Page 65 of All's Fair in Love and Magic

“Not my bodyguard,” I agreed.

His scowl deepened. “I wouldn’t need to be your bodyguard if I could still access my wings.”

“Good thing I’m working on that, then.” I tapped my pencil on the paper. “As soon as we grab a couple of plants and necklaces, I can start testing it out. It wouldn’t be the end of the world to work on that today and save the runes for tomorrow.”

Assuming I didn’t give in to what I’d been thinking about and just seal the bond with him.

After getting him off earlier, I wasn’t nervous about sex anymore. I was actually kind of excited.

But I did need to work on the wards a little more before we could get to that. So, my excitement was going to have to wait. Maybe I could get Liam used to sitting by me before we took our bond to the next level, too.

“How likely is it to work?” he asked.

I flashed him a look. “I might not be the best witch, but I know how to work runes. It’s going to work. Maybe not the first or second try, but still soon.”

“I wasn’t suggesting your runes wouldn’t work. I just don’t know what the chance is that your magic can actually fool the mate bond.”

Oh.

Thatwasa better question. Especially from a shifter point of view, because their magic was innate and always worked properly.

“Mate bonds are unbreakable, but not infallible. I know witches who’ve been paid multiple fortunes to charm blood to taste like a fated mate’s for a vampire who was trying to wean themselves out of a blood addiction. They pay, because it works. Tricking your side of that should be simpler than that, because you’re not actually consuming anything.”

Liam nodded slowly. “But it might not.”

“Well yeah, nothing is guaranteed with magic. I’d say there’s about a ninety-five percent chance it’ll work though, given everything else.”

He eyed me. “Did you just pull that number out of your ass in an attempt to make me feel better?”

I shrugged. “Maybe. Want me to roll over so you can check?”

He snorted.

I bit back a grin.

His sense of humor might have been hard to reach, but it did exist. I’d keep teasing it out, slowly but surely.

“Do you know what plants you want?” he asked.

“Mmhm. Want to go find them for me? You know I’m safe in here, thanks to the shitload of runes on the building.”

“Yeah. I can find the dog tags, too.”

I flipped to a blank page and tore it out, taking a minute to sketch the plants out for him. I added their names and their locations in the greenhouse, just to make his search easier.

After I handed it over, he slipped out.

He was excited about the possibility of the runes giving him access to his wings without me again, and we both knew it.

“Want me to bring back anything else?” Liam asked on his way out.

“Fancy coffee from the demons’ shop?” I checked. “And chocolate?”

He nodded. “I’ll make it quick, so you don’t get too uncomfortable.”

My forehead creased.

“Heat.” He gestured to me. “It was causing you pain.”

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