by Hati Bell
Shay froze. Her gaze fell on Kellsey’s bloodied hand. She had wiped the blood off on her pants, but her hand was still pink. “Tell me you don’t mean what I think you mean.”
“I caught him kissing Lea,” Kellsey admitted.
“That filthy piece of lion dung!” Shay cursed.
“I ripped out his heart. Then I threatened to feed Lea to Krik.”
“You’ve always been too merciful,” Shay claimed. “Can you give my chicky a towel, Z?”
“It looks like you slaughtered a pig,” Zlatan said as he reached under the bar.
“There was some slaughtering,” Kellsey admitted.
“And a pig,” Shay added.
His eyebrows shot up and Kellsey realized that apparently her humiliation wasn’t spread around yet. A small comfort that undoubtedly wouldn’t last for long. Lea had a big mouth and would shout her victory from the rooftops.
Zlatan gave her a towel and topped it off with a cocktail. It was a sorry day when the bartender was the one offering you a drink.
“You know I’m all about playing it cool. Want me to freeze his dick off?” Shay offered.
The last thing she wanted to think about was Leroy’s dick. Or his dick with Lea. Especially the latter. “Oh well, it’s all rock ‘n’ roll,” she said, as blasé as possible. However, anger and pain raged in her shattered heart. “He promised me an eternity,” she said softly. Just this morning he had wanted to build her a house. How had everything gone to crap like that?
“You know I’m a Swiftie, chicky,” Shay said. “It’s gonna be forever or go down in flames,” she quoted the singer. “I know a warlock with a load of wildfire. It won’t kill him, but his Nemean ass will be set on fire.”
Kellsey grabbed her glass firmly and pushed back her tears. “I love you,” she said. Sometimes she felt like she didn’t say it often enough to her bestie. “But I don’t wanna think about him anymore.”
Shay pulled out a lollipop and pushed it towards her. “May I advise you then to handle your breakup in the classic way?”
“The classic way?”
“Replace Leroy with a new guy,” Shay explained. “There’s a fresh stock of newbie warlocks standing by the pool table.”
“I’ll think about it,” Kellsey promised though she wasn’t much into revenge sex. She was more of a direct-approach kinda girl, such as mutilation.
Shay nodded approvingly. “While we’re on the subject of thinking, I’m not sure if Conn and I are going to work out. I don’t like to come second, after his clan.”
Kellsey knew it wasn’t Conn’s clan Shay was worried about. It was the thought of Conn’s potential mate hanging over her head like Damocles’ sword. She didn’t want to end up like Kartal, left by his fiancee for her mate. “Wanna talk about it?”
“Nope. Just wanna drink. Mojito cures everything.”
“I could use some medicine as well,” Kellsey said and she motioned to Zlatan for another round.
“Next one’s on me,” a voice at her shoulder said suddenly.
Kellsey turned to the warlock who leaned against the bar next to her. It was one of the warlocks from the pool table. He was tall, not unattractive. Judging by his subtly-placed-on-the-bar left wrist, he was single. Perhaps Shay was right and this was exactly what she needed to forget her horrific night.
“I’ll have another djinn, Z,” she said.
“Name’s Robert, but you can call me Robbie.”
She had no idea why a grown-ass Robert would call himself Robbie instead of Rob, but maybe she was just being too critical. Oh, well, her devastated ego could certainly use a boost. “Kellsey,” she said and she took her drink.
“So, tell me, Kellsey, what is it you do around here?”
“I work as a vet.”
“Ah, so you’re working with pussies,” he joked, followed by a chuckle. His eyes slid over her Slash tee with skulls and remained hanging on her breasts.
By Onuris…. “No, I work with hydras and Kraken.”
Shay snorted and waved with her fork. “You only work with one Kraken, chicky. Singular.”
Fine, it was just one, but it still looked good on her resume.
“Kraken?” Robert, who wanted to be called Robbie, asked. Then, as if he had a light bulb moment: “You’re Kellsey Callahan.”
Apparently her reputation preceded her. She lifted her glass up. “That would be me.”
Robbie uttered another laugh. The sound started to get on her nerves. “Your work sounds dangerous. I like that,” he whispered.
