Page 44 of Sugar, Spice, and Magical Moonlight (Midlife Menace #2)

A fter we escaped the jungle, I took Des to the outdoor shower to help him wash every last grain of sand off his feet.

Then I couldn’t describe my relief when we found our way back to the garden patio.

Ric and Ethyl were chatting, the remnants of the pineapple cake Ethyl had made today scattered across the table as if it had been blown apart.

Ethyl motioned toward the crumbs when she saw me, and I knew she’d pulled out the cake without considering Ric’s uncontrollable appetite. I had a feeling he’d eaten it in one swallow.

Puffy had removed his invisibility cloak and had perched on Ethyl’s shoulder with a pout, which meant he hadn’t been able to steal a bite of cake before Ric devoured it. Honestly, they were lucky they hadn’t been caught in the crossfire.

Des and I went to the buffet table, each gulping down a glass of water to quench our parched throats.

I poured us each another glass, and we drank it slower this time.

It tasted like mint and lemon and was absolutely delicious, though I only cared about rehydrating.

After we finished our second glass, we joined them at the table.

Ric stood and kissed my cheek, his breath smelling of pineapple. “Well, how was your walk?”

“Interesting.” I finally released Des’s hand after another squeeze. I still wasn’t over the fact that he’d been abducted by man-eating sirens. No doubt our walk could’ve gone so much worse, as in the beach would’ve been turned into a siren slaughterhouse if they’d harmed my son.

Concern marring his brow, Ric lovingly tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You better?”

This man-beast was so amazingly tender and caring. How could I consider giving him up?

“Not sure.” I shrugged, my gaze darting to Ethyl. “Hey, baby,” I said to my son while squeezing his arm. “How about you do me a favor and go check on Shu?”

“Okay, Mama.” He flashed an easy smile, not seeming in the least bit upset that he’d almost been eaten by sirens and that he’d seen Frederica being eaten by Nimue.

I couldn’t stop thinking about that dirty tail. Gross. It reminded me of the time Ethyl and I had found a dildo in our neighborhood dumpster, thinking it was a chew toy. We brought it home for Puffy, but Nana took it from us, and then we’d found it in Nana’s dresser drawer a few months later.

Ric pulled out a chair next to his, but I refused, giving him an apologetic look before sitting beside Ethyl.

I took her small hands in mine while searching her eyes, indigo, which meant she was already worried after Frederica had stormed off, and I feared she’d blame herself for the affair.

“Ethyl, are you and Frederica in an open relationship?”

Her expression turned quizzical. “We haven’t discussed it yet. I assume we aren’t. Why?”

Heaving a breath, I forced out the words, though I knew I’d be breaking my best friend’s heart. “I saw Frederica and Nimue having sex.”

“What?” She jumped from her seat with a squeal, angrily fluttering above me. “No! Freddie wouldn’t do that to me.”

My shoulders fell with the weight of Ethyl’s sorrow.

I loved her like a sister and hated having to hurt her.

“Unless you know of any other minotaurs on this island.” I wished there were such things as minotaur shifters, then I could’ve believed those hooves sticking up in the air belonged to the Enchantress, but I’ve never known of a minotaur that could shift into something else.

Like satyrs, they weren’t a shifting species, their weak magic relegating them to lower-level positions.

“Are you sure they were having sex?” Ric asked.

I vehemently nodded. “They were moaning naked on top of each other, and Nimue’s tail was, how do I put this?” I grimaced. “Acting like a tongue.”

Ethyl’s eyes flashed violet as she buzzed around the table. “I don’t believe it.”

I swallowed back my emotion, fearing my best friend would resent me for telling her, but what choice did I have? “I’m sorry, Ethyl.”

A loud commotion sounded from the jungle, and who should appear but Frederica? One of her braids had come undone, and she had leaves stuck to her dildo horns.

Ric loudly cleared his throat while avoiding eye contact with Frederica.

Ethyl buzzed up to her, wagging a small fist in her face. “How could you?!”

Frederica’s jaw dropped. “What’s wrong, mein blume ?”

Tears streamed down Ethyl’s face. “I’m not your ‘ mein blume ’ anymore!” Swiping away her tears, she flew up to me. “I want you to get rid of the Enchantress and her friends.” She tossed a sneer toward her former lover. “Frederica too.”

Frederica let out a startled “moo” while stomping her hoof. “Mein blume !”

“Don’t call me that!” Ethyl yelled before angrily buzzing away.

Frederica threw her hairy arms in the air. “I don’t understand what I did.”

I glared at the beast who’d shattered my best friend’s heart. “I saw you with Nimue.”

