The Magic Of Betrayal

by Britt Andrews

  He was being sincere. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d ever heard him apologize.

  "Why'd you have to fuck up so spectacularly, Sloane?" I asked softly, shaking my head at him.

  "I don't do anything unless I do it well, brother. You know this," he replied, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth and my own lips twitched in response.

  We just took each other in for a beat, unspoken words passing between us. We'd been together forever, we didn't need to verbalize right now. His eyes said, I'm so sorry. Mine said, I know, brother.

  His hand ran through his hair, which was getting longer than he usually wore it and he exhaled a deep breath.

  "Is um, I mean, I know I probably shouldn't ask but... is he okay?"

  "No, Sloane. He's not okay. None of us are okay, but Fischer? He's battling with his demon, or maybe he's not really fighting it anymore, I don't know. He's not talking," I admitted and watched pain bloom on his face again before he stiffened and shoved it down.

  "He will be okay. We all will. Red, too. You'll see, K. I'm close to coming up with something to try, okay? Just don't give up on me, brother."

  "Laurie has something she wants to try tonight."

  "Laurie? Red's mom? She's back? What the fuck, man?" Sloane snapped, looking at me as though I'd lost my damn mind, and maybe I had. Shit, maybe we all had.

  "Chill. She's gone above and beyond the past three days working around the clock with us. She hid Saige here and left to keep her safe from Larson. He played us, man. He played us all," I bit out, teeth clenched tightly as my hands fisted with violence. I can't wait to get my hands on that son of a bitch.

  "You trust her? Do they?"

  "We really don't have much of a choice right now, we're doing what we have to. So far, she's been useful and hopefully whatever she's planned for tonight will work." I wasn't holding my breath.

  Sloane nodded, "Okay then. Call me if you need help. Tell them... I'm sorry."

  "You can tell them yourself when you pull your nuts out of your ass and show up." I grabbed his neck and pulled his forehead against mine, letting my eyes shut, his smokey scent invading my senses.

  "It really hurts here." He pounded his closed fist over his heart, his voice cracking as he echoed the words that he'd told me so many times in my childhood bedroom.

  "I know, brother. I fucking know."

  He pulled back and turned away, continuing down the sidewalk. Maven stared up at me, his brows furrowed in that grumpy foxy way he'd perfected.

  "Are you coming back to the cottage? You'll have to run, I can't take you on the bike."

  Cocking his head to the side, he paused for a second and then took off after Sloane. Guess they really were kindred spirits.

  My arms were full of my beer and Cheetos when I walked into the kitchen ten minutes later.

  "Where did you go?" Fischer's raspy voice startled me, I hadn't even noticed him sitting in the corner like some kind of malevolent spirit, his honey oak eyes being blacker than the devil’s soul only added to the eerie effect.

  "Fuck, dude. Can you quit being so creepy for like two seconds? Damn," I huffed, dropping my haul onto the counter before swinging the fridge door open.

  "You're guilty of something. What?" he questioned, and I sensed movement.

  Ignoring him, I put my beer in the fridge. It would be nice and chilled in a couple of hours.

  Cam strode into the space next, his long golden hair hanging around his shoulders, spilling onto his hunter green t-shirt. He was going full casual today, rocking some dark grey joggers.

  "Laurie got back just before you, she's out with Gran prepping some things for later," he told us, that hope still shining through his words and I didn't have the energy to attempt to give him a dose of reality. Guess I should’ve noticed the slight drizzle from the sky had finally stopped when I’d gotten back to the cottage. If he wanted to get himself all worked up over something that probably would fail, that was on him. I was protecting myself. I'd get excited when I had eyes on my cub again.

  "Kai is hiding something from us. He was just about to tell me what when you walked in," Fischer so graciously provided.

  Cam's gaze snapped to me and I rolled my eyes. But I knew they weren't going to let it go and it was probably best to just rip off the proverbial band-aid.

  "I went into town to get beer and I ran into Sloane," I confessed, suddenly feeling exhausted and wanting to go take a nap. If I went and took a nap, time would pass quicker than this snail paced hell, and I won't have to talk to anyone. I was just so damn tired.

