She waggled her eyebrows at him and he gave a slight moan that sounded far too much like foreplay for company.
‘Ewww.Keep it in your pants, dude,’I told Cass.
‘Hmm, not sure I can. I think I’m in love.’
‘What? Of course you can,’I rushed to say, because he actually sounded serious.
‘She’s sex wrapped up in one fine package.’
Most fae were lithe and willowy. This one was kick-your-ass solid, with a feral gleam as the cherry on top. She wasnotwalking sex. If anything, she was walking death.
Cass slid the thick gold chain he wore around his neck, gangsta style, back and forth, his eyes sweeping Tianna up and down and back again. When Tianna did nothing to discourage him, he licked his lips again.
‘Cass, you’re going to have to holster your, uh, weapon. Life and death, remember?’
No, he obviously didn’t. I wasn’t even sure he’d heard me.‘Underworlders? Triplet sirens from hell? Broken gate we’re supposed to be guarding? Any of this ringing a bell?’I said through our bond.
Cass shook his head, and I hoped also the Tianna-induced haze.‘You’re supposed to be guarding the gates. I’m supposed to be guarding you,’he said.
He flew up to meet the fae-witch at eye level. “We’ve got business to attend to now,” Cass purred in his best sex voice. “But I’d love to give you the full tour later. What do you say?”
Oh. My. God.
Every one of us was frozen in place, staring at this spectacle.
“As long as it’s sooner rather than later,” Tianna purred with a flick of shiny hair over her shoulder. She winked at my furry friend and Cass’ wings faltered for a beat.
“As you wish.” His voice was low and rumbly. Then, with visible effort, he turned around and stepped to my side. “Now, where were we?” he asked the bunch of us.
We were all too shocked by their display to answer right away. Tianna, however, didn’t hesitate to take charge. “We were about to let me shape this witch into something powerful.” She brought both hands to her hips as she trailed her attention up and down my body. “She has the right basic building blocks, but damn do I have my work cut out for me.”
Well, at least on that front everyone seemed to be in agreement. Not even Sabine was ready to argue that point.
The safety of humanity and supes alike rested on me alone. And I didn’t have a clue how to save any of them.
3Dud Life
Tianna sat across from me,staring at Gran’s tiny spell bottles as if they were a pathetic tray of stale crackers I was offering a guest.
“This is the only way you’ve been doing magic?” She picked up a vial and smelled it, her glossy copper hair sliding around her shoulders as she scrunched her nose.
We were up in the loft where Molly had been sleeping and also where Gran kept her spell books and potions. I’d had to force Cass to stay downstairs with Molly and the others because he was distracting Tianna.
I loved Gran’s vials. “I told you I grew up thinking I was a dud. I relied on Gran’s potions to do what my magic couldn’t. Now I’ve just got these and my mom’s grimoire.”
“Hmm, well, you’re definitely not a dud. I can smell your witch power from here. And you’ve got a grimoire, you said?”
Nodding, I reached behind the couch. Pulling out the large black leather book with the moonstone eye on it from the bookshelf, I held it out to her.
She shrank back and slapped her forehead. “You don’t just hand another witch your family’s grimoire! What’s wrong with you?”
“Oh.” I jerked my hand back, lowering my head.
With a sigh, she held her hands up in frustration. “Okay, witch 101. You don’t give other witches access to your family spells. Ever. There’ll be things in there they could use against you.”
Why hadn’t Gran trained me properly? She knew what I was and what I’d one day become! Other than basic witch stuff, she never clued me in on any of this.
“Okay. Let’s start with basic protections. Do you smudge daily?” Tianna queried.
