Page 14 of The Magic of Revenge
“Oh holy moon beams, Saige,” she cried out, pushing Khol out of the way and enveloping me in her arms. I held her tight, despite the fact that I was still in Bram’s hold. The need to reassure her that everything was okay was strong because I wouldn’t put it past her protective ass to try and take me from Bram.
“Why is he holding you? Are you hurt?” Her arms grew tighter as she—yep—tried to take me out of his arms.
“Miranda, I’m okay. What are you doing?” I smacked her hands away, laughing. “You can’t hold me, are you insane?”
“I’m gonna rescue you from these... these... ruffians!” She turned and glared at Khol, who smirked at her choice of insult.
“Babe. Look at me.” Her wild eyes turned back and landed on mine, and I reached for her hands and squeezed them. “Listen. I’m fine. This man holding me is Bram. He’s my boyfriend.”
Her eyes widened comically and Bram laughed deeply, making his chest rumble.
“But... what about the others?” she whisper-shouted.
“They’re also my boyfriends. It’s a long story,” I informed her, patting on Bram’s arm, signaling to put me down.
“Let’s go to the living room, you can sit on the couch and catch up,” Bram suggested, and I nodded. Of course, the huge demon carried me the entire way, leaving Miranda and Khol to follow. He gently placed me on the couch and covered me with a blanket, before standing and muttering something about getting me food and a drink.
“And who is this?” Miranda pointed at Khol, who was looking more and more amused by my friend’s spicy attitude.
“That... is my father,” I told her, not holding back my laugh as her mouth dropped open and her gaze darted back and forth between the two of us.
“That makes no sense. He’s not old enough to be your father. Are you a con man? That it?” She jabbed a finger into his chest and his hand snapped up to snag hers, pulling her closer.
“I assure you, I am her father. My name is Khol and I’m much older than I appear, darling.” He added the last word on and threw in a grin for good measure, which rendered my bestie completely stupefied.
Miranda snatched her hand back from him as though he’d burned her, and she dropped down beside me on the couch.
“Tell me everything, Saige. I feel like we have a lot to catch up on.”
And so over the next forty minutes, I told Miranda everything about the guys and all of the events that had gone down until I thought her head was going to explode. At some point, Bram had come back in with a breakfast tray that had a spread fit for a queen on it. I really hadn’t felt hungry until I saw all that delicious food. I’d been about to offer some to Miranda when Khol appeared with a second tray containing the same spread for her.
Khol placed the tray over Miranda’s lap and she eyed it like it was poisoned. His laughter followed him as he and Bram walked back out of the room to give us privacy. Eventually, she gave in to the urge to snack, and we talked and ate until we were so stuffed there wasn’t room for anything else.
Khol and Bram came back in when we were finished eating and cleared away the trays. “Definitely not what I imagined demons to look like...” she trailed off as they disappeared into the kitchen.
I snorted. “Yeah. Tell me about it. I’ll have to show you my demon form later. I’m still too tired to try and shift.”
“They seem to really care for you, Saige. I’m so happy you got to meet your dad. I know I’m only a human, but whatever you need, just let me know. I’ll help in any way I can.” She dropped her head on my shoulder and I snuggled closer. It felt good to have everything out in the open between us now.
Bram and Khol returned and took seats in the armchairs across from us.
“Oh, holy shit! I just remembered.” I sat up straight, looking at Miranda.
“What is it?” she asked hesitantly.
“Remember that day we were hanging out at the lake with Annie?” She nodded. “Well, she drew me a picture. Do you remember what the picture was?”
“Something with fire, right?”
“It was a burning pentagram in the woods, Miranda. I think Annie is some kind of seer. She must be pretty powerful, too. She’s so young to be able to do such things.”
My friend’s eyes glassed over with emotion. “Oh gods.”
“Who is Annie?” Khol inquired, sitting forward and resting his elbows on his knees.
“She’s my seven-year-old daughter,” Miranda responded.
“I see.” He sat back in his seat. “Are you a seer, then?”
