Page 100 of Witches Be Damned

I laughed. “I don’t want to know where you hid this baby.”

“I saved it for all my babies.” He kissed my cheek and let me pop the cork and pour us all a plastic cup of champagne.

“Save one for Dad, will you?” Tor suggested.

“It’ll probably be flat by then,” I argued.

Tor ushered me to prepare one for Loco anyway. “Yeah, but at least he won’t have a reason to murder us for leaving him out.”

We all laughed and murmured our agreement, tucking into the food, and cheering at the toast Serena made to our happy and healthy futures outside of these walls.

Speaking of the future, we still had to discuss the direction of ours.

CHAPTER 31 - TOR

Pinch me. I still didn’t believe this was real. Freedom at last. Vindication of my and my brother’s crimes with evidence proving our innocence, releasing us from the prison. A pardon for Supergal for good behavior and an apology for the imprisonment under such a minor crime. Full reinstatement to the Guild of Shadows with very generous ex-gratia payments for our wrongful imprisonment to the five of us and secret ones made to Raze. Ass-kissing in all its full glory. A document that we framed and put on our wall.

We didn’t go out much for the first two weeks, settling into our new home and taking it easy, ordering all the takeout we could fit in our stomachs to splurge and recuperate. Raze stayed with us, and then we camped at his sanctuary, getting lost in nature, hiking, fishing, bonfires, booze, and barbeques.

Lastly, I visited family, where I scored myself some Cold Rock ice cream to fulfill the first thing on my post-prison to-do list. I ate it too fast and too hard, and had the worst brain freeze, but it was worth it after a long stretch without indulging in some. My niece and nephew got a kick out of me groaning, at least.

In a few days, the five of us would jet off to our vacation on a one of the Hawaiian islands to celebrate getting out, our new lives, and new jobs. Knoxe suggested Thailand for his to-do item, but we outvoted him for a trip to the US.

We scheduled Pascal’s celebratory trip to attend the symphony upon our return because Supergal wanted us all there in suits and on our best behavior. Life had never been sweeter or more hopeful.

“What’s next, Tor?” Knoxe asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I took stock of our efforts this far. One last item to cart from the rental hire truck inside to my mom’s new place.

“Grab that end of the sofa, will you?” I instructed him, claiming the foot of it. Knoxe lifted the other side, and I walked it backward down the truck’s ramp.

Pascal and Raze returned from inside Mom’s two-bedroom unit.

“Is that the last of it?” Raze asked, not even breaking a sweat from all the heavy lifting, unlike the rest of the guys.

“That’s it.” I nudged the end of the furniture past his broad body into the entrance. “Thanks for your help today, buddy.”

“No problem.” Raze slapped my back. “I’m here for you, brother.”

Fuck, I loved this guy. Loved them all for pitching in their time to help my mom relocate from a shitty little unit without enough accessible disability features to one with everything kitted out.

The minute we were released and given our belongings and phones back, I got onto Mads, negotiating another favor for him to arrange a suitable new home for my mom and sister that was available to move into right away. And what do you know? The thief avatar came through. And, as a goodwill gesture, he added another zero to my bank balance, encompassing money from contraband sales, former salary from my Guild employment, and ex-gratia payments. The cheeky thief avatar gave me more than enough to cover the purchase of my mother’s unit and a suburban house for my sister with a backyard for my niece and nephew, as well as an investment property to get into the market.

Mads would deny it until he was blue in the face, but I think he had a soft spot for me. He swung me some merch and special edition comics signed by him, Cupid, and her other two husbands for my and Supergal’s collection, Hermes love him.

On our release, Vartros found us temporary accommodations for two days—hello, penthouse at Ridges—until he scored us a Guild-owned apartment in Bathurst, close to the Academy. Supergal was thrilled to be close to her bestie, Luna, and scheduled in summer barbeques and dinner dates with her and her men. Knoxe, Pascal, Raze, and I were thrilled it came rent-free, stocked with all the beer four men could ask for, fully furnished, and five bedrooms... though we mainly slept in Supergal’s on her Alaskan King bed which took up a third of the main bedroom.

We negotiated a stellar deal with the Guardians to continue working for them with incredible perks. Better salary, in the order of half a mil each per year. Eight weeks’ vacation per year. Choice in which missions we wanted, based on the danger of the gantii criminal and the planet we traveled to arrest them, the risk of our harm, length of time away from home, and bonuses. Best of all, we got Raze back where he belonged, and Supergal bargained time in the laboratory to please her chemistry nerd.

Raze hated living in town and planned to venture back to the sanctuary to stay in between missions to get his wilderness fix. That was fine with Supergal, as it left her time with the rest of us… although she missed him like crazy when he was away. But he always came back to his pack. And on her off days, she allocated days to stay up there with him, and we scheduled times to visit too, depending on our missions.

Knoxe and I navigated the tight turn in the foyer to get the three-seater into the lounge at the front of the unit.

“Just here, please, Victor.” Mom directed us to set it down by the window where Janet, Molly, and Jack could watch TV whenever they visited.

Astra smiled and came up to me, rubbing my stiff, sore shoulders. Her smiles fueled me, and I could live off just them and air. She and my sister got out of furniture moving duties by volunteering in the kitchen to prepare a meal for us all. A little thank you from me for their effort.

“You’ve got a beautiful home, Mrs. Helms.” Supergal put her arm around my waist and squeezed.

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