  Fischer's face remained perfectly expressionless and Cam's eyes narrowed.

  "And what did Sloane have to say, K?" Cam's voice deepened to a scary growl, and the room darkened from the clouds blocking out the remaining hints of sunlight, but I knew it wasn't directed at me.

  "He told me he'd been working around the clock, searching for spells, anything that could fix this. He told me he was so sorry, and that he hadn't wanted to contact us until he had something concrete that we could try and use," I relayed the information, it was up to them if they wanted to do anything with it. "He told me to call him if we need his help."

  Cam scoffed, but before he could reply, a woman's voice drifted from the back hallway, "Actually, that would probably be the best plan. If all four of you could be present for this, I think it will boost our chances of being successful. You're all incredibly powerful, and this is going to take a lot of fucking magic," Laurie suggested, snagging my bag of Cheetos and ripping them open, stuffing one in her mouth.

  Is this witch serious right now?

  "Excuse you, but those aren't for sharing," I grabbed for the bag and she backed out of my reach.

  "You brought them into the kitchen, they're fair game. House rules. Sorry, kitty cat. So, can someone let Sloane know we need him here at eight? I just came in to tell you to find a fourth for tonight, and it sounds like you have that covered, so I'm heading back out to prep the location." Snatching a handful of my Cheetos from the bag, she tossed it back to me and left the room.

  "Well, I can see where Saige's sassiness comes from. The nerve of some people," I growled, hugging my snack to my chest.

  "Fischer, what do you think about having Sloane here tonight?" Cam asked our friend, who was staring out of the large window in the kitchen.

  "I'll do whatever I need to in order to get her back here and keep her safe. She would have been better off if we had never shown our faces in this town," he stated matter of factly before striding away from the two of us, going who knows where. Probably to fantasize about murder or something.

  "Call him. Eight tonight," Cam grumbled, leaving me standing in the kitchen. Pulling out my phone, I dialed Sloane's number and he picked up right away.

  "Be here at eight. Don't be late. Bring Mave, and for the love of Jupiter's cock, don't do anything fucking stupid."

  There was a baby goat sniffing my neck, its whiskers tickling my skin and making me giggle. Yep. Giggle, like a schoolgirl. Who brought this baby goat into my room and how did I get so lucky? I fucking love babies, all kinds of babies. Animal babies, bug babies, although sometimes those can look nasty as fuck, I don't really like those kind. Demon babies, although it had been years since I'd laid eyes on one, I still loved holding them. So small and cute and special.

  "Be still, baby goat, you're tickling me," I scolded, but secretly loved it.

  Sniff. Sniff.

  "I'm sorry," the goat whispered against my throat.

  Goats don't talk.

  My eyes flew open, the dream evaporating from my mind in a flash. Goldie was wrapped around me with her face hidden beneath her hair and pressed against my neck. Her chest was shaking with her crying and nope—I was going to put a smile on this girl's face come hell or high waistcoats.

  “I don’t want to lose my green magic,” she cried into my neck, her little baby horns stabbing me a little bit. Oh, I like that.

  "Goldie, it's okay. You u
sed your green magic the other day when you made yourself into a witch sized blanket burrito. I promise, it will all be okay. Now that your birthday has passed, you should have access to things you hadn't before. You need to learn, you told me about your magic being off, you don't want to keep decimating all of your plants, do you?" I questioned gently, hoping that she might see some reason.

  Her head shook back and forth as she sniffled, trying to get a hold of herself.

  "Good girl," I soothed, stroking her hair.

  “I tried to get my horns to disappear and they won’t go away, Bram. I did what you taught me and it’s not working! I can’t let my gran see me like this, it’ll break her heart! You can shift so easily, I’m frustrated,” she growled, the sound was demonic, dark, and oh so delicious.

  "You have to understand that at first, it can be a little tricky to master while you're still learning. Your shift is tied to your emotions, so if you feel any kind of strong emotion, you're at risk of sprouting horns and keeping them visible until you learn self-control. This is why it's good that you're here. I can teach you all of these things and you don't have to worry about harming anyone."

