Page 31 of Lumi

“Precisely.”

“Damian, come dance with me.” A dark beauty with a miniskirt and high heels came into the kitchen.

Damian raised a palm in the air and spoke in an overly sweet tone. “Sorry, Magique, I would dance all night with you, my African Queen, but I can’t. Look.” He held up our hands.

“What is this?” The woman had a spear tattooed on the front of her left arm, and a group of children dancing around her right wrist. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”

Damian shrugged. “I’ve been tryin’ to tell ye, Magique.”

I raised a brow looking from him to her and back again.

The woman looked me up and down before turning on her heel and leaving us.

“Why are you telling people we’re together?” I asked with confusion.

“Magique scares me,” Damian admitted. “She knows some African voodoo that makes men sick when they break her heart.”

I scoffed. “Damian, come on.”

“It’s true. Back when she first started working in admin, she went out with Jensen, but when he broke up with her, he was sick with pneumonia for almost a month. After that, she was with two or three others, and I’m tellin’ ye: they all ended up sick.”

Arching an eyebrow, I snorted. “That’s ridiculous. There’s no such thing as magic.”

“Magique’s mum was a voodoo priestess. She told Jensen so herself. Hey, Clarkson, back me up here,” Damian called out to one of his colleagues who was headed for the fridge just then. “Isn’t it true that Magique knows voodoo?”

Standing at least two meters tall with rough features, and a blue-and-red snake tattoo running up his neck, Clarkson would make an excellent goon for any movie. Looking over his shoulder, Clarkson lowered his voice. “It’s true! I heard she left a trail of dead lovers back in Africa.”

I covered my eyes and sighed.

“Thanks, Clarkson,” Damian said and pulled my hands down from my face. “What’s wrong?”

“Your superstition is what’s wrong.”

“Awk, don’t be such a holy Joe. We’re just taking the piss.” Setting down his beer bottle, Damian held out his palm to me. “I need the key.”

“I don’t have it. You brought it.”

“Me? Naw.” Damian searched his pockets. “I don’t have it.”

“Are you serious right now?”

Damian gave an untroubled laugh. “Relax. It’s not a big deal. Ye’ll just have to come with me to the jacks.”

“What, now?”

“Aye, I don’t think Logan would like it if I peed in his kitchen sink.”

“Why didn’t you bring the key? I told you to bring it.”

“I forgot. Relax, Lumi. Ye’ve seen a man take a piss before, haven’t ye?”

The toilet was free, and to my relief, it was small enough that I could stand outside with only my hand reaching through the door.

“Lumi.”

“Yes?”

The door opened, and Damian motioned for me to come in. “I can’t reach the sink.”