Witches Be Crazy (Not Your Basic Witch Book 3)

by A. J. Macey

  “Come on, Sprinkles,” Drayce said, barely containing his own laughter.

  “Laugh it up, guys,” Kye muttered, his cheeks pink from all the attention.

  Even Xan was amused, his shoulders shaking as he stepped up to my other side. “They are.” The pure snark in his tone was so unlike him, I barked out a laugh. They all looked at me as I dissolved into giggles, not bothering to hide it. Their looks of relief stopped it, the gravity of this stolen moment ruining the mood. They shouldn’t look that relieved just because I was laughing, yet here we were.

  “Oh! I have an idea!” Drayce said, an evil grin spreading across his face. “We need something to do, and as much as I love Boos and Brews, I’m not feeling a binge night. So... who’s up for a round of post-shower Mystery or Mayhem?”

  Kye and Xan both groaned, but neither protested. I, however, was lost.

  “Okay, maybe it’s my lack of friendship or siblings who cared growing up, but what the hex is Mystery or Mayhem?”

  “That question makes me so sad,” Caspian said, shaking his head. “Hmm, the best I can describe it is a witchy version of Truth or Dare. Add in spells and ridiculousness, and you have M and M.”

  “Oooh, count me in!” I agreed, dropping Mr. Stripes on a padded bench. The prospect of something fun and lighthearted had me excited. The museum had a functioning kitchen and staff area for big events. We hadn’t ventured into the rest of the building, outside of a quick tour, but this area had enough room we could make ourselves comfortable.

  “There’s a bathroom through there, Gorgeous. You may have to use magic for a shower, I doubt a museum has one functioning. We’ll set up the room, then take our turns,” Torryn promised, coming up and kissing me gently before turning around and fishing me out clean clothes from his bag. I smiled at the pair of panties and his oversized shirt he’d picked out.

  Before I could walk away, Xan paused as if he’d just had an epiphany, waving his hands in the air to stop us from leaving.

  “Wait. This wasn’t just a museum. It was also a magical artifact research facility. The museum was just an afterthought by a random Ignis official if I remember correctly. Regardless, if it was a fully functioning research facility, they would be handling magical artifacts. Which means there should be a lab here.”

  Kye’s eyebrows furrowed, clearly as confused as I was. Now that I knew him, I could generally follow Xan’s way of thinking, but this had me lost.

  “Wait, what does a lab have to do with our current situation?”

  Xan laughed at our confusion, taking a breath before explaining.

  “The lab would likely have a fully functioning locker room, if not full living quarters for magical experts. Only so many witches in Akasha are experts on random types of materials, so they’d travel from museum to museum when the need called.”

  “Xan, that’s genius!” Drayce cheered, eyeing the benches with relief. They would not have made for a comfortable night.

  “Witches Glass?” Xan asked, holding out his hand. Caspian fished his out of his small backpack and handed it over. Xan typed for a moment before a grin spread across his face. “See, you just have to know what to search for.” When he pressed the button, a magical blueprint formed in the air, and a thin glowing red line formed the interior of the museum. I could make out the kitchens and the hall we were in since the front entrance was labeled, and it looked like the lab was at the end of the hall.

  “Wait, it’s just a wall,” I pointed out, walking down to the wall in question. It was as plain as any dead-end, the white paint pristine despite the years left unattended. It didn’t have any art on it or anything. Even the baseboards looked normal.

  “How did you figure out where we were so fast?” Caspian grumbled, looking at the map in pure confusion.

  “I started at the entrance,” I said distractedly, poking a finger at the seemingly solid wall. Yup... solid.

  “Well, we’re witches, and I doubt they’d want the average museum patron walking into a lab full of sensitive research and preservation techniques,” Xan reasoned, his hand absently rubbing his chiseled jawline, his eyes scanning slowly over every inch of the wall.

  Placing my hands on the wall, I closed my eyes, using a scanning spell I’d learned in class to see if I could feel any magic, but it had clearly either sat too long in disuse, or we were in the wrong section.

