Page 102 of Thanatos' Craving

My treasure, who had stood beside me, hugged my arm and glanced between us. “I can stay with you,” she said. “I can catch up with them later.”

Uriel pulled Juniper’s arm. “No, come with us. I’ve got tons of swimsuits you can pick out.”

Juniper’s soul fluttered brightly on her skin as she continued to glance back at me and Hecate.

I patted her hand. “I will only be but an hour. Why don’t you go and have fun? I’m sure it is just about the magic around the club.”

Hecate hummed in agreement. “It is. It’s about the glamour. Just the logistics of it. I don’t want to ruin the party.”

Reluctantly, Juniper released her grip on my arm, and as Uriel seized the opportunity to pull her away, I noticed a hint of longing in her eyes. It’s a sight I hadn’t witnessed in the past few days, causing a surge of desire that instantly aroused me. The days she spent with her friends were marked by a lack of such longing, as she focused on forging bonds of friendship that should have been formed during her youth. I never held it against her; in fact, I encouraged her to establish those connections before venturing into a deeper relationship with me.

“We will watch them,” Hypnos said, and motions for Ares to follow. “I don’t mind watching a bunch of women in scantily clad bikinis.” He winked.

“Have you watched the new video Mariah, and I did?” Ares asked my brother.

Hypnos pales. “Ah, no. No, I haven’t. I figured I’d wait until this whole stripper club thing is over with.”

Ares slaps his hand on his back. “Nah, we should watch it together. I got it on my phone. We can watch it by the pool.”

Hypnos groaned and shot me a pleading look. I certainly owed him later.

Once the females excited chatter disappeared around the corner, Hecate chuckled. “You’ve got a jealous little mate there, Thanatos. I hope you are ready to face the consequences of that.”

I tilted my head in confusion as we walk away to find a conference room so we can talk in private. Hades and Lucifer were out in the Underworld scouting for more demons that Andriel and Simone had identified as working with this match maker.

“What do you mean? Jealous?”

Hecate shook her head, her silver-streaked hair shimmering in the dimly lit room, and opened the heavy wooden door to the conference room. As we entered, the scent of freshly brewed coffee mixed with the faint aroma of paper and ink. We both settled into the plush leather chairs, and Hecate’s perfectly manicured nails tapped rhythmically on the polished mahogany table, creating a subtle symphony of clicks. “She’s jealous that you are alone with me,” she whispered, her voice tinged with a hint of amusement. “It’s a feeling you must have forgotten.”

“I get jealous. I don’t like her spending time with Ember, Uriel, and Mariah.” I blew out a breath. “Or my brother.”

“Yes, but you haven’t experienced it when a female gets jealous over you.”

My eyes widened a bit. No, I haven’t experienced that. I grinned beneath my hood. I liked her being jealous. The question was, what would she do about it?

“It could be a good or bad thing. Good luck to see what she does.” Hecate taps her index finger on the table again. “Anyway, I’m here to talk to you about Samael. I was able to get into his mind. I wanted to talk to you about the magic.”

I leaned back in my chair and exhaled. Uriel already said that it was a strong, but loosely construed magic. I wonder what Hecate had figured out.

“A witch or warlock cannot cast a glamour on this person. This person is someone who is immortal, that used to be human. A god or goddess gave them the gift. A god or goddess has granted her powers and certain abilities. I don’t believe these are originalabilities a god or goddess has bestowed upon this immortal, however. These abilities, since they have lived so long, have evolved. As I have said before, magic grows and so have their abilities.”

I hummed in agreement.

“Judging by the clothing, it’s a woman. Or a male, with very slender but strong legs and loves pink.” She chuckled. “But it isn’t a glamour at all.”

I sat up in my chair and leaned forward at the news.

“It isn’t? Then what?”

“It’s camouflage.”

I sat there, dumbfounded. “Isn’t that the same as a glamour?”

Hecate shook her head. “No, it isn’t. They are morphing their face, but you notice nothing out of the ordinary until you turn away. You forget any distinguishing features such as a mole, their hair color, their nose, eyes.”

I shook my head. “No, it has to be magic. Juniper can see, she saw what they looked like.”

Hecate reared her head back. “She did? She knows what the person looks like?”

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