“Well, fair is fair. You said you’d take me down with you. Ask me something, anything. Even something embarrassing. I’ll tell you.”
Calli thought about it. “Embarrassing, huh? Tempting… The actress who caused your first sexual awakening? Your worst date? So many choices.”
“Uh oh…”
“But no. Tell me about how you met Hades. I know you said he came to you in your teens, but I want to hear more about it.”
Malcolm leaned back a little, settling into the couch. “It was a couple of years after the broom accident, and after that, something got locked away inside me. Like a door that was always open had suddenly slammed closed. I was just human after that, and magic was barely there for me. I knew it was there, but I couldn’t touch it. Not consciously.
“The next year, I transferred to a human high school, and it broke my dad’s heart. Fuck,” he rasped. “I’ve never admitted that part out loud, even to myself. We talked less and less, and we always ended up shouting at each other. The morning of my sixteenth birthday, I heard something scratching at my bedroom door. I got out of bed and opened the door, and there he was…this adorable black puppy with floppy ears as soft as silk.”
Malcolm grinned. “I took one look at him and I knew he was my familiar. I picked him up in my arms, and that connection clicked into place. My heart felt full. I still couldn’t use my magic the way my father wanted, but Hades pried that locked door open just a few inches, and kept it open.”
“What did your dad think of Hades?”
“Oh, he was glad my familiar showed up.” Malcolm met Calli’s gaze. “At first he was excited. He thought it was a turning point for me, that I had come to my senses, and he wanted me to start practicing magic again. But that part of my life hadn’t changed. So, in the end, it didn’t fix our relationship. I drifted farther from that world, and Hades became my only real link to that side of my life.” He settled Calli closer on his lap, and she reached up to stroke the back of his neck, her fingertips creating goosebumps as she stroked his skin and ruffled his hair at the base of his head.
“Fuck, that feels amazing,” he confessed.
“Really?”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “So, my turn.”
“Uh uh. We’re even now.”
“Nothing embarrassing, I promise. I just really want to know you better.”
Calli smiled. “Okay.” She held up a finger. “One more question.”
“Did you have a happy childhood here in Moonstone? Before the accident, I mean.”
She smiled sadly. “Yes. My parents gave me such an enchanted life, and I’m not talking about the actual magic in our lives, it was how often they read me stories at night, took me exploring in Whimsy Woods, taught me to cook and bake and grow things. They taught me to be curious about the world every day.”
Her voice grew thick with emotion, and Malcolm gave her a soothing kiss. “I’m so glad you had that, sweetheart.”
She kissed him back, her lips warm and sweet. “So am I.”
Soon, he felt her fall asleep in his arms. He carried her upstairs to the bedroom. Next to him, Hades carried Persephone in his mouth and set the little furball on the bed. The kitten circled around the bed a few times and then curled into a ball.
When Malcolm set Calli down, she woke up just enough to direct him to where her pajamas were. It turned out she wanted an oversized t-shirt to sleep in. She stripped out of her clothes, and he helped her slide the t-shirt on. It took him a moment to regain his control after seeing those beautiful breasts again. The shirt fell into place, and he saw the print on its front was a vintage cover of a Jane Eyre novel. For some reason that made him smile.
Then he tucked Calli into bed. Was this how Rochester felt seeing the Fae-like beauty of Jane when he first came upon her while riding across the moors? The fictional hero had been undeniably drawn to Jane, who saw herself as a plain, unremarkable woman. But like Rochester was with Jane, Malcolm felt that same magnetic pull toward Calli. It was certainly a kind of magic, just one he’d never encountered before.
Malcolm kissed Calli’s forehead before he turned to leave the room. In the hallway, he passed by a portrait of an older witch, one who wore the same moon pendant as Calli. She stood beside a large bonfire in a darkened woodsy landscape with a full moon above her.
“You. Warlock,” the woman whispered in a soft tone that held a hint of steel. He turned to the painting curiously.
“Me?”
“Is there another warlock in the room?” the witch snipped. “You must leave before it’s too late.”
Now Malcolm was very confused. Being addressed by a painting was one thing, being told off by one was something else entirely.
“Why? What are you talking about?”
“You will break her heart… and far worse.”
“Now hold on a?—”
