Page 65 of The Magic of Revenge
"I can do the grocery run. We can take the SUV," Bram offered.
"I want to come," I added quickly. "Maybe I can find some snacks or something."
"Sounds like a plan. The rest of us can practice our magic and we'll catch up later," Cam suggested and everyone agreed.
Looks like I was going on my first ever grocery shopping adventure.
Faris, Goldie, and I were loaded up in the SUV and bumping down the long gravel driveway. We were going to drop her off at The Pig and then run to Dinner Thyme to stock up. I glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw Faris clinging to the oh shit handle, eyes wild with panic, like we were traveling at one hundred miles per hour and not five.
"Hey man, you okay?" I asked, darting my eyes over to Goldie and then back to Faris. She picked up on my unspoken worry and turned in her seat to peek at him.
"Are you scared?" she asked in a soothing voice.
"This is a big piece of machinery. Are you sure this seatbelt is sufficient in case of a crash?" he muttered, pulling on it, looking completely unconvinced.
"Yes, they do crash tests on vehicles. You can't get much safer than wearing your seatbelt, right Bram?" She nudged me with her elbow.
"Goldie is right. Plus, I'm an excellent driver and we'll be there in no time. No need to worry." I pulled out onto the road and Faris released a squeal loud enough that I jerked the wheel because he'd startled me so damn bad.
Goldie started laughing her ass off and I put the hazards on, parking along the side of the road.
"Faris. You can't make sounds like that when a person is driving. It's distracting and it scared the shit out of me," I scolded him.
"I'm sorry. We just sped up really fast and it felt like we were traveling at the speed of light. I'll keep it together. Continue."
I nodded and pushed my glasses up further on my nose. They'd nearly flown off my face. Putting the car in drive, I eased on the gas and we began traveling toward town. Looking over at Goldie, I saw her wiping tears of laughter from her cheeks. It was pretty funny.
Faris was... not what I'd been expecting at all. Blood mages were known for some unsavory traits. Bloodlust being a high-ranking one and generally being harder to read, and for some reason, at a higher risk for experimenting with dark magic. From the way Fischer had acted in the past when he'd gone "dark" as he called it, I would've thought Faris would've been skipping out on us and on the hunt. But so far he was just... really fucking quirky.
There were an abundance of positives with their powers, too. Super speed, healing capabilities, the power of persuasion. Which, I guess could be seen as a negative if the mage or witch in question wanted to abuse that power.
Sure, he clearly had an issue with Sloane and he’d kind of fanged out on him back at the house, but overall he’d shown fairly good control for the kind of mage that got a bad rap as hot-headed and impulsive.
Slowing the vehicle, I pulled up in front of The Pig. Goldie had wanted to visit those Seer witches before coming here, but they weren’t in any of their usual haunts. Those consisted of the park, the bench in front of Dinner Thyme, and the front porch of Roberta’s house. Goldie suggested coming here because there was a chance they’d know she was looking for them. When we arrived, I spotted Khol inside through the window and there were two men organizing some fresh cut flowers and produce at a little stand outside. They waved at Goldie and she smiled, waving back at them.
"Who the fuck are they?" Faris and I both snarled at the same time and she whipped around to glare at both of us. Faris had slid up between the console so his face was right next to mine, cheek to fucking cheek.
"They are my friends." She lifted a brow in challenge when neither of us backed down.
"Why are they smiling like that?" Faris asked, puzzled.
"Because that's what people do when they're friends," Goldie explained, her features softening a little bit toward him. Well, he was getting off easy.
"Hmm. I don't like it. Looks like they're up to something..." he muttered, watching the two men closely.
Goldie barked out a laugh. "They are my good friends. The big guy is Frank and the other man is his fiancé, Arlo. They work here part-time and they help Gran and I out at the cottage. They're our handymen," she explained.
"Good thing you have six of those now. I'll go inform them," Faris announced, scooting across the seat and grabbing the handle. Goldie slammed her hand down on the lock button before he could open the door.
"Bram," she said exasperated, looking at me like I should do something to deter him. But he was right. She had six handy as fuck men now. Gay or not, my pride wouldn't allow for any other men to take care of my mate.
"You can keep them as employees. But we're your handymen now. So, you tell us if you need any... handiness. Got it?" I told her and she huffed.
"You two are ridiculous," she muttered.
"We're not ridiculous. We're right," Faris chimed in, his face appearing again between the seats. He leaned forward and sniffed Goldie's neck, making her giggle. Damn, he was like a little puppy. Does something bad but then acts cute as shit and gets forgiven.Wait. Cute as shit?
"Whatever. I'll be inside. Just let me know when you're done at the store. Stay out of trouble," she warned, giving each of us a look. I took her hand and kissed the back of it.
