Page 35 of The Magic of Revenge
"Of course I can hear you," I bit out, keeping my eyes on Khol and that damn blade. Faris was standing still as a statue and for once he was keeping his big mouth shut.
'Good. Khol isn't the enemy. He's my father. We're on good terms, he brought me back when I was in danger. Bram is my mate.'
Her mate? Another mate? Where was the big ginger bastard, anyway?
'He's about to come through that door. Oh, and Guppy—we're talking in your head right now.'
My steps faltered and I put a hand against the wall to steady myself, suddenly feeling drained of energy. I found Saige's eyes. ‘Say something.’
“Something,” she said aloud, giving me a grin and wink.
Holy shit.Holy shit.
"Honey, I'm ho—" Bram waltzed right into the middle of the clusterfuck like he lived here and half of me wanted to rip him apart, too. The other half? Trusted him completely. His eyes first went to his mate, then me, then Bette who was smiling—which was completely inappropriate, given the circumstances—and landing on Faris with Khol still at his back.
"What freaky Friday fun did I just walk in on?" he joked, walking over to Faris and Khol. "Back off, Pops."
"Don't call me that," Khol growled and Saige laughed. Genuine. Hearty. It was magical. But Khol released Faris and stepped back just in time for Bram to grab him by the throat and press him against the wall. He leaned in close and sniffed him.
"What. Are. You?" Bram demanded.
Faris smirked. Crazy fucking bastard.
"I've literally only had my virgin eyeballs open for half an hour and you guys are already up my ass. I don't even know what the fuck is going on. But I'm here, in my own body, for the first time ever. I want some fucking snacks, I want to smoke some weed, drink some drinks, fuck some fucks. Speaking of"—Faris' voice dropped at least three octaves—"you smell like a snack, a high, a drink, and a fuck all in one." Then my deranged brother proceeded to stick his tongue out and lick Bram's lip which was conveniently less than an inch from his face.
Bette choked and coughed, but I swear I heard her say,so hotunder her breath. Saige sighed.For fuck's sake. The women are aroused.
"Enough," I said sternly, stomping over to Faris and yanking him away from Bram. "Faris is, well, he was a part of my psyche. Always has been," I confessed, embarrassed.
"Or maybe, I've always been the brain and you're just the body? Ever think of that?" Faris asked, crossing his arms.
"No. No, I haven't," I replied.
"So you've had, what? A split personality or something forever? And you told nobody about it?" Khol asked, lifting an eyebrow.
Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself, I looked around the room at the people who were awaiting answers. Answers that I had no idea how to give.
“Yes. Faris has always been a part of me for as long as I can remember. As I got older, he got louder, more present. I thought I was going crazy, okay? Is that something you’d ever tell someone? That you have conversations with someone else in your mind?” Saige’s hand slipped into mine and squeezed in a silent show of support that I hadn’t realized how much I needed. It gave me the strength to continue. “That you fought with your subconscious nearly all the time in order to keep the beast at bay?” I grumbled, exhausted with the entire fucking conversation.
Faris laughed and I flipped him off.
“He acts as though there weren’t plenty of times he let me take over because he was too sensitive and emotional to face reality. Then I was good enough to do things my way,” Faris snarled, giving me a scowl. “I’m fucking hangry. Or should I say…fangry?”
Those sharp, deadly fangs snapped out and everyone aside from me gasped.
“A blood mage? Really? There haven’t been any new ones for years. We’d thought they were fading out…” Khol commented, studying Faris closely.
“Well, clearly, there was a new one thirty years ago and he’s been held prisoner inside the mind of a madman! I have never eaten before in my life and I’m telling you right now, someone better produce me some snacks or we’re gonna have problems,” Faris growled and Bram responded in kind.
“What kind of snack do you want?” Saige asked, coming to stand beside him. I followed and stuck closely to her back, just in case that prick tried anything.
My brother eyed me with disdain. “Am I going to need a restraining order? I’m going to need you to keep a six foot distance from me at all times. Or else.”
I scoffed. “Or else, what?”
The fucker didn’t even give me a second to block him before he poked me in both of my damn eyes. Pain flared, but luckily he didn’t get me too bad since Saige practically jumped on his arm.
“Fischer. Come with me to the kitchen and have something to eat. You both must be starving after not eating for so long. Let Saige work this out,” Khol said firmly, sweeping his arm out in encouragement to get my ass moving. I didn’t move. Fuck that.
