Page 41 of The Forty-Year-Old Virgin Witch

Fifteen

Aggie

I don’t know why I felt so confident about going to the forest that night. All I knew was that I wasn’t afraid of Luka, no matter how badly Karl wanted me to be. My magick curled and pushed against my veins in the forest, begging to be set free. Karl ran with me in his arms, and when I closed my eyes, I imagined us flying. I knew vampyres were fast, but this was incredible! Who needed a car or an airplane?

All my life I’d been told vampyres were bloody, lust-driven monsters who would no sooner befriend you than eat you. Then again, I’d been told the same about werewolves, and he turned out to be the biggest teddy bear out of either of them.

What else my mother had been wrong about?

I’d spent the last twenty years trying to suppress my magick, and it hurt. I was tired. Tired of hurting, tired of hiding, and tired of pushing everyone away.

Especially when there were two incredibly hot, kind-hearted men who seemed really into me. Even if one was a vampyre and the other a werewolf.

When Karl assured me I was safe to let out my magick, I chose to believe him. I’d relied on myself for so long, I was desperate to just let someone else worry for once. As soon as he gave me the go ahead, I let it go.

And by the Mother above, it felt glorious.

The rush of it was intoxicating; I told myself that was why I pulled Karl to me, stealing kisses that only deepened as I tugged my fingers through his hair.

And then somehow Luka had shifted into his human form—a very naked human form—and lavished his own attentions on me. Regrettably he almost lost his control with his wolf, but I’ll continue to blame one person specifically for ruining my moment with my boys, because I was finally accepting that they were mine, and imagining all the wicked things we could do together. After all, it was impossible to say no to either of them. So I decided not to.

It had been all going so well, until that idiot had shown up and ruined it. Inwardly, there was a tiny part of me that was relieved. Would I have let one of my boys go the entire way with me? With my magick flaring around me, I might have.

Maybe.

It was a moot point now. Admittedly, Luka had lost control of his wolf for a brief moment, but Karl had been there as promised, jumping between me like it was nothing. Then a bolt of magick had sizzled out of the night sky and hurled into Luka.

It hadn’t come from me.

No one attacked my boys.

Quinn’s eyes went wide as he dodged out of the way of the small fireball I managed to conjure, but he couldn’t run from Karl. Karl had Quinn’s arms behind his back and his face shoved into the dirt faster than you could say ‘stupid warlock.’

“Fucking vampyres!” he cursed, his face smashed into the dirt.

“FIX HIM!” I demanded, pointing to the unconscious figure of Luka, though I was encouraged by the steady rise and fall of the massive wolf’s chest. Quinn spat out a wad of dirt, scowling.

“How about ‘thanks Quinn, that werewolf was gonna eat me’?”

Karl shoved him further into the dirt. I slumped to the ground, exhausted after expending so much magick. I 'd probably overdone it by running around the lake.

“I had the situation under control,” Karl said evenly, not even struggling to keep Quinn held down. It would have been funny if I hadn’t been so angry and tired. Quinn writhed madly, and with a sigh, Karl let him up enough to speak.

“As fun as it is to bash wolves into the ground, I have important news about the coven. And you’re not going to like it.”

I pointed vehemently to Luka again, and Quinn rolled his eyes.

“He’ll wake up eventually. It was just a stunner.”

He’d better wake up.

“I’m assuming you didn’t come back—during the full moon no less—because you wanted to have tea.” Karl’s tone was mild, but his grip on Quinn wasn’t. I pushed away an inappropriate grin.

“If you’d quit manhandling me, I’ll get to it.”

I nodded to Karl, who let him go with a disgusted curl of his upper lip. I yawned but still put one hand on Luka’s back, summoning up what scraps of magick I could.

“Be careful, you don’t want to drain—”

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