Page 31 of Secret Origins
“I thought you two were …” the human cleared his throat uncomfortably, dark pink shading his cheekbones. “It looked like … I assumed …” he stuttered, making him almost endearing.
“We fuck, General. It’s what humans do too, yes?” His face went redder, and that had me giggling. “Just because he is hot and I want to jump his bones does not mean I trust him with everything.”
Marius was choking behind us, hacking like a cat trying to cough out a hairball. Rubbing the back of my neck, I shifted on my feet. Fenrir would be back soon because he was not stupid. He knew I was up to something and I really didn’t want to test our fragile truce just yet.
“Well?” Prompting the General, I kept glancing over my shoulder. “How do you activate the runes.”
“It’s fire magic,” Marius answered. “When the bullet is fired, the spark sets them off to activate the magic. I placed a delay rune so it doesn’t blow in your face when you fire it, but as soon as that burns out it’ll eat through anything … organic.”
In other words, a skull or a body.
“This was your idea?” I was seriously shocked at how smart he apparently was.
“No, it was the General. I only said I’d try, and well … it worked.”
“I thought you were a psychic mage. I guess I don’t know enough about them.” When the old man stiffened, alarms were triggered in my brain. “What are you two hiding?”
“I can do fire magic, too. Unlike other psychic mages.” Meek, pale Marius lifted his chin as if expecting an executioner.
“Oookkayyy.” Dragging it out, I was getting confused about where this was going. “I feel like I’m missing something.”
“Marius doesn’t know of another one like him. That’s why he was trying to hide among humans when you found him.” The General searched my face when I finally understood they were worried I might flip because of that information.
“Pftt.” Waving their worries away, I took the bullet from the General’s hand and eyed it in fascination. “I couldn’t care less if you sprout a tail Marius, just as long as you don’t step on my toes or say a word outside this circle. But keep the information about you between the three of us.” Both of them nodded grimly. “What’s that saying the humans love so much? Ah, yes. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
“I will rip his arm off and beat him with it if he tries to lay a finger on you.” Fenrir stormed back with a paper bag dangling from his fingers.
“Look, the caveman peasant is here. He must’ve clobbered food on his way back.” Before he changed his mind, I yanked the brown bag out of his hand and tore it open.
The scent of chocolate washed over my face as the paper ripped open revealing a box full of goodness-covered eclairs and another with a neatly, diagonally cut sandwich stuffed full of meats and salads.
“I think I’ll keep you, peasant,” I whispered reverently at Fenrir.
The open bag had me debating for all of two and a half seconds before I attacked the eclairs like a starving beast. I shoved a whole pastry in my mouth, puffing up my cheeks like a chipmunk. The eyes rolled to the back of my head when the chocolate, flaky dough, and creamy custard melted on my tongue. Embarrassing moans that came from me filled the silence, while the three of them watched me with horror and fascination. I didn’t care at all.
“I think you just discovered the way to a woman’s heart, son.’ The General slapped a stunned Fenrir on the shoulder before walking away chuckling to himself.
20
“Are you sure about this?”
Fenrir looked doubtful as he eyed the door of the pub I frequented to get peace of mind, a grimace on his pretty face. When the General said we would need to test the bullets before attempting to use them on the minotaur or on Danu, the first thing that came to mind was this place. Fates knew I’d killed enough assholes in the ally behind it to rate it as the prime spot for targets.
“It’s not a palace or befitting my station, but I suppose it’ll do.” I sniffed arrogantly, almost ripping the heel of my boot off when it got stuck in a crack in the pavement.
Cleverly, Fenrir grabbed my upper arm to steady me while biting off his laughter, although I noticed his shoulders shaking when I squinted at him. I needed to check what was happening with my sight since I had to look through narrowed eyes to bring things into focus. It would have to wait until I killed the bitch and her cow first, though.
He followed as I pushed through the doors and braced for the stench of sweat and stale beer to turn my full stomach inside out. The Fae hacked behind me when I B-lined for the bar as fast as my feet would carry me. The bartended looked like he wanted to jump out of his skin, frozen like a deer in headlights as he openly stared at Fenrir. I looked too, but I couldn’t see anything wrong with his appearance. He had his illusion cast, giving him platinum blond hair and sun-kissed skin. I was sure he looked less pretty to a human so he didn’t attract too much attention, meaning we shouldn’t have anyone gawking at all.
That was not the case.
“I should’ve known,” Fenrir snarled, hunching his shoulders in such a way that I had to slap a hand on his chest to stop him from attacking.
“What the hell is the matter with you.” Hissing at him, I was trying to see if the few humans sprinkled around the pub noticed his attitude. “Stop it or you’ll wait outside.”
“A troll,” he spat, literally spat on the ground. I’d never seen him do that in my life.
“A what now?” Inching away so I didn’t end up with spit on my boots, I looked around again searching for a troll. I found none.
