Page 78 of The Magic of Betrayal
Spoilsport.
"Get up, man. We have work to do."
Growling, I rolled over and buried my face into Sprout's pillow, her scent surrounding me and making my throat constrict.
"Kai. You've been in bed all morning, it's one in the afternoon. You need to get up." Cam's voice was understanding, but firm. I just didn't have it in me to move today.
"Can't. Nothing is working."
"It's only been four days, K. We knew this was going to be an uphill battle, right? We’re all battling our issues, man.” Thunder rumbled from the sky and he pointed overhead, making his point. “There’s a mile wide storm cloud hanging over everywhere I go, everything sets me off. We’re lucky the area isn’t under a fucking flood warning.” He reached out and clapped my shoulder. “I get it, K. I fucking get it. We’ve all seen Fischer, who knows what the fuck planet he’s living on right now!” Cam ran his big hands through his golden hair, looking like he might just rip it out. “Something is going on, Kaito. We all know that, but I can barely help myself right now. Our girl needs us to figure this out. Laurie has some spell she wants to try later tonight. She went to The Pig to get supplies, and if it works, we could have eyes on our witch as soon as tonight."
He was still hopeful.
I felt dead.
For three, well, I guess four days now, we'd done nothing but scour every old and falling apart text Laurie could find, we'd run through every possible scenario, considered finding a rogue demon that we could force to open the portal, but that was quickly dismissed because most rogues had been stripped of the ability to open the gateway, and what if she came back and we weren't here?
Three days without a single word from Sloane. That was cutting me up, too. I tried to stay angry, and it wasn't difficult at first, but the longer it went without hearing from him, the further I sank into the eager open arms of deep depression.Was he okay?Despite being appalled at his behavior, the thought that he might be hurt, possibly by his own hand, made me sick.
I hadn't talked about him with the others though. Cam and Fischer were on another level right now. Fish was downright scary, the evil glint in his eye hadn’t broken once, the darkness gripping him days longer than I had ever seen. He was cold, detached, methodical. Often sitting alone, silently studying those books or looking at information on his phone, barely saying a word to us.
Bette was in full fledged denial. There was no way Saige wouldn't be coming home. She wouldn't, or couldn't, even entertain the idea that we may not ever get her back. Fuck.
Surprisingly, Laurie had stepped up. Big time. She'd told us all how she gave Saige up to keep her safe, figuring that if she wasn't near her, it would be harder for Khol to find her. Laurie had directed us on different articles and texts to look up online, plus she’d been giving us a crash course in Demonology that far surpassed anything we’d learned at Radical. Even Bette listened attentively to everything Laurie had to say, and I saw the pride shining in her eyes as her daughter used her knowledge for something Bette deemed worthy. There was no doubt that Laurie had a brilliant mind; she retained information like a sponge and I wondered if she had a photographic memory. It was impressive, but nothing had paid off yet. And I was sick of waiting.
We'd returned to the apartment early the morning after Sprout was taken and packed our bags. Maven was missing along with Sloane. It looked like he had been at the place to grab some things, but most of his shit was still there.That's just what we need, for Saige to get back and her beloved fox be gone. We couldn't even do that right.
I could feel Cam's presence, he wasn't going anywhere.
"Fine," I snapped, "I'm going into town though. I want to get some things from the store." I rolled off the bed and pushed past him heading to the bathroom. I was being a little bitch, but I was fresh out of fucks to give.
The hot water pelted my skin and my arms hung loose against my body as I leaned my head against the cool tile in the shower. Why was everything so exhausting? I was always bursting with energy, and today, it was taking so much effort to just wash my hair. Crushing sadness. An unwanted blanket that weighed me down and stole any desire to shove it away, so instead, I pulled that bitch up around my neck and let it squash the pain.
Some time later, I got out of the shower and threw on some basketball shorts and a tank, grabbing my bike key and heading downstairs. Chatter from the kitchen and the sounds of dishes told me they were probably eating lunch, but I didn't want to socialize. At all. So I hung a sharp right and headed out of the house, eyes focused on my bike.
Nobody came chasing after me.
Rolling into town a few minutes later, I saw Frank and Arlo through the big window at the front of The Pig. Thankfully, they were able to pick up a lot of slack, and yesterday, I'd worked for a few hours to give them a break. It was weird as hell being in the shop without Sprout around. It was weird as hellbeingwithout Sprout around.
Even Bagheera had abandoned me. Whether it was the depression that pushed him out of my mind, or if it was his doing, I wasn't sure. All I knew was that it was radio silence and it made me feel even more empty.
I needed to refill the beer supply at the house, so I rounded the corner and parked on the street in front of Dinner Thyme. Hooking my helmet on the handlebars, a gust of wind whipped through the building lined street and I caught a scent that I hadn't in a while. The water mage. I inhaled deeply and frowned when another scent mixed with his. Laurie?
My nose led me past Dinner Thyme, past the bakery, Earth, Wind, and Flour and I peered around the corner into a narrow alleyway between the two stores.
Laurie and Douchemage were having a heated, yet hushed, discussion. What was she doing talking to him? I suppose she would know who he was, Sprout had dated the bastard for two years after all, but didn't Laurie know what he'd done to her?
Suddenly, her palm shot out and the clap of it catching his cheek echoed against the brick walls on either side of them. She said something else, the distance too far for me to hear, and took a step in my direction so I spun backward quickly and made my way to Dinner Thyme.Guess she does know how he treated her and gave him a taste of his own medicine. Good.
I loaded my cart up with a couple six packs and a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, because what the hell? Perhaps the biggest testament to my mental state was that I walked past the fresh cut meat counter and didn't get a semi over the massive tomahawk steaks that were chilling in there. Grilling would require effort. The only effort I had in me today was stuffing my face with these spicy devils and getting my buzz on.
The cashier, Joanne, smiled brightly when I put my items on the counter for her to ring up. Ever since I'd throat punched douchemage in front of her, we often bantered whenever I came in here. Which was often enough with my penchant for cooking and trying new recipes.
She was speaking to me, but I wasn't hearing it. I nodded, not caring what I was agreeing to and handed her forty bucks, mumbled “keep the change” and stalked back outside.
On the way out of town, I did a double take when I spotted Sloane and Maven walking side by side down the sidewalk, Sloane's arms full of books.What the hell?I probably should have kept driving, but I just couldn't. Sloane's eyes widened as I pulled my bike over and stopped right in front of him.
"Kai," Sloane started, moving toward me as I got off and stepped up onto the sidewalk. His ice blue eyes were full of pain and the dark bags beneath them told me that he likely hadn't been sleeping.
