The Magic Of Betrayal
Emerald Lakes Book Two
Britt Andrews
Copyright © 2020 Britt Andrews
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover by: Quirah Casey- Salvation Creations
Formatting by: Inked Imagination Author Services
Developmental Editing: Cassie Hurst with Inked Imagination Services
Editing By: PollyAné Nichols from Proofs By Polly
Proofreading by: Black Lotus Editing
Contents
Preface
Trigger Warning
1. Kai
2. Saige
3. Bram
4. Fischer
5. Saige
6. Sloane
7. Saige
8. Bram
9. Cam
10. Saige
11. Kai
12. Saige
13. Fischer
14. Saige
15. Fischer
16. Saige
17. Sloane
18. Cam
19. Saige
20. Kai
21. Bram
22. Saige
23. Fischer
24. Saige
Want More?
Thank You!
Stalk Me!
Also by Britt Andrews
Thank you for securing your seat in Britt’s weenie wagon.
Please read the rules below and we do hope you’ll ride with us again.
We ask that you please keep all body parts inside the vehicle for the duration of the ride.
**This includes tits. Nobody needs to be losing a titty.**
Please, secure your seatbelts and get comfortable. There will be ample opportunity to explore the sex scenes at an appropriate time, but safety first.
You may wish to bring a towel. Or two. One for your face tears and one for your… other tears.
Handheld fans are permitted.
Drinks are also permitted as past riders have been known to get thirsty AF.
HOLD ON TIGHT AND ENJOY THE RIDE!
(Name of your sex tape)
Trigger Warning
This is a full-length RH romance, intended for adults 18 and over, which includes MMFMMM content. It ends on a cliffhanger and contains domestic violence including physical, mental, and sexual abuse and other themes that readers may find triggering.
*This is the second book in a paranormal RH series.*
The lingering echoes of Saige’s gut clenching screams had dissipated, but they would haunt me forever. They tore right into my soul, shredding my heart, delivering jolts of panic to my system that I’d never experienced before. Bagheera was roaring inside my brain, claws out, tearing around, hackles raised. I was in a frozen state, unable to soothe him, and was stuck standing at the foot of her bed, staring at her.
Blood was still running freely from her nose, her normally lively body slack and disturbingly still. Bagheera refused to back off, so he was right there at the forefront of our connection, but he wasn’t choking like I was, he was cursing me for not moving, gods dammit.
Someone rushed past me, knocking me out of my trance.
“Tell us everything, Cam. Quickly,” Fischer demanded, climbing right into the bed with our woman, taking her hand in his and checking her pulse. Cam must’ve called them.
“She woke up, started telling us she’d been in the demon realm, she was about to say something and started complaining of a headache. Within minutes, she was screaming in agony, and then the bleeding started. Then she was just... like this,” Cam explained, the fear in his tone was evident.
Boss is scared. Shit.
Sloane moved to sit beside Fischer, running his hand over Saige’s forehead. “I don’t sense anything malevolent or demonic right now. No curses or hexes, so that’s something. I’m assuming that she was pulled there again because there’s something there that keeps calling to her. It’s like her body knows she needs to go there for something, and whatever the fucking reason, she keeps getting yanked across the realms. Remember the case we had in Sydney two summers ago?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Fischer agreed. “That poor man kept getting pulled to the other side of the world… until his soul splintered from his body.”
My heart was racing, but I still couldn’t fucking move.
“Kaito,” Cam growled, which had us growling in return. “Get your ass over here, now.”
Opening my mouth to reply, my voice was a low rumble, “I’m going to get Gran. She’ll know what to do.”
Before anyone could say otherwise, Bagheera burst out of my skin, the shift smooth and very fucking welcomed at the moment. Sprinting out of the room and jumping down the entire flight of stairs, the mudroom screen door hit the side of the house as we charged outside. Roaring our fury and fear to the sky, we raced to Gran’s cottage where she was already at the door, obviously having heard the chaos.
Bagheera handed the reins back to me and I shifted with ease, telling her everything as quickly as I could. Her face paled briefly but in true Bette fashion, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin in determination. I could see the wheels turning in her mind and I threw up every prayer, wish, and hope I could to the stars that Sprout would be okay. I wouldn’t even entertain another scenario.
“She will appear to be sleeping for now, Kaito. Don’t worry, I know something that will help. I’m going to need your assistance, though. We need to go fetch some supplies. Are you okay with leaving your mate?” she asked, placing her small hand on my arm in comfort. My eyes widened at her use of the ‘m-word’ and she smiled, answering my unasked question, “Of course I know she’s your mate. A blind mage could see that, child.”
After last night, there was no doubt in my mind that she was my true mate. Gods, the scent of her, the feel of her body gripping me, there was no other explanation.
