Page 64 of The Magic of Betrayal
My body was shaking.
Towering above Sloane, one of my oldest friends, my brother, my ride or die... I watched as he fucking broke. Shattered.
And I felt the kind of rage a man gets when he'd been fucked over so royally his hands itch with the urge to feel bones snap and blood spray. Oh my gods, I was fucking pissed. How dare he go behind my back like this?
We all watched as he stared at his hand like it was some kind of alien appendage, his thumb smeared the tears into his skin and his eyes were wide, like he just couldn't fucking believe he was human enough to cry.
I couldn't speak to him right now, I could barely stand the sight of his fucking face. My woman was gone and it was his fault.
"Cam, I'm so sorry, I didn't know this would happen. How was I supposed to know our gods damned boss was a fucking demon?" Sloane said, but the last bit was like he was talking to himself.
My jaw hurt from how hard I was clenching it, but I could not open my mouth toward him right now. So I turned to the side and addressed Fischer and Kai.
"We're going to go back to the cottage. We will tell Gran everything. We'll take her wrath or whatever the fuck else she deems appropriate for our lies. Then we will do everything in our power to get our witch back because I will kill any motherfucker who stands in my way," I vowed. And I meant every word.
"I can't be without her." Kai's voice was pained and panicked. He had a mate bond, he would be in physical pain in addition to the heartache.
"I'm sorry, K. I'm so fucking sorry," Sloane rasped.
Kai ignored him.
"What about him?" Fischer inclined his head to where Sloane was slumped.
I let out a deep sigh, my hands forming fists at my sides.
"Do it, Cam. Beat the shit out of me, I deserve it."
Nope. You don’t get off that easy.
"He can stay at the apartment, or he can fuck off back to wherever he wants. We will hopefully be staying at the cottage with Gran to work on this day and night. We'll get our clothes and belongings moved into her house as soon as possible," I voiced the plan as Kai and Fischer nodded in agreement.
"Brothers, don't. Please, let me help you. I can fix this. I'm sorry, I just wanted to get time off for all of us, for you, Cam."
Thunder boomed in the conference room, lightning bursting from my hand and obliterating the solid wood table into a million splinters.
"How fucking dare you use my childhood trauma to make yourself feel better about what you've done! Do you even hear yourself? I'm done with this," I turned and moved to the hole in the wall where the doors had once stood. "Let's go guys, we need to get our woman back."
Fischer was right on my ass, clearly done as well. When I glanced at him, his eyes were still black. He still wasn’t in control of his magic and I could fucking relate. Electricity was licking up and down my spine.
"You said you'd always be there for me, Sloane.” Kai’s strained tone had us pausing for a moment to see what Kai had to say to Sloane. “You said that we'd take care of each other when others hurt us, when my own body hurt me when I shifted for the first time. Do you remember that night? How you held me and took care of me? Do you remember how much pain I was in? You soothed me, made me feel safe." Kai's voice cracked as he stared down at his broken, bloody brother. "This hurts worse than that, Sloane. And this time, instead of being the one to make me feel better, you're the one who gutted me."
Sloane dropped his face into his hands and I watched his shoulders shake for half a second and then I flew down the hallway and to my bike. Sloane Sullivan didn't deserve another moment of my time, not tonight. Probably not ever. And if Saige was harmed in any way, shape, or form, I just may kill him myself.
Straddling my Harley, I didn't hesitate for another fucking second before firing it up and tearing down the road, the rolling thunder above drowning out the roar of my own bike. I knew Fischer and Kai would be right behind me. We had work to do, and I could only put my faith in the stars that our woman would be okay and that Gran wouldn't murder our asses when we told her what had happened.Ugh, I am not looking forward totelling her.
My heart was racing and I had to push down the urge to tear the fucking sky open with a hurricane or a tornado. Something to get this fear and anger out of my system. Sloane... where did I go wrong? I'd always given him praise, just like the others. What did it say about me as the team lead that one of my fucking own would go behind my back like that?Larson ordered him, and Larson is above you.The voice in my head was already working hard to try and absolve me of the blame that I was surely going to be torturing myself with for the foreseeable future. Where and how did this get so fucked?
Fischer came up behind me and pushed his bike to the max, sending up a huge dust cloud in his wake as he gave his bike everything. Adrenaline junkie, always. My heart ached for him, too. Sloane and Fischer had this connection, a different one than anyone else on the team. When we were nearly out of high school, I realized what they'd been doing with each other, but I didn't say anything. It didn't bother me, and truthfully, I was glad they had each other. Fischer was drowning in emotional overload and he was miserable. Sloane was getting his ass kicked on the daily and needed some semblance of control in his life, and they figured out something that worked for both of them.
Their arrangement benefitted both of them, and it never interfered with our job or our friendships with each other. They fucked other people, too. It was never anything official. No commitment. I know Kai had done some things with them before too, and there was never any jealousy that I picked up on.
And now here we were, everything had gone to hell in a handbasket in the blink of an eye.
Khol had sent us here looking for Saige's mother. Had he suspected he'd fathered a child with the woman? Why had Saige's mother kept everyone in the dark? I'd bet it was also Laurie who'd warded the town to keep him out of Emerald Lakes. But why? I couldn’t fucking believe we’d gone ten years not knowing he was a demon, doing all of his dirty work, who the hell knows what kind of missions we’ve been on thinking we were fighting for the right side. Fuck! I rubbed my temples in a piss poor attempt at soothing my brain.
We needed to find her soon, her knowledge of demons and Larson would be crucial to us getting Saige back. Saige, fuck. The look on her face, the pain and the hurt. When she cried, it felt like my heart was being stabbed, and when she screamed and thrashed in that bastard's hold, begging... that was when my heart broke and I hated myself so fiercely in that moment for having even an ounce of responsibility for putting her in that situation.
My little witch. Who I'd promised to protect. Gods, I'd fucked this one up epically.
