by T. S. Snow
Well, actually, I might’ve been able to, if my life hadn’t become so damn frenetic. As it was, I barely even had time for anything.
I’d ended up falling asleep on the keyboard without even realizing it. Blaze had felt sorry for me and let me sleep for a little bit before he shook me awake and brought me home. Things between us still felt pretty weird after the whole harem talk, but I was hoping with time, he’d make a decision, and regardless of whether it would be a positive or negative one, things would go back to normal. Whatever normal meant for us.
It wasn’t like we’d been super close friends before we jumped into bed together.
Before he, uh…did things to my body that were probably illegal in some places.
I searched my pockets for my keys—yes, I now had keys to Bast’s place, I’d leveled up—and let myself inside.
A quick scan around the room showed me that Bast had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for me to get home. He looked so damn cute. He was lying on his side with one arm under his head serving as a pillow, and the other in front of him, near his face. His lips were slightly open and tilted up, as if whatever he was dreaming about made him happy.
It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
It seemed crazy when I thought about how seamlessly we’d managed to fit together and started living together. I’d gone from someone afraid of commitments to living with a guy, and Bast had always made it feel so easy, so effortless. So right.
There were a lot of things I didn’t know, and a lot of possibilities in my future, even when it came down to relationships, but one thing was for damn sure—Bast was mine, and he might’ve been the best thing that ever happened in my life.
I went into the room, grabbed a blanket, and went to the couch to put it over Bast, but his eyes flew open when I got closer.
“Char, what time is it?” he asked, his voice rough from sleep.
“Shh, go back to sleep. It’s pretty late, sorry.”
Bast moved to a sitting position, even as I tried to put pressure on his shoulder for him to lie back down. “Go back to sleep, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” I said again, but Bast just shook his head.
“No, it’s okay. I’m glad you did.” He sat up and pulled me into his lap. I went willingly, resting my head on his shoulder. “How did it go today?”
My smile was more of a grimace than anything, but at least he couldn’t see it. “Had better days, but it was okay, I guess. You?”
Bast’s chest rumbled as he chuckled. “Gran being Gran. I think she traumatized Andres’ family, but at least that got solved.”
I opened my mouth to ask him what, exactly, had gotten solved, but he was quicker, turning his head to kiss me.
“Now tell me what’s upsetting you,” he asked. I lifted my head to stare at him.
“How did you know?” Seriously, did he have some kind of mind reading ability he hadn’t told me about? Because if so, we’d need to have a talk.
Bast just smiled. “I’ve known you for years, my love. Even when you were nothing more than a voice in my ear cursing me out during games. I know every inflection of your voice, every side of your personality. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?”
Seriously. This man.
Just shut up and take my panties already.
“Tell me what’s wrong, Char,” he requested softly, his eyes holding mine prisoner.
“IjustsortofaskedaguytobeinmyharemandIkindofsortofkissedhimtoo,” I blurted out, closing my eyes so I wouldn’t see the disapproval in them. Or the hurt.
Just because he said he was okay with sharing, didn’t mean he actually was.
Instead of raging, throwing me off his lap, or even yelling at me, Bast cupped my cheek.
Was this a trap?
It felt like it might be a trap.
Definitely a trap, my mental voice chipped in.
Bast chuckled. “It’s not a trap, Char. Open your eyes.”
Oops, didn’t mean to say that out loud.
Suspicious, I opened one eye to sneak a peek at him, ready to close it again and play dead.
Bast was grinning, though, and he didn’t look one bit upset.
Huh.
“Char, I meant what I said before. I know it might not make a ton of sense to you, but I won’t suddenly change my mind or regret my decision. I won’t ever put a limit to the number of people you love; all I want is for you to love me too. To love all of us. And I want you to be comfortable coming to me when you need to, even if it’s to talk about other guys. Or other potential guys.”
I stared really deep into his eyes, seeing the truth in his words, feeling it with every fiber of my being, and yet…
“I hear what you’re saying, and I want to believe you. Hell, I kind of do. You’ve never lied to me, even if you withheld some pretty big information, though I know why you did it. But you have to admit it’s pretty surreal coming to my boyfriend to tell him somebody else didn’t agree to become my boyfriend. I mean, it’s just…uh, weird.” I knew I was repeating myself, but really, could anyone blame me? Bast was offering me the kind of reality I’d only ever read about.
My brain had a lot to process.
“Blaze didn’t want to join?”
I gaped at him like a fish.
“You… Ho… Wh… How did you know it was Blaze!?” I managed to get out, even as I tried to pick my jaw back from the floor.
He can totally read my mind! Abort. Abort! 404 Error! All systems shut down! There’s a glitch in the matrix!
Bast just rolled his eyes at me. “How long do you think it takes me to get ready, Char?”
I gasped.
“You were snooping! You were totally eavesdropping on us back when he came pick me up to take me to my apartment! I don’t know whether to feel embarrassed or horrified,” I admitted.
The weirdness just kept getting weirder.
