Page 36 of Handcuffs and Hexes

I wondered if I’d be tempted to destroy the organization and everything in it, too, if I had the ability. And Seth had had to deal with this his entire life; he’d seen what it had done to his mother.

A shimmering between me and the giant flat-screen TV caught my attention. Moments later, Seth was stepping through a portal. Unlike some of the portals I’d seen on the internet, this one shimmered with darkness almost reminiscent of The Breach.

“Miss me?”

“Not a bit,” I said. To which he just grinned.

“Coming!” Liam yelled from his computer. “I’m almost done with my game!”

Seth came to sit next to me instead, and I wrinkled my nose at the strange smell emanating from him. Where had I smelled that before? It was almost like ozone, but not quite.

Seth reached under the coffee table and brought out a stack of menus. “Let’s look for lunch; what are you craving? We can order in, or I can take you out. And if there’s nothing you want at the restaurants, I can call my chef and have him whip up something you want.”

“You have a chef?”

“Kinda. We don’t use him as much as we should anymore.”

“What the hell? You smell like The Breach,” Liam said, approaching us and looking quite upset.

“Oh! That’s what he smells like!”

“Why the fuck were you at The Breach? I thought Desmon said to stay away.”

Seth waved his hand as if brushing off Liam’s worry. “Desmon wanted to know why The Breach affected some magic users and not others. I didn’t throw myself into it the first time, so he sent me along with two of the Redrock brothers. I was protected bymagical shields so they could haul me back if I looked like I was about to throw myself in.”

I realized the magical shields were to protect the two gargoyles from Seth should he turn on them mid-mission.

“I still don’t like it.”

I was reminded of how Chief had just told me they’d nicknamed The Breach the “wizard swallower.” Maybe it was best I didn’t bring that up in front of Liam. “I think I agree with Liam on this one,” I said. “You might have come back this time, but you may not be immune to it.”

“Oh, IknowI’m not immune.”

“No?”

“I heard it calling to me. But I ignored it.”

“Interesting.” I tried to ignore the growing frown on Liam’s face, which told me that he didn’t find it nearly as interesting as I did. “Did it call to you the first time?”

“Yes, but I didn’t recognize it at the time. It was just noise, a buzzing. But I heard it loud and clear this time. It was a feminine voice. She was lonely and wanted me to join her.”

I felt a little stab of jealousy at the thought that some interdimensional hussy was trying to get her claws on my wizard, which was ridiculous, because Seth wasn’t mine. But hewasLiam’s, and Liam reacted.

“You’d better have told her to get lost,” Liam said, pouting.

“I told her kindly that I was already taken. I have plenty anchoring me to this world.” Seth stood and went over to the still clearly upset demon and wrapped his arms around him. “I tried to ask her questions, but she wouldn’t really answer. She kept repeating that she was lonely and just wanted some company. Then she started promising me things, and I got the hell out of there, and I told Desmon what I learned.”

“What did it promise?” I asked.

“Shit it had no business offering.” Seth’s lips flattened to a straight line that told me he wouldn’t say any more.

“Maybe it only preys on lonely wizards,” I said.

“Perhaps,” Liam said. “But I still don’t want you anywhere near it again.”

“Trust me, I’d much rather be at the beach than The Breach. Oh yeah, the two of you in swimwear?” He held the fingers of his hand together in front of him like he was an Italian chef about to wax poetic about a proper fettuccine alfredo—made with butter and parmesan, no cream—then kissed the tip of each perfectly manicured digit in succession.

I rolled my eyes at how silly it was. Even if Liam looked great in a sailor suit, I was no siren.

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