He began to shake. “Jago? Jago what—” The shaking grew more violent, and he began kicking his legs.
“Alex? Alex, close your eyes. Relax. It’s all right.”
“Jago? What’s going on? What the hell?”
“Alex, stop fighting—” The pair of them collapsed to the floor with a sudden bump, falling apart and sprawling across the mat. Jago let out a gasp, rubbing the elbow that had taken the brunt of his fall. “I told you not to fight it.”
Alex was still trying to catch his breath, ignoring the pain in the hip he’d landed on. “Fight what? Jago? What was that? What did you do?”
“Perhaps I should have warned or even asked you. But I thought you’d enjoy it much more as a surprise.”
“A surprise? One minute you’re fucking me and the next, we’re floating like Linda Blair inThe Exorcist.”
“While I’m still fucking you, yes.”
“Jago!That’s not the issue. Explain the floating to me.”
“If I do, will you promise not to be mad?” Jago held his hands up in front of him, as they got to their feet. “I need you to have an open mind.”
“An open…” The absurdity of the scene dawned on Alex before he could finish. There they were, nursing probable bruises after a bout of what had up to that point been the best sex of his young life. It was a scene from some farcical supernatural play, only without wires or effects. “I think it’s safe to say my mind is open.”
Jago suppressed an obvious smirk as they stood together in all their nakedness. “Can we sit down? What I need to tell you is going to sound a bit strange.”
Alex accepted the invitation, waiting patiently for Jago to sit down opposite him, legs folded, composed as he had been when he’d first asked Alex to disrobe. When Jago’s answers were not immediately forthcoming, Alex refused to wait any longer. “What was that about, then? It’s a neat trick.”
“It’s not a trick, Alex. Not entirely. It’s taken me many years to master the skills. Perhaps I overestimated my own abilities.”
“Abilities? You’re a magician, then? A conjuring trickster?”
Jago held up a hand to shush him. “Alex, I’m a witch.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Alex’s face went blank as he processed what had to be one more gag in this evening of the absurd. “Aren’t witches usually women?”
“I assure you, some of us are men. I offer myself as evidence.”
“I see. And where’s your coven?”
“I’ve none right now.”
“I see. But have you communed with the devil?”
“Notwithstanding the inquisitorial undertones of that question,” Jago said, his voice at last wavering with annoyance. “I cannot commune with a being that to the best of my knowledge, does not exist.”
“Uhuh. Right. And the tarot?”
“One doesn’t need to be a witch to read the tarot.”
“I’ll bet it doesn’t hurt.”
“My insights may certainly be sharper, but the methods remain just as I described them to you. Anyone can read tarot in a way that’s right for them. Some draw insights from the supernatural. Others from plain old human wisdom.”
“And can anyone levitate themselves and their partner mid-coitus as well? Or is that your special trick to whip out at parties?”
“You might have phrased that differently.”
Alex took a patient breath, doing his best to understand. “Jago, if I don’t start getting some answers that make sense, I swear…”