  "Why would I harm someone? I'd never hurt anyone." She sounded offended and slightly concerned. It was precious the way her brow furrowed and her lips pursed. I wanted to kiss those lips off her face.

  "Not intentionally. Like I said, it takes a lot of self-control. Accidents happen. Everyone fucks up when they're learning, and everyone here is used to that, it's to be expected. We can't have you walking around Emerald Lakes shapeshifting or making all the old people in town float through the air with your mind," I explained, smiling down at her softly and her face twisted in horror.

  "Oh shit. Do you think I'll get those powers? I might not, you know? But yes, you have to teach me everything because I would never forgive myself if I harmed someone, accidental or not," she breathed, the horror in her voice of causing someone pain just showed her innocence and her loving heart.

  "Don't worry, princess. We'll work through this together. But I would be expecting powers, and several of them. Khol is extremely powerful, so I think we should pay close attention. If you feel anything new or off, tell me right away, okay?" My hand cupped her cheek and her eyes flitted to my lips, and I watched as she licked her own.

  Settle it down, you dirty demon dick, it was different on her birthday because we clearly thought she was already using her fingers to get a one way trip to pleasure town! Now is not the time because we don’t have enough time, again. We're going to wait 'til she's begging for it, and then we're going to claim her for days. Sometimes, a man just needed to have a heart to heart with his cock. This was one of those times. The cheeky bastard.

  But quiver me timbers, the way she's staring at me.

  Nope.

  Rolling away from her and out of bed, I walked over and threw open the curtains, letting the light spill into the room and hopefully, killing the mood. No way in Naryan was I gonna fuck her when she was so emotional over the others.

  "Can you get some coffee for me?" she asked from behind me and I didn't turn to look at her as I power walked across the room, heading for the kitchen.

  "Sure thing! Clothes for you are in the closet!" I called out, her laughter was like a siren song in the air, she knew exactly what she did to me.

  Marching over to the expensive coffee machine I recently purchased, I began making her a big ass cappuccino with frothy milk. The whole nine yards for my princess. I'd had to watch about fifty Youtube videos to figure out how to operate the fucker, but now I was practically a pro at this, and I used my artistic skills to make her a beautiful picture on the top of the milk.

  I smelled her before I saw her. She smelled of my favorite things, burning fire, damp soil after the rain, and that underlying vanilla, coconut, and sunshine scent that was all Goldie. Delicious.

  "I thought you could just snap your fingers and get anything you wanted," she teased and I turned to her, holding the mug between both hands.

  "If that worked, I would've snapped my fingers after the first time I met you in your dream, princess. But yes, usually I can, but I wanted to make this for you. Personally." I smiled, handing her the mug and when a laugh burst from her mouth, I grinned so hard my cheeks hurt.

  She was staring down at the snail I'd designed, it was just a normal one this time, nothing phallic about it. But it did have little horns, just like hers.

  "You're insane," she chuckled, moving to take a seat at the island.

  "Never claimed to be anything else, Goldie. You like it, though," I flirted and started making my own coffee.

  "Ahh, so good."

  She moaned. Moaned.

  My cock was hard enough to chop a tree down right now. Fuck you, Paul Bunyan.

  "Glad you like it, Goldie," I rasped, adjusting myself against the cabinets.

  "What are we doing today?"

  "Well, after breakfast, I need to go have a meeting with my father. I've stalled for the past three days, told him that you were out of it with your powers manifesting, so I bought some time. But he wants to talk this morning. Khol will likely be there, too. He's also asked how you're doing," I confess, looking back at her to gauge her reaction to that.

  "Seems a bit like bullshit, don't you think?" she asked, lifting her mug to her mouth and making an obscene noise yet again.

  "It's up to you if you want to get to know him. He's obviously never been a father to anyone, and he fucked up in the way he went about getting you here. We all did, princess. But talking to him a little might be good. For both of you?" I moved over to the island and sat down beside her, sipping on my own coffee. Damn, this is some good shit.

