Page 71 of The Magic of Destiny
“I heard that,” Maven—or was it Rick?—muttered.
“I very nearly did that myself, once I recovered from a ridiculous little fainting spell.” Gran scoffed, as if it was no big deal.
“You fainted? By the moon, Gran.” I reached for her again, ready to fuss over her but she stepped out of reach.
“I'm fine, child. Now come, meet Rick.” She took me by the elbow and guided me directly in front of the tall demon.
“You're a demon... How is that possible? I thought you weren't able to procreate easily, and yet, you had a child together?” I asked boldly. If he wanted to stick around, I wasn't going to let him swindle my grandmother again.
“Indeed, I am a demon. However, I was created, not born.”
Bram nearly choked, and I saw several expressions of shock on the faces of the others.A demon that was created?
“I have some theories, all of which I'm willing to discuss,” Rick said, clasping his hands in front of his chest.
“Why a fox? Why then? Why didn't you ever reveal yourself?” The questions just poured out rapid-fire, and I took a deep breath. I wanted to know more about him becoming a demon, but first I needed to know why he’d paraded around in my life like my best friend when he wasn’t an animal at all.
“I was a fox because that's what I was cursed to be. Why then? Do you mean why did I show up when I did?” he asked me, and I nodded. “Ah.” He let out a deep chuckle. “I’m honestly not certain. I said I was cursed, but now I’m wondering if maybe it was just part of Asrael’s experimentation gone wrong. Trust me, I tried for years to shift. Every single day, trying everything I could think of and having no success.
“All I know is that when I saw you go over the cliff that night, I couldn’t stop myself. Before I had any sort of rational thinking about just being a damn fox, I was flying through the air. I’m sorry I don’t have anything more concrete for you, but I’m thankful I was there and able to do what I did.”
I studied his face. He was handsome, and I could see some similarities between the shape of his nose and mine. Gran was shifting from foot to foot, watching us. I didn’t want her to get heartbroken again. I always gave people the benefit of the doubt; I didn’t want to be too trusting here and have the rug pulled out from beneath me. Plus, this man was my fox. Maven. The grumpy little fluffball who had been a source of safety and emotional security for years.
I forced a small smile. “I’m thankful, too. Thank you for saving me, and for being there for me all those years, even if it was as a fox.”
He smiled back and gave me a nod, his cheeks turning a little pink at my words.
Cam cleared his throat, breaking the moment and getting everyone refocused. He was so good at shit like that. “Why would Asrael have done this to you? No disrespect, but why did he go after you specifically?” Cam was also good at asking tough questions in a diplomatic manner. He was a big, gruff—
‘Quit those thoughts right now, sweetheart. You’re gonna give us all boners in front of your grandpa,’Fischer scolded me through the link.
‘Gah, sorry,’I apologized, glancing over at Guppy, but I saw that all of the guys were looking at me like I was a steak. My face flamed, and I turned back to Rick and Gran, giving them my full attention.
“No offense taken. I’ve had a long time to wonder about all of these questions, and it feels good to finally be able to talk about things. Honestly, I think he just went after men who had emotional connections to another person, so that they could be easily controlled. All of our crew had women or men they loved. Some had kids too. Back then, he would use spies to scope out potential targets, much like he does now with gifted children. He’d lure people in with job stability and a great paycheck. The work wasn’t difficult. It was manual labor in a warehouse in Kingstown—the town isn’t far from here.”
My eyes immediately flew to the guys. Surely, there was no way it could be the same warehouse.
This story seemed like it was going to take a while, so I gestured to an armchair for him to take a seat. Gran sat across from him in another open chair. The couch was jam-packed with my guys, but it was Cam who took my hand, pulling me onto his lap.I guess he's not too upset with me then...
“So what happened next?” Fischer asked, leaning forward eagerly. He was by far the most enthusiastic of my men when it came to learning new information. He truly enjoyed it.
Rick cleared his throat. “When Asrael realized my wife was pregnant, I got a pay raise. I was thrilled. There was nothing more important to me than providing for my wife, and the feeling you get knowing a baby’s coming into the picture too? Gods, I would've done anything for them. For you, Bette Baby,” he said to Gran, with loved up eyes. My belly tingled at the mention of a baby.
“Once he realized you needed the job, he ensured you stayed an employee so he could keep an eye on you,” Cam said, voicing his thoughts.
Rick nodded. “Interestingly, he never met my Bette. At least, he never did so in the form he assumed as my employer. As far as my being turned into a demon, I think he was slipping things into our water at work—it’s the only possible thing that makes sense. It’s not like he had us line up for injections. I never would’ve gone along with that. It wasn’t until after he’d captured me that I started displaying signs of a change taking hold.”
“I never liked that man. The stories you'd tell me about his behavior... It wasn't right.” Gran slammed her fist down on the armrest of her chair, her face getting red.
“But then he cursed you?” Sloane asked, bringing the discussion back to the things we were all dying to know.
“One night, I got called into work. Bette was heavily pregnant by then so I didn’t want to leave her, but he was insistent. When I got to the office, he was there. He quickly restrained me—his power being off the charts as it was, it wasn't hard for him to manage, especially since he took me by surprise. I was put into a cage and transported somewhere. There were others there, though I couldn’t tell you how many. I’m not sure how long I lived in that cage, succumbing to the changes and tests, the torture, worrying for my Bette and our child that I’d never met. But one night, I felt magic hit my body like a freight train, and within minutes I was standing on all fours. I didn’t question it; I just slipped through the bars of the cage and made my escape.”
“Holy shit,” Kai murmured.
Gran twisted her hands together nervously. “So it was actually kind of a blessing in disguise that you turned into a fox? Otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to escape.”
Rick’s face turned thunderous. “A blessing? Sure, if it had been something I could control, shifting between forms. As it stands, I was a man stuck in the body of a fifteen-pound fox for nearly fifty years. When I finally found my way back to Emerald Lakes—which took much longer than anticipated because some human captured me, thinking he was doing me a service by sending me to a wildlife sanctuary—I had to live like this, watching my family live their lives without me. Without them even knowing I was here. That was the worst kind of torture.”
