Page 12

Liam

I enjoyed being smack dab in the middle between Seth and Hazel, I decided. Though I’d also make sure each of them had their time in the center.

Hazel was a lot more relaxed now that we’d been alone aboard the Revenge for a while.

She traced her fingertips lazily over my abs as I told her about how Seth’s father had sent me to watch him while he was in school, how we’d become fast friends over the years, and how I’d developed less-than-suitable feelings for him.

“So you’re saying that Seth isn’t just a wizard? He’s a witch too?” Hazel asked.

“Considering that for centuries, elite wizards have been seeking out women with magic to boost the next generation, it would make sense that many of us are both,” Seth said.

“But witchcraft is considered lowly women’s magic and not worth exploring.

Their loss. Working both together is what gives me an edge. ”

“And it’s the reason why Seth recharges his magic through sex,” I explained. “He could recharge in other ways too, but this way is much faster and more effective. Which brings us to my taking a female form to... tempt him.”

Seth huffed. “Which was totally unnecessary, by the way. I like you in this form more.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know that then.” I ruffled Seth’s platinum-blond hair, which looked spikey but was soft since he used magic to keep it up and not a excessive amount of product.

“It was during Seth’s final year at the Academy of Arcane Arts.

It was an all-boys school, and this one here starts disappearing on weekends.

This was after the thing with Elena and Desmon—”

“Elena?”

“My mom,” Seth clarified.

“Oh yes, you told me about her.”

“I’d started dabbling in witchcraft before meeting Desmon, but he really pushed me to keep going.”

“He did,” I agreed. “But this was before we got our memories back, remember?”

Seth nodded.

“It took me a while to figure out he was going out to recharge his magical battery because he’d set spells to prevent me or his father from finding out.”

“You were picking up chicks!” Hazel reached over and punched him playfully on the arm.

“I was so jealous,” I admitted. “It was the first time I’d felt that way before.”

“Lemme guess,” Hazel said. “The next time he needed a pick-me-up, you offered yourself in female form?”

“You got it,” Seth said. “I worried it was a trick at first, but Liam already knew I was using witchcraft and had hidden it for me for so long. Even though I didn’t fully remember the episode with Desmon yet, I was starting to get bits and pieces of it back and I knew Liam and I had other secrets. So, I trusted him.”

“Then the next time when I started to change into my female form, he stopped me, saying he liked me the way I was.” My heart hummed at how happy that had made me and how happy Seth still made me every day.

“Aww, that’s so sweet.” Hazel was grinning from ear to ear now as she looked from me to Seth.

“It was hard, though, to keep the secret,” Seth said. “Technically, my father still owned Liam, and if he found out he’d probably kill him.”

“You can kill a demon?” Hazel asked. “I thought you guys weren’t alive.”

“We aren’t, so we can’t be killed in the same way. But the soulstuff we are made of can be permanently destroyed.”

“How did you two break free?”

I was glad to see Hazel so invested in our story. We’d never shared the details with anyone else before.

“When Seth finished his studies, his father asked him what he wanted as a reward, and he asked for me to keep. It isn’t uncommon for wizards to transfer bound souls between themselves; we are, after all, just possessions to them.

Things. Less than human. He didn’t have much use for me, so he transferred the bond to Seth. ”

“I dissolved the bond that evening.” Seth reached for his drink and downed the rest of it.

“He did, essentially freeing me from bondage. For the first time I had the choice to do anything I wanted. I could leave, disappearing forever. Or turn on Seth, right then and there, ending the line that kept me captive for so long. He freed me without casting a shield of protection over himself. I could’ve killed him before he even had a chance to protect himself. But I couldn’t do it.”

“He disappeared that night with his newfound freedom.”

Hazel gasped, punching me in the gut just hard enough to make me go “oof.” “You didn’t!”

“I did. But I returned a few days later. I’d realized that what I really wanted to do with my freedom was stay.

You know that saying about if you love something let it go?

Seth did that for me and I chose to stay.

We kept up the charade, with Seth putting fake bonds around me so the other wizards wouldn’t know.

“Then, slowly, we started to get our memories back from when we’d left Elena with Desmon,” I said. “Desmon encouraged Seth to hide their connection and maintain his status at the WEC.”

“It was good experience. And it meant I’m now privy to how things work in that good old boys’ club.” Seth picked up Hazel’s sweet tea and encouraged her to finish it.

“But you left eventually after The Wall fell,” she said after a sip. “It was big news. If I recall correctly, several of you younger wizards left together.”

“We did. But my days there were already numbered. The world was changing, and Desmon needed to call on my services.”

