The Magic Of Betrayal

by Britt Andrews

  "What the hell is going on?" Bram questioned, leaning over to put on the bedside lamp. The room lit up enough to where we could easily see each other and my hands were under the covers furiously scratching. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins now and I writhed beneath the blankets seeking friction.

  His eyes widened as he dragged his gaze from my face down to where the covers were jerking with my frantic movement.

  "Oh my, my, my. You are a dirty little birdy, aren't ya?" He brought his fist up to his mouth and bit down on it. The hell is he talking about?

  "Shut up and help me," I whined.

  "Oh stars, fuck yes!" Bram shouted and dove underneath the covers, his lips hit my hip half a second later and I jerked my hand and smacked him in the face.

  "Hey, what was that for?" he shouted, but it was muffled through all the blankets.

  "Get. Out. Of. There." I growled, and suddenly his face popped out from under the blankets.

  "I thought milady was in need of assistance? I mean, that was a pretty quick one eighty from the tear typhoon that went down just hours ago, but what Goldie wants, she gets," he smirked devilishly and licked his bottom lip, and my mouth fell open.

  "Bram. I'm itchy. I'm just scratching an itch, okay?" I narrowed my eyes on him, not in the mood for his shit.

  "Yeah, you sure were, scratching an itch," he winked and I fumed.

  "You honestly think I'm laying in bed beside you,” I paused to scratch harder and rub my arm over my forehead, “and whacking off when my entire world just went to shit?" I rubbed my eyes and groaned. "My body feels weird and I'm getting another headache."

  "Oh yeah, what time is it?" Bram scrambled to check his phone and I heard him mumble something under his breath that sounded like sexy demon.

  "What's the time have to do with anything?"

  "It's just past midnight, which means it's officially your twenty-eighth birthday," Bram smirked, "which of course means, you'll soon begin the manifestation."

  Bram snapped his fingers and a giant cupcake appeared in his hand with a single candle and he peered down at me with a smug smile.

  Stupid demon doesn't even realize I don't care about my birthd—

  "Excuse me, the what?"

  "The manifestation. The prophecy refers to you needing to find your five before your twenty-eighth, which you did, and now your demon powers will manifest. That's why it's called the manifestation," he nodded, like all the bullshit he just spewed made any sense to me at all.

  “How do you even know about the prophecy?” I asked, still squirming around between his sheets.

  “The team told me, of course. It’s pertinent information. Granted, they told me before they knew who I was, but whatever,” he shrugged. No biggie. Of course they would have told him, it was a job after all. Ugh.

  Sinking back down onto my pillow, I felt a bit better at the change of position, but the dull ache in my forehead wasn't going anywhere.

  "What are you feeling, Goldie?"

  "Pressure in my forehead, my skin feels tight and itchy, I'm exhausted," I admitted, letting my eyes drift shut once more.

  "You might shift, just a warning," Bram said softly, and my eyes flew open, but there was no mistaking the hint of excitement in his voice.

  "Shift into a demon? I'm not a full demon, so I fucking hope not," I cursed, clenching my jaw.

  "Oh, but you'll be the sexiest demon, those curves with a tail and wings?" Bram groaned and physically shivered, the bed even shaking, as if the thought of me in full demon form was enough to give him a stiffy. Then again, this was Bram, so he probably was hard as a rock already.

  Ignoring his ridiculousness, I had some questions that I wanted answered now that I'd recovered the use of my voice.

  "Does your dad know I'm here and what I am?"

  "I'm sure he does. That's likely where Khol went running off to the moment he stepped through the portal. It's been a very long time since he was allowed to come back here.”

  "Allowed?"

  He ran a hand over his hair. "Yeah. The Four were sent away to complete their mission of procreating and they weren't allowed to return until they succeeded."

  “Who are The Four?”

  Bram sighed. “The Four were my father’s highest ranking demons a century ago. Asrael, Eronne, Thijs, and Khol. Known for their ruthlessness, loyalty, and desire for blood, they were tasked with the mission of furthering our race,” he explained.