“I figured if you didn’t want me to hear, you would’ve had the conversation somewhere else.” He shrugged. “Besides, I wanted to give you two some space, and walking out of the room while you were having a heart-to-heart would probably only complicate things. I figured if you needed me, you would call out to me.”
I…couldn’t argue with his logic. Still…
“How much did you hear?” I asked, squirming on his lap so I could better face him.
Bast was the picture of innocence as I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Bastille,” I warned, though I had no idea what my threat would be.
To be fair, I wasn’t even angry at him for eavesdropping. I’d probably have done the same. However, I was extremely embarrassed about it, especially because of the whole bet thing. I mean, Bast already knew about its existence, but I was clearly terrible at picking men if most of the ones I’d been interested in would do something so childish and so hurtful.
I still hadn’t confronted Logan or Theo about it, but they’d been radio silent, so I was taking it as a sign they, too, had not planned on following through with the stupid bet.
Bast flicked my nose, like one would a child, before answering. “Relax. I only heard enough to be sure Blaze is a damn fool. If he were smart, he would have agreed to at least try the harem life. It’s not like he couldn’t have changed his mind. Andres’ dad did, and nobody stopped him from leaving, even though it broke all their hearts. It’s okay, poly life is not for everyone.”
“I…erh…actually, he didn’t exactly say no. He, um, said he’d think about it,” I admitted, watching Bast’s every reaction to see how he’d take the news.
All he did was smile a little, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Oh yeah? Maybe he’s not as much of a fool as I thought he was.”
I blushed. “Right, so…uh, that’s about it. So, yeah. I’m going to bed.” I tried to get up from his lap, but he held me in place.
“Stop feeling guilty about liking other people, Char. So long as you still come to me at the end of the day and you still fall asleep in my arms, I can share you with whomever you
want me to. You don’t have to ask me for permission first, but when you’re ready and when they’re ready, I’d like to meet them too. And I know you might not be ready to hear it yet, but if you ever forgive Andres, know that he was serious about being one of your boyfriends. He’s had a crush on you for a long time. Hell, pretty sure he’s head over heels for you. He’s an idiot, but he’s not a bad guy. He’s just annoying.” Before I could say anything, he kissed me, then got up from the couch with me still in his arms and headed to the bedroom.
Which was good, because I had no idea how to react to the knowledge Andres really did want me. I mean…
Andres. Illudere.
The Andres Illudere.
Wanted. Me. Charisma Carter. Awkward potato. Mailbox Opossum.
Not only that, but he’d been serious about wanting to share me with Bast. Like a BOGO sale. Get one brother, win the other one for free.
I’d barely even gotten my head around the whole thing with Blaze, now I had another guy to think about?
I wanted to be greedy and say the more the merrier, but was it really?
And could we all adapt to daily life without any of the guys killing each other?
You’re getting way ahead of yourself, Charisma. For now, there’s only one guy. Focus on him.
Right.
But two little words kept repeating in my head long after Bast had fallen asleep, his body spooning mine and making me feel warm and protected.
For now.
18
Logan
An address. That was all Theodore had managed to get from the ghost. According to the Soulbinder heir, John couldn’t remember what had happened, and the only thing that hadn’t been on his previous report to me had been the address he’d gone to investigate.
Unfortunately, the Soulbinder bastard had refused to give me the address until I agreed we would check the place out together.
Even so, we’d just agreed to a meeting spot, and only then would I know where the fuck we were going.
As if it wasn’t already bad enough that I’d had to ask for his help, I still had to deal with him tagging along. I gritted my teeth as I waited for him to appear at the underground parking lot where we’d agreed to meet, gripping the wheel tightly. If he proved to be an even bigger nuisance, I’d leave him behind, even if it meant knocking him out for a while.
After what felt like hours, but were probably just a few minutes, a cab pulled up in the parking lot, dropped its passenger off, then drove away.
It took me a full minute to realize the man walking to my car was Theodore Soulbinder.
He’d done something to his hair. Instead of the usual red, it was a darker shade that was almost black, especially under the fluorescent lights of the parking lot.
I lowered my window. “You’re late,” I barked out.
Theodore grimaced. “I know, man, I’m sorry. I had to tie up a few loose ends before I could meet up with you.” He ran a hand through his hair, and the illusion flickered, revealing his natural red hair before the color went back to the darker one.
“It’s fine. Just get in the car so we can go.” I didn’t really want to hear about his problems. We weren’t friends, we weren’t buddies. We were members of rival families who sometimes had to be polite to each other.
Theodore circled the car, opened the door, and sat in the passenger’s seat.
“Where to?” I asked, ready to put the address in the navigation system.
Theo grinned. “Hell’s Kitchen. I know what you’re thinking—could it be any more cliché? But apparently, Daredevil’s enemies weren’t the only ones who liked the area.”
I just stared at him. As if I had the time to waste on superhero shows. Who did he think he was talking to? “I assure you, I was thinking no such thing.”
