Page 45 of Sugar, Spice, and Magical Moonlight (Midlife Menace #2)
“No.” A jolt of panic shot through me when I remembered those sirens entrancing my son. “I don’t want you going back into that jungle, understood?” Though they said they wouldn’t hurt the Phoenix, I trusted them about as much as I trusted Cerberus with a bone.
Ric’s eyes flared as he clutched my arm. “What happened?”
“Oh, yeah.” I averted my gaze when I recalled the baby talk. “I forgot to tell you the sirens lured him to the beach.”
“What?” He grabbed both my shoulders, forcing me to peer into his penetrating eyes.
A zing of panic shot through me, almost as if his emotions were projecting onto me.
Weird. I flattened my palm across his warm chest, the contours so hard, I swear he’d been carved from granite.
And his scent, those feline pheromones were my own personal crack.
I batted my lashes and bit my lip while looking up at him.
“I’m sorry I burned a hole through your pretty jungle to get him back. ”
“I don’t care, so long as Des is safe.” Voice dropping to a soothing whisper, he rubbed warmth into my arms. “What happened?”
I resisted the urge to shut out the rest of the world and melt into his embrace. “They know he’s the Phoenix. They said they’d never hurt him.”
“Then why did they take him?” he asked while continuing to stroke me.
“I-I’m not sure.” The answer easily slipped off my tongue, for I still wasn’t sure what they were trying to tell me about sphinx babies.
I reluctantly pulled out of his embrace, determined to shift the subject.
“After we find Frederica, I’m confronting the Enchantress for hiding her true form from us and for the way she’s treated Frederica. ”
Shu clucked his tongue. “She won’t admit it.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’ll use a truth spell.”
Shu held up a silencing hand. “Patience, grasshopper. She’s an alpha witch. She’s probably already got a counterspell for your truth spell. I will make her reveal the truth with a serum, and she won’t even realize it.”
I tilted my head in confusion. What did grasshoppers have to do with it? Shu and his ’80s slang!
“Brilliant,” Ric rumbled. “Then we’ll make her tell us everything else they’ve been hiding from us.”
“Cool beans.” Shu smiled. “I’ll go make the serum, then we’ll bust a move.”
I swallowed back a lump of bile. This was it. Time to expose the backstabbing bitch and find out her true intentions. I only hoped we were ready to hear the truth.
AFTER I EXPLAINED EVERYTHING to Ethyl, she and I searched the whole island.
We’d even taken a chance and searched the beach.
Luckily, the sirens had left, though the moon was still crimson, meaning they were probably out devouring sailors somewhere.
We were both too terrified to go into the cave at the other end of the beach, for I feared the ghosts were in there.
And, yeah, I was mostly used to spirits by now, but that was when Ric was with me.
Ethyl reassured me that Frederica wouldn’t be in the cave, as she was even more terrified of ghosts.
Our hearts were heavy when we returned to Ric on the patio.
Ethyl flew at him like a bat out of Hades. “Did she come back?”
“No.” He grimaced, taking me in his arms. “I take it you didn’t see her?”
“No sign of her,” I said as I snuggled against him. “Where’s Des?”
He motioned toward the house. “Inside, eating a snack and playing on his tablet.”
“Is Puffy with Des?” Ethyl asked in a trembling voice.
Ric rubbed warmth into my back, his pheromones pulsing off him like a strobe light. “I imagine so, since Des has food.”
I wrapped my arms around Ric’s neck. “Mm.” Ric smelled so damn good, and he’d changed into his black silk dressing robe that felt like smooth water against my fingertips. How I wished we could disappear into the bedroom and pretend this day had never happened.
I felt selfish for wanting sex while Ethyl was upset. She nervously fluttered around us, her eyes a shocking pale violet.
“Don’t worry.” Ric feathered a kiss across my temple. “Frederica will come back soon.”
I pulled back, blinking up at him. “What if she doesn’t?”
“She will.” He gripped my shoulders. “There’s nowhere else for her to go.”
“Hello, darlings.” Shu flounced onto the porch, his swishing pants heralding his arrival.
He carried a frosted pitcher of what looked like a chocolate shake.
“I made the truth serum.” He licked his lips, his eyes lighting up like fireworks as he set the pitcher on the buffet.
“You’re going to shit a brick, because it’s hella good. ”
“Good,” Ric grumbled. “It’s time to make the deceiver talk.”
By the deceiver, I knew he meant the Enchantress, though I had a few other choice words I’d rather call her.
Ethyl wrung her hands, her eyes shifting between deep brown and indigo. “I’m going to keep searching for Frederica,” she called before fluttering into the house.
