He turns away and takes the last three steps. “I didn’t hate you.”
“Well, I hated you,” I tell him, speaking to his back.
“I know you did.”
“You deserved it.”
We reach the landing. “I killed your ladybug,” he says, going to the source of our problem.
“Yes, you did. That was mean.”
We head to the living room where the TV is on and two cups of hot cocoa rest on top of the coffee table. How much time did I spend in the bathroom? He got a lot done while I was there. “Smells delicious!” I tell him, gravitating toward the cups. “Can I just grab whichever?” I ask, ready to feel the warm liquid. It’s been a cold evening.
“Thank you!” I grab the hot chocolate and it tastes delicious.
“This is the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.”
“Wow, big praise coming from you!” he says.
“Shut up,” I tell him, sitting down. I try to not let my mind read too much into tonight.
KAYDEN HARRISON
I grab my own cup of hot chocolate and take a seat next to her. I leave some space between us because I feel I need a barrier to keep my emotions at bay.
I’ve always liked her; I’ve always known that.
However, the more I get to know her—the more I see her argue with me—the more I realize that there’s more to it. More than just an attraction to her. It was a crush which spiraled into something stronger.
She’s always thought we were enemies, but they say the line between love and hate is pretty thin. I wish nothing more than to cross over to the other side with her.
Like we are tonight.
“Are you going to pick a movie or what?” she asks, interrupting my thoughts.
I start scrolling through the options.
“I can’t really pick right now. Do you have an idea?” I ask, setting down my drink on the coffee table and turning to face her.
She sets her cup down too then her eyes find mine. “Seriously, best hot chocolate I have ever tasted,” she praises once more.
“My mom used to make it for me all the time,” I tell her.
Her hand finds my knee and she rests it there. “That was sweet of her.”
I nod.
“Do you want to talk about her?” she asks, her eyes fixed on mine.
I shake my head. I don’t want to ruin this night.
“Give me the remote, then!” Ari says, extending her hand toward me with a smile on her face. I can tell she wants to lighten the mood.
“I changed my mind. I don’t think you should have the remote. I don’t know what you like; I’m scared.”
“Pass it over, don’t be a hog! You had the remote in your hands and didn’t pick anything,” she exclaims.
I shake my head and back up. “If you want it, you’re going to have to take it from me.”
“Is that a challenge?” she asks, and I know I’ve got her. Ari can’t turn down a challenge.
I nod. “One you will lose.”
“I’m on a streak tonight, I’m not about to change that,” she says then lunges at me.
I start laughing when she begins tickling me. “Stop, stop!” I tell her, laughing so hard my sides hurt.
“Oh wow, you’re ticklish, who would’ve thought,” she replies, not stopping.
I hold the remote farther back so it’s out of her reach. “It’s not fair when you tickle,” I tell her.
“All’s fair…”
“In love and war?” I add then instantly drop the remote on the floor and bring my hands to her hips. I pick her up and then put her on her back so it’s me over her instead of the other way around.
“Woah! What the—” she starts.
I bring my hands in the air as I pin her with my thighs. “You said all is fair right, does that mean I get to tickle you?” I ask, lowering my hands toward her hips slowly.
She rises up quickly to try and stop me. Her movements result in us getting closer than either of us expected and we find ourselves face to face, with barely any space left between us.
“Please don’t tickle me,” she says, her words coming out breathy, and I can’t tell if it’s because of how much she laughed while tickling me or because she’s feeling the tension I’m feeling.
“Okay. Can I do something else instead?” I ask, my eyes focused on her lips. I know I shouldn’t ask, but I can’t help it right now.
She bites her lips. “It depends on what it is.”
“I think you know,” I tell her.
Her eyes instantly go to my lips, confirming we’re both on the same page.
She nods. So slightly I almost miss it, but I don’t.
And I don’t miss my opportunity to crash my lips to hers for the first time.
ARI COLE
A knock at the door startles us and causes us to pull away. “I’ll be right back,” Kayden says, and it looks like the thought of walking away from this pains him.
I sit there on the couch a little lost, confused, and oddly satisfied. I never imagined what kissing Kayden would be like, and honestly I’m glad I didn’t because nothing would have added up.
I can’t believe I gave Kayden Harrison my first kiss.
What does this mean for us? What’s going to happen when he comes back?
“Hey, Ari,” Kayden says, and I get up from the couch and walk toward the front door.
“Yes,” I reply taking slower steps than he did to give myself the chance to wipe the I’ve-just-been-kissed smile off my face.
“Your dad is here,” he replies and before I have a second to process what he’s saying, I see my dad standing in front of Kayden with his arms crossed and my mom standing behind him.
Oh shit.
MAGICAL SHOW DOWN
* * *
A Demon Days, Vampire Nights Short
K.F. BREENE
ONE MORE STEP would mean certain death. And if he took it, I’d kill him again.
I put my hand out. “Look, all I want to do is have a conversation. No biggie.”
