Page 102 of Hex
It’s amazing what a few months of peace can do for the soul.
It’s also pretty amazing what a shit load of money can do.
Today is the opening day for the first Mystic T shop in Savannah, Georgia, and it is the most magical place I have ever seen. After only a week’s worth of busy work, getting the shop all decked out and supplies organized, it’s finally ready.
Danika made the baked goods for our opening day, but she’s under strict instructions from Desdemon to stay within six feet of three of his guards. We thought it’d be a bad look to have three towering vampyres hanging around though, so she is staying in Velmore.
“Proud of you, Satapti.” Hack kisses the top of my head and squeezes my ass for good measure as we stand in front of the new Mystic T.
It’s five-thirty in the morning, snow litters the ground, and there is already a crowd forming.
“I’m proud of me, too.” Grinning, I grab his hand and practically skip toward the entrance, letting us in and effectively opening up for the customers at the same time.
I’m not running this store because, while I loved every second of it in my anthros life, I have more living to do now. Opportunities are vast and as a baby kyn, I have a whole lotta learning to catch up on. I’m still determined to open these shops up all over the worlds, though. The next plan is for one in The Shade.
Agatha and Bluebell are running the Mystic T in Staten Island, thankfully looking like their own version of anthros rather than duplicates of me and Danika, and I have two real witches managing the store here. Tyrine and Koda were thrilled to interview for the role, not that they needed to because Hekate vouched for them with ease when I asked her for advice.
The fact that they’re supernaturals means I’ll never have to explain any strange happenings, and they can easily recognize the customers who are kyn. They have the same kind of set-up above the shop as Danika and I had, only there are spells active that make the space a lot bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside.
“I’ve infused the dreamcatchers with real magic, I’ll teach you how when we meet next week for our training session.” An older woman, no taller than five feet, grins and leans in to whisper, “Ty and Koda can do it, but they don’t have that extra goddess touch.” She raises her brows knowingly.
“Thank you.”
“No, thankyoufor giving our kyn a safe space for coming together and gathering supplies.”
Watching as she blends into the crowd of customers browsing the shelves, I smile. Hekate chooses this form when she’s on Earth quite often, mainly to disguise herself from other kyn, but also to stop the advances of the anthros who are drawn to her natural golden goddess glow.
Our regular sessions together have been really helpful. I’m learning to control my emotions and my magic, both godly andwitchy, but my angel powers remain untouched. I can tug on the thread, I can manifest my shield, but anything else is guess work because I don’t want to put myself in front of Atlantis again. Father or not…just no.
I have also spent some time reading through the journals from Baba Yaga’s home in Alaska. So far, I’ve made it through two and a half of them, and they make for an interesting read. All end in tragedy, of course, but I have had fathers. They don’t seem to have been a benefit in my past lives, so I see no reason why having one now would make a difference.
Okay, so he saved me from death by execution, but for an angel, he doesn’t give off great vibes.
“Boss lady.” Koda greets me at the counter with a smile and a fresh coffee.
“We won’t stay, but I wanted to be the first customer.” I scan my cell over the machine to pay, and a giddiness builds in my chest.
The witches had their training while the shop was being built, so I’m confident in their abilities, and I don’t want to be that helicopter parent hovering around all day and making them nervous. I’ll check in on them again after closing time…and probably again tomorrow. Mystic T is like my baby and, for now, that’s good enough.
Hack bringing the subject of real babies up the other day shocked me, and I’m not even sure how it works with kyn, but I do know that I’m not ready for that yet. We have time…all the time in the worlds.
“We’ll do you proud, Sage. Thank you for giving us this opportunity.”
“I know you will, Koda.” I take a moment to sip my coffee, inhaling the blackcurrant notes and closing my eyes. “Mmm.”
“You can’t make noises like that in a place like this, Satapti.” The way Hack whispers into my neck makes my skin prickle with heat.
“But coffee…” I hold up the travel cup and give it a light jiggle.
“Time to say goodbye.” His sexy growl has been coming out to play, often, and I’m never going to complain about that.
Hack already has a possessive hold around my waist, making me shake my head and roll my eyes as I say goodbye to Koda and Tyrine with a wave.
I squeal when Hack lifts me and throws me over his shoulder. Luckily, I manage to keep a hold of my coffee in the process.
“Put me down, you brute.” I half-heartedly wriggle to get free—I don’t want to be free. I fucking love when he does this.
There are a few stares—okay, a lot of stares—from the customers perusing the shelves of witchy items and getting their coffees, but let them gawk.