WEC had relied on The Wall to hide their many nefarious dealings. The Wizards Elder Council believed that they were the elites meant to control the world and that the common folk were no more than peasants and workers there to keep their world running.

Their world vision was much like the serfdom of old, with the very powerful up at the top holding all the wealth and the masses at the bottom doing all the work.

But instead of kingdoms and churches—which they’d had their magical fingers in all throughout history— the modern WEC hid behind nations and corporations.

When The Wall fell, the connections, and by that, I meant literal magical connections, between the WEC and the heads of world organizations and notable CEOs were laid bare, exposed to anyone who could see magic.

The wizards realized what was happening quickly and worked diligently to hide the proof, but the damage was already done.

Seth, along with a few of his contemporaries, had denounced the WEC shortly after the fall of The Wall.

Some wondered why they’d waited until such a moment to break away and if it was simply to save their own image, but I knew the truth: these wizards had never believed in the old ways and had been hoping they’d be able to change the WEC from within over time.

With The Wall gone and the WEC doubling down in their efforts, these younger Wizards had bailed.

The plan had been to start their own council, but Seth had taken the job with Desmon, and life had gotten in the way.

And I continued staying with Seth, even when he moved into Desmon’s place, and later when he moved into his own place.

“And here we still are now, stronger than ever,” I finished. “You know, I don’t think we’ve told anyone else our story before. I mean, Desmon and Mateo know, but not all the details.”

Hazel looked pensive. “Thank you for telling me. I appreciate it. You two really are stronger than ever.” She chewed her lower lip. “But can I ask something?”

“Sure,” Seth said.

“You said you were jealous of him going out to look for females to recharge his magic.”

“Yes, I was.” I had an idea of what she was going to ask.

“What changed? Or do you still get jealous?” She was holding back, not asking the question she really wanted to ask.

“Do you mean to ask what makes me fucking you any different for Liam?” Seth asked.

She sighed. “Yes.”

“Well,” I said. “For one thing, I’m a part of it.

It’s not him with you; it’s us with you.

And also, things are different now. Like I said, we’re stronger than ever.

And we’ve tested the waters with other women.

” Then, worried that mentioning other women wasn’t the best idea, I said, “They weren’t the right one, but. ..”

“The right one?” She looked ready to bolt.

“We are looking for something serious,” Seth said. “But it has to be with the right woman.”

“Well, I’ll tell you now that this is not going to be anything serious. I’m not looking for a relationship. And most definitely not a complicated triad one.”

“Does that mean something is going to happen?” I asked.

“I didn’t say that,” she said, flustered.

“Of course something is going to happen. Something already is. Don’t worry, Hazy Daisy. If fun is all you want to give us, then it’s all we’ll take. You can be ours for now. Temporary. And we’ll be discreet about it.”

“Yes, let’s just agree to some fun for now. Then it’s up to you if you want to continue,” I said.

And if she was the one, we’d make sure she’d be so happy she’d never want to leave.

After a long pause, she finally nodded. “I think I can do that.” A beautiful smile spread across her face. “Yes, actually, I think I like this.”

“Good.” Seth reached over, hauled her over my body, and kissed her. Then I did the same, devouring her sweet lips with mine.

It was her soft moan that was my undoing. That and the way her fingers clawed at me as I swallowed her moans. I fisted her hair and was rewarded with the digging of her flat nails against my bicep.

Music and voices had me breaking off our kiss, sitting up straight to peer over the railing to see that another boat had arrived, hoping to hang out under The Archway where we’d dropped anchor.

The geological feature, where a part of the cliffs extended out into the lake in an arch formation, was a popular place for boaters.

Except this yacht had a few rowdy rich kids on it, which probably meant our serenity was about to be destroyed.

“We’ll continue later, at home,” Seth said. “You should probably eat again and take another nap first.”

“Now that you mention it, I am hungry, even after that giant breakfast.”

“You’re still recovering. We should feed you. The Mermaid’s Delight at the marina serves some very good food.”

“You have to try their lobster bisque,” I said, agreeing.

Hazel looked down at her casual sweatpants and T-shirt. “I’m not sure I’m dressed for a proper restaurant like that. It looked swanky from the outside.”

“That’s no problem,” Seth said.

With a wave of his hands and some softly muttered words, Seth transformed her clothes into a slinky black dress with a slit that showed just a little too much leg and her sensible sneakers into a pair of strappy, platform heels that were a tad bit too high.

He also did her makeup with magic. She looked sexy as fuck with winged liner, thickly applied mascara, and perfect red lips.

“Damn!” I said, clutching my chest. I’d never seen her like this, and it was fucking hot! She was always very attractive, but this was something else.

“Let’s bring our sexy girl to dinner, shall we?”