by Liam Lawson
I could only nod and hope that she never learned that her sister considered herself as belonging to me and that I had effectively ordered that she wrap up her education. No, no that was something that Soraya definitely never needed to learn about.
She fixed me with her dark eyes. “There’s some kind of magical connection between you two now, isn’t there?”
Dammit.
Slowly I nodded. “It’s kind of embarrassing.”
She smiled. Smiled. “I kind of figured. My guess is you either didn’t break your curse right or your curse was suppressing more than your magical affinities.”
That made sense. We spent the next few minutes discussing my affinities. Definitely fire, and I admitted while blushing, sex. She thought I might have one more, but we weren’t quite sure what it could be.
Eventually she asked, “What did you have to pick up, anyway?”
I grinned at her and opened my backpack. The pixie I’d rescued skipped out onto the table.
She’d been staying in my room ever since I’d rescued her though she’d never said why. Today I’d told her I was calling in my final boon and she’d all but leapt into the backpack to get it over with.
She looked around, made a face at the creepy smiling burger mascot, and then at Soraya before returning her attention to me. “You want to use your boon here?”
Soraya gasped. “You got a fae to owe you a boon? How?”
I grinned at her. “It’s kind of a long story.” I looked down at the pixie. “My friend is in need of a familiar. My boon is that you are to agree to a contract with her.”
Soraya gasped again and the pixie stomped her foot. “That is a very big boon!”
“I did you a really big favor,” I replied. “And you’ve been freeloading in my house. Don’t think I haven’t noticed those empty beer cans.”
The pixie beat her wings with a sound like bell chimes in a gust of wind.
“Caleb she’s perfect!” Soraya squealed.
The pixie spun around to take her in. “Yes. Yes I am.” She took a moment to consider Soraya and then said, “Very well. I shall be your familiar.”
“I’ll draw up the contract right away,” Soraya said. “Oh, Caleb thank you!”
She got up and I followed suit so that she could hug me. Damn her pillowy breasts felt good pressing into my body, even with several thick layers of clothing between us.
“Of course,” the pixie said from the table. “You could instead use your boon to ask me what you are.”
Soraya and I both froze and pulled apart to look at the pixie who was smirking up at us. She casually picked a French fry up off my plate that was easily as long as she was tall and bit off the end off. I winced, remembering where that seemingly delicate mouth had been.
“I know what you are, Caleb Marshal. Instead of giving me to your friend to be bound, I could give you the answer. It might even explain why you had that curse put on you.”
I frowned down at her. The little bug had the absolute worst sense of timing.
“Take her up on it,” Soraya said. “That’s something that’s going to be hard to find out. And fae can’t lie. You should use your boon for this.”
Slowly I shook my head. “No, I’m using it to make her your familiar. You gave up your chance for those whatever they were the other night when you came over. Let me make this up to you.”
“You got Scarlett to go back to school,” she said.
“Yeah but that’s something for Scarlett. This is for my best friend.”
She grinned at me, and there may have been something a little sad in her eyes, but it vanished quickly beneath her enthusiasm. “Alright!”
If the bug knew what I was then chances are someone or something else would too. Hell, it might even be at the library. I’d lived my whole life with that curse over my head, what was another mystery to solve compared to that?
The Horned Mage’s adventures continue in Collateral Alpha!
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