Page 7 of Sugar, Spice, and Magical Moonlight (Midlife Menace #2)
I woke to the sound of Ric cursing. I opened one eye, then the other, slowly adjusting to the pink, evening sunlight filtering into the room through the open curtains that billowed in the island breeze.
Ric was already dressed in island attire, a pair of khaki shorts and a silk shirt, unbuttoned just enough to show the dark hair on his broad chest. He was frowning down at his phone, his brow furrowed as if he was reading bad news.
No doubt, he was. My aunt and her team of character assassins made it a daily mission to spread lies about me all over the striga Internet.
When I sat up, rubbing sleep from my eyes, he set down the phone and sat beside me on the bed, his warm, musky spice doing something to my libido. I couldn’t want sex again after that thorough pounding, could I?
And then he rubbed my shoulders, his big fingers kneading my skin like dough. Goddess, I melted against him while thinking more and more about spreading my legs and letting my hunky feline (heline) do that thing with his tongue that turned my mind to mush.
“Have a good nap?” he purred in my ear.
“Mm.” I leaned against his hard chest, savoring his warmth. “The best.”
“Good. There’s something you need to see.”
I sighed in frustration when he released my shoulders. “What is it?”
When he grabbed his phone and swiped to WitchTok, I cringed.
I absolutely despised that time-wasting app.
Lately, my son had been watching it far too often, especially videos of that stupid Enchantress.
Ric swiped to a news profile, VooDoo Vision, a source that couldn’t be trusted.
They were usually more concerned with hit pieces on celebrity witches than useful news, like maybe warning us that demons had taken over the Roman Tribunal.
I tensed when he opened the most recent video of a striga who looked part troll, part hamster, with a round back, twitchy nose, and furry ears.
“Hello,” the reporter said as she clutched the world’s smallest fuzzy microphone between two stubby fingers, “you’re watching VooDoo Vision on WitchTok, your number one source of current, hex-free news.
I’m reporter Hazel Humpback with Generale Serena Sagredo of the Insurgi Army, whose political cabinet has since usurped Italy’s Tribunal Council, gaining power over all Southwestern Europe. ”
I swore when the camera panned to my scowling aunt.
“Generale Sagredo, do you know where the Phoenix is now?” Hazel asked while thrusting the microphone under my aunt’s nose.
“No, I don’t,” my aunt answered, arching away from the microphone with a scowl. “We almost had them, but they escaped after injuring two Insurgi.”
“Hmm,” I grumbled. “I like how she failed to mention those Insurgi had attacked us first.”
Ric rubbed my back, whispering in my ear. “I know, mi amor . She is a soulless snake.”
I nodded in agreement, even though I felt a slight twinge of guilt. How had my relationship with my beloved mother’s twin completely disintegrated?
“What are the names and conditions of the injured Insurgi?” Hazel pressed.
My aunt released a long sigh, her stony gaze softening. “We’re withholding their names until all family members are notified, but they are both in critical condition. Even if they survive, they will have medical complications.”
Again, not my fault. I didn’t regret doing what needed to be done to protect my family, though I was relieved they weren’t dead.
My aunt loudly cleared her throat, then twisted her lips as if she’d sucked on unwashed troll balls. “Of course, a witch as powerful as the Phoenix could heal them, but since my niece is selfishly hiding, they might succumb to their injuries.”
Oh, the bitch! I was the selfish one, said the aunt who’d lied to me and endangered my son just to start a demon war.
“Will you press charges if they die?” the reporter asked.
My aunt nodded. “She will be charged with murder.”
Murder! For defending my family? I was so mad, my bones quaked, and I felt the bed vibrating beneath me.
When Ric squeezed my shoulder, giving me a warning look, I released a slow breath and unclenched my fists, knowing I had to get a handle on my anger before my earth-splitting magic brought down the house.
“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh for the Phoenix?” the reporter asked. “We need her to help us defeat the demons.”
