Page 19 of Mochas and Minotaurs

I tried my best not to roll my eyes. “Let’s, for the sake of this explanation, pretend we live across town from each other. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“And I want to travel from my place to your place without stepping out of my living room. I’d have to open a portal between our homes. But I can’t just guess where it is and open a random portal, even if I have a map and have been to your place before. I could miss, and it might open up in your basement, or in your neighbors’, or in the air above your house, or worse, underground.

“So, to make it more accurate, I’ll use you as a reference point so the portal opens up in front of you. And if you were another magic user, you can set a location in your home where all portals open so I won’t step out, say, onto your dining room table.”

“I think I understand now. If this guy isn’t our magic caster, he could be the one helping him or her reach us.”

“You got it.”

“One question.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

It was the sexy smirk lifting the corner of his mouth that gave him away before his words did. “What if I want you to portal into my bedroom instead of my living room?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, and he burst out into laughter as I smacked him playfully on his chest with my hand.

“Okay, but more seriously,” he said, still grinning. “Will it help you if he's distracted or if we block his view?”

“Yes. And if it doesn’t work, then we know it’s not him.”

Declan happily volunteered to create a distraction. He almost sounded excited to have something to do. It seemed like he preferred to cause mischief for a reason rather than just for the sake of it.

We went to my place through the rooftop patio so I could surround myself with my magical goodies. As I strengthened my magic, Marcus went through my kitchen to look for something to eat.

“I’m not sure what you’ll be able to find. I haven’t done groceries since last week. Here, catch.” I tossed him my phone. “Order in.Just choose something from my favorites list. As long as it’s high in calories, with lots of fat and protein, it will work. No salads, please.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“And grab yourself something too. I hate being the only one eating.”

As Marcus decided what to order, I dug a frozen chocolate sheet cake out from the back of my freezer and started into it with a spoon. I kept those on hand to replenish my energy in a pinch.

“Shouldn’t you defrost that first?”

“Nope. It’s best frozen.” I stabbed the spoon into the center of the cake, scooped out a big chunk, and shoved it unceremoniously in my mouth. Mmm. Cake. “And just for full disclosure, I turn into a total gremlin when my magic is low.”

“Well, I guess I better hurry up and order then.”

He ended up ordering Chinese food from a place down the street, which was just as well because greasy noodles were a great source of calories. Plus, they delivered quickly. As we waited, I focused on the war around my home, going right up to the wall and touching it, trying to find where the problem was. I technically didn’tneedto touch it, but like seeing the target, touching made things easier. I was clearly outclassed here, and I needed every advantage I could get.

Triscuit knew the moment I picked him up that we were on a mission. This wasn’t play time; this was work. He sat on my shoulder and started preening my hair.

The problem was that no matter how fast I mended the barrier, someone was tearing it down even faster. It was shortly after the food arrived that I started to make leeway. It was also then that I got a call from Jules.

“Hey, Gigi. You won’t believe what’s happening right now. There’s a full-blown muscle man photoshoot happening right outside our door.”

So that was the noise I’d been hearing.

“Everyone’s coming in for coffee between posing,” Jules continued. “The place is full for the first time since those asshats started messing with us.”

I peered outside my curtains, and sure enough, there were about a dozen half-naked hotties strutting their stuff outside. There were also several large backdrops, and bright lights. One set of lights wasn’t pointed at the models but rather directly at the U-Haul, blinding our spotter. There were also several large trucks between Faux Hobo and the building now.

Jules assured me that they didn’t need extra help, but I told her I was upstairs and to call if she needed anything.

“A photoshoot?” I raised a brow at Marcus.

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