“Nein!” Anger flashed in her eyes and steam poured from her widened nostrils. For a moment, I thought she was going to charge me. “I was by myself.” She made a face of disgust. “Not with Nimue.”

Ric let out a low rumble and moved to my side. “Luci saw you, Frederica.”

Frederica’s shoulders fell as tears sprang to her eyes. “Why no one believe anything I say?” She let out a blubbery sob before rushing back into the jungle, her jiggly horns slapping together.

For a moment, I almost felt sorry for Frederica and worried I’d been mistaken. But, no, I knew what I’d seen.

I shrieked, ducking when something smacked my head. The air displaced above me, followed by a plume of smoke and a little Puffy-sized huff. The fluttering sound of Puffy’s wings filled the air as that plume of smoke wound its way toward the jungle where Frederica had just disappeared.

Of course Puffy blamed me. The little turd reminded me why I found him so annoying. But it wasn’t my fault. I was just the messenger. Would Puffy rather I kept Ethyl in the dark and let her get hurt even worse later?

I sighed, my heart heavier than before. I’d had such hopes for Frederica and Ethyl. After she’d dated practically every creature in the magical world, it was nice to see Ethyl settle down with one striga. Now what? I feared after this experience, she’d never trust another with her heart.

I fell into a chair. “What a mess!”

“I know,” Ric grumbled.

“Hello, darlings.” Shu glided onto the patio as if he was walking on air, his heavy cologne following in his wake like a contrail. His black and purple parachute pants swished with each step. If I hadn’t already seen this particular outfit, I would’ve thought he was wearing a garbage bag.

Des followed him and then quickly sat beside me, put on his headphones, and focused on his tablet.

“That was quick,” I said as Shu poured a glass of wine and sat on my other side while Ric stood behind us.

“I was on my way to you when Des found me.” Shu took a long sip of wine and set the glass on the table.

“I think I’ve discovered something.” Then he snapped his fingers, and a huge, dusty, leather-bound tome appeared on the table.

Shu flipped open the yellowed pages to a picture of what looked like a minotaur, albeit slightly smaller than Frederica, with facial features that were a little more humanlike.

Ric swore.

My stomach soured. “What is it?”

“A mutatio,” he answered.

“A what?”

“A rare mythical creature from the island of Crete that can mutate into a human-like striga, though they retain their original mass.”

“I’m not following.” Though my mind kept wandering to those hooves in the air. They had appeared slightly smaller than Frederica’s massive clompers.

Dragon balls!

“Millennia ago, when minotaurs were first imprisoned on the island of Crete, a few of them learned how to mask as humans, imitating the likeness of the beautiful Queen Pasiphae in order to escape the labyrinth.”

My heart hit my stomach when Shu flipped to the next page and pointed to a drawing of Queen Pasiphae.

She looked exactly like the Enchantress—same ebony skin, big, lavender eyes, long, slender neck, high cheekbones, and confident tilt to her chin.

Then again, it was easy to be confident when you looked like a supermodel.

I chewed my lip while peering at Ric over my shoulder. “Did you know about these mutatios?”

“Vaguely.” He shrugged. “They were a different breed of minotaur, smaller and more magical. I haven’t seen one in decades. I thought they’d all gone extinct.”

“Not much is known about mutatios, since they integrated into society,” Shu continued. “Even though they appear to be beautiful women, they still contain the strength of minotaurs. It explains how the Enchantress broke your ribs. She probably also broke Ric’s chair.”

And had “tail sex” with Nimue , I wanted to add. “That’s not all she did,” I blurted.

When Shu gave me a look, I shook my head. “I’ll explain later.”

“Luci caught Nimue having sex with a minotaur. We thought it was Frederica,” Ric said as he leaned over us, flipping the pages.

“Oh, that’s unfortunate.” Shu frowned. “Did you tell Ethyl?”

I nodded.

“You’ll need to make amends,” Ric said.

“I didn’t think minotaurs had strong enough magic to be able to shift,” I said while scanning through the catalog of their magical abilities.

“Mutatios aren’t common minotaurs,” Shu answered. “Her human form is just an illusion, a glamour hiding the beast beneath.”

Well, dang. I hung my head in my hands. All this time, the Enchantress had been hiding her true form from us.

As vain as she was, I wondered if she was ashamed of her appearance.

I thought back to how badly the Enchantress had been treating Frederica, and I wondered if it was because she resented her for reminding her of her true self.

I slowly stood on trembling legs while nodding toward the jungle. “I need to tell Ethyl and then find Frederica and apologize.”

Des slipped off his headphones, tugging on my jeans. “Can I go with you, Mama?”