Page 66 of The Magic of Betrayal
Her auburn hair was down, hanging in soft curls to her collarbone, she and Saige shared the same face shape and arch of their eyebrows. Both were redheads, though Saige’s color was a bit lighter than her mother’s. I could see a hint of familiarity now that I was looking for it, but it was faint. She was petite, probably the same height as my little witch, but it was clear Saige didn't get her curvy body from her mother.
"Mom? Who are these men and why are they looking at me like they want to murder me?" Laurie squeaked, but I wasn't fucking buying it. Neither was Kai from the way he growled low in his throat.
"Boys, sit your asses down before I kick you out of this house. There will be no violence within these walls."
We inched backward to our seats, never taking our eyes from Laurie.
"Where's the birthday girl?" Laurie questioned innocently, and either she was the best actor I'd ever seen or she wasn't the evil creature that Larson had painted her out to be. Deciding that it was smarter to stick to the assumption that she was dangerous, I slammed a wall up around my mind that was built of suspicion and distrust. I'd trusted Larson, respected the fuck out of the man, and look where that had landed me.
Gran shifted in her seat, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Laurie, these are Saige's boyfriends," she pointed to each of us, "Cam, Kai, and Fischer."
Laurie's eyes ping ponged, following Gran's finger.
"Ah, she did mention that on the phone yesterday. Well, it's nice to meet you? But can someone explain to me why you're all looking at me like I'm Lucifer's daughter, and tell me where the hell my daughter is?"
"We were just explaining to Bette... perhaps we could continue our conversation in private?" I looked at Bette and she scowled so severely, I swear I felt my face heat.
"This situation is out of control. You four tried handling things privately and look what happened. No. We need back up, and if anyone knows how to get her back, it's this witch right here. As much as I loathe her demon obsession, we need her now. So get to fucking talking before I start punching dicks." Gran cracked her little knuckles and Kai's face blanched at the thought of those tiny granny fists using his nut sack as a punching bag.
"Fine. Laurie, I will give you the quick cliff notes version, because we've already wasted enough time. We work for Radical Inc. Khol Larson is our boss and he sent us here on an assignment to find a woman he'd been looking for for close to thirty years. Turns out, that woman is you."
Laurie's face paled and she scooted away from the table a few steps, but I held up my hand signaling for her to stop her retreat.
"We're not looking to harm you or whatever you might be thinking. We used a cover when we arrived, saying we were businessmen sent here to procure a new building for our company. The apartment above The Pig was for rent, and that's where we ended up, and that's how we met Saige. We all felt drawn to her, we'd do anything for her. We hadn't worked out yet what we were going to do about our jobs, obviously, we are not businessmen. We're operatives, spies, assassins— whatever Larson needed us to do, we did.
“He told us that you were dangerous, untrustworthy, and that he'd stop at nothing to get to you. He'd tried himself to infiltrate the town, but someone, who I am now assuming was you, had warded the town to keep him out."
At that tidbit of information, Bette raised her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes at Laurie.
"And why would you do such a thing, dear daughter?" Bette questioned, her knee bouncing.
"Mom, listen..." Laurie sighed and Fischer leaned forward, resting his forearms on the dining table, eager to hear what she had to say and determine if she was full of shit or not.
"I'd hoped it never would come to this. That he'd never find me, or Saige. Everything I’ve done was to keep her safe, to keep her hidden from him. When I left Emerald Lakes, when I was younger, I ended up meeting Khol at a club and I quickly fell in love with him. He was older, insanely rich, and he made me feel cherished. After some time, he became more controlling and possessive. I overheard him on the phone one evening with someone named Thijs, talking about Besmet and how they'd never be able to return until they succeeded in impregnating a witch with a demon child." Gran gasped and I felt my mood darken another ten shades of shitty.
"So, you can understand that when I discovered I was pregnant a few days later, I knew I needed to escape him before he found out. I hadn't known he was a demon, thanks to his highly powerful demonic energy, he shielded so many of the signs. And I hadn't wanted to be pregnant at such a young age, but he was able to do something to combat my monthly contraceptive spells without my knowledge. Imagine my surprise seeing a positive pregnancy test, and knowing that it was a demon who had gotten me pregnant. That's unheard of. Trust me, I know my shit about demons," she trailed off, turning and walking into the kitchen and opening up the cupboard that held all the liquor.
"I'm going to need a stiff drink to continue this conversation." She shook her head as she pulled out several bottles and carried them over to the table. Gran snatched the Bailey's and dumped a healthy measure into her coffee. Fischer moved to the kitchen and snagged the coffee pot, which was thankfully, nearly full.Guess it's a good thing the Wildes witches were addicted to coffee at all times of day, we were going to need the caffeine.
"So, you're telling me that my sweet Saige, the innocent and goodhearted green witch, is actually sired from a beast? I won't accept that. It's not possible. There is nothing demonic about her," Bette swore, shaking her head.
"Well, actually, it makes sense. Her powers have been fucking up for weeks now, her temper, her body temperature... now that we know Larson is her father, all of those signs back it up," Fischer chimed in with a degree of nonchalance that really wasn't appropriate in this situation and I shot him a severe look when he simply sat back in his seat, sipping his spiked coffee.
"What do you mean her power has been fucking up?" Laurie asked, worry marring her features and I again had to wonder if she was genuine. Fischer wasn’t calling her out, so I decided to wait to ask him afterward.
"Anything she used her magic on was dying. It started out fine, and then turned to ash. Then a couple weeks ago, she sent out a burst of magic so powerful into the ground that she raised a damn jungle in the yard. Not to mention, she astral projected twice to Besmet... or maybe that was dream walking? We'd thought astral projecting before, but dream walking is a strictly demonic power, and she was asleep those times, so maybe that's what happened? Then she definitely projected when she was awake and was in a damn coma for hours. Gran made a tether to keep her here, but as you can see," Kai pulled the broken necklace from his pocket and dropped it on the table, "it didn't stop them from taking her."
Laurie and Gran both sucked in a sharp breath and my body was itching for a fucking fight. I needed to split my knuckles and push myself until my muscles screamed for mercy. I didn't know that I would be able to calm the fuck down until that happened.
"Who isthem? Who exactly took her?" Bette asked.
"Larson and Johnny. Or, is that even his name? I'm a little confused on those details..." Kai wondered as he removed the top from a bottle of vodka, brought it to his lips, and took a healthy pull. He slammed it down on the table, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and stood up to start pacing.
I ran a hand down my face. "Johnny is, or was, our handler. We've known him since we started at Radical ten years ago. He's always been a good dude, maybe a little on the quiet side, but we often hung out together when we were at the training facility between jobs. Turns out, he's also a demon, and has a shapeshifting ability, because he transformed right in front of our faces into a tall motherfucker with red hair and more freckles than a cabbage patch kid. Saige said he's the one who she'd spent time with during her time in Besmet, that he'd kept her safe," I explained to the two witches who were looking more and more uneasy by the damn second. Well, welcome to the party, girls.
"What did she say his name was?" Kai tapped Fischer on the arm, getting his attention.
