Page 108 of What The Hex (The Family Spells)
I shook my head. I didn’t know shit about shit when it came to spells. My father wasn’t in the picture, never had been. All I knew was that my mama had fallen hard and fast and regretted every minute thereafter. The witch she’d fallen in love with had disappeared shortly after I’d been born.
“Shift then,” Grace offered with another smile. “I could use a wolf as backup anyway.”
She held out her hand.
“Make me a deal. Promise you won’t try to hurt or kill me. Promise that we’ll stay together until we get out of Faerie. I’ll promise the same in return.”
I nodded and held out my hand, its size encasing her small, pale one. I couldn’t resist rubbing a thumb over her knuckles and loving the way she shivered in response. A magic mark burned itself into both her wrist and mine.
“What’s the name of this soulmate anyhow?” I asked, wondering if I must be nuts to follow a woman I just met on a quest to free some guy she was clearly into. She’d have to be, to risk going into Faerie just to save his ass.
I hoped he was worth it.
I hoped I could win her heart before she found him.
“Argent,” she told me with a deep exhale. “He’s a faerie prince, and we’re going to kidnap him.”
Back to the present …
The Pack Citrine Sunrise compound was on a large piece of land in the Ozarks, on the Arkansas side. It was vast and wild and dotted with cabins that surrounded a large, deep lake known as, ironically enough, Wolf Lake.
“Hael Below, we’ve entered a no-man’s-land,” Monster commented, reaching down to flick imaginary dust from the sleeve of his black sweater. It was cashmere and screamed money, money, money. Yet again, I had to wonder where he was getting the clothes—or the cash—from.
Before we’d left this morning, I’d gone up the stairs to his apartment, knocked, and then found myself completely gobsmacked when he’d opened the door.
He’d furnished the entire place with high-end pieces, luxe rugs, oil paintings, and the like. At first, I’d thought it was a glamour, but then he’d allowed me in, and I’d run a finger across a gold sofa table.
It was real. All of it. The only original thing he’d left in the apartment was the massive bed Argent, Caine, Spec, and I had used when we’d lived there. He’d refreshed the linens, of course. And the light fixtures. He’d even wallpapered though I had no idea if that was as real as the furniture. Bet that one was a glamour.
“Behave yourself,” I ground out, glancing over at him. I was still entirely unused to his presence, but at least the hideous vomit-inducing coffee I’d been drinking every other day was working its magic.
As long as I didn’t touch Monster’s skin directly and for too long, I’d be okay. A slight brush here or there wouldn’t put me on my knees.
He looked back at me, and as always, I felt that spark between us. My nipples pebbled to hard points, and I forced my gaze away and back toward the lodge instead. There was a slight dusting of snow on the ground and roof, giving the place a very quaint, homey sort of look, and here I was with wet panties, and a demon on one side, a half-demon on the other.
“This looks, um, rural,” is all Hex managed to get out before Caine was scowling and pushing between us. He stalked right up the path to the front door as I started after him. Spectre was holding Zavier, Argent had Fey, and poor Hex was doing his best to manage the twins.
We’d really thrown that motherfucker into the Family Spells neck-deep. I just hoped he wasn’t going to drown in it.
Bastet and Connard had already taken off to explore the property—or mate. I tried really hard not to think too much about that. Our house was full enough; we did not need a litter of kittens on top of everything else.
Caine opened the front door to an explosion of Christmas. There were Santa Clauses fucking everywhere, and even the taxidermic animals on the wall to my left were wearing red hats with white puff balls on the ends. Hopefully Caine wouldn’t borrow any to, um, ejaculate into … Cough, cough.
Please let me get through this weekend alive, I pleaded, coming to stand beside Caine as he slapped his hand on the counter and hollered loud enough that I cringed.
“Abel, you dumb shit, where are you at?”
“Nice to know I’m not the only who gets called cum-stain and dumb fuck and moron,” Hex mumbled as he came to a stop beside us, the leashes wrapped around his wrist to keep the twins from tangling themselves in the excess.
Caine flashed a wolfy grin over his shoulder and then smirked.
