Page 34 of Charming Her Monsters

Maxum gives me an evil grin which makes me think he was in on the misunderstanding or wanted to see how it played out. He’s such a trickster.

“You don’t like it then?” Flint asks, looking completely deflated.

Ah, fuck. “I… they are good. It just was a surprise, since muffins are usually sweet.”

“I’ll eat your spicy muffin any day.” Maxum gives me a wink.

I remember he added a fair amount of hot sauce to his eggs when we went on our brunch date. He places two muffins on his plate and appears victorious.

Rolling my eyes at my sneaky demon, I turn my attention back to Flint. “You are amazing. I appreciate all of this work.”

He gives me a shy grin. “If you need anything, I’ll make sure you get it. All you have to do is ask.”

Calder grumbles under his breath, which sounds a lot likekiss ass, but I ignore him as does everyone else in the room.

“Thank you.” I turn to look at everyone else. “Are there any plans for the day that I should know about?”

“I’d like to train you to block out psychic invasions soon,” Maxum says and takes another bite of his muffin. “But only after you are healed.”

I tuck in to my food and then say, “I need to see if I can use the Wi-Fi here, and I need to get some writing done. I’m so far behind on my schedule, but I suppose near-death experiences will put a hamper on timelines.”

“I put all your writing stuff in the office,” Arran reminds me.

“We are in the human realm,” Maxum confirms. “Will you still be able to access the internet with your travel device?”

“Depends if there are any cell towers in the area, but humans have them pretty much everywhere now.” I glance out the huge windows at the beautiful lake. “You have a gorgeous place here. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

Maxum subtly preens and inclines his head to acknowledge my thanks. “I’ve been wanting these jerks to spend some time here for a while now, so I suppose our situation has been a good excuse. And now, I get the delightful bonus of having you here.”

“Are there other residents living around the lake?” I ask. “I don’t see any houses or docks. Do we have to be careful about your true forms here? Or if I shoot off apremature e-magication?”

Maxum snorts, then shrugs. “Uh, yeah, no one else lives around this lake.”

“How lucky is that!” I take another bite of the spicy muffin and find the taste growing on me.

“Well, I own the entire lake.”

I choke again. “What?” I sip some more water.

Then I realize he’s been alive for centuries and probably made some smart investments along the way.

“Oh, did you buy this area up when the country was still being formed?”

“Uh, no. It was a couple of decades ago.” Maxum turns a brighter shade of red.

“You’re… rich?” I brush it off because I don’t want him to get the wrong idea. “Or you were rich,beforeyou bought this entire area?”

“So now you’re agold-diggingwitch?” Calder sneers.

I level a look at him. “FYI, I thought you were all hot before I knew a single thing about you. Even though you all look like some punk-ass thirst trap models, I would have taken you home for a snack.” I snap. “Besides, I don’t really care all that much for money, except thatImake enough to live comfortably so I can keep writing. I’ll gladly pay my way while you all help me out.” I look at Maxum. “Do you think it will be safe to e-wire transfer you some funds? You have a regular bank account, yeah?”

“Jade, you are not giving me any money. I know you aren’t here for a free ride.” Maxum looks pissed. He stands up, then glares at Calder. “You need to back the fuck up, or I’ll adjust your attitude for you.”

“I just—” Calder protests.

“No.” Maxum crosses his arms. “Apologize and then drop this bullshit. Jade is innocent, and you know it. She isn’t the witch who killed you. She is a victim of other witches, and who knows what else.”

What else?I don’t like the sound of that.

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