Taking her hands in mine, I breathed out a long exhale. “I can’t just sit up there. As much as I need to be near her, right now, I just need to do something that will ensure that this never fucking happens again. Tell me the plan, please,” I begged, squeezing her fingers gently, but with an undertone of urgency.
“First things first we need to gather some crystals from the cave and then head to The Pig. All of the supplies we need are there, and we can create what I have in mind. A magical tether, something that will keep her locked in this realm, no more of this spirit snatching once we get her back. We won’t let them take her, Kai. Do you understand? These evil creatures have no business with my granddaughter and I will have their blood if they don’t fuck off. Let me grab my stuff. Go tell the others where we’re going and what we’re doing. Prepare them that this might take some time, so they need to relax.” Gran turned her back to me, rushing inside, and I blinked a couple of times before shifting back and tearing it up to get back to the
guys.
The scene before us nearly broke our heart. All of our brothers were surrounding our sweet witch, Cam wiping the blood from her face with a damp cloth while Fischer was stroking her hair and Sloane was sitting at the end of the bed with his hands clasped together. Our throat tightened with emotion, but we shook that shit off, because there was a plan, and it was going to work. It had to. Shifting to myself, I walked over to where Cam was perched on the bed.
“Listen, Gran has a plan. I’m going with her to create what she called a tether; when it’s finished, it will keep Saige from being pulled across the realm. No more of this shit. She said to tell you all that Saige will be fine for now, and that we should all relax because it might take some time to get this tether complete,” I explained, sitting my bare ass on the bed.
“But how does she know that Saige will be fine? We have no fucking clue what’s going on wherever she’s at. What if she’s in danger? That’s not a stretch considering these things keep happening and coming after her,” Cam snarled, his emotions running really fucking high. All of ours were, but I had to keep them locked down because otherwise, I might shift and stay that way until this passed. The thought of that made me feel like a fucking coward, and Bagheera swiped a huge paw at the insinuation that being in his form was cowardly. My brow creased slightly from the mental discomfort his pissy cattitude was causing. It’s not like that, Baggie, and you know it. I have to be able to help her, we can’t lose her. His answer was a pitiful whine that just solidified my resolve to get this shit done.
“There’s nothing we can do for her right now, Cam,” Sloane snapped, but when Fish shot him a glare, he added a little gentler, “but we can work on this tether with Bette and get her back to us as soon as possible. I’m going to go with them; another set of hands on deck can only expedite things.”
Fischer continued lovingly stroking Saige’s hair, not shifting his focus from her face for a moment. Sloane noticed and stood, moving to stand by the headboard, his hand reaching out to Fish’s face. That seemed to get his attention and Sloane tilted Fischer’s head back slightly, staring into his eyes that I’m sure looked as sad as a kicked puppy’s.
“Fischer, we’ll get her back, everything will be as it should. I’m going to help Kaito and Bette, the sooner we get this figured out, the sooner we’ll get her back,” Sloane reasoned, always the realist, he gripped his chin as he lowered his face to press their foreheads together.
“I’m... scared,” Fish whispered, his awe over the fact that he was feeling such a thing was clear as day.
“I know. It will be okay. We’ll fix it. Breathe.” Sloane’s alpha tone rippled through the tense air and I found myself nodding, like he was addressing me as well.
“Do whatever you need to do. Just hurry. Who knows what hell she’s going through right now,” Fischer noted, and a growl came from Cam. Obviously, he did not appreciate the idea that our girl might very well be in a bad situation without us there, and no way to get to her.
Sloane leaned in then, sealing his lips over Fischer’s in a hard kiss, and Cam and I shot each other a 'what the fuck' look, because Sloane never did shit like that. Always insisting that his ‘arrangement’ with Fish was strictly sexual, but this was like watching two people in love with each other, making an unspoken agreement of trust, sealing the contract with a kiss. I’m going to have to investigate this later.
“We’ll be back soon. Call us with any changes.” Sloane determinedly walked from the bedroom and I called out a hasty goodbye as I darted out to keep up with him. Let’s do this shit.
Outside, we found Bette sitting on a moped, sporting a helmet that had a unicorn horn and fake rainbow tail hanging off the back. When she saw us, she lowered riding goggles over her eyes. “Hurry up. I already ran and grabbed the crystals we will need. Let’s get to the shop. There’s no time to waste.”
With that, she fired up her rainbow colored bike, revved the little engine, and then tore down the driveway, popping a small wheelie before sending up a dust cloud in her wake.
“That woman is unreal,” Sloane mumbled, hopping onto his bike as I did the same.
