Page 1 of Magic and Muffins

CHAPTERONE

Everything happens for a reason,I thought as Cross spooned me on his king-size bed. Sure, it sucked that someone had vandalized the house Vena and I shared, but I didn’t mind where I was now. His new room was quiet and dark, and it tempted me to go back to sleep for a little longer.

“Are you ready to wake up?” Cross asked softly.

“Is it time to wake up?”

“You can sleep as long as you’d like, but it’s past ten, and Vena’s called twice. She’s worried about your concussion. And you have some messages from Shepard and your parents.”

I sighed. “Then it’s time to get up. If I don’t answer Vena soon, she’ll break down the door.”

He quietly got out of bed and used the remote to open the window shades just enough to see without blinding me. Which was a good thing, or I would have missed an incredible view. Cross wore blue athletic shorts low on his hips, nicely showing his V-pack.

His hungry amber gaze raked over me as he returned to settle in beside me and toy with the ends of my long sunny-blonde hair.

“She would find breaking into this room incredibly difficult,” Cross said. “There’s a reason it’s so quiet in here. The room is not only soundproofed but nearly impenetrable when locked. That’s why there’s a doorbell outside the room. It’s the only way anyone can disturb us, excluding our phones.”

The level of security didn’t surprise me. He took my safety seriously.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked.

“I did. Really well, actually.”

“How is your head?”

I reached up to touch the spot I’d hit on the doorframe when Vivian had yanked me from the car. The mild concussion I’d gained from the experience was much better than the bite the vampire had wanted to give me.

“A bit achy, but nothing I’d medicate.”

Cross kissed my cheek and handed me my phone. I called Vena first. The last thing I needed was for her to test the impenetrable door.

“I’m alive,” I said when she answered. “No headache. No need to worry.”

“Pfft. I wasn’t worried.”

“Yes, she was,” Anchor said in the background.

“What are you doing?” she asked me. “Anything that my virgin eyes can’t witness.”

I snorted. “Is there anything your eyes haven’t witnessed?”

“Yeah, you getting dirty with Cross. It’s like the book being better than the movie. I think my imagination is making it way hotter than reality.”

“Unlikely,” Cross said beside me, proving he could hear.

I flushed and shook my head at both of them.

“If you don’t need anything else, I’m hanging up.”

“Wait,” she said quickly. “There was a reason I’m asking about your sex life. Can we come over?”

“Of course. But why?”

Vena never did something without a reason.

“Distraction. Anchor needs a break.”

“Too much information, Vena,” I said, thinking about poor Anchor’s curse and Vena’s subsequent attempts to wear out the curse.

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