by Lori Ryan
“I guess I do,” she said with a laugh, looking down at her hands. “Oh no!” She looked up at Gideon. “Leeds! The Shifters! We have to get to them. When Floarea grabbed me, she hurt some of them. They fought her; they tried to keep her from taking me.”
“On it,” said Zelda, teleporting out of there with Mac by her side.
“Will she be able to heal them?” Gwen asked Baba Yaga.
“Yes, I think so.” Baba Yaga looked pissed, and Gwen couldn’t blame her. Tink’s actions had been unforgivable. He’d put not only his whole family in danger, but all of magic as well.
Gideon looked to his sister.
“We’ve got this, baby brother. Take her home.” Fabio nodded as Baba Yaga and he continued to round up the Komolvo. In a flash, Baba Yaga’s decrepit warlocks were with her, backing her up.
Gwen looked to Gideon. “Where is home?”
“Wherever you are,” he said, and kissed her again. When he stopped, he winked at her, and she really wished he hadn’t pulled away. “But I think she means my home. Our home now.”
In a blink they were standing before a cabin set high in the mountains. As Gideon ushered her inside, Gwen cried. Not out of sorrow or anger or fear, this time. But pure happiness. She was truly happy for the first time ever. And the best part was, she knew in her heart it didn’t have to end.
Chapter Twenty
Gideon laughed as Gwen landed next to him in the yard outside Zelda’s house with only a little wobble this time. She’d been practicing her teleportation kills and was getting much better at landing gracefully. Aiming her magic at the right thing was another thing altogether.
The woods around his cabin bore the scars of her attempts to aim properly. She rarely hit her target unless he taunted her. It seemed if he got her riled up and angry, she could hit what she wanted. Now all she needed to do was figure out how to control a fireball when she was calm.
Today wasn’t the time to worry about any of that, though. Today was for family and friends, not practicing fireballs. All around them Shifters were laughing and talking or piling tables a mile high with food.
He didn’t see his sister yet, but Zelda and Mac waved from the front porch. Sassy and Jeeves were walking over from Sassy’s house with smiles on their faces that told Gideon he didn’t want to know what they’d been doing. He’d come to expect that from them.
“I don’t see Carol yet,” Gwen said, looking around at the group.
“She said she would be a little late. Something about a Chimera emergency she and Fabio have to handle.” Gideon rolled his eyes. That was another thing he wanted to stay in the dark about. Carol and Fabio’s Chimera emergencies.
“Eep!” Gwen jumped toward Gideon as Leeds dropped down out of the sky right in front of them.
“You nearly gave me a heart attack,” Gwen said, swatting Leeds playfully on his giant horse neck.
He put his glamour in place and grinned at her. “Sorry, sunshine. Didn’t mean to.”
Gideon growled. He still didn’t like it when Leeds flirted with Gwen.
“Oh, settle down, tough guy.” Leeds looked out over the group of Shifters and grinned. “I’m not planning to take your witch from you, even though she could do so much better than your sorry ass.”
Leeds cursed as his glamour flickered and disappeared. He gritted his teeth and put it back in place.
“Don’t worry, Leeds,” Gwen said, with false bravado. “You probably just need to get your moolah back.”
“Mojo,” Gideon said.
“Yes, Mojo!” Gwen smiled and nodded.
“It’s scary that you know that,” Leeds chimed in.
“Agreed. Gwen, can you give Leeds and I a minute?”
Gwen nodded and began to walk toward the crowd, but Gideon pulled her back to him for a kiss. He would never get enough of her. They’d been holed up at his house for the last month, and it had been more than he could ever imagine. He’d have to get his ass back to work eventually, but for now, he figured they both deserved a little vacation time. He had two centuries’ worth of vacation time saved up, and Gwen had eons.
She pulled out of his arms with a blush and set off toward Zelda and Mac.
“All right,” Gideon said, turning to Leeds. “Out with it. What’s the deal with the flicker?”