I wanted to follow her, but we thought we’d heard the Enchantress and Nimue behind us when we were returning from our search. I needed to be here when Shu forced the bitch to talk.
Ric motioned toward the frosted pitcher. “What’s in the serum?”
“An ancient family recipe,” Shu said with a wink. “I hid it in a pitcher of chocolate pina colada.” He gave me a hopeful look. “But I need to test it on someone.”
I perked up as I licked my lips. All that searching had worked up a thirst, and who was I to refuse anything with chocolate? “Did you say chocolate pina colada?”
“Yes,” Shu said as he poured the smooth liquid into a glass. “Will you be my tester?”
I nervously eyed Shu, my gaze darting to Ric for just a heartbeat.
“The serum lasts less than an hour,” Shu added.
“Sure.” I bit my lip while having second thoughts. “You’re not going to ask me anything personal?” Namely, questions about my future with Ric when I was still unsure if we had a future.
“Don’t worry, darling.” Shu patted my back, his cloud of cologne swarming me like a fog. “I won’t.”
I took the glass from him and took a hesitant sip, my tastebuds exploding.
It was the most delicious drink I’d ever tasted, a blend of creamy chocolate with undertones of rich, coconut rum.
“Oh, Shu. This is heavenly.” I took another long sip, savoring the frosted, creamy perfection.
If orgasms had a flavor, this would be it.
“Easy,” Shu warned. “It only takes a little to work.”
I eyed him over the rim of my glass. I didn’t want a little.
There was no such thing as moderation when it came to chocolate.
Before I knew it, I’d finished off the entire glass and my head was swimming from the rum.
“You’ll have to make this again, only without the serum.
” I handed the empty glass back to him while wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
Ric gave me a smirk as if to say, Why? What are you afraid of saying?
Luckily, he didn’t voice that thought aloud, because he wouldn’t have liked my honest answer. Maybe I shouldn’t have volunteered to be the taste tester. If only chocolate wasn’t my Achilles heel.
“Okay,” Shu said while setting the glass on the buffet. “Let’s see if the serum worked. Luci, try to tell us a lie.”
“Like what?” I asked.
He tapped his chin, appearing lost in thought. “Say, ‘I like sniffing troll farts.’”
“That’s disgusting,” I blurted.
Attitude in full swing, Shu jutted hands on his hips, his parachute arms swishing with the movement. “Just try to say it.”
I opened my mouth as if to speak, but the words wouldn’t form. Nervous laughter erupted from my throat as I slapped a hand over my mouth. “I-I can’t. The words won’t come out!”
“Good,” Shu said. “Then it worked.”
I nodded, pressing my lips together, suddenly terrified I’d blurt the wrong thing, like how terrified I was that Ric and I were moving too fast.
Ric’s nostrils flared as he faced the jungle. “They’re coming.”
Two shadows emerged from the jungle. Arm-in-arm, they casually strolled (and slithered) toward us.
I looked away from Nimue’s tail when I recalled where it had been.
But then curiosity won out, and I stole a glance, trying to hide my shock when I noticed the tip of her tail was swollen and sticking up like a, like a.
.. Let’s just say, her tail put Ric’s tongue to shame.
Arms crossed, Ric stepped in front of me, his deep voice carrying across the courtyard. “Where were you two?”
The Enchantress flashed a long, languid smile while trying to skirt past him. “On a walk about the island.”
“Oh.” My voice rose along with my pitch as I sidled next to Ric. I refused to be sidelined. “I thought you were still in your room, making slanderous videos about me.”
I ignored Nimue’s hiss as her gills flared.
Turning up her chin, the Enchantress gave me a haughty look. “That was a prerecorded video, and it wasn’t slanderous.”
Bitter laughter escaped my throat. “It wasn’t?”
Dark clouds eclipsed her eyes. “We all saw what you did to Felicity.”
Anger surged through me, making my bones quake. “And did you hear me say she was demon possessed?”
“We didn’t see signs of demon possession.” She averted her gaze long enough for me to know she was lying. “But what we do know is that she was having an affair with your ex-husband while you were still married. If I were you, I’d want her dead too.”
How badly I wanted to smack that smug expression off her face. Ignoring Ric trying to pull me back and Nimue’s increasing hissing, I stepped closer to her, bowing up my chest. “I didn’t kill her.”
She waved me off with a dismissive flick of the wrist while taking a big step back, pressing into Nimue. “And yet her Hexagram and WitchTok accounts have been disabled.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s dead.” I clenched my hands into fists, trying to suppress my growing rage as the tremors in my bones increased.
“The Insurgi have her. I suspect you already know this.” I tried to advance on her, but Ric jerked me back.
I shook out of his grip again, glaring at him over my shoulder.