Page 33 of The Magic of Revenge
"That"—he pointed—"is untapped potential."
My mouth opened as I looked between this man and the dragon. I couldn't remember a time I'd been rendered speechless before.
"Good work." Asrael turned and strode away from me, disappearing back into the house. Exhaustion was quickly working its way through my body and the second my ass hit the ground, the dragon exploded into a fiery boom that rained down all around me.
She was near. I could sense her. My sweetheart.Saige.
I called out to her. ‘Sweetheart.’ Desperate to feel her. The smoothness of her skin, the heartiness of her laugh, the radiance of her smile. A weight was lifting from my limbs, my whole body felt like it was buzzing with life.
‘Sweetheart, where are you?’
A soft whisper caressed my mind.‘I’m coming, Guppy.’Movement to my left had me cracking my eyes open and I hoped I’d find my beautiful girl next to me.Holy fuck, they feel like they weigh a hundred pounds. Hangover from hell? What the hell happened last night?I gingerly turned my head and blinked rapidly as the blurry outline of a face cleared.
"What the fuck?!" I croaked, my throat dry and scratchy as I rolled away and landed hard on the wooden floor.I've gotta be tripping balls right now. There... That... There's no fucking way.
The bedroom door crashed open and Bette stood there taking in the situation. She gasped and then squealed.
"Be right back. Don't move." She turned and ran from the room and I wish I could say I hadn't seen it, but I did. She was wearing booty shorts with the word JUICY printed on the ass. Dear gods. Did she see what I had? I took a deep breath and peered over the edge of the bed just as his face popped up, an unnaturally large smile on his face.
"Master has given Faris a sock. Faris is a free mage!" he said, in a surprisingly spot-on impression.
"This isn't happening," I muttered, standing up and staring at the mage staring back at me. I ran both hands down my face and then through my hair. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.
"Hello, brother. Can you believe how soft these sheets are? Holy fuck, I've been missing out. Thirty years stuck in your head? Who is responsible for this blessing?" he asked, as he continued rolling around on the bedding like a dog before suddenly sitting straight up.
"She's here. I can smell her. Can you? Do you smell the richness of her blood?" Faris groaned, leaping to his feet on the mattress and peering out the window.
"Her blood? What the fuck are you talking about?" I could sense Saige getting closer, which was new. But I couldn't smell her, let alone her blood.
"I just require a taste," he whispered, trailing his fingers down the window like a certified creep.
"You're not going anywhere and you're not getting near my girl," I gritted out and Faris snapped his head to look at me. His eyes were red.What in the name of Jupiter's cock is going on?
"Wrong. Your days of controlling me are over." He smiled and my eyes widened as his canine teeth began to elongate.Fangs. Blood. Faris is... a blood mage? Well, that makes a lot of fucking sense. It was the weirdest thing, staring at someone who looked exactly like you. My soul felt lighter; I felt more like myself than I ever had before.
My thoughts came to a screeching halt when Faris leapt off the bed and darted for the door. Blood mages were notoriously dangerous. Not evil, just... unpredictable. And I fucking knew Faris. He was as unpredictable as the weather when Cam was pissy. I launched myself at him and tackled him to the ground just as he threw open the door.
"What the hell is your problem?" he grunted, pushing me off of him.
"I told you. You're not going near her," I growled in his face.
"What's that?" he said, looking behind me, and I turned to look at where he was pointing. Nothing was there. His laughter rang out and I just caught the disappearing flash of his body as he fled the room.
Son of a bitch!
I raced after him, down the steps. The slam of the screen door in the mudroom had my heart speeding up.Saige.
"Look out!" I yelled, warning her about Faris' impending arrival. The blood fiend was frozen now, staring into the mudroom.
"Oh," I heard Saige gasp.
"Gotcha." I launched myself at Faris once again and he went down with an oomph. His hand sailed through the air and he slapped me.What are we, five?
"Get off me, you idiot! Was thirty years being bound together not enough for you?" Faris hissed. "Now, get off of me."
"I've spent thirty years listening to your fucked up shit in my head. That's enough for me to make sure you don't get near my fucking woman!" I roared and then quickly yelped when pain exploded on my chest.
"Titty twister!" Faris bellowed beneath me, twisting my damn nipples off. He pushed me backward with force and I slid across the floor on my back, coming to rest at a set of feet. Saige was staring down at me with a shocked expression.
