Page 43 of Spelled By Truth and Tresses

Not having time for his shit this morning, I pushed past him and stomped to Jax’s room. I called to Josh over my shoulder, “Get dressed and chug some coffee.”

I turned the knob and entered Jax’s bedroom. I pushed down my need to caress his face or crawl under the covers and wake him with my mouth. My lips met his softly as I whispered against them.

“Please wake up, Ax. I need your help.”

His eyes flew open, and I pulled back, but his hand wrapped around my braid, holding me in place. Jax’s brown eyes roved between mine, then his lips pulled down.

“So, this isn’t an early morning booty call?” he asked, his voice gruff with sleep. He ran both hands through his hair, then his gaze darted toward me. “Fucking hell! Wait, where the fuck have you been, pet? I sent countless texts with no reply. I also went to your mother’s house, although I doubted you’d be there, and couldn’t break past whatever new ward has been placed on it.” Anger and desperation hung over him like a thick cloud.

I smiled, but my heart wasn’t in it. “Sadly, no. Rain check on the play time. The rest I’ll explain later. It’s not important right now. Thomas attacked Lalita yesterday.”

“I knew that dick couldn’t be trusted. First, he goes after you at the mixer, and now he hurt Lalita. Fuck no.”

I nodded. “My thoughts exactly. We need to find him, then end him. No one hurts my best friend and gets away with it.

Jax’s pulse thrummed in his neck as I stared at him. “You are so fucking sexy when you’re angry.”

I kissed him quickly on the lips, then bit his lower one. He growled as I crawled backward off his bed. “Get dressed. We need to move now if we’re going to catch him. I’m not sure where he lives, but I’ve often seen him sneaking down the corridor near that classroom you and I practiced magic in.”

Jax sat up, then swung his legs to the edge of the bed. “Did you wake up Josh? We should bring him too.”

“Yep, I already ordered him to get dressed and prepare coffee.”

Jax chuckled deeply, then pulled on some gray sweatpants and a plain black cotton t-shirt. How can he look so damn good with no effort at all? I shook my head, then left his room.

We arrived at campus, caffeinated and ready for war.

We stalked through the labyrinthine of stone corridors until we stood at the entrance of the corridor with the abandoned classrooms.

Josh flexed his muscles. “We might have to take him to Cape Sirenorai.”

Cape Sirenorai would be perfect for a murdering bastard like Thomas. A full-blown Siren would have plenty of fun torturing someone like him.

“Yes,” I said, then turned to look at them each in turn. “Let’s just go in, all fire blazing. We need to have the element of surprise. Thomas’s not as weak as he looks.”

“I agree with the element of surprise, but we should also use stealth to our advantage,” Jax countered.

“Good point, cousin. Let’s slowly move down the hall and see if we feel any vibrations or pull to a specific door.”

Jax and I nodded. Then Josh led the way, his boots nearly silent on the stones. Jax wrapped his hand around mine as we followed behind Josh. Now that we were halfway down the corridor, the air seemed to change. The scent of dark magic invaded my nose, and I physically recoiled. Jax squeezed my hand and tugged my hand, encouraging me to continue walking with him.

Josh stopped outside of the last door on the left, then reached out and turned the handle slowly. The door creaked open slowly, and the smell of rot and decay joined the disgusting magic. Jax and I entered behind him. Then we all spread out and checked every inch of the classroom. There wasn’t much to search for as the only remaining piece of furniture was a thick oak desk tipped on its side.

Jax walked to the far-right corner, then hissed. Josh and I sprinted over to him.

“What happened?” I asked, then cradled his hand in both my palms.

“The professor’s quarters are through this door, but when I tried to twist the knob, my hand froze to it and burned.”

Josh cursed under his breath. “Shit, sorry Jax. I should’ve mentioned we need to be on the lookout for hexes. You’re lucky it was just a rudimentary one.”

Jax glared at his cousin but held his tongue as his eyes came back to me. Jax growled and faced the door. He brought his hands together with a loud clap, then twisted his palms toward the door and forced his magic through the knob itself. The knob caved in, then shot through into the dark room beyond.

Josh whistled. “Impressive magic, Jaxi.”

Jax shrugged, then nudged the door open with the toe of his boot. The three of us shuffled into the room. The first thing to hit us was the stench of rotting flesh. Flies buzzed somewhere nearby, but there was no sign of them or whatever caused that smell.

“Oh, my gods!” I hollered and pinched my nose.

---