“She’s amazing,” I breathed and held my hand against my heart for a moment before we were following a tiny cackling witch on a moped. What a time to be alive.
We’d been at it for six hours.
Six fucking hours with no change from Saige. She clearly wasn’t going to be waking up on her own, so I was getting more and more impatient with each passing minute and Bagheera was downright pissed.
The three of us were sitting on stools at the counter in The Pig. Bette had hung a sign saying ‘Sorry, we’re closed’ and Sloane threw a shadow spell against the windows so nobody could be nosy about what was going on in here.
Bette had done most of the prep work since we had no idea about the magical properties and ingredients of what she was trying to create. A mixture of five different crystals, twenty different ingredients that varied from herbs to shriveled up mushrooms, and a couple drops of something she said was ‘the best thing since banana hammocks’. After two hours of continuous chanting from the three of us, boom, we had a pentagram shaped pendant the size of a half dollar. It would be worn as a necklace, the green specks of the herbs mixed in nicely with the shimmer of the different crystals. Sparks of purple, green, pink, blue, and white glimmered spectacularly and I couldn’t help but imagine how nice it would look on Sprout’s chest.
None of us had ever created something like this before, so we were combining our knowledge and hoping for the best.
“How did you hear about something like this, anyway?” Sloane asked Bette, who was doodling dick cartoons on a notepad.
“Well, my daughter... she had a bit of a demon obsession. When she went down that rabbit hole, I started some of my own research. They’re pretty isolated, so there’s not a ton to read about demons since the ones that are actually in our realm don’t flaunt it. They exist between the shadows, hiding their true forms, and the powerful ones can use their powers without the victim ever knowing. Nasty creatures, honestly.” She scrunched up her face in disgust. “I was trying to prepare for the worst, so this should tether Saige. I already gave her a bracelet that will let her sense if a demon is near and protect her from possession.”
“It’s a decent idea.” He nodded in thought. “Let's hope it works. Cam just texted and said there’s been no change, so I’m counting that as a win,” Sloane informed us as he strummed his fingertips on the glossy wooden finish.
“How will we know when it’s done?” I questioned, getting really impatient.
“See how it still has a soft pink glow to it? When it’s done, it won’t be glowing at all, the magic will have been absorbed completely into the pentagram, and then it will be safe to try,” Bette explained to us as she added arms, legs, and top hats to her collection of dick doodles.
My mind couldn’t stop wandering to what Saige was doing right now. I’d already cleaned every surface in this damn shop, the bar top was practically sparkling, and there wasn’t a speck of dust on anything. Ugh, it was driving me fucking insane. Bagheera hadn’t stopped his relentless pacing since this morning and as much as he was starting to annoy me, I couldn’t bring myself to scold him. I understood completely. I hated not being productive; wasting time drove me nuts.
Hopping up to look for something else to do, Sloane’s arm snapped out and pulled me back down onto my stool.
“Would you sit the fuck down for two gods damned seconds, K? I swear by the light of the fucking moon, if you don’t settle down, I am going to slap the shit out of you,” Sloane barked and anger began to rise in my chest. But… he was right. Ugh. A whimper from Bagheera slipped out of my mouth and Sloane’s expression softened. Before I knew it, he’d wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug.
“Don’t start purring, you freaky feline. This is a show of solidarity and support. But you really need to try and chill out, brother. We’re doing everything we can,” he reassured me, steppi
ng back and gently slapping my cheek.
“How long will you boys be in town? Saige told me about who you work for and what you’re doing here. I’m just curious how long it will take to close on that property, or what the situation looks like. She’s my number one everything, and this is a discussion that needs to happen.” She leveled each of us with a stare and Bagheera growled through the bond at the thought of ever leaving our mate.
Sloane took it upon himself to respond first, standing up and stretching while he spewed our lies, “The timeline depends on our boss, really. We forwarded all of our videos and pictures from the warehouse, so it’s in his hands for now. We’ll be here in case he wants hands on deck to handle any paperwork or needs us to check out anything else on site. At a minimum, I’d say three more weeks, but real estate is a fickle bitch, so could be a couple of months.”
Bette nodded, thinking over what he had said. I watched her face, trying to determine if she knew we were full of shit. In ten years, I’d never once felt bad about sticking to the cover, completing mission after mission, hitting our marks, stealing items we were sent after. I’d never felt this... guilt. And that was because now, it was personal.
Was I in love with Saige? I wasn’t sure, I’d never been in love with someone in a romantic way. I loved my brothers and I’d do anything for them, and I felt the same way for Sprout. When the mate bond flared from Bagheera the first time we’d laid eyes on her, I couldn’t believe it. Just like that? Instantaneous? Love at first sight? How could something like that ever happen in real life?
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