“Got it. It only gives me that choice when I leave here.”
“Right. Ready?”
“Yes.”
Mystia waved her wand, uttering the words of the spell silently, and suddenly a portal appeared in front of them. “I can either turn my back or I can leave and return when you’re finished.”
Fionn eyed the portal, totally impressed with it, then remembering what he had to do, located the screen he needed to use to set his password. He turned to Mystia and said, “Please stay, I haven’t ever used one of these, so I think it’s better if you’re here in case I do something wrong.”
Nodding, Mystia turned her back to the portal. “Remember, you have to enter your password twice, then place your palm on it until it turns green.”
“Got it.” Fionn quickly followed Mystia’s instructions and when the screen turned green, he removed his hand. “Okay, I did it. So how do we know if it works?”
“Now you will enter the location we came from, step into the portal and you will immediately be back in Scotland. But first, these are the words you use to summon the portal.” Once she was sure Fionn knew them, she stepped back and said, “Also, this is the only time the portal will allow another person to enter it with you. After this, if someone tries to join you in the portal, they will die once they step into it. If you want to change those settings in the future, let me know and I will tell you how. But for now, I think it’s safer if only you can use it,n’est-ce pas?”
“Oui,” Fionn said smiling. “So, how do we do this?”
“Take my hand, then on the count of three, let’s walk into it.”
His heart was beating fast as they entered the portal—suddenly he was back in his bedroom inside the bubble with Mystia next to him. “That is fucking cool,” Fionn exclaimed, looking behind him, seeing nothing but his room.
“Okay, before I leave, I want you to summon the portal, use it, then return here. Oh, one more thing, never say the words out loud. They will work even if you mouth them silently. Okay?”
“Yup.” Fionn summoned the portal and was instantly at his hoard again. Before he returned, he selected something to give to Mystia as a gift for her help. He hadn’t realized how much his worry had consumed him until he saw his hoard safe and sound, in a place his father would never find. Delaying no more, he returned to see Mystia sitting in a chair, waiting to give him something else.
“This is from Jackson,” Mystia said, handing him an envelope. “In there you will find your new identification,some charge cards and a debit card in case you want to use cash. If you need anything else, ask Logan and he will take care of it.”
Holding the envelope, Fionn stood dumbstruck, tears filling his eyes. The only person who had shown him this amount of kindness was his mother and since her death, no one cared if he lived or died. In a trembling voice, Fionn said, “This means more to me than you will ever know. Thank you so much, Mystia. You are a very kind witch and I’d like you to have this for everything you’ve done for me.” Fionn took out a small, ruby-encrusted broomstick pin from his pocket and handed it to her. “My mother told me it belonged to a powerful witch she helped once. I think she’d be pleased to see another witch owning it again.”
Touched, Mystia rose, hugged Fionn tightly and, removing the bubble, disappeared.
Chapter 17
“What the fuck happened in here! Where’s Oracle?” Dakota demanded, staring at the disaster in his kitchen as he stood in the doorway with Slate behind him. Four pairs of guilty eyes stared back at him, their owners frozen in place while Daniel played in the spilled rice puffs on the floor, crushing them and laughing as each was pulverized into powder. Dakota’s gaze swept the room, taking it all in—broken eggs on the countertop, their yolks slowly spreading into yellow circles of goo, burnt pieces of toast discarded carelessly, spilled syrup, pancake batter dripping onto the floor, and the acrid smell of burning bacon permeating everything.
“Jackson, where is Oracle?” Dakota asked.
“She had to leave this morning but said she would be back for lunch. What areyoudoing here?” asked Jackson.
Ignoring the question, Dakota said, “So what…you all decided to come in here and destroy my kitchen?”
“No, Kota, no way! Jackson was trying to make us something to eat, but he wasn’t moving fast enough so we came in to help him,” Zane explained.
Walking slowly into his kitchen and standing in the middle, Dakota said, “How is it none of you know how to scramble an egg or fry bacon without burning it? And without making my kitchen into a pigsty?”
“Why should we? You do the cooking and, may I add, very well,” Carson said.
“Yes, well I think that will change in the future. For now…out!” Dakota said, scooping up Daniel and giving him to Jackson. Then looking at Cody holding a baby bottle, as the formula for Jake and Jessica dripped onto the floor, he asked, “What are you trying to do?”
“I can’t figure out how to stop it from leaking. When I gave Jake his bottle, I didn’t realize it was leaking and now he needs a bath. So I’m trying to fix this bottle while Dylon is trying to comfort Jessica who’s angry and crying because her bottle is late.”
Taking the bottle from his brother, Dakota quickly fixed the problem, then handed it back, “It’s good now, go take care of my niece.” Then he looked at his other brothers. “Go—no, don’t bother cleaning up anything. I’ll take care of it. Just in case you haven’t guessed, breakfast will be a little late.” Shooing his brothers out of his kitchen, Dakota got to work, throwing out all the ruined food and wiping up spills while Slate grabbed a broom to sweep the floor. Once order prevailed again, Dakota turned to Slate. “I’m sorry about this and it appears my brothers are going to be my first students.” Shaking his head. “I can’t believe they don’t know how to make a simple breakfast.” Setting the ingredients he needed on the counter he glanced over at Slate who was putting the broom away. “Thanks for doing that. Would you like to help me? I could use a good sous chef this morning…Theo usually helps me…but since he isn’t here and you are…” Dakota stopped whisking the eggs, walked over to Slate and pulled his head down to kiss him. “Besides, you being hot as fuck, I love you.”
Placing his hands on his mate’s hips, Slate thrust his own forward, their cocks now rubbing each other as he continued to slowly grind. Aroused by his mate’s soft moans and needy whimpers filling the air, Dakota’s cock responded. Slate was eager to get his mate in bed for a proper claiming fuck. Reluctantly, stepping back, he asked, “Can I have a raincheck to continue this later?”Getting a nod from Dakota, he added, “I would love to be your sous chef this morning.”
Looking at the passion in Slate’s eyes that reflected his own, Dakota knew the results would be explosive when they resumed. Heading back to the counter, Dakota said, “Since breakfast will be late, I’m just doing the basics this morning. You fry the bacon and I’ll finish making the eggs and toast. The griddle is in the bottom drawer to the left of the stove.”
Slate found it, and set about frying up a ton of bacon, knowing that without steaks and pancakes on the menu, there’d be a huge demand for it. Once he figured out a system, he was able to fry the bacon while watching his mate move around the kitchen. Impressed with how fast Dakota brought everything under control—while making it seem effortless—he smiled at his sexy mate and said “You are amazing, babe!”