Theo just shrugged before putting the address in the car’s GPS. I decided to simply ignore him and drive, praying the Goddess would give me patience to see this through without killing the heir sitting beside me.
“So, what’s the plan?” Theodore asked after a while as I followed the navigation system, trying to avoid as much of the traffic as I could.
I’d have preferred to have my driver take us there, but in the end, I decided that the less people who knew about my agreement with Theodore, the better. Besides, he could become a liability if there was a fight, and good drivers were hard to find.
I cast a quick look his way. “When we get there, we check the place out. If the opportunity presents itself, we go in and take them down. I’m not interested in the foot soldiers, it’s their leader I want.”
“Uh…when you say ‘take them down,’ you don’t mean to kill them, right?”
I rolled my eyes at his question. “I’m many things, but not a murderer. No. I mean knock them out so I can interrogate them one by one. And then, once I’m done, AMIA can have them.”
I didn’t want the headache of having to find a place to imprison a handful of rebels. Besides, there were rules for that kind of thing. AMIA could have them, and then maybe they’d do a better job of snuffing the rebellion out once and for all. I knew they were our intelligence agency, but since we didn’t technically have a police force or enforcers that were neutral and wouldn’t favor one family over the other, most of the time, AMIA handled that side of things too. This way, while every family had an eye on what they were doing, at least we all knew the actions taken would be best for all of Arcane and not just for the ones who had them in their pockets.
AMIA might have to answer to the Council of Six, but they had enough autonomy to go against orders if needed be. For AMIA to be forced to do something, all six heads of family had to agree to the action, and it never happened.
Theo nodded. “Okay, yeah. I mean, part of me really wants them dead, but I know how messed up that is. So instead, I’ll have to take my revenge in the knowledge that they’ll rot behind bars for all they’ve done.”
I said nothing, just kept driving until we reached our destination. I parked the car a few miles away, and both Theodore and I walked the rest of the way there.
We passed a lot of empty stores and restaurants. They all had pieces of wood or cardboard in the windows announcing the places were for sale or just closed down.
The deeper we went into the area, the emptier it felt.
Even in broad daylight, there was no one in the streets—no locals, no tourists, no mages. It was like we’d set foot in a deserted piece of town that had once been thriving but now lay forgotten.
And yet, we were being watched. I knew it. I could feel it all the way to my bones. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. But no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find anyone. There was no movement, no noise. Nothing.
By my side, Theodore shivered and picked up his MET, gripping the beads tightly.
He looked around the area, as if looking for something, and frowned.
“What is it?” I asked, keeping my voice low to avoid even more unwanted attention.
Theodore’s gaze darted around the street, from building to building, but never landed on me. “There are almost no ghosts here. Usually, I can find a bunch of them everywhere I go. However, here, I can count them on one hand, and they all feel hostile, which is unusual.”
“What does that mean?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably that we’re in the right place. The building is right up ahead, though. Let’s check it out.”
Without saying another word, we both held our METs in hand as we crossed the last few miles to the right place.
The building was a massive construction stuck between an abandoned barber shop and an empty restaurant. Once a dark red color, it was now covered in graffiti. There were so many names and words sprayed on the walls that it was hard to even tell any of them apart. It all just jumbled together to become one big eyesore.
“Looks empty,” Theodore commented, peeking through one of the windows on the ground floor.
“Can you get one of your ghosts to
look inside and tell us if we’re wasting our time?” I asked.
Theo shook his head. “First of all, they’re not my ghosts. They’re just ghosts. I just happen to be able to see and talk to them. And secondly, no. Like I said, they all seem pretty hostile. And because we didn’t want anyone to know where we were, I kind of…ditched the one ghost who might’ve been able to help us out in this situation.”
Fuck.
“Fine,” I said, tightening my grip on my MET. I focused my magic through it. For this spell, I didn’t actually need the MET, but it boosted my magic and made me spend way less energy. I pictured the protective layer of dark matter around my body, the same one Charisma had been so fascinated with. I’d never admit to her, but the only reason I’d been able to hold such an intricate spell up for so long was because the MET she developed was rather efficient. It allowed me to conserve most of my magic with each spell. After our duel, I’d tested it and been able to hold the full dark matter protection for almost two hours without stopping, while before, I could maybe hold it for twenty minutes if I pushed myself. Even then, I wouldn’t have been able to use any kind of attack magic while maintaining the protection.
I went to the front door before Theodore could, ready to blast it open, but the minute my hand touched the knob, the door opened.
Not ominous at all.
“Creepy,” Theodore murmured from beside me, and I almost punched him by accident.
He’d have deserved it, though, for scaring the shit out of me.
“Stay here,” I ordered, staring into the darkness ahead. The window Theodore had looked through was one of the few not boarded up, meaning there was almost no natural light inside.
I input a command to my MET, and a little orb of light hovered above me. That would be enough to light the way, but not so big as to attract attention.
Hopefully.
“Like hell I’m staying behind. If you’re going in, I’m going in,” Theodore protested, and I clenched my fist so I wouldn’t actually punch him, this time on purpose.
