Page 16 of The Misfit Mage and His Darling Demon

“Thank you,” I said.

Our connection had strengthened as the familiar bond grew. I wasn’t certain how much he understood, especially since I only grasped about a fraction of his intentions, but we did have a solid understanding of one another. He’d even gotten really good at helping me decipher things. Some of my knowledge might have passed over to him through our connection. A shame our bond wasn’t close enough for him to communicate with me psychically. According to the Pentacles of Power, that was the most advanced skill in the familiar bond.

Tony hissed, and I straightened my posture because he hated when I slouched for long hours in the chair.

“I thought you said that thing wasn’t supposed to do that,” Bez said, strolling into my office space completely carefree.

Oh. Tony’s hiss was about Bez, not my hunched posture. Most emperor scorpions only hissed during their adolescence, but Tony regularly vocalized himself whenever Bez came around. Perhaps the familiar bond added to his reasoning as an added form of communication. It was peculiar, but I figured Tony was a little jealous of the attention Bez got from me. I slumped over my desk, continuing my work so my familiar wouldn’t have to worry about that right now.

“Maybe he’s as annoyed with you as I am.” I scribbled incantation symbols, allowing Tony to saturate them so I wouldn’t have to slow down.

“About that.” Bez squatted next to me, his tails twitching behind him, clearly attempting to draw my attention.

I kept my eyes on my work.

“Wally.”

“I’m busy.” I couldn’t do masterful guilt trips like Bez, but I had years of observing passive-aggressive productivity thanks to my family.

“I wish to discuss the offer you received.”

I snorted. “Think of another thing to add to the list of reasons I can’t accept it or just want to point out once again how it’s not really about me, but you?”

“I would like us to reconsider it.” He placed the card in front of me. “Make an official decision.”

“Reconsider it?” I sighed. “You want me toofficiallydecline the offer, don’t you?”

I’d stormed into my office, hoping to avoid this, maybe get some time or perspective to come up with a way to convince Bez why this could work. Would work. Tearing this card apart felt like squandering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, destroying a winning lottery ticket, giving up a dream job I didn’teven consider daydreaming about because it was too big, too important, too special for someone like me to ever land.

“I would like you to accept, but—”

“Excuse me?” My pulse pounded against my throat, whether from my excitement or Bez’s nerves or both. “Why? What are you getting at?”

“It’s come to my attention that this is a potentially viable and necessary opportunity…”

I smiled. Bez used a lot of words to skirt around him saying he’d had a change of heart, that he might’ve overreacted, or—dare I say—maybe that he was wrong.

“This is no laughing matter.” Bez stared at my smiling face. “We need to discuss the risks—”

“Absolutely.” I grabbed his tie and pulled him closer.

His balance wobbled, but he caught himself against the arm of the chair. I pressed my lips against his, ready to have any conversation on the seriousness of taking this job, but mostly I wanted to stop being grouchy, maybe a little petty, and show him how much I appreciated him. What he did for me before and after the show. Hell, getting us tickets to the show alone.

“Something I have to work on, maybe we have to work on, is learning to pause arguments to enjoy celebrations.” My lips met his softly, tongue searching for his and the way he’d respond with an aggressive, leading kiss. He didn’t, though. Instead, I guided this kiss, lust taking hold. “I shouldn’t have gone to bed a jerk.”

“Wally, about that, before we commence with much-needed pleasures, I have to explain—”

“The only thing I want you to explain”—I stood, tugging his tie and watching him stand, towering above me—“is what you plan on doing with me.”

I kissed his neck, nuzzling him; my hands rested on his shoulders as I led him backward toward the door.

“Actually, no explanations.” I unfastened his belt, continuing to direct him into the bedroom for some well-overdue acts of affection. “I’d rather you surprise me.”

Carefully, I shuffled around my piles of paperwork for jobs, stacks of half-read books for personal inquiries, and the single map Bez had on unicorn migrations. My research wasn’t nearly as tidy as his, but at least I’d bought my materials, unlike Bez who, as he’d put it, ‘pilfered’ the map from Mora’s collection. One we now knew was completely outdated.

Bez complained my messy system would spread to the entire hovel if he hadn’t insisted otherwise, so to prove him wrong, I made sure to keep the chaos in the bedroom. If I had my external organization strewn about the office, I’d never get actual work done.

“First, allow me to explain,” Bez said, groaning as I ran my fingers under his waistband and got a full grip on his growing erection. “Wall—”

---