  Wow. The king was crazier than I thought. Sending your highest ranking minions out into the world to fuck and make babies. Nice.

  "What does he want with me?" I wondered, absently scratching my arm.

  "You're hope. You're a promise of something that our people have long given up on. A future. Possibilities."

  "So, he isn't going to want to like, I don't know, study me or something?" The thought of being used as a lab rat was enough to send fear rocketing through my body.

  "He can fucking try, but I told you before, Goldie." He hovered his face over mine, his expression fierce. "You're mine and I will kill anyone who harms a hair on your head."

  His eyes were such a strange color, like they were made from an actual piece of amber, slightly darker honeyed flecks sprinkled throughout. Bram was intense, he didn't say things without meaning every single word and I had no doubt he would do exactly as he promised.

  "But I'm not yours, Bram. I'm not anyone's. Not anymore," I croaked, the faces of the men who I'd been falling in love with flashed in my head and tears stung my eyes again. How my body was able to keep producing the damn things was a modern miracle because I was certain I had to be dehydrated by now.

  "As much as I want to rip their heads off for touching you, and for hurting you so badly, you have to understand a few things, okay?" Bram cupped my cheek, keeping my focus on him as though he knew how badly I wanted to roll over and bury my face in my pillow.

  Shaking my head no, I didn’t want him to say another word because I didn't want to hear anything yet. It was too fresh, too fucking raw.

  "Yes, princess. You will listen. Seeing you ripped up like this is tearing me up, and the last time I felt a shred of empathy toward anything was when I was sixteen and my friends and I had a dick measuring contest. Obviously I won, and I felt very empathetic toward them and their less superior swords. Nothing I could do about that though, right?” I opened my mouth to tell him I didn’t really think that was empathy, but he continued. “This time, I can do something to make you feel better. I have known those guys for a long time, since they signed up for the academy. They are fucking fantastic at their jobs, and for the past ten years, that is all that has mattered to them. Constantly in different countries, with different people, the thrill of life and the hunt driving their purpose. They are lethal," Bram explained, and my eyes widened at that word. Lethal.

  "Yes, Goldie girl, it's true. They may have been sweet and laid back with you, that's how they are with one another, but believe me when I say that each and every one of them has a beast living in the depths of their souls and they can release it within the blink of an eye. Now, I don't believe that Cam, Fischer, and Kai were playing you. Maybe at first, just gathering intel about the town. Can you blame them? They moved into a perfect location with a friendly, beautiful witch who had lived there her whole life, the perfect informant."

  Was that all I was to them? Kai told me that we were fated mates, and I'd felt something strong between us, binding us together, so how could he have continued lying to my face? Was he planning to leave me there at the end of this... mission?

  "They respected Larson. Completely trusted him because he’s never given them a reason not to, he gave them every opportunity to further their careers and rise to the top. I saw the way they were with you. That night I took you back to your cottage, I wanted to snap all of their necks so that they wouldn't be able to touch you ever again. I knew you were going out with Fischer that night I popped in and interrupted your bath." He smirked, obviously recalling the naked argume
nt that had exploded, but before I could smack him, he continued, "I was so jealous. So I watched. Everywhere you went, I watched you. The smiles, the touches, the laughs, I saw them, Goldie."

  A tear slipped out without permission and Bram swiped it away gently with his thumb. Why does my heart feel like it's hemorrhaging?

  "I'm not sure when it happened, but I became—" he paused, searching for the right word, "grateful. Grateful to them for protecting you, for making you smile so hard and bright that your face lit up. When I showed up in your bathroom that day, all of my jealousy, insecurity, weakness… it all came to a boiling point and I behaved like an ass. Then I saw and felt their pain when I took you from them. Your pain and heartbreak nearly choked me, Goldie. How could I kill them when they clearly made you so happy? All I could hope is that one day you might look at me the same way," he breathed, his voice raspy and deep.

  "But, they lied. How can I move past that? How am I supposed to trust them again? I've never felt pain so crippling, Bram," I replied softly.

  "If you've never felt a pain so devastating, then you've never felt such tremendous love before, either." He leaned down and pressed his lips to my forehead before lying back and pulling me against his warm body.

