squealed and clapped. I swear, she was worse than a teen.
"Well, call her now, we can get this planned out!"
Pulling my phone out, I called her and put the call on speakerphone.
"Hey girl, what's up?" My bestie's voice had me smiling and excited for my birthday.
"I'm sitting here with Gran and she's impatient to get my party planned, and since we're taking a gardening break, we figured we'd give you a call and see if we can sort it out," I explained, sipping on my coffee.
Miranda laughed. "Hey, Gran! Long time no see, how have you been?"
"I'm spectacular, as usual." Gran flipped her hair even though Miranda couldn't see her and we all laughed.
"Your birthday is Saturday, so that’s perfect!" Miranda exclaimed, and I heard the sound of papers ruffling so I knew she was about to start taking notes. The girl had a serious pen and stationery obsession.
"I'm ready to cut loose." I smiled thinking about how much fun it was going to be with the guys at the club.
"Let me check Magic Stixxx’s calendar of events quick." Miranda went quiet for a few minutes and then her loud squeal had Gran and I chuckling. "Oh my gods, this is perfect. They're having a Neon Night across all three levels. One cover charge gets you entry into all three clubs. This is epic."
"You're going to start laughing like an evil genius any moment, I can feel it..." I teased, and then she did a perfect impression of Dr. Evil.
"I'll be in the strip club! Maybe I'll venture upstairs if I'm feeling extra," Gran commented.
Miranda fired back, "When aren't you feeling extra?"