The guy in his late forties, wearing a tight leather body suit around a loose body, turned slowly, standing in front of a man-sized hole in a crumbling stone wall from yesteryear, the structure’s other walls barely standing and the roof long since rotted away. There was no telling what the small building once was, but it had to be magical in some way, and I wasn’t talking about the spell stretching across that hole, ready to kill anyone that walked through. Even now, when tourists should’ve been gathered around to marvel at something plucked right out of history, no one ambled by, preferring the winery’s gardens up the hill a ways. Even though there was no swirling magic traveling over the walls, clearly non-magical people still couldn’t see the dank, moss-covered stone in bright and sunny Northern California.
“You’re not the kind of girl who only wants a conversation,” the man said, and his hip slowly popped out in a suggestive way.
“You’ve pegged me.” I shrugged. “Usually I’d prefer to bust your head open just to prove it was hollow, but for you, I’ll make an exception.”
“What’ve we got here?” Emery said as he paused on my left, able to see into the regular space through the crumbling doorway, parts of it twice the size it should be.
“This place feels…wrong,” Penny said, on my other side. The two of them were the strongest mages in the world, able to take care of all things spell related. They’d have to get to work because I’d never seen the kind of spell draped across the opening at the back, but from what I could feel, it was a doozy. Whoever put it there had no shortage of power.
Usually only Penny accompanied me on the bounty hunter gigs, picking up the slack and giving me a little comic relief when she got into mischief and then blasted her way out. But given the nature of the situation, I thought the dual-mage team might be needed. Now I was glad for it.
“What’s the story with that spell he’s about to swan-dive through? Can you take it down?” I asked, resting my hand on my bea
t-up leather pouch encircling my waist. It was where I kept my odds and ends, like spell-filled casings, or their empty counterparts for when I had to pretend to do magic, a few throwing stars for when I wanted to up my cool factor, and a random stink bomb I would definitely use someday.
“Oh, this?” The man lazily lifted his hand to the side as though about to model the magic behind him. His hips, seemingly with a will of their own, slowly drifted to the other side. I wondered how he didn’t pull something. “This is just a centuries-old death trap that’ll free me from this luscious body and allow me to seek out my master in the underworld. I have some juicy gossip for him.” He winked at me, his thin lips pulling wide in a sickly smile. “Those children won’t be able to tear it down—it was constructed when people in this world actually knew how to weave spells. You, however…”
Warning flared through me. He knew more than he should, that was clear. He could unravel all the secrets I was desperately trying to keep under wraps. The gossip he had clearly involved me.
“Okay, first…” I ran my gaze down his bulbous stomach, fighting for freedom in that shiny cheap leather—or maybe it was pleather?—with hair sticking out of the low neckline, crawling up his chest and reaching for his jaw. There was no doubt it curled around to his back, probably ran his length, and collected on his butt. The bulge of his thighs dwarfed the bulge between them, and there was simply no reason for the gangly toes to be exposed in a pair of pink, sparkly flip-flops.
“That body isn’t the sex machine you clearly hoped it was. Don’t incubi generally go for a body that’ll actually get laid?”
“I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of this body.” He ran his thick fingers through his matted chest hair. “You have to know what to say, that’s all, and be open to the types of people who want to climb aboard.”
“Did you say you’ll wax for them? Because other than that, there really are no words.”
“Let me take you for a spin. You’ll change your mind.”
I grimaced. “You don’t have the equipment for the job, bub. Let’s talk about that gossip. What do you know?”
Wisps of magic curled through the air from behind me; the mages moved closer together, trying to come up with something that might take the spell down. I could rip it down in a minute, my magic able to dissolve it away, but no way would this demon-possessed man allow me to get that close. He’d know I could control him physically even though I was failing to control him magically right now.
As if reading my mind, he said, “I can feel your grasp sliding right off me. Frustrated, are you?” His fingers made small circles around his belly button.
“Gross. Would you stop that?”
“Am I distracting you?”
“Yes, and not in a good way. About my not being able to control you—why is that?” I asked, hooking my thumb into the pocket of my scuffed leather pants, much duller and clearly thicker than this guy’s.
He giggled and put his hands out. “Because my human host invited me in. He implored me. We have a partnership. When you try to take control, he blocks it. You can’t control humans, just demons…”
His voice trailed away, as if that had been a question.
I didn’t comment. He was fishing for information. He might have a hunch of what I was, but clearly didn’t have all the info. Good. Best I didn’t reveal my hand.
“Usually a human host won’t allow their possessor free rein like that, not if they have any kind of say,” I said, seeing magic curl beyond me as the mages’ spell weaving changed potency. They weren’t even applying it to the spell yet. They were just brainstorming, trying to come up with the right recipe that would counteract the centuries-old spell. If it was taking them this long, that spell was exactly as good as this succubus said.
“This human gets to take over when things are hot and sticky, if you know what I mean.” He threaded his fingers through his thick mat of chest hair, getting tangled and pulling some hair free.
“Ugh, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little,” Penny mumbled.
“I’m trying not to look at him,” Emery replied.