She was still thinking about a comeback when the atmosphere in the bar suddenly changed. The front door banged against the wall and a cold gust of wind blew inside. The glasses on the tables and the bottles behind the bar rattled.
In the doorway of Seven stood Macan in all his amorous glory. The pink glow around his pupils had changed into a bright red.
Crap.
It seemed the magic of Eros’ arrow worked well over twenty-four hours.
Her heart was in her throat when she saw new, sinister hieroglyphs glowing on Macan’s cheek. And was that a red scorpion marked on his neck?
“Hey, no using magic inside,” Zlatan yelled. He pointed to the red sign at the entrance. Kartal had taught him well.
Speaking of Kartal… he wouldn’t appreciate it if his pub got smashed. She could, of course, point out to him that he could’ve bought a local anti-magic spell. She had a feeling, however, that she wouldn’t get away with that.
Shay followed her gaze. “Oh! The alchemist looks like sex on a stick. All dark and twisted.”
Kellsey slid off the bar stool. “You don’t have to come with,” she said when Shay followed her. “I don’t want to ruin your evening.” They ran towards the back entrance.
“My evening was ruined the moment someone offered to lay under my boots.” It was Shay’s most famous First World problem. None of her potential lovers seemed to understand that Shay loved to be dominated, not to dominate.
“Yeah, it’s shocking that men take you for a dominatrix,” Kellsey teased as they zigzagged, running through the woods.
“Think it’s my leather corset and stilettos?” Shay asked and she jumped over a fallen tree trunk.
“Whatever makes you think that? Nah, it must be your strong personality,” Kellsey said as she sprinted past the graveyard. She looked back tensely but there was no alchemist in sight.
“So, what’s the plan?” Shay shouted.
She had postponed Macan’s situation, expecting Cupid’s spell to wear off after twenty-four hours. She intended to make it up to him as soon as he turned back to normal. “We have to lure him to Kartal’s cage.” From there, she would find a way to pull him off his dangerous pink cloud.
They had just ran past Krik’s Bay when Macan suddenly appeared before them. He stood in the middle of the road, wrapped in a gold-black cloud. She made a sharp turn to the left to avoid him and almost ended up against a tree. Shay simply stood still, a hand on her hip, while scrutinizing him from head to toe.
Kellsey understood why. Macan’s once-jet-black hair showed white strands. His jeans were torn as if he had been attacked by wolves and his bare arms showed symbols she hadn’t seen on him before. In the middle of his chest was a black circle drawn with a star in it.
He took a step towards her. “I love you, Kells.”
“Yeah, yeah, we all love Kellsey,” Shay grumbled while watching him like a hawk.
“I love you too much to see you with another man,” Macan said. A mix of gold and black symbols swarmed like fireflies over his handsome face.
“Eh, I totally know what you mean,” Kellsey said soothingly. “Why don’t you come home with me so we can talk about it?”
“I’ve always hated Leroy,” Macan said, his tone harsh. “Part of me knew that you still loved him. Always him. You never loved me that way! I’d rather see you dead than with him.”
“Hmm, apparently it’s true: too much love will kill you,” Shay remarked. Sh
e had covered her body with a layer of ice and waited for Kellsey’s sign.
“Macan, please come home with me,” Kellsey pleaded again. She had to get him into Kartal’s cage. She was the reason why Macan, a pacifist at heart, looked as if he had been to Anubis. Alchemists earned their hieroglyphs by taking trials. Some chose a dark path where there was no way back from. She hoped it wasn’t too late for Macan.
“I have forged a ring for you in the fires of Duat,” Macan said, his eyes burning with passion.
She swallowed. Macan had descended to the Egyptian underworld. A place from where no one returned with his soul intact. It was like going to Mordor. “A ring made in the fires of the underworld? That doesn’t sound creepy at all,” she murmured.
Macan’s pupils were now completely black. “You have to carry my ring. It will turn your heart to stone for other men. You will be mine forever.”
The irony wasn’t lost on her. She exchanged a look with Shay. ‘Nough talk.
