Page 84 of Enchanting Her Monsters
“Yay! Cuddles!” Sage cheers as Calder sets them on his chest.
Seeing them snuggled up makes my heart glow, and I crawl into the middle of bed and what I expect to be another sweltering night of body heat.
Once we get settled in a new permanent home, I’ll need Maxum to fork out the big bucks on an industrial sized air-conditioner so I won’t suffer a heat stroke at night with them.
As soon as I’m horizontal, the heavy weight of massive arms and legs falls over me. My mind envisions I’m in a horror movie, being pulled down into a dark pit and slowly suffocated. It’s not far off, but fortunately, it’s like a warm, fuzzy version.
It’s as if I’m drugged with happy endorphins, and I fall into a smothering oblivion with a smile on my face.
28
STRANGER DANGER
MAXUM
In the early morning, I find Jade in the yard between the two cabins, sitting in a meditation pose with Amira.
I wait patiently for their training session to be over, knowing Jade needs to work on her focus. It isn’t horrible, but she allows her mind to wander if she’s triggered with a new shiny thought or a problem to solve.
For her writing career, it works perfectly. In a magical battle to the death, not so much.
When Jade and Amira blink back to their surroundings, I give them both a nod. “Thank you for your help, Amira.” Then I turn to Jade. “Darius is going to meet us in a bit, but I’d like a word alone with you first.”
“Okay. Thank you for making me the magic containment talisman.” Jade smiles widely at our host.
Amira slightly bows her goodbye and walks back to the main house.
“Ugh.” Jade grumbles and hops to her feet. “That sounds a lot likewe need to talktalk.”
I know from reading romance books, that’s the breakup talk. A bit of trepidation fills her eyes and her shoulders curl in slightly.
“No, darling. But you might not like it.”
The statement has her shoulders straightening and her eyes narrowing. “Might as well get on with it then, instead of me imagining all kinds of random stuff.”
To the point it is then. “Osen was correct to discourage you from the dangerous path of resurrecting him,” I say firmly. “It’s one thing to channel Calder’s fragments, and quite another to hunt down our enemies and use your untested powers. We don’t even know the spell they used to rip the magic out of him.”
“Actually, we do.” She crosses her arms, looking triumphant. “Osen heard it when they used it on him.”
I thought he was against this plan! I guess he might change his mind now if he hopes it will work.
I swallow hard. “His memory was while he was dying. He might not have caught the whole thing or accurately.”
Osen’s charcoal eyes appear, and his deeper voice cuts through. “I see and hear your concern. I have it too. I won’t let her do this if it risks her life.”
“Itwillrisk her fucking life!” I shout. “Notif!”
“Okay. Maybe it’s better to say if it’s too much of a risk.” He shakes his head. “Jade’s already argued for this, and she has a point. As long as those assholes are alive, she isn’t safe. No one is safe. We should go after them.”
“No.” I throw my hands in the air in frustration. “She needs to work on her powers.Ifwe get caught, she can fight back.”
“Amira won’t let us stay here forever. And you know as well as I do that eventually wewillget caught if we leave. If we wait for our enemies to find us first, then they’ll have the upper hand.”
Dammit, why does he have to make sense?
Osen continues. “I’m not saying we go today or even this week. We need to test this spell and her magic. We all need to be ready to go on the offensive as soon as possible.”
“Tracking downanywitch or warlock is fucking dangerous right now,” I huff.
