Page 56 of Mochas and Minotaurs

Happy tears brimmed in my eyes, threatening to turn me into a sobbing mess. “I love you too, Marcus.”

I collapsed into his arms, and we sat there, letting everything that had happened wash over us. We’d taken on a dragon and won.

But the adrenaline that had kept me going until now had faded, and exhaustion was quickly catching up. I let the illusion drop and cuddled into my mate’s arms. And there, safe and sound, I slept.

Chapter 26

Marcus

Even with all threewitches working together, Griselda, Penny, and Lily couldn’t open a portal big and stable enough for both of us to get home from Paris. They had no trouble opening portals to each other’s homes and apparently did it every Saturday, but cross-continent travel required a lot more magic.

“We really need to get stronger,” Lily had lamented.

They did, however, get a portal big enough to pass Gigi her purse, which was spelled to open up into her cupboard at home. They’d left everything we needed there, including the cord to charge her phone, which was currently plugged into the socket in her home, meaning we didn’t need to worry about finding an adapter. Clever.

It was for the best we stayed for a few days anyway. I was surprised to discover I still had access to my old bank account. I transferred everything to my account in the US. Then I told the bank I suspected my mother hadn’t been paying her taxes and wished to remove myself from the joint account to distance myself financially from her.

Elise hadn’t dipped into my earnings yet since she was still living high on her baby funds. That would probably end soon, especially when they start charging her for back taxes and interest. She’d be livid when she found out her backup was gone. I couldn’t wait!

Was it vindictive? Sure. But the bitch deserved it.

I spent the rest of the time there showing Gigi the city. It was so much brighter now that she was with me. Bella had always wanted to see Paris, so they’d passed her through on the last day so I could give her a quick tour.

We’d flown back like normal people, bringing lots of presents in our carry-ons for everyone who’d helped with the operation, including tons of goodies for Griselda’s employees since they’d stepped up and kept her coffee shop running while she was away.

I was surprised to see that Bullseye Fitness was now fully renovated. During my absence, Declan made up a story about how I had to fly to France for a family emergency, and everyone stepped up, offering to help get the place ready to surprise me when I got back. He had that much confidence that they’d get me back. Or maybe he’d simply been in denial.

The thought that everyone had gotten together to free me had a warm fuzzy feeling blooming in my chest. The fear that no one would notice if I was disappeared had been unfounded. Everyone I cared abouthadnoticed, and they’d come for me.

I’d been in that maze for only three weeks, even though I could swear it had felt much longer. Next Monday was Bullseye Fitness’s new official grand opening, weeks late, but better late than never. That meant I had all weekend to relax and enjoy being truly free for the first time in my life.

It didn’t take long for Arcane Development to remind me that our problem with them was still unresolved. Except this time, we were ready. Declan had a rotation of our gym members watching the place every day, and they surrounded the perps, trapping them in Gigi’s coffee shop, and therefore inside her wards. Once inside, every magic wielder present, which included Gigi, her staff, several members of Bullseye Fitness, and surprisingly, Declan himself, worked to stop the spell that turned their words to gibberish from triggering.

Officer Cooley and Hayes were called in again, along with Seth, in his EA uniform, of course. The wizard took every opportunity to flirt shamelessly with Officer Cooley, making not-so-subtle innuendos that would’ve cost him his job if he hadn’t been a dragon’s wizard. She did her best to ignore him, but behind herimpressive composure, I noticed the sparks of interest. She took sneak peeks at him whenever she thought he wasn’t looking.

This time, the culprits spilled everything. With solid proof against Arcane and an investigation underway, it meant we could relax a bit. But we still couldn’t drop our guard.

They wouldn’t give up this easily, and we knew it. If they couldn’t force us to sell the land so they could search for Bella, then they’d find some other way.

“What if they never stop looking for me?” Bella asked that evening after dinner.

The question had clearly been on her mind all day, and she sounded on the verge of tears even though she didn’t really exist physically aside from the pretty metal compact. “I wish I wasn’t special anymore so they’d just stop!”

It was the way she’d worded it that gave me the idea. We’d all agreed that Bella’s papa had been wrong; she couldn’t actually grant wishes. She gave advice. One set of reliable advice per person. But she could not do it for herself. What if I used my one good set of advice on her behalf?

“Is that what you really want, Bella?”

“Kinda. I want them to stop looking for me, and I don’t want to have this stupid talent anymore. And I want to be a normal girl, and I want to grow up and do normal woman things. I’m sick of this…whatever this life is.”

Gigi, who had been trying to get Triscuit to put away his toys, his least favorite trick, paused when taking note of our conversation.

“Well then, I would like my official solution now,” I said. “I wish for you to not have any magical talents you don’t want so they’ll stop looking for you and for you to be a normal girl so you could grow up and do normal woman things.”

Gigi was nodding with my words.

There was a sharp inhale. “Do you really mean that?” Bella asked.

“Of course I do. You helped me get my life back. It’s only fair that I help you to do the same.”

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