  She didn't respond, just stuck her finger into the foam of her coffee and swirled it around, lost in thought.

  "Do you think, is there some way I could contact my gran?" she questioned, her voice pained.

  She was doing better than she had been, much better. She was actually speaking and out of bed, but her heart was still shattered and it was painfully obvious that I couldn't mend it. Not on my own, anyway.

  "Let me get through this meeting first, and then I'll see what I can do, okay?" I reached out and pressed my hand against her round cheek, loving the way she leaned into the touch. I loved touching her, any part of her, that electric jolt that filtered through my skin and sizzled my veins every. Fucking. Time. Saige Wildes was an addiction. She was a blessed sin that was wrapped up in stupid pun t-shirts and yoga pants that held the fattest ass. My heart skipped a devilish beat thinking about peeling those fuckers over her juicy butt, I bet my fingers would sink into it so deep, I could leave the prettiest marks.

  "I'm going to use your bathroom pool," she told me and I barked a laugh.

  "That's a first hearing it called that, but I like it. And it's all yours."

  With a snap of my fingers, a plate with an assortment of bagels appeared in front of her and she groaned.

  "Carbs, thank the stars."

  "Not the stars, but you can thank me if you want to."

  She glanced at me and I winked. Her cheeks reddened instantly. I love that.

  Standing up, I snagged a bagel for myself and trailed my hand over her back as I moved around her. "Eat up, princess. I'll be back in a couple hours."

  "Quit standing around out there, get your asses in here!" My father's voice bellowed from within his private quarters and Khol and I glanced at one another before pushing the double doors open and walking inside.

  "Fuck, Dad." I shook my head, disgusted.

  He was sitting at his desk, a woman bouncing up and down on his lap, his fingers buried in another.

  "Yes, son. That's what's happening here, but I can understand how you might have forgotten what it’s like seeing as how you refuse to let the snake out of the cage," he grunted, throwing his head back and clearly finishing.

  Khol raised a dark eyebrow at the sight and cleared his throat. I'd tried telling him what my father had been like in the time he'
d been gone. He's gotten crazier with each passing day.

  "Someone has to try and save this race," he snarled, pushing the woman off of him and shooing them both away. "Close the door on your way out."

  Khol and I moved to the chairs that were in front of his massive wooden desk that had intricate carvings etched into nearly every available surface. I'd always loved this desk, knowing one day I would be sitting behind it.

  "The people that have heard the news are thrilled. Hope has been restored to the community and we need to celebrate. A party will go a long way to restore the fighting spirit our people have been stripped of in the past years." He leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of himself on the desk.

  "When?" Khol asked.

  "Tonight," my father replied, his voice hard. There would be no arguing this.

  Khol turned to me. "And is my daughter... is she well enough to attend a party this evening?"

  Concern flashed in his eyes before he covered it. He was good at that. So fucking good at hiding his feelings.

  I opened my mouth to respond but was cut off when Dad's massive hand slammed down on his desk. "I have been patient. Three days this girl has been in my home and I have let her recover. I'm done waiting. She will be there tonight. End of discussion."

  Rage burned behind my eyes and I pushed my demon down. If he thought he could have a say in anything about my Goldie, he had another thing coming. I already fucking hated him. She had seemed better this morning though, and perhaps a party would be good for her, get her out of my house and introduced to some new demons. Maybe she could make a friend who had horns. A friend who didn't have a cock, one who had tits and a vagina. A girl. She could have a friend who was a girl.

  "She'll be there. What time?" I bit out, trying to keep the anger from my tone, but gods damn was that hard to do.

  "Dinner will be served at six followed by dancing and entertainment at seven," the king stated, sitting back in his chair.

  "Sire, have you spoken with Asrael, Thijs, and Errone? Are they going to be returning soon?" Khol questioned, and I wondered if he really gave a shit. He despised Asrael. Like, with a fucking passion. Maybe that's why he wanted to know if he'd be here, so he could kill him. I'd watch.