Page 80 of The Magic of Betrayal
"Where did you go?" Fischer's raspy voice startled me, I hadn't even noticed him sitting in the corner like some kind of malevolent spirit, his honey oak eyes being blacker than the devil’s soul only added to the eerie effect.
"Fuck, dude. Can you quit being so creepy for like two seconds? Damn," I huffed, dropping my haul onto the counter before swinging the fridge door open.
"You're guilty of something. What?" he questioned, and I sensed movement.
Ignoring him, I put my beer in the fridge. It would be nice and chilled in a couple of hours.
Cam strode into the space next, his long golden hair hanging around his shoulders, spilling onto his hunter green t-shirt. He was going full casual today, rocking some dark grey joggers.
"Laurie got back just before you, she's out with Gran prepping some things for later," he told us, that hope still shining through his words and I didn't have the energy to attempt to give him a dose of reality. Guess I should’ve noticed the slight drizzle from the sky had finally stopped when I’d gotten back to the cottage. If he wanted to get himself all worked up over something that probably would fail, that was on him. I was protecting myself. I'd get excited when I had eyes on my cub again.
"Kai is hiding something from us. He was just about to tell me what when you walked in," Fischer so graciously provided.
Cam's gaze snapped to me and I rolled my eyes. But I knew they weren't going to let it go and it was probably best to just rip off the proverbial band-aid.
"I went into town to get beer and I ran into Sloane," I confessed, suddenly feeling exhausted and wanting to go take a nap. If I went and took a nap, time would pass quicker than this snail paced hell, and I won't have to talk to anyone. I was just so damn tired.
Fischer's face remained perfectly expressionless and Cam's eyes narrowed.
"And what did Sloane have to say, K?" Cam's voice deepened to a scary growl, and the room darkened from the clouds blocking out the remaining hints of sunlight, but I knew it wasn't directed at me.
"He told me he'd been working around the clock, searching for spells, anything that could fix this. He told me he was so sorry, and that he hadn't wanted to contact us until he had something concrete that we could try and use," I relayed the information, it was up to them if they wanted to do anything with it. "He told me to call him if we need his help."
Cam scoffed, but before he could reply, a woman's voice drifted from the back hallway, "Actually, that would probably be the best plan. If all four of you could be present for this, I think it will boost our chances of being successful. You're all incredibly powerful, and this is going to take a lot of fucking magic," Laurie suggested, snagging my bag of Cheetos and ripping them open, stuffing one in her mouth.
Is this witch serious right now?
"Excuse you, but those aren't for sharing," I grabbed for the bag and she backed out of my reach.
"You brought them into the kitchen, they're fair game. House rules. Sorry, kitty cat. So, can someone let Sloane know we need him here at eight? I just came in to tell you to find a fourth for tonight, and it sounds like you have that covered, so I'm heading back out to prep the location." Snatching a handful of my Cheetos from the bag, she tossed it back to me and left the room.
"Well, I can see where Saige's sassiness comes from. The nerve of some people," I growled, hugging my snack to my chest.
"Fischer, what do you think about having Sloane here tonight?" Cam asked our friend, who was staring out of the large window in the kitchen.
"I'll do whatever I need to in order to get her back here and keep her safe. She would have been better off if we had never shown our faces in this town," he stated matter of factly before striding away from the two of us, going who knows where. Probably to fantasize about murder or something.
"Call him. Eight tonight," Cam grumbled, leaving me standing in the kitchen. Pulling out my phone, I dialed Sloane's number and he picked up right away.
"Be here at eight. Don't be late. Bring Mave, and for the love of Jupiter's cock, don't do anything fucking stupid."
There was a baby goat sniffing my neck, its whiskers tickling my skin and making me giggle. Yep. Giggle, like a schoolgirl. Who brought this baby goat into my room and how did I get so lucky? I fucking love babies, all kinds of babies. Animal babies, bug babies, although sometimes those can look nasty as fuck, I don't really like those kind. Demon babies, although it had been years since I'd laid eyes on one, I still loved holding them. So small and cute and special.
"Be still, baby goat, you're tickling me," I scolded, but secretly loved it.
Sniff. Sniff.
"I'm sorry," the goat whispered against my throat.
Goats don't talk.
My eyes flew open, the dream evaporating from my mind in a flash. Goldie was wrapped around me with her face hidden beneath her hair and pressed against my neck. Her chest was shaking with her crying and nope—I was going to put a smile on this girl's face come hell or high waistcoats.
“I don’t want to lose my green magic,” she cried into my neck, her little baby horns stabbing me a little bit.Oh, I like that.
"Goldie, it's okay. You used your green magic the other day when you made yourself into a witch sized blanket burrito. I promise, it will all be okay. Now that your birthday has passed, you should have access to things you hadn't before. You need to learn, you told me about your magic being off, you don't want to keep decimating all of your plants, do you?" I questioned gently, hoping that she might see some reason.
Her head shook back and forth as she sniffled, trying to get a hold of herself.
