Page 51 of The Magic of Revenge
We were in a pretty ritzy part of the town, which surprised me. I’d expected the dude to live in a camper or something. With an armful of cucumbers and eggplants each, we walked a little ways down the sidewalk and Roger took a sharp left. He bumped the gate open with his hip and strode towards a house that caused my eyeballs to almost pop out of my head.
"This is your house?" I hustled behind him, my eyes taking in the extremely large mid-century modern home that screamed Brady Bunch.
"Yes, this is my pride and joy. Wait til you see the inside!" Roger squealed with excitement, pushing some magic at the door so we could enter.
Blinking rapidly so my eyes could adjust to the sudden brightness of colors, my gaze darted around the living area as I followed Roger through the house. I'd never seen so many things in one house in my life. It wasn't like a hoarder, more like a collector. A collector with a serious addiction. Everything in here was either from the sixties or seventies. Roger took kitsch to a whole other level.
"So, what do you think?" he asked with a raised brow and a shit-eating grin.
"Lime— I mean, like. I like it. Very colorful," I added, but seriously. Lime green. Even the shag carpet.
Roger beamed at my words, guiding me into the kitchen that was baby pink. Including the appliances. There were string lights hanging from the tops of the cabinets in the shapes of various different vegetables. Why was I surprised at this point?
"Put the treasures on the counter," he instructed, pointing to the cucumbers in my arms. "Come, I'll show you to your room. I think you're going to love it." Roger clapped and was already on his way back to the living room. I swear that man had to be doing some kind of drugs. Nobody was that peppy and strange without drugs.
I dumped the veggies on the counter and intended to speed after him so I wouldn’t get lost in this veggie villa, but I got distracted by the clear resin countertops that held hundreds of different tiny vegetables.What in the fresh market hell was this place?
“Sloane? Did you get lost?” Roger called out, and I snapped out of my horror and made my way back to the living room. We climbed the spiral staircase that was also covered in a blinding lime green shag carpet.
He led me down the hall and opened a door, grinning at me. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself for what I was about to walk into.Please don't be a sex room.
"Roger, what the fuck?" I gasped, taking in the spare bedroom. Mushrooms. There were handpainted mushrooms covering the walls and they had been deliberately painted with an erotic twist. Large shroom shafts… Was that even what they were called? Wrapped around each other sensually, some of the caps were drizzled with what looked like morning dew but upon closer inspection, I saw the tiny slits in the spongy tops. Splooge. It was shroom splooge. Shlooge? I was done with the whole day. Maybe the week. Jupiter’s own cock couldn’t handle such debauchery.
"The mushroom is one of the most beautiful and subtly erotic foods out there. I have a slight obsession," he chuckled, running his fingers down a particularly large and detailed mushroom to the left of the door.
"You're a strange dude, you know that?" I asked, and Roger smiled and shrugged.
"Normal is boring. Why be like everybody else when you can be yourself?" His stare was penetrating and I had a feeling the old guy knew a lot more than he let on. It was a good tactic. I often used it myself. People underestimating you, especially in my line of work, was never a bad thing. It also wasn't a mistake they got the opportunity to make twice.
"Fair point," I agreed. "Thanks for letting me stay here. I have a lot of research to do, so do you mind if I get started?" I hoped he wouldn't feel like I was being rude. There was only one thing on my mind—getting Red back. Then winning my brothers back.
Roger nodded, not put off by my hinted request for privacy. "Just holler if you need anything. Bathroom's across the hall." He pulled the door closed behind him and I released a deep sigh. Scrubbing my hands over my face, I struggled to get my mind around what had happened earlier.
Never in a million years had I thought that Khol would steal Red like that. Gods, the look on her face. The hurt, the pain. I'd never felt like such a piece of shit in my life, and I'd done a lot of piece of shit things. My mind flicked to what Fischer had said. That I was in love with him and Red. Was I?
The immense pain I'd felt when he told me he was done with me was blinding. Even now, tears pricked at my eyes at the thought of never being with him again. Not just sexually, but the way he made me a little bit less me, while at the same time making me more. Fish had an uncanny ability to get me to lower my guard, to be more open instead of defensive and dickish. He knew me better than anyone and fuck, I couldn't lose him. Not now, not ever. I would do whatever I had to do to win him back and make him mine.
Was I in love with Fischer? Yes. I knew that now. Sometimes you don't know the depths of your heart until it's cracked and the truth leaks out from within. It was my own fault. I'd fortified walls so strong around myself, my heart. Red was the one who had started poking at them. She mystified me. With Fischer, it was easy to continue the way we always had. Sex, and that was it. He never pushed for more. Maybe because he wasn't sure of what my reaction would be. Fuck.
I knew I felt something for Red. I just needed to work out what, and hope that I'd get the chance to explore it. First things first, I needed to fix it. I pulled my laptop out of my bag and got to work.
"So you stayed in the mushroom room? Lucky you," Saige teased, but her face didn't match her words. She was processing.
"Yep. For three days. Maven showed up the second day and hung out. I had a bunch of runes, spells, and wards I wanted to try but then I got the call to come over because your mom had figured out a spell. I was so desperate to see them that I didn't question things like I normally would have. I didn't think they'd welcome my opinion."
"You did what you could. Thank you for that, and for taking care of Mave while I was gone. He likes you a lot," she murmured, fiddling with the hem of her dress.
"Red. I'm so gods damn sorry. I know it's not good enough. I know we have this push and pull between us. Half of the time I'm not sure if you want to kiss me or punch me in the nuts. But the prophecy referred to six mates. I know Faris is here now, but am I wrong to hope that maybe I’m one of them?" I asked point blank, because I had to know where we stood.
She swallowed, her eyes snapping to mine. "I know you're sorry. I can feel it. And I know how you feel when we’re together because half of the time, I don't know if you want to kiss me or strangle me. You have this... large energy, Sloane. You're intense and loyal and determined. I think the reason you’ve always held yourself back from your emotions is because they're so fucking big. I think if you allowed yourself to be with me and I trusted you, our relationship would be like an inferno. You'd envelope me, surround me," she whispered, her eyes glistening with tears. "Even now, when I catch you staring at me and our eyes meet, it’s like this raging fire. I feel the oxygen being sucked away and I can't focus on anything except the heat and the flames. It's like fight or flight. I could run and have the teasing memory of the flames licking at my skin... or, I could stay and burn up from the inside out with the way you make me fucking feel." Her voice cracked and I moved before I could talk myself out of it. My hand found the back of her neck and I pressed her cheek against my chest, holding her tight as her tears dampened my bare skin.
"We'll burn together then, Red. I'm not running anywhere. Not anymore. I'm all in. I'll prove it to you, I swear," I vowed, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. My skin was starting to feel itchy again and the more that incessant sensation spread over my body, the more possessive I felt toward the witch in my arms. Like some kind of primal instinct. I would fucking destroy the next motherfucker who so much as eyeballed her weird.
"Sloane?" she asked warily, pulling back from me.
"Yeah?"
"Everything okay? You were... growling."