  “Wait a second,” Torryn muttered, walking to the front with us, stopping to eye the hanging shelf full of vases made of a shimmering, iridescent material. He waved his hand in front of them before resting a hand on the middle one. An aura of magic surrounded his hand and the vase before a loud creaking turned our attention back to the wall. Mr. Stripes and Ruby took off, running away from the wall to cling to our legs, but Raptor, being Raptor, squared and ruffled her feathers at the open doorway.

  “Calm down, Raptor,” Kye laughed, leaning down and running a hand over her back. She let out a proud little cluck and walked away, apparently deeming it safe to enter. Laughing, I gave her a pat and peered in.

  “This is some Sherlock Holmes stuff, right here!” I squeaked, excitement and intrigue, urging my feet forward into the darkness beyond the hall. There was a small section of light beaming in from the hallway, but I couldn’t see anything beyond it. The spelled lighting of the museum didn’t seem to activate for us, so Torryn stepped in and mumbled a spell. At his soft words, an orb of light formed above us. The glow was soft, but extended throughout the space, letting us see the room we were standing in.

  Xan was right about there being a lab. There were rooms with different kinds of spells glowing through the glass partitions, the colors woven into the glass only adding to the mysterious ambiance. Others were just conference rooms with scribbled writing covering the walls. As we walked farther in, it took on less of a clinical feel and more of a dorm. The walls were still overly white and the furniture simple, but there was a common room of sorts with worn couches and a table in the middle with an old abandoned Witches Glass on top. Papers were scattered across the end tables as if they’d brought work over here to finish and relax. A small kitchenette sat to the side, dirty dishes long crusted over in the sink.

  “Did they leave in a hurry?” I asked, pointing the discarded items out to the others. Xan’s eyes narrowed on the sink and the small signs of life just abandoned.

  “I didn’t think so. This whole place was spelled against the volcano. They just shut down the idea of the museum when the volcano was acting up. That didn’t mean they shut down this part in a hurry,” he said, shrugging.

  “Look!” Kye called out. Turning, I found him standing in a doorway a little further into the room. Walking over, I looked in to find a room with two big beds, the next two rooms having the same.

  “This is amazing,” I gushed. The idea of sleeping in a fluffy bed again sounded like pure heaven.

  “The bathroom is locker-room style, so there are multiple showers,” Drayce called out, walking out of yet another doorway, all of us exploring different areas.

  “This feels like a secret lair,” I said. The prospect of having an emergency hideaway was exciting. It had been long forgotten, and they’d never expect us to even know about this place. It was essentially an off the grid safe-house, as long as we kept out of sight.

  “Alright, let’s shower. I can’t smell myself anymore,” Caspian joked, pulling clean clothes out for himself as Torryn handed mine back to me.

  By the time we’d all taken a long shower and thrown on comfy clothes, the tension had drained away. The guys kept giving me small little touches and smiles, all of us just happy to be back together again. Even the familiars refused to leave our sides, all of them fresh out of the showers with us, smelling like strawberry soap and looking sleepy. We settled them on the couches with blankets since we still preferred each other’s company at night.

  “Time for a little game and snacks! I raided the pantry,” Drayce announced, carrying an armload of small bags. Caspian rushed over to help, a
s we all of us settled in one of the rooms, splitting up and claiming spots on the beds. Drayce threw a bag of Hex Mix to Kye and some chocolate to Caspian and me, where we were sharing a blanket. Torryn and Xan grabbed their own snacks before everyone settled in.

  “How are these not expired?” Kye asked, checking over his bag before shrugging and popping it open.

  “Small blessings,” I laughed, tossing a chocolate candy in the air for Caspian to catch in his mouth, his adorable smug grin popping up every time we were successful.

  “Ugh, you two are sickeningly cute,” Drayce complained, his wide grin making his words completely unbelievable.

  “They really are,” Kye agreed, stuffing Hex Mix in his mouth but giving me a wink.

  “Alright, I’m starting,” Drayce said, sprawling across my and Caspian’s legs, wiggling around until he was comfortable. “Kye, Mystery or Mayhem?”

  “Wait, Aris needs the rules,” Caspian said. “So, Mystery means you have to answer the question you’re given. If you refuse, you get Mayhem. Mayhem is either a dare or a funny spell. Just like Mystery, if you refuse, you have to answer something.”

