Page 13 of The Magic of Revenge
Kai paused for a moment and then his knees buckled, sending him to the floor with a crash and a groan.
“What the fuck, Sloane?” Cam growled, hauling Kai back to his feet before anyone noticed.
I looked at Kai’s pale face and then Cam’s heated green eyes before walking right up to them and whispering so nobody could overhear.
“Kai’s mated, bro.”
The look of pure horror on Kai’s face nearly made me piss myself with laughter.
“The old Kai would’ve had that woman butt naked within ten minutes of meeting her. Now you can’t even think about it without your body wanting to kill you? There’s no other explanation,” I mused while Cam nodded in agreement. Kai was still frozen in place with his mouth hanging open.
“Maybe that’s where Bagheera is? With my mate? Holy fuck. Oh stars,” Kai breathed, trying to process this new development.
“Come on, it’s dinner time. We can’t keep these people waiting without consequences,” Cam reminded us.
We followed him into the huge dining area. Fuck, I hoped we could get some answers tonight. It was looking more and more to me like we’d been tricked and I’d never taken kindly to that type of bullshit.Hope they know who they’re messing with.
My heart was in my throat as I stared down at the two men lying on the bed.Identical. They’re identical.
Fischer was alive. Oh my gods, thank you. Not wasting a second, I stepped up to the bed and grabbed ahold of his hand. I needed to feel that it was warm, not cold like it had been the last time I’d touched him.
“Fischer,” I sobbed, completely overcome with emotion.He’s here. He’s breathing.
Bram’s hand landed on my back, rubbing circles that comforted me. He always knew exactly what I needed. Especially when I didn’t.
“How is he alive, Bram? Why are there two men here?”
“We have no fucking idea, princess. We’re assuming that your power blast was actually more of an implosion. You connected to your green magic and literally pulled the life out of over an acre of forest, somehow funneling it into Fischer’s body. Your magic is connected to your emotions and since you were going through such a traumatic event, your power pulled life from one being to grant it to another.” Bram rubbed my shoulders and I tried to process what I’d done. “I don’t know if it was the sheer power behind your magic that caused him to uh… double? Clone?” He shook his head. “Regardless, they’re both alive, but neither has woken up yet. We don’t know if theywillwake up,” he said gently, squeezing my shoulder.
That was a reality that I wasn’t even going to entertain. The stars had given me these men to love and there was no way I was going to have Fischer taken away from me again.
“I want to stay with them. I can lay in between them,” I told Bram, planning on doing just that. When I went to climb over Fischer, Bram grabbed my waist and stopped me.
“Goldie, I will help you get in there after you eat something. Do you feel like a shower or a bath? You have to take care of yourself.” He hugged me against him and I grumbled, not wanting to leave this room for anything. “I’ll take care of you, princess. Always. Even when you’re pissed about it. Especially then.”
I wanted to argue. Hell, I wanted to throw an epic tantrum that would rival Gran’s that time she found out Randy Roger had forgotten to pre-order their tickets for Wangs and Wands: The All Male Mage Magic Show. She didn’t speak to him for a week and was actually so spiteful over the whole thing that she went to Dinner Thyme every day and bought all their cucumbers and mushrooms just so he couldn’t get them. It was a rough week.
Staring at Fischer—well, the Fischer closest to me—I brushed a hand over his soft curly hair. As much as I wanted to stay here, Bram had just spent hours watching over me and wondering when, or if, I would wake up. His need to take care of me was something I could understand.
“Okay, but I want to come right back here after. Promise me, Bram.” My arms tightened around his torso, his delicious scent surrounding me and giving me a sense of calm that moments ago I would have said was impossible, given the situation.
“I promise. Now, let’s get you some food. Your gran has been like a wild woman and Khol is close to locking her up somewhere.”
I laughed at the mental images that provided me with.
Our hug was cut short when we heard pounding on the door and raised voices. A crashing sound, like glass breaking, had Bram lifting me into his arms and dashing down the stairs.
“YOU TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!” a woman screamed.
The glass vase in the mudroom lay shattered on the floor, my father standing there with his hands up in a placating manner.
“I don’t know who you think you are, but you need to calm down,” Khol told the woman who was still in the mudroom.Big mistake, Dad. You never ever tell an upset woman to calm down.
“Who am I? Are you fucking for real right now? I’m Saige’s best friend and I haven’t heard from her in days. Days! So I show up here to find some strange old dude camped out in her house and no sign of my friend. Who the fuck are you? I’m gonna kick your ass in three seconds if you don’t start giving me some answers, old timer!”
Oh fuck.
“Miranda!” I called out, watching as my friend’s face appeared around the corner of the mudroom.