“Fine. Well?” I reached into my pouch for one of the throwing stars. If I plastered my magic over it, surely I could make a nice little hole in that spell. Unraveling shouldn’t be too hard after that. “What’s the gossip? I can pay you for it.”
“We got company,” Emery said, and I could hear the annoyance in his voice.
There was just one faction of people that seemed to annoy him like that. The thorn in all our sides.
I groaned and turned, finding exactly who I thought I would.
“Charity, Devon, lovely to see you.” I gave them a placid smile.
Charity was the type of fae known for their battle prowess and fantastic ability to stick their noses in everyone's business. Since she and her kind joined the shifters in the Brink—the human lands—they’d become an incredibly effective unit at finding “wrongdoers” and bringing them in. They were like some sort of super cop patrol that constantly tried to move in on my bounty gigs. Usually I'd just let it go because I didn’t really need the money—I was deft at stealing funds from my rich elder vampire companion—but this time…
This time it was on.
“What brings you to this lovely winery? Finally letting down your hair?” I moved between Emery and Penny. I murmured, “Get that spell torn down and then secure him. After that, if I’m rumbling with these busybodies, t join in and help end it. We take this mark. There won’t be a compromise this time.”
“Don’t kill anyone. We don’t want Roger on our asses,” Emery said.
Roger was the pack leader of the entire North American territory and respected the world over. He was incredibly organized and powerful and had a standing hatred for vampires. Usually that hatred extended to those fornicating with said vampires—me, for example—but given I’d known Roger for years at this point, before I’d even met the vampire I was currently shacked up with, and given Roger and I had helped each other through the years, we maintained a shaky sort of truce.
Might just need to end that truce.
Charity, a fit brunette with a wicked sword, stopped about twenty feet away, giving me plenty of space. She wasn’t a fool. Devon, the large black wolf beside her, stopped at her side. The others fanned out, a few fae and a few animals, one being an enormous were-yeti that I didn’t get along with. Randomly setting him on fire every time I saw him at the bars apparently got on his nerves. What a party pooper.
“How’d you get here so fast?” Charity asked, annoyance in her voice to match Emery’s.
I noticed the werelion padding out to the side, lazy and blasé about the whole affair. “Steve, how are you and that big dong these days? I haven’t seen you around the hood. Still slumming it with this crew, huh?”
His purr made me smile. I knew he’d throw me a sexual innuendo if he could speak.
I spread my hands for a much-too-serious Charity. “Early bird catches the worm. I got here first, and so, he's mine. Sorry, Charlie.”
“You know how it works,” Charity said. “A bounty hunter is the last option. If Roger’s organization can’t bring in the perpetrator, then they’ll put out a contract.”
“The perpetrator?” I lifted an eyebrow at her. “Good Lord, nerd. At least shorten it to perp. You’re really ruining my high with this gig, you know? You’re too stiff, that’s the problem. That’s got to really interfere with your daily calisthenics. Is that why you’re in such a piss poor mood?”
Charity’s lips tightened and her brow pinched. She must hate dealing with me. If she’d loosen up a little, and just take life as it came at her, she’d have so much more fun. Why did she never believe me when I mentioned that?
“Nearly there,” Penny murmured. “He’s listening for all he is worth, but he’s still a flight risk.”
That demon was a busybody. Whatever rumors he heard didn’t just come to him. Or maybe the first did, and he’d been actively seeking out more to
piece everything together. Either way, it meant he was interested in advancement within the underworld legions, and that meant he was dangerous.
“Who initiated this contract?” Charity asked.
The breeze worried the hair on the shifters; all but Steve were tense and ready. They did not plan to back down.
Damn.
The large winery sprawled up to the top of the property. Picnic tables and lunch spots kept people loitering outside. If any of them decided to take a walk, they would see this altercation. We needed the mages to put up a magical screening so the humans couldn’t see us. I needed the mages to secure that mark, though. Decisions, decisions.
“Classified, I’m afraid. What did he get called in for, anyway? Is there a rule against guys that hairy having orgies?” I asked, taking a few steps toward them, my pouch open and casings at the ready. Some of the shifters knew the type of power I had at my disposal, but not all, and now I wondered if even that succubus did. Best keep my more unique powers under wraps, which would make this fight that much harder.
“Word is he helped set up some rituals to try to bring in his friends,” Charity said. “He hasn’t been able to yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“Who, him?” I gestured back his way, stepping closer again. “Nah, his kind are all about the sex. They are the life of the party. You don’t have to worry about this kind of demon bringing up a crew. He’s low power and usually pretty harmless.” I edged a little closer and dropped my voice.
“Look, why don’t you just take today off? He’s not going anywhere. Either he kills the host and heads back to the underworld, or I kill him. Either way, he’s out of your hair. Go check out the winery. Or, hell, you’re still in school, aren’t you? Head back to Seattle and hit those books. This is beneath you.”
Devon bristled, and a low growl rumbled through his throat. Apparently, that was a no. I rolled my eyes.
“A little longer,” Emery murmured, and I couldn’t tell who he was talking to.
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