  “Mayhem,” Kye said as soon as Caspian finished.

  “Hmm... you have to sing Aris a song. A cheerful one.”

  Kye laughed, looking me in the eye as he started to belt out the words to Hush Little Witchling. The crazy thing was, he made it sound like a legitimate serenade, his rich tone giving it a sultry sound. Damn, these men are always surprising me. When he finished, he popped another handful of Hex Mix in his mouth and grinned. He knew he was good and thought it was hilarious, we were all shocked.

  “Well, that was unexpected,” Drayce laughed.

  “I’m full of surprises,” Kye deadpanned before looking at Torryn. “Mystery or Mayhem?”

  “Mystery,” Torryn answered, glaring when Caspian snorted.

  “Sorry, I just figured that’s what you’d pick,” Caspian defended, grinning at his brother. Their banter was so much more playful than it used to be, and I loved seeing them act like brothers.

  “It’s called self-preservation,” Torryn said, crossing his arms and giving Kye a challenging look. “Let’s hear it.”

  “What’s the shadiest thing you’ve seen another professor do?”

  “I once saw Professor Ruslan put Witches Brew in his coffee after a particularly terrible exam week. He was so tipsy through the last few tests, everyone thought someone slipped him something. He even gave Tallis a high five.”

  “Was that last year?! I was in his last hour, and I wondered why he was being so chill.” Drayce was laughing so hard, he was shaking our bed.

  “Yup.” Torryn grinned, his carefree smile taking my breath away for a second. He caught my gaze, and his smile morphed into a smirk.

  Is this what swooning feels like?

  “Get it, Tor,” Caspian said, laughing when Torryn pulled his eyes away from me and gave his brother an evil smile.

  “Mystery or Mayhem, brother?”

  “Aw, shit. I walked right into that one,” Caspian groaned. “Mayhem.”

  “You have to let me spell you to speak only in rhyme. It’ll only last for an hour or so,” he grinned.

  “Bring. It. On,” Caspian countered confidently, clearly not caring. Torryn mumbled something, but that was all the visual cue.

  “Say something, Sprinkles,” I teased.

  “Have fun with this one since I’m only speaking with rhyming fun.” He grinned, laughing along with us.

  “This is fantastic,” Kye said, getting into the game.

  “You’re up, buttercup,” Caspian sang out to me. It was a smart choice of words, not much could rhyme with mayhem.

  “Mystery,” I said, watching his face scrunch in concentration as he tried to figure out how to rhyme his words.

  “Without a fuss, tell us who does what best, out of each of us.”

  “Hmm, okay. Caspian is best at making me laugh and pulling me out of my darker moods. Drayce is best at showing me how to relax and live. Kye is best at making me feel special and cherish the small moments. Xan is best at drawing out my creative side, letting me feel free enough to push my imagination to its limits. Torryn is best at making me realize my own worth.”

  “Aww,” Drayce gushed, pulling me down for a kiss as the others looked at me with small smiles.

  “Alright, enough mushy stuff. Moving on,” Kye grumbled, waving me on.

  “Okay, Xan, Mystery or Mayhem?” I asked.

  “Mayhem,” he said, grinning at our gasps. “Hey, I’m not always predictable.”

  “You should spell yours and everyone’s hair a different color, except mine,” I declared, ignoring Kye’s glare.

  “Done,” he shot back, pointing to Torryn and mumbling under his breath. A bright green took over his hair but actually looked good on him, making his green eyes pop even more. Next, he turned to Kye, his becoming a deep purple, Drayce a cheerful yellow, Caspian an aqua blue, and for his own, a deep burgundy. Each one was perfectly matched to the witch’s skin tone, making them look amazing.

  “I’m glad you picked the artist for this one, Angel,” Drayce laughed, scooting off us to check his hair out in the mirror. “I look awesome. Even Kye looks good, and I figured our grumpy guy would look ridiculous.”

  “I’m not grumpy,” Kye protested, checking his own hair out. “But you aren’t wrong; it actually does look good.”

  “Caspian, why are you so quiet?” Torryn asked in mock innocence.

  “This is a dare that I rue, but these colors do look great on you,” Caspian said, rolling his eyes at his own rhyme.

