As he gazes at me, I lick my lips.His eyes track my mouth, and this invisible need tugs on us both.Maybe it’s the adrenaline, but my instinct tells me what to do next, and I don’t question it.Surrounded by black butterflies, I pull him toward me and kiss him, hard.
It doesn’t make sense.Nothing makes sense right now.All I know is Taz is too important, too precious, and too beautiful for me not to have him right now.This kiss might be a mistake, but it’s one worth making.Judging by how his lips move against mine and how his hands rub my scalp, he must be on the same page.Taz wants me, too.
Reality hits me like a snowball, and I pull off of him.He blinks in shock, and hopefully some pleasant surprise.Butterflies float around us, and I glance at his swollen lips.“You…you okay?”I ask, out of breath.
His mouth tightens, and then he coughs twice.When he sticks his tongue out, one butterfly floats out of his mouth.After he wipes his lips, he looks at me and shrugs.“Talk about butterflies in the stomach,” he says.We both bust out in hysterics as I sit by his side, still holding his hand.
“I thought you were drowning.”
“I was.”He feels his chest, then looks up at me.“You saved me.Brilliant of you to use that trick.”
“I recall you did that butterfly alchemy back in school.”
He studies me for a quiet moment, blue eyes filled with affection.“With the basketballs.You remember that?”
Wiping my cheek, I sniff and reply, “Of course I did.I never forgot anything you taught me in school.Taz, to me you’ve always been…”
Before I can say another word, he launches at me and pulls me by the shirt into another kiss.His lips taste sweet, and we fit together so well.Kissing has never felt this right before.If there was any question if he was into me, it’s gone, flown away like the black butterflies swirling around us.
CHAPTER 10- TAZ
“I CALL THISdebrief to order.”Chief Tuttle stands at the podium in the Union meeting room, and everyone quiets down.I’m sitting close to the front, with Girish to my left.Across from me are Max, Necia, Cleo, and Luther to my diagonal.It’s only been three weeks since we were last here, but it seems like a lifetime ago.“I’d like to go over the recent events in Louisiana as well as the intel we’ve received since then on this case about the Cult of the Unheard.”
When I glance at Luther, he’s already studying me and quickly shoots his gaze at the chief.He and I haven’t spoken since last week, our most dangerous interaction yet, but also, the night of the infamous kiss.After brushing ourselves off, Necia and Max arrived with the suspect immobilized, but fortunately alive.Luther explained to them about the old woman’s hex, me almost drowning, and the butterflies that dissipated once we all got together.
And we don’t mention that?perfect, wonderful, passionate?kiss.It’s a need-to-know basis, after all.
But has he told Necia?They are besties.When I look at his dad and the rest of the High Council seated next to him, my hormones quell.Now is not the time to interpret whether or not Luther wants to kiss me again.
The way he keeps studying me, then quickly looking away, could mean he wants me, or wants nothing to do with me.
“We were able to capture one illicit magic user linked with the dark magic activity,” Chief Tuttle says.He puts up the photo via slideshow and talks about the bloke’s demographics.He’s an unremarkable poor man who was never part of the Union.Yet, his spellcasting was able to go toe-to-toe with two agents of SPELL.He’s likely responsible for weaponizing that poor woman who died launching black venom at me.
“And he’s linked with the group that was able to summon a monster from the Other Side?”Councilman O’Toole asks.
“Yes.He is part of the larger network of the Cult of the Unheard,” the chief replies.
“And what are their goals and intentions?”Councilman Westbrook asks.“Seeing as they are adept at dangerous hexes.”
“That’s one key issue.Their memories have been clouded, leading to dead ends in our interrogations.We only have fragmented clues.”The chief clicks, and the slideshow shows photos of several people, presumably Americans, alongside the suspect.“Our background checks on everyone connected to the cult have shown virtually no magic use until recently.As we all know, wizards and witches typically reveal their abilities during puberty.Yet these suspects are all between the ages of twenty-five and fifty-five.”
“So, they’re late bloomers?”Councilman Westbrook asks.
“No.Our interrogations delved into his memories and revealed that they were given temporary arcana.We suspect it’s from the use of this relic.”The chief clicks again, and we gaze at a new image, one of a Renaissance-era tapestry.The sewn-in image illustrates a man wearing a golden gauntlet, and demonic images are flying around him.
“They’re…infusing mortals with wild magic?”Councilman O’Toole asks, taking the words right out of my mouth.It’s unheard of to give mortals arcana, AKA magic in its wildest, unfiltered form.
“That is what we suspect.Girish?”
Girish stands at the podium.“As you all know, interrogation spells require a great deal of effort and magic, and still can yield muddled memories as a result.From what we could piece together, and based on Max’s memories, the recurring theme kept appearing in the suspect’s mind, where he was receiving magical gifts from the image on the screen.It’s known as ‘Le gantelet des ténèbres.’The gauntlet of darkness.Wizard historians have detailed how dangerous the gauntlet is, but not specifically how it works, or where it is now.”
A shiver goes down my spine as I gaze upon the old artwork on the screen.The chief nods and retakes the podium.“Of course, it’s dangerous to infuse arcana into anyone, especially mortals.The suspect from Louisiana is barely able to talk after using all that arcana.This gauntlet seems to be the key to the cult’s plans.We will be working closely to secure the gauntlet and minimize all cultist activity.”
“We’re working to neutralize them?”Councilman Westbrook asks.
“Our goal is to do as little harm as possible, but they are a threat to magical and nonmagical folk.We wish to shut down this Cult of the Unheard before they harm anyone else, including themselves.”Images of the old woman oozing darkness make me grimace.“This is what we do in Sorcery Protection and Enforcement.”
Chief Tuttle goes over a few more details before adjourning the meeting.I take my time getting up from the table, awkwardly stretching and watching Luther from the corner of my eye.He speaks to his dad, but after a few moments, everyone files out except him, Necia, and Girish.
