Page 57 of Mastering Mayhem

“It’s been in my family for generations.” Yes, that was a lie, but I wasn’t about to tell him I bought it online. Where was the fun in that?

“Let me see it.” He had the audacity to reach toward me, his body language saying he fully expected me to hand it over. If I hadn’t been fired, I’d have no doubt I’d see this asshat at Spellbound Axe, getting drunk with his buddies and bouncing blades off the targets.

“Sure.” I shot a tiny flame at his hand, singeing his sleeve.

“Ow! What the hell?” He sauntered closer. “Who are you?”

“She’ll be your worst nightmare if you take another step forward,” Mayhem said from behind me.

James’s eyes widened, and he cut his gaze between me, my demon, and the girl. “I don’t know what kind of kinky shit you have going on here, but we’re gonna walk away and pretend we never saw it.”

“That’s the first intelligent thing I’ve heard you say.” I extinguished the flames and returned my dagger to its holster.

The girl whimpered, and the guy grabbed her hand. “Come on, Jill. We’ll find somewhere else to summon Princess Fancy Pants.”

He dragged her away, and I turned around to find Mayhem looming behind me, his horns and talons extended. No wonder the guy changed his tune mid-measure.

I clicked my tongue. “Put those away. You’re lucky it’s almost Halloween and they can pass as a costume.”

“What did you do to them?” Ash laughed as she approached from the direction the kids had run. She carried a bundle of towels in her arms, and her satchel bounced against her hip with her strides.

Chaos carried a stack of blankets, and several grocery bags dangled from his fingers. “He mumbled something about twisted cemetery orgies as they ran for their car.”

I waved off their concern. “He was planning to use Princess Fancy Pants to get intoherpants.”

Ash’s brow scrunched. “I’m not even going to ask. How’s the griffin?”

“She’s resting.” I took the towels from her and carried them into the mausoleum. “Where are the guys?”

“Scrying. Miles got ahold of Wendy, but she wasn’t much help.” Ash took her bag off her shoulder and pulled out four railroad spikes. “Adrian has locked himself in his office and isn’t communicating with his team, so she has no idea what he’s planning. She’s waiting outside his door, though, just for Miles.”

“Clueless,” I said.

“Yep.” She rubbed oil on the spikes.

Chaos stepped into the mausoleum with Mayhem behind him. “Where should I put these?”

“Lay them next to her for now. When she gets up, I’ll make her a bed.” I took the mallet Ash offered and followed her outside.

She handed me a spike, and I hammered it into the ground at the eastern corner. I did the same at the southern before we made our way around the back of the building.

“How does it feel?” She gestured to my sigil-less arm and then pressed her hand to her chest. “Does it hurt?”

“Only when I think about it.” I hammered the third spike into the ground, focusing on the vibration shimmying up my arm every time it made impact.

She handed me the final spike. “Do you still…?”

I forced my jaw to unclench. “Love him desperately? Yeah.”

Whack, whack, whack.I drove in the last piece and rose to my feet. “Let’s get this ward cast before Adrian emerges from his hidey hole.”

She took my hand, and we recited the incantations. “Protect this space from malice and harm. If our ward is broken, we will be warned. Hide our auras from all who seek. Our intention is set with the words we speak. As we will it, so mote it be.”

My head spun with the amount of vim we put into it, but we’d recover. We always did, even before we could channel demon magic on the regular. We’d be fine without them… Wouldn’t we?

Stop it, Em. Just. Stop.

“That should do it,” Ash said. “It would take every witch in Adrian’s coven working together to see through that shroud.”

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