Her friend vanished in a white cloud and reappeared right in front of Macan. But before she could lay her hands on him to freeze him, Macan planted his fist in her stomach. Shay got hit by black shadows and was propelled into the air.
Kellsey ran to her friend who ended up crumpled on the ground. “Wow, the alchemist has learned some new tricks,” Shay said. She sounded equally annoyed and impressed.
Kellsey gave her a hand and this time they approached Macan as a unit. She didn’t dare to pull out her knives, afraid to poison him as well. One lover she had almost killed was more than enough.
Macan’s transformation turned out to go beyond his white locks and arsenal of new hieroglyphs. There wasn’t anything left of his pacifism either. Every fist that Kellsey struck at him he blocked with the glowing light of his symbols. However, he made sure not to hurt her. Her friend was less well off. Shay’s corset showed a tear in the back and her face was covered with bruises. They swirled around him, but he was like an unstoppable source of dangerous energy.
In an unguarded moment, when he punched Shay away again, Kellsey kneed him in the balls. Macan dropped to his knees and Kellsey laughed grimly. Human or mythos, touched by the gods or not, no man was impervious to a kick in the nuts. She was about to do a victory dance when a sinister shadow shot from his hands to Shay.
“No!” Kellsey’s heart almost stopped when Shay started choking. She clutched her hands around her throat, trying to pull away the shadow that surrounded her and was strangling her.
It was time the kid gloves came off. Kellsey reached into her boot and pulled out her hydra knife.
She was just about to strike when a well-known scream split the night. A shower of drops fell over them when one of Krik’s gigantic tentacles shot out of the bay. The tentacle wrapped around Macan’s torso and dragged him into the sea.
“Macan!” Kellsey shouted in horror when he disappeared under the surface.
“Cock-blocked by a Kraken. What is the world coming to?” Shay drawled. The shadow that had her in its grip dissolved.
“Don’t you dare eat him, Krik,” Kellsey yelled. “He’s my friend!”
Krik bellowed an offended cry but didn’t resurface.
“Oh well, you did threaten to feed someone to Krik tonight,” Shay noted while she got back on her feet. She cracked her neck and stretched out. “Maybe Krik will spit out his head. If we find his skull, you’ll at least know what happened to him. You know I like Macan, but I’d rather have him swimming with the fishes than you.” No one was as practical as Shay.
Kellsey wished she could be as blasé. The adrenaline was still coursing through her body and her mind was a vortex of feelings. Anger for Leroy and a heavy guilt for Macan who might have ended up in Krik’s stomach. She would ask Vicky to find Macan, and to hurry up with the anti-Cupid spell. “I’m going to Vicky to see how we can help Macan and then I’m gonna start cooking. Fancy some mac ’n’ cheese?”
Shay fiddled with the strings of her corset. “Eh, I just remembered I have plans,” she said quickly.
“What plans? Five minutes ago you were sipping a drink at the bar all by your lonesome.”
“First of all, I wasn’t lonely. No one can be lonely in the company of a gin and tonic. And secondly, I’m trying not to hurt you. You know how considerate I am about other people’s feelings.”
Kellsey snorted. “Right. Now, what’s the real reason why you suddenly have plans?”
“Chicky,” Shay sighed as she combed back her hair with her fingers. “You can’t cook.”
“What? Everybody loves my mac ‘n’ cheese!”
“And I wear pastels,” Shay said dryly. “The only one who ever voluntarily eats your macaroni is that lion.” She frowned. “Now I think about it… that was already a sign on the wall.”
Kellsey didn’t want to talk about Leroy. The name alone made her hair crackle, but she couldn’t resist asking: “What do you mean?”
Shay shrugged. “It’s just weird. You’d think that someone who voluntarily eats your crunchy macaroni would care about you. The rest of us feed it to the dog.”
“We don’t have a dog.”
“Did I say dog? I meant Kraken,” Shay joked.
Maybe Shay had a point. The total one-eighty in Leroy was odd indeed. Macan hadn’t been an insanely-in-love alchemist until she’d hit him with Cupid’s arrow. Perhaps Leroy was under the influence of a spell as well? Or maybe she was just looking for an excuse for his behavior.