Leeds looked anywhere but Gideon, but he did finally answer the question. “I, uh, might have had a run-in with a witch.”
“Oh, this is going to be good.”
Leeds shoved him, but there was nothing but good-natured grumbling behind it this time. Gideon had been telling Leeds for decades that his one-night-stands were going to catch up to him.
“And?” Gideon prompted.
“She, uh…” Leeds rubbed a hand across the back of his head, shuffling his feet a bit as Gideon laughed. “She cursed me when I snuck out while she was sleeping.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. I haven’t been able to shake it, and I can’t find her anywhere to get her to lift it.”
“And this is somehow affecting your glamour?”
“Yeah.” Leeds didn’t elaborate.
“Spit it out. What exactly did she do?”
“Fine. Laugh all you want. Here it is. If I think about sex at all, even for a second, my magic drops so freaking low, I get weak and I lose my glamour. It comes back a few seconds later, but the damage is done.”
Gideon doubled over laughing. On some level that shit wasn’t funny. Leeds could get hurt if his magic went out at the wrong time, but that was still funny as hell.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. But listen, I’ve been thinking—maybe you could talk to your sister for me? Maybe she can fix it. Surely Baba Yaga can fix something like this.”
“Oh, no,” came Carol’s voice behind them. She was wearing a shocking iridescent yellow running suit with Fabio by her side in a rather ill-fitting pair of yoga pants that made Gideon cringe. She shook her head at Leeds. “You’re on your own, buddy. I suggest you track down that witch and make amends, Leeds. Come on, Fabio. We’ve got brisket and potato salad to eat.”
The couple hit the picnic tables, leaving Leeds frowning in their wake.
“Come on,” Gideon said, clapping Leeds on the shoulder. “My witch has been alone down there for too long. I’ll help you figure this curse out later. Right now I need to go scare off a few Shifters.”
Gwen was surrounded by skunks who didn’t seem to know she was taken. Very much taken. And he planned to keep it that way.
Leeds trailed beside him as he walked toward his future. “So, she’s really the one, huh? Two centuries didn’t change that?”
Gideon didn’t have to question his answer for a second. “The one. Always was and always will be.” As he said it, he knew in his heart it was true. There had never been anyone for him but the witchy woman smiling at him from across the field. He knew he probably had the same sappy, dopey smile he’d seen on Mac and laughed at, but he didn’t give a shit. He was a dope for this woman. And that was okay by him.
*Want to find out what happened to Leeds? Visit http://loriryanromance.com/sendleeds/ to get his story!
Other Great Magic & Mayhem Series Authors
Robyn Peterman (Kindle World Creator)
Magic and Mayhem Series Page
Releases in Magic and Mayhem Kindle World
Michele Bardsley
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Amazon Author Page
Kris Calvert
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Deanna Chase
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Claudy Conn
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Melinda DuChamp
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Eliza Gayle
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Renee George
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Melanie James
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Renea Mason
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Donna McDonald
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H.M. McQueen
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Isabel Micheals
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Rose Pressey
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And now for all the end of book crap I’m supposed to put to be a good marketer (or so I’m told!):
Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense.
She writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense, but will be publishing a paranormal romance soon!
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More Books From Lori Ryan
Heroes of Evers, Texas Series
Love and Protect
Promise and Protect
Serve and Protect
Triple Play Curse Series
Game Changer
Game Maker
Game Clincher
Box Set
Sutton Capital Series
Legal Ease
Penalty Clause
Baker’s Bodyguard
Negotiation Tactics
Billionaire’s Suite Dreams
Wedding Bell Blues
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Box Set
Lori’s Adult Coloring Books
Serene Shapes: Coloring Your Way To Calm, vol 1
Serene Shapes: Coloring Your Way To Calm, vol 2
Serene Shapes: Coloring Your Way To Calm, vol 3
Serene Shapes: Coloring Your Way To Calm, vol 4: Children’s Companion Book
Table of Contents
Magic and Mayhem:Any Witch WayLori Ryan ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty