Page 9 of Handcuffs and Hexes (Possessive Monsters #9)

Liam

“Here goes nothing,” I said to Mateo as I grew my leg extra long, unformed my shoes, and stuck a toe into The Breach.

It disappeared into the swirling darkness. Nothing happened. I wiggled the toe, bracing for some unknown and unseen monster to come and gobble it up. Still nothing.

“Pull it back,” Mateo said nervously.

I did, and it came back whole and untouched. “Your turn?”

“Nope. No way. I’m dumb, but not that dumb. And Eva would throw a fit if I did, even if I got my toes back.” He backed away from The Breach. “Besides, I can’t grow back body parts like you do.”

He made a good point. If I lost the toe to The Breach, it meant I was down a few grams of soulstuff, but I could accumulate more of it over time.

Just like in other living things who had souls, demon soulstuff could grow back.

In fact, most damaged souls could grow back and be whole again, given enough time and care.

But physical lost limbs were permanent unless one was an axolotl. I was a lot, but not an axolotl.

And once a physical body dies, the soul goes with it. And this fear was why I was so protective of Seth. He might have powerful magic, but that was useless if he was dead. Humans were so fragile.

“I wonder if I’d have trouble coming back if I went all the way through.”

“Let’s not test that. I don’t want Seth turning me into a gnat if I don’t return with you. And then Eva would call on the scepter and turn him into a gnat.”

“It’ll be gnats all the way down,” I chortled. “Ah, the joys of loving witches and wizards. Never a dull moment.”

“Which reminds me...” Mateo said as we started to circle The Breach again to snap some photos. “Officer Cooley, huh? I never expected to see her almost naked between the two of you.”

“Technically,” I corrected, “I was standing in the middle.” I knew what the manticore was trying to do. “And it’s not like that.”

It was totally like that, but he didn’t know that. I didn’t know what to make of this budding situation with her, but I did know that Hazel would most likely not want it getting out. Not yet, anyway.

“No?”

“She was sent here yesterday, and some untrained garden-variety wizard threw all his magic at her, knocked her out, and almost tossed her in. They wanted someone to watch her for a few days in case there were side effects from the magic and also because she has a concussion. But she lives alone, so Seth took the job.”

“I’m sure he did.” Oh yeah, Mateo didn’t believe me one bit. But he didn’t push the matter.

We continued around The Breach, taking as many photos and videos as we could.

“Wanna stick my phone in and see what we can record?” Mateo asked.

“I’m not sure I want to put any part of myself in there again. But I can stick just the camera part in.”

So we did, and were disappointed we recorded nothing but darkness. It must not have penetrated the thickness of the portal. Did that mean my toe had never really gone through?

As I surmised, the guys from the EA kicked Mateo and me out the moment they arrived.

I returned home to find Liam and Hazel having breakfast at the table. The sight of her wrist still in that brace had me thinking again about how fragile humans were. Hazel was even more breakable. Unlike Seth, she didn’t have a magical barrier around her to protect her.

She looked shocked to see me, but her surprise turned quickly into a grin. “You’re back! It’s so weird to see you just appear out of thin air like that.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Seth said. “There’s extra bacon and eggs for you in the pan. Grab a plate and sit.”

“You’re back fast. Any updates?” Hazel asked.

“Nothing while we were there. The EA kicked us out.”

She frowned, and I explained that Mateo and I were there solely for Desmon.

I dug into my breakfast, loving the fact that Seth had made the bacon the way I liked it best, nearly charred. Mmmm, yummy burnt goodness.

Seth’s phone chimed with a tune from one of the songs from the original Castlevania game. He picked it up and frowned. Then he leveled an eye at me.

Oh shit. I knew that look.

“What the hell did you do?”

Damn, that manticore. Did he blab?

“I dipped my toe in,” I admitted.

“You what ?!” Seth yelled.

Oh boy.

“I got it back.”

“But what if you didn’t?”

“It’ll grow back.”

“What if something pulled you in?”

“Nothing pulled me in.”

“And what if the hole grew just as you touched it and swallowed you whole?”

“It didn’t. I’m fine.”

We had a short stare-off, and at the end, he pulled me over and kissed my forehead. “Don’t do stupid shit.”

“Says the one who nearly gets himself killed on every mission,” I muttered under my breath.

Hazel watched us, an amused look on her face. Finally she asked, “Do you think it’s safe enough to take a peek inside with something electronic?”

“We tried with Mateo’s phone but didn’t catch anything. We think we didn’t stick it far enough in.” I turned to face Seth. “You should give me bonus points for not sticking my whole arm in.”

He just inhaled and exhaled slowly, like he was dealing with a kid.

“What about a drone?” Hazel asked.

“Might work.”

“That’s something Chief would probably greenlight.

I’ll suggest it when I get hold of my laptop.

That reminds me… I need to go home and pick up a few things before this headache comes back.

Whatever you did with my head and the food really helped.

” She looked down at her body. “But I’m not leaving in this. ”

“I’ll cast an illusion over it,” Seth said.

“What did I miss while I was gone?”

“I gave Hazel a rundown of how things are going to work between us. Did you know she was worried she was coming between us?”

“Worried?” I reached over and gave her good hand a squeeze. “You should be excited about coming in between us. Not worried.” I winked.

She sputtered, and Seth chuckled.

“She thought we were using her to make each other jealous.”

“Really? Shit. We should’ve been clearer on the get-go.

I’m sorry, Babygirl. Seth and I are a couple, yes, but we are also very open to new experiences as long as we are together.

Seth replenishes the witchy side of his magic through sex, and no matter how much we love each other, when things have to be done for work, sometimes it gets monotonous.

We don’t want that to happen, so we take preemptive action. ”

“Like finding a third for temporary fun?”

I nodded.

“So Mateo probably thinks I slept over last night for that?” Her face was starting to turn red.

“I told Mateo that Seth was caring for you for the next few days. I imagined you wouldn’t want the rest of the force talking about how you’re getting tag-teamed by a demon and a wizard.”

“I can always turn the first asshole that gives you a hard time into a gnat,” Seth offered. “That will shut everyone else up real quick.”

See, it was always gnats. Why was it always gnats?

“That would probably be Tommy. He’d make a good gnat. But I don’t think that will go over well with Chief Henderson.”

“It won’t be permanent.” Seth winked. “But we should slow down a bit. Sweetcheeks still has that headache today.”

“It’s not that bad now.”

“Because I used a spell to mute it.”

That had me frowning. Usually, magical hangovers went away pretty quickly once the right conditions were met.

We’d fed her. She was hydrated. And she’d gotten a full night’s rest. If the headaches and fatigue became chronic, it was usually a bad sign.

Using more magic to mask the symptoms was not a solution.

“Was that before or after your little playtime?” I asked. “And before you deny it, I can smell your pleasure all over the loft. It’s better than the bacon.”

“After,” Seth said. “I used my magic after I went down on her.”

“And when did your headache start?” I asked Hazel.

“This morning.” She hesitated, then said, “It actually disappeared when we were fooling around. It got worse again when I got upset.”

“Hmm,” Seth said, nodding. “That’s a good thing.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because that confirms it is a magical hangover. Think of it like a temporary magic deficiency,” he explained.

“You used so much magic to block that spell that you depleted yourself. My body creates magic with touch and sex. It’s helping you refill your well.

But your well has a crack in it right now and can’t hold much.

So it only works when we are in contact. ”

“Hey, does that mean fucking will help her heal?” I asked.

“Yup. She’s all ours.”

Hazel rolled her eyes. “Why are you two speaking like it’s a done deal? I said I’ll let you two care for me until this is over, but I never agreed to do”—she waved her hand—“whatever this is.”

“You mean a threesome?” I asked.

Her cheeks went fully red.

“Don’t worry.” I moved in close to whisper in her ear. “We’ll never do anything you don’t want. And we’ll always take care of you.”

“There is one thing I was wondering.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Can I meet whatever lives in the big enclosure?”