Page 18 of Handcuffs and Hexes

“Apparently not.”

“Nope.”

Then Seth told me about how when he was sixteen, his very pregnant mother had disappeared, and his father had sent him, not even an adult yet, on a mission to retrieve her.

“When I finally found Mom, she’d already given my sister away to the first witch she could find.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “She gave her baby away?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t done out of malice. It was an act of love. She didn’t want her daughter to suffer as she had. Daughtersand wives in powerful wizard households, especially those who are part of the WEC, lived glamorous but sad lives. Because of their genetics, most are born with an abundance of magic but are forbidden to ever use it. They are married off young, usually to one of their father’s friends, and then their husbands tap into their magic, channeling it and using it as if it were their own.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Yes. And my mother didn’t want more of the same for her daughter. So she ran. My father had known why and charged me with bringing her back for her punishment. I found her but couldn’t bring myself to drag her back. So I went to Desmon, begging him to hide her and offering my services for life in return.”

“That’s very brave and the right thing to do. I guess he said yes? Does that mean Desmon doesn’t really pay you? And wait, this happened when you were sixteen? You didn’t leave the WEC until The Wall fell much later.”

The smell of bacon and toast were now filling the loft, and my stomach rumbled, expressing just how empty it was.

“He agreed, but waited for me to finish my schooling and get as powerful as I could first. He took Mom in but put targeted amnesia spells on both me and Liam. We returned home empty-handed, and when my father and his friends used magical means to fish the information from our heads, they only found a fruitless search. I went back to school, completely forgetting about my deal with Desmon.

“But slowly, the memories came back. By the time I graduated at the top of my class and was accepted into the WEC, I remembered everything and went in secret to visit my mother. Desmon had encouraged me to join the WEC. It gave me experiences I’d have never gotten.”

“And when The Wall fell, you left?” I asked.

“Yup. But none of that would’ve happened if I hadn’t been terrified and desperate and begging for help at a dragon’s door. And trust me, that’s a lot worse than needing help making a coffee. You technically still have a concussion. Remember? I understand needing to appear strong when you’re out there,” he pointed out the window at the city of Darlington, “but you spend your life taking care of the people of Darlington. In here, let Liam and I take care of you, even if it’s just for a little while.”

I got ready to protest, but then he said, “And then when we need it, you can take care of us back.”

He was turning it into a give-and-take situation, which I was a lot more receptive to. But still, this was Seth! Annoying, full-of-himself Seth. Stole-my-freaking-cruiser Seth.

“But I’m supposed to hate your guts,” I said, the words almost a whine.

“You can go back to hating my guts after.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’m agreeing to let you take care of me, for now. But that’s it. I’m not agreeing to anything more.”

“Good enough for me. Now, let’s get some food in you.”

Chapter 9

Liam

“Heregoesnothing,”Isaid to Mateo as I grew my leg extra long, unformed my shoes, and stuck a toe into The Breach.

It disappeared into the swirling darkness. Nothing happened. I wiggled the toe, bracing for some unknown and unseen monster to come and gobble it up. Still nothing.

“Pull it back,” Mateo said nervously.

I did, and it came back whole and untouched. “Your turn?”

“Nope. No way. I’m dumb, but not that dumb. And Eva would throw a fit if I did, even if I got my toes back.” He backed away from The Breach. “Besides, I can’t grow back body parts like you do.”

He made a good point. If I lost the toe to The Breach, it meant I was down a few grams of soulstuff, but I could accumulate more of it over time. Just like in other living things whohadsouls, demon soulstuff could grow back. In fact, most damaged souls could grow back and be whole again, given enough time and care. But physical lost limbs were permanent unless one was an axolotl. I was a lot, but not an axolotl.

And once a physical body dies, the soul goes with it. And this fear was why I was so protective of Seth. He might have powerful magic, but that was useless if he was dead. Humans were so fragile.

“I wonder if I’d have trouble coming back if I went all the way through.”

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