  “Alright, Drayce, Mystery or Mayhem?” Xan asked, running a hand through his burgundy locks. I secretly hoped they kept the colors; it made us all look badass.

  “Mayhem!”

  “Pick two people and have a dance battle to find the winner,” Xan said, laughing as Drayce jumped to his feet and rubbed his hands together.

  “This is a challenge I can get behind. I’ve got this in the bag. Xan and Kye,” he called out with a loud, evil laugh.

  “Oh, you’re on,” Xan grinned, looking far more comfortable with the idea than I thought he would. Caspian was already picking a playlist and turning on the dance music. The first few beats hit, and Drayce started moving gracefully between the beds, his hips hitting each beat on point. After a few minutes, he blew me a kiss and sat down, definitely catching my eyes on his ass.

  Xan was next, shocking the hellsticks out of me as he moved. His movements were more fluid and sensual, and given he was only a few feet away, it felt more like a sexy lap dance.

  I’m here for this challenge!

  As if I wasn’t already all hot and bothered, Kye came in with yet another surprise. He clearly wasn’t as graceful as the other two, his style more hip hop than anything, but he killed it, even ending by dropping it low. Being first, Drayce lost, his dance already forgotten as I imagined myself in the middle of a Kye and Xan sandwich, and it took all of my concentration to pay attention to the next few rounds.

  The game went on until the snacks were eaten, and we were all yawning. Nobody was willing to end the fun, knowing once we did, we’d wake up tomorrow to the reality of our current life.

  Caspian kissed me before following Drayce out of the room. Torryn was next since Kye and Xan had already sprawled across different ends of the bed next to mine. As soon as it was just us three, Kye rolled off the end of the bed he was in and joined me.

  “I still need to brush my teeth,” I announced, laughing at his groan as I crawled away from him. “I’ll be right back.”

  The entire time I was gone, my mind wouldn’t stop wandering back to the dance-off, so I was anything but tired when I walked back into our room. Kye and Xan were both sitting up in their beds, waiting for me, their eyes raking over my body as I closed the doorway and faced them.

  “I don’t think I can sleep yet,” I said, my voice sounding huskier than I meant it to. It wasn’t hard for them to figure
out why.

  Kye met Xan’s eyes, and something unspoken passed between them, sending fire swirling through my body in anticipation.

  “Well, Sweets, I think we can help with that.”

  December 3rd

  Tuesday Night

  Xanthius

  “I don’t think I can sleep yet.” Aris’ voice was thick, her eyes half-lidded as she glanced between the two of us. Glancing to the side, Kye’s gaze held a question—were we ready to take that next step with Aris? I didn’t have to say anything, Kye read the agreement written plainly on my face.

  “Well, Sweets, I think we can help with that,” he replied, standing and stepping toward her. The smirk that curled her lips was an equal mix of sweet and sexy, the tiny grin making my cock jerk to life in my pants. Grabbing her hips possessively, Kye tugged her to him, her curves pressing against his dark t-shirt and jeans. Only he didn’t kiss her for long, walking her backward slowly until she stood before me. With a small push, she sank onto my thighs, her luscious ass brushing against my quickly hardening cock.

  “Is that a crystal in there, or are you just happy to see me?” she teased, giving me a flirty brow raise over her shoulder. A small chuckle left me, but all I wanted at that moment was her candy-sweet lips against mine. Reaching up, I cupped her jaw, keeping her where she was and kissed the hellsticks out of those pink cupid-bow lips.

  Knowing Kye wouldn’t want to wait for long, I spread my legs, and Aris’ borrowed t-shirt slid up her thighs as her legs parted with mine. She was fully on display with only a thin pair of panties covering her core, and I had no doubt it would be slick with her arousal. The smallest whimper left her, a shiver taking over her body when I teasingly let my free hand brush ever so lightly from her knee to hip. The sound turned me on more as Kye knelt between our spread legs.

  Her tongue darted out, running along my lower lip before sucking it between her teeth and nipping. The sharp sting melted as she rocked her hips, her ass caressing my cock teasingly with each pass. I wasn’t sure what Kye was doing, my entire focus on Aris and drinking her in, but whatever it was made her pace stutter slightly and her body tremble.