  "Try to get some more sleep, princess. Tomorrow is a new day and you're going to need to be sharp."

  Love.

  I'd been falling so hard in love with those men, and now, I wasn't sure if I felt the same way, or if hate was slipping into my heart, covering that love in darkness.

  I wasn’t sure exactly how long I’d been laying in Bram’s massive bed, but I couldn’t seem to get out of it, aside from using the bathroom, which wasn’t often thanks to barely eating or drinking. On top of being emotionally drained, I felt physically weakened, too. Bram told me it was probably because of this transition I was going through. It wasn’t a transition I even wanted and I wished there was some way I could put a stop to it.

  There was no light coming in from the window, so I assumed I’d been asleep all day. Fine by me. I wouldn't have to think. I wouldn't have to see their faces in my head, wouldn’t have to think about the lies, or how Sloane…

  No, I’m not doing that. I can’t.

  Hopefully, Maven was back at Gran’s. She may not like him, but she wouldn’t let him starve. I wondered if Gran was okay, was she helping Frank and Arlo with the store? What would she tell everyone about where I was? This can’t be forever. I won’t be here forever. And yet, I still hadn’t asked Bram any more questions because what if he did intend to keep me here? Surprisingly, he’d backed up the guys, softened my anger toward them slightly. Which was good for them because now I would only kick them in their big stupid dicks at seventy five percent power versus one hundred.

  A twenty five percent power decrease when it comes to dick kicking is very generous, everybody knows that. Kai would know that.

  My heart fluttered in my chest as I thought of him. His flawless skin, his lean frame that showed all of his muscle. His black hair that often tickled me when he’d kiss his way down my body. Gasping, I curled into a ball when something sharp pricked in my chest. My hand ran up and down my sternum as I tried to apply some pressure to help dissipate the pain. When I screwed my eyes up in pain, that’s when I saw him.

  Yellow eyes, rippling black fur, a massive body with a flicking tail.

  ‘Baggie?’ I whispered, very much aware that I was probably losing my mind.

  A low pitched sound left his throat, and it sounded very much like a whimper. If panthers can whimper?

  ‘Are you okay?’ I asked softly as he laid down in my mind, his arms stretched out in front of him, his head dropping to rest between them.

  ‘Baggie, I miss you so much. And Kai. Is that what this pain is? The mate bond?’

  I’m not sure how exactly, but I knew he answered me.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Does… does he miss me, too?’ I whispered, tears welling.

  ‘Duh.’

  My mouth dropped open. Did I just get sassed by a fucking jungle cat?

  Rumbling laughter filled my head. Great. Now he’s laughing at me.

  We stared at one another, but having him in my head right then was such a huge comfort, I wished I could snuggle against him, though.

  ‘It hurts, Baggie. So much,’ I choked out, gasping as the weight of everything crushed me once again.

  And then something really fucking bizarre happened. I saw myself in my vision or whatever the hell this was, walking toward him and collapsing on his big body. I buried my face into his neck and squeezed him as sobs overtook my body. His purring vibrated my body with how loud it was and it was calming. Perfect. Soothing.

  ‘Rest.’

  My body slipped down beside him on the floor and he curled up against my back, flopping a big black paw over my waist, his nose nuzzled my neck and those deep purrs lulled me into a deep sleep.

  Three days.

  I’d been here for three days and every time I closed my eyes, Baggie was right there. He was my anchor to my life, the life I’d known up until it all went to total shit. My headaches had been excruciating whenever I opened my eyes, so I tried to do it as little as possible. Plus, it was easier to keep tears from falling if I kept them physically locked down.

  Bram however, must have had enough of my moping. If the way he was glaring down at me with his hands on his hips, skin glistening with sweat after his morning workout, was any indication.

  “Goldie, you’re getting up today. Now, in fact. It’s time for a bath. You stink.” He clapped his hands like some kind of drill sergeant and I wanted to stab him.

  I rolled over and gave him my back. These fuckers brought me here, they could kiss my ass.

