Page 89 of How to Entice a Fiend

Alexei slaps his hand over Finn’s mouth. “Do not listen to him.”

“Oh honey… my heart! My fragile heart! I’d love to teach you my ways. Oh. My. Goodness. Would everyone else like to know? Maybe we could stop all of this life-threatening stuff and become models! That sounds delightful. Marcus?”

“I would rather walk around naked than become a model,” Marcus says.

“Honey… I feel like my brother is being awfully mean. I’m so glad you love me and are willing to embrace my clothes.”

“I embrace every part of you,” Alexei says, sounding a bit like he’s not quite so sure he wants to join the model life either.

“Then does that mean you’ll let me dress you for our next date? Nothing would make me happier.” It’s obvious Claude knows what he’s doing as he cons Alexei into what looks like a scarring experience.

“Nothing would make me happier as well,” Alexei replies with much dread. Claude doesn’t care. It’s become clear he’d feast on that dread if it meant dressing his partner up.

“Alright, you two colorful lovebirds, let’s get started and stop screwing around,” Finn says.

Marcus looks at Finn in disbelief. “Weren’t… weren’t you the one who started… never mind, honey.”

“Never mind is right,” Finn says, looking quite proud of himself.

They disappear through the door, leaving only Ender. He slides onto a stool and stares at what I’m doing. “Do I really have to watch? I can already tell that you’re doing something different than what you did before.”

“Oh? You think so? That’s weird. Very weird. Maybe it’s just because the items are in a different form.”

“Or maybe because you’re making something else. Whatever you made before, you had to move quickly. Here, you’re letting it rise in temperature before cooling it.”

“I had very little time before.”

“What are you making?” he asks.

“Magic.”

“Oh wow. And what does this magic do?”

“Like magicky stuff. Like… whoosh and wham and pow.”

“Oh wow, I’m totally convinced you’re not doing something nefarious,” Ender says.

I smile at him. “You’re cute, you know that?”

Ender looks skeptical. “You apparently have a thing for half-dead, half-asleep men who haven’t had the chance to bathe or sleep or really just… exist in days. I’m supposed to watch you,” he says as he slips off his chair onto the floor. “But I will watch you from down here.”

“I don’t think it’s safe to sleep on the floor next to someone making… antidote.”

“Why’d you hesitate?”

“That’s what it’s called: …Antidote. It’s like a pregnant pause to build up the anticipation.”

“Just don’t blow everything up. Rylee is here.”

“Oh, the only reason I can’t blow things up is because Rylee is here?” I tease.

“Correct. Give me something for a pillow.”

I look around then decide that my shirt is the only thing suitable and pull it off. At least it’s the clean one Katherine gave me and not the bloody one I left behind in the car. He raises an eyebrow. “There are like five aprons right there that you could have given me. I thought you were all about safety.”

“When I see an opportunity to flirt with you, I will do anything, even say ‘fuck safety,’ to accomplish it.”

“It’s not my fault when you burn your chest hair off.”

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