Page 51 of Magic of the Damned

Not winning me over, Rei.

Despite the rise in her voice and her aggressive posturing, we seemed to go unnoticed by the people in the coffee shop. I suspected magic was involved in keeping us unnoticed. The supernaturals’ use of magic against humans didn’t seem to be regulated enough. Or perhaps Rei was an exception, not the norm. I knew that the Awakeners bucked against the rules, pushing the limits and only stopping when caught and punished. Rei might have been a rogue among them, exhibiting no restraint with her magic.

“Whether you’ve misunderstood your role in this or not, you have done something great. I won’t let you withdraw your help.” Her voice had warmed, but it didn’t belie her threat.

“Let me?”

She looked around; I felt the shift in the energy. Was she about to use magic on me or force me to go with her? I eased my hand closer to one of the candles on the shelf, preparing to use it as a weapon if necessary, watching the effort she put into calming herself.

“My apologies.” It didn’t sound like an apology, but a concession. She’d play nice because she had to. “Please allow me a chance to present my side—our side.”

I thought she’d taken my silence as a tacit agreement when she retreated and slipped away. Then I caught sight of Jackson approaching. Great.

I shrugged at Emoni, who had pulled her attention from the woman she was speaking to long enough to shoot furtive death glares at Jackson’s back.

I grinned at her. “I got this,” I mouthed.

CHAPTER 16

Ididn’t have the situation under control so much as I leaned into just evading Jackson. But it was what was needed to keep Emoni from marching over and intervening.

“Hi,” I greeted him before he could say anything, and jabbed my thumb in the register’s direction and the line forming. Quickly, I returned to the store before he could answer.

Him waiting for me to finish was another reminder of my underestimation of his arrogance and nonexistent sense of propriety. Why not harass someone at their job? What’s wrong with that? He sat at the table nearest the checkout and waited until I didn’t have any customers and no other option but to leave the area and reshelve books and tidy the store.

At least he had the common courtesy not to approach as soon as I left the checkout.

“That was a hell of a performance, wasn’t it?” he remarked.

“You should tell Emoni and Gus,” I suggested. “Or is this your segue to us just talking and then you peddling your ‘I’m so wonderful and should be shared among the masses’ speech?”

He blew out a sigh of exasperation. “Must you always be so…” He searched my face, not because he was lost for words but because he was a calculating manipulator, something else I could recognize now that my rose-colored love goggles were removed. What was his goal? A thinly veiled insult to put me on the defensive? A prick at my insecurities to unsettle me? Or would he play on my emotions?

“Cold and spiteful.”

Ah, the emotion route. When narcissism and self-entitlement fail, make it the other person’s fault.

“Cold? Spiteful?”

“You’re throwing away our relationship because of one indiscretion. You know how much I love you and how losing you has made me feel. Don’t kick me while I’m down. Is that who you are now?”

He was laying it on pretty thick. What kind of Jedi mind trick was he trying to pull? His arrogance blinded him to how contrived he sounded.

When he ambled closer, his head bowed in submission as if he were a wounded pup and I had just rejected him or—even worse—kicked him, I despised him for the dramatics. Then I despised myself just a little for the moment I allowed his performance to make me feel guilty.

“Three years and it’s gone and you’re ready to say goodbye to it. All of it.”

“No, not at all. We had a history. Some good times that I will remember fondly and some bad times that I’ll remember, too, and take as lessons for future relationships. But we’re over. To be honest, it’s not just the cheating. That shone a light on the flaws in the relationship that I’d ignored. We need to let the relationship stay over. Not just for me, but for us both. Move on.”

“Lulu.” I hated that name and had told him numerous times. “Don’t do this to us.”

“You would rather me be miserable in a relationship with you, so that you can be happy?” I asked, though he’d never admit it. He’d have to be a special type of ass to openly admit that he would not have a problem with that.

“You weren’t miserable. It’s a protective mechanism. I made you happy. And you know that. That was always my goal, and I succeeded in every way.” His heavy-lidded look used to work, so of course he’d try it now. He made it sexy, and I fell for it time and time again. He attempted to follow it up with a kiss. The gentle ones he used to give me. A feather touch with the promise of so much more. It had worked before, enhanced by my love for him. But not now. I shoved him back.

“You know this isn’t about us getting back together. It’s about you winning. This is just you wanting your way and nothing else. You want me happy, go away.”

“As you wish,” Rei said. Jackson’s eyes glazed over; his body became rigid before collapsing to the ground. Dagger in hand, Rei started driving it toward his chest.

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