  A gust of air had my lungs sharply inhaling as he snatched the covers off my body. Okay, now, I’m pissed. Who the fuck does that? It’s barbaric!

  My eyes narrowed on him and I quickly launched a vine from my palm, snatching the blanket before he could get it in his hands again. Holy shit, my magic was fast. Guess that’s a perk of becoming a demon? The second the blanket hit my body, I barrel rolled like a fucking crocodile and made myself into a nice little burrito and I encouraged the vine to wrap around me, nice and tight, so that demon dickheads couldn’t steal my damn blanket again.

  Bram was laughing so hard and it just pissed me off even more. Why won’t he just shut the fuck up and leave me alone?

  “That’s cute, princess. But like I said, you’re getting up and taking a bath.”

  My eyes were barely peeking out of the top of my cocoon, glaring at his dumb face. Well, he could fuck off, I’m not going anywhere, and he can’t make me.

  Then his arms were underneath me, lifting myself, the blanket, and the vine into his arms. Fuck, I hadn’t planned on him doing that. I squirmed like I was trying to get a spider and it’s web off me, but his arms were banded around me and there wasn’t anything I could do.

  When we were in the bathroom, he put me down on my feet, but the blanket had slipped up so my eyes were covered and the only parts of me that were exposed were my bare feet, and my hair. And I’m sure that looked like a bird’s nest after three days in bed.

  “You look like a walking joint right now,” Bram cackled and if my hands were free, I would’ve given him double birds. Fucker.

  “Are you going to strip or am I going to have to improvise?” his deep voice asked, and I could just picture him walking around me, surveying how he was going to solve this problem.

  I didn’t move. He could fuck off.

  “Improvising it is!”

  A moment later, I was once again being lifted and when I realized what he was doing, I found my voice.

  “Put me down, you son of a bitch!”

  “Ahh, she speaks! Praise the stars above and Saturn’s silky—”

  “I’m not joking, Bram. Put me down!” I shrieked, letting the vine around myself and the blanket fade away so I could attempt to fight him.

  “No. I’m not going to
put you down. You’ve done enough laying around. It’s time to get the fuck up and sort your shit out."

  And with that, Bram's crazy ass pushed off the ground and we hit the water with a splash.

  Anger ignited in my veins like nothing I'd ever felt before and I twisted in the water, trying to find my footing because I was going to lay into him. When I broke free and pushed my soaked hair out of my eyes, taking ragged breaths, Bram was standing there, smirking at me. Fucking smirking.

  Bellowing a battle cry, I launched myself at him, his eyes widening with shock a moment before impact.

  "Why can't you just leave me alone?" I yelled, pushing him backward and he took it. "You, you fucking kidnapped me! And not some basic witch kind of kidnapping, you took me to another dimension! Who do you think you are? You and my, my... him," I snarled, pulling my fist back and slamming it into his nipple.

  My breaths were coming in pants, my blood was sizzling.

  "Did you just punch my nipple? Like, deliberately?" Bram cocked his head at me.

  "Shut up! I'll punch you in the other one next!" I moved toward him.

  Bram shrieked, covering his nipples with his hands as he shouted, "Please, not my beautiful chest raisins!"

  "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, you're crazy! Do not touch me, I don't want to be here, don't you get that? Just leave me alone!" I screamed, really picking up volume at the tail end of that demand.

  Bram crossed his arms over his chest, clearly unharmed by my attack on his body.

  "You're turning pretty red there, Goldie. Can I wash your hair now or are you still having an episode?" he asked, sounding bored of my bullshit. But I was just getting started.

  "If you try to touch me, I'm going to squirt shampoo in your eyes, I swear to the stars! You wanted me out of bed? This is what you get. I'm pissed the hell off!" I shouted at him, tears pricking the back of my eyes because I was cursed with being a pissy crier.

  "Saige, stop yelling. Get your ass over here, now. We have things to do today and you need to accept that for right now, this is your reality. I've watched you do nothing but cry and sleep for days. Days! It fucking hurts me, too, damn it!" he boomed and I slapped my hands down, splashing water while we faced off, both breathing heavily.