Page 57 of A Cursed Heart
Turning Up The Heat
Ryan
Fear,acold,heavyfeeling, settled in my gut. “What?”
Mal stood with his hands on the door, his eyes closed. “Magic was used against my protections. They are holding steady, but I would like to use more magic to shore them up. I do not believe this was a serious attempt, only an exploratory one. They likely don’t know you have a way of knowing what happened.”
“By they, you mean Scythe, right?”
He opened his eyes to study me. They were glowing green like they did when he let his demon form out. “Yes. It could only havebeen him. He likely knew when to strike because he had people watching you.”
“Us. They’ve been tracking you taking Freya to school.”
His smile was forced. “I’ll be more careful of my surroundings.”
“No,” I said, reaching for him. “That wasn’t a criticism of you. I know you’d be ready in an instant to defend her if you need to.”
“She is precious to me.” He came into my arms easily, wrapping his around me in return. It felt good to have him there, where I felt like he belonged.
I laughed. “Yeah, I know, and the feeling is mutual.”
Mal and Freya getting along was non-negotiable in our relationship. It put too much strain on things when my kid didn’t like or wasn’t liked by whoever I was with. Thankfully, the pair of them adored each other. Mal wasn’t just a handy babysitter, though. He got me. He knew me. All the things I’d tried to hide, the sides of my character others wouldn’t accept, he did without question.
The thing was, the feeling was mutual. Mal had told me a lot of what he had done, and still I cared about him. Even if he showed me his darker side, I’d still be there for him. As long as he didn’t hurt me, Freya, or Lydia, then I didn’t care what it was. Okay, maybe not animals. I couldn’t be with someone who hurt animals for kicks.
“What d’you want to do about the magic?” I asked him. We still hadn’t moved away from each other. We probably looked ridiculous to other people.
“I’ll pour more magic into it when we get inside.”
“Do you have enough?”
He raised his head to grin at me. His eyes were back to the usual brown he had in this form. They sparkled with mischief. “Thanks to you, I do.”
I felt my face grow hot even as I dipped my head to kiss him softly. “I could always top it up later,” I whispered against his lips.
“Hmm, I like that idea.”
“Maybe…” I hesitated, “You could top this time.”
His eyes widened. “You want to try it? There’s no need to push yourself, Ryan.”
“I… Yeah, I do.” Everything. I wanted to try absolutely everything, as long as he was there with me.
Mrs. Roberts’ door opened, prompting us to break apart. “Hello! Oh, don’t you two look nice! Were you somewhere special?”
Mal, being far more social than me, took a few steps closer to her. “Yes, Ryan took me on a date.”
“Oh, that’s so lovely! I’m so glad Ryan has a nice man like you, Malcolm.” I wondered what she would think if she knew he could do magic.
“Do you need any help, Mrs. Roberts?”
“Oh, no, thank you. My doctor suggested I take more walks, so I’m meeting a friend from my bookclub downstairs. We’re going to take a walk around the park and then go for coffee.”
“Sounds like a wonderful afternoon.”
Once Mal was sure she was safely in the elevator, he laid his hands on the door again. “I can do some of the work from here, but we’ll need to repeat this morning’s work to ensure it’s as strong as it can be.”
“Okay, let’s get this done. I need to check the files and work on some stuff.”