She sighed and decided to stop running. “It’s time Leroy finds out that one should not fuck with a Callahan.”
“What happened with “it’s all rock ‘n’ roll”?”
Kellsey laughed without humor. “Oh, I’m definitely going to rock and roll.”
Shay gave her a high five. “Grab that lion by his tail.”
“So you don’t think I’m making a mistake by confronting him?”
“He’s already humiliated you to the core in front of your clan,” Shay said, never one to mince her words. “What have you got to lose?”
“My pride, self-respect, dignity….”
Shay put her hands on her shoulders. “You are the Callahan that’s named after Lust, not Pride. Self-respect and dignity are between your ears and aren’t determined by someone else’s opinion. So lift your chin and get ready to rock.” She turned Kellsey toward their home.
Kellsey smiled. She once again realized how lucky she’d been that Shay’s clan had disowned her. Their loss was her gain. “I love you, Lolly.”
“Of course you do. I’m fucking fabulous. Now go and kick his ass.”
She was definitely going to kick his ass. Leroy Leandros would discover that she wasn’t one of those women who pined away for a man who treated her like dirt.
Then she suddenly thought about the helmet.
22
KELLSEY
It was quite easy to sneak inside without anyone noticing. It was late in the evening on a Saturday and she knew the habits of her brothers. None of them would be home on a Saturday night.
The helmet lay on her nightstand. A simple steel helmet that looked robust but strangely felt almost weightless when she put it on.
To her surprise she found Leroy in the kitchen, with Vicky. He sat on a stool at the kitchen island with his back facing her. The black witch stood behind the stove and was brewing something. It smelled like sage and mint.
Kellsey stepped carefully past him until she stood in the corner near the fridge. From here she had a good view of Leroy who stared in space, a somber expression clouding his face.
“It was very brave of you what you did tonight,” Vicky said as she stirred in the cauldron.
Brave? Brave? Kellsey felt her hackles rise.
“You know about the blood test?” Leroy asked.
“Of course,” Vicky said. “Qasim discussed it with me. I am a black witch, after all. Poison is a specialty of the black arts and mine in particular.” She pulled a face. “Poison and hellish dimensions,” she amended.
/> “Then you know why….”
“Why you humiliated Kellsey in front of her brothers?” she asked dryly. “Yes, an idiot could have guessed that.”
Not every idiot, Kellsey fumed internally.
“You know Kellsey. Wild horses wouldn’t be able to drag her away from my cage. She would….”
“…become like me,” Vicky finished his sentence softly. “Forever trapped inside a building with you. Only you wouldn’t be yourself but a beast that doesn’t even recognize her. And one day she’ll think to be able to heal you her way and step inside the cage.”
Leroy let out a long sigh. “The monster in me already almost killed her once. That’s one time too many.”
“I agree.”
Leroy scratched his chest. To be precise, he scratched over his heart, which she had ripped out. She once had lost a few fingers in a battle with a frost giant and knew how much it itched when a lost body part grew back. Though a regenerating heart was the least of his concerns, she suddenly thought. Her pain and anger almost made her forget that Leroy was still dying.
Vicky took the cauldron from the stove. “This is a new potential cure. It will be ready by the next full moon.”
“I don’t have that long. According to Q I’ll probably change into a beast permanently within a week,” he said.
Kellsey gasped for breath.
Leroy’s head shot to her corner in the kitchen. He got off of the bar stool, his eyes narrowed. “Kellsey?”
She put her hand on her helmet, ready to confront him, when Liam strolled into the kitchen. Kellsey hastily stepped back as he passed her on the way to the fridge. Liam had just opened the fridge when an explosion sounded that knocked Kellsey off her feet. The lad rolled over the floor and slammed against a kitchen cabinet.
Kellsey scrambled back to her feet, one hand on the helmet, which thankfully hadn’t fallen off. She looked at where the explosion had come from.
In the middle of their living room stood a man in a black trench coat. She looked from his short-cropped hair to his army boots and concluded that he definitely had a military vibe.
“Who in Onuris’ name are you?” Vicky asked, shocked.