My aunt’s scowl twisted as shadows fell over her features. “Unless she’s already succumbed to demonic possession.”
My breath caught as I gaped at the phone screen. How could she?
“Do you think that’s possible?” the reporter pressed.
My aunt nodded. “The demons are getting smarter, so anything is possible.”
The reporter shoved the microphone closer to my aunt’s face, making it look like she had a spider trying to crawl up her nose. “Do you have a message for your niece?”
My aunt’s stony gaze dead-panned on the screen. “Luciella Sagredo, you have twenty-four hours to reveal yourself and surrender to the Insurgi or face the unmerciful justice of the Tribunal.”
Ric threw the phone onto the table before I could snatch it from his hand and lob it out the window. I jumped from the bed, tossing my hands in the air. “She’s griffin shit crazy!”
He paced the floor, his expression grim. “I know.”
I clutched my chest, feeling as if my heart had fallen into my stomach. I still couldn’t get over my aunt’s betrayal. What a cold bitch. “She’s trying to convince the world I’m demon-possessed.”
He stopped pacing and let out a groan. “It’s a ruse to get you to come out of hiding.”
“And yet she failed to mention that they attacked us first and that she tricked us into breaking into the Tribunal.” I snatched his phone off the table, clicking on the video.
“Look at all the comments supporting her and all the likes.” There had to have been thousands of commenters agreeing with my aunt.
Stupid keyboard warlocks didn’t even know me!
Ric fell into a chair, hanging his head in his hands. “The truth will come out, eventually.”
Eventually? How long would that take? Would Des be a grown man by then? We didn’t have time to wait for “eventually.” It was unfair to Des to keep him hidden away forever.
I threw the phone onto the bed and turned my gaze to the glass balcony doors as the waning sun set on the horizon.
I could barely make out another island in the distance through the thick clouds.
This island was beautiful, but we’d go crazy if we had to spend the rest of eternity here.
We had to find a way to convince strigadom that I was innocent and that my aunt was a manipulative bitch.
I spun around, facing Ric as an idea struck me. “We need to make our own WitchTok video, telling our side.”
He looked up at me, his mouth drawn. “I think it’s best if you say nothing, keep a low profile.”
A low profile? My voice rose and cracked. “While she smears my name all over strigadom?”
He grimaced, then averted his gaze. “The Sagredos are very powerful and hold a lot of influence.”
Dread iced my veins. I recognized his tone, his uncertainty. He was acting just like Colin when I’d first told him about my idea to open a bakery. He had no faith in me. And here I’d thought he was different. “So what are you saying?”
“That your plan may backfire.” There was no mistaking the uncertainty in his eyes.
“Wow.” I swallowed back my emotion, refusing to lose my cool over his harsh words. “Thanks for your lack of faith in me.”
“I put lots of faith in you.” Heaving a groan, he leaned back in the chair. “It’s the rest of the magical world I don’t trust.”
Resolve stiffened my spine as I slipped into a robe and snatched my phone and lipstick wand off the table before marching toward the door. “I’m making a video.”
He jumped to his feet, my name coming out on a lion’s roar. “Luci!”
I ignored him, snatching open the door. He wasn’t my master. “Ethyl will help me.”
“Luci, this is a bad idea.” He slammed a hand on the door, pushing in front of me, his brows drawn down as if he was scolding a child. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Ohh, of all the nerve!
I turned up my chin, refusing to be intimidated as his eyes narrowed to feline slits. “To talk to Ethyl.”
When he reached for me, I zapped him with an immobilization spell.
It would only last a few minutes, long enough for me to reach Ethyl and make that video.
Though he couldn’t move his arms and legs, the murderous look he gave me made my knees quake.
I hated that it had come to this, but Ric had forced my hand.
Just because I had agreed to be his girlfriend didn’t mean I was about to start taking orders from him. I’d endured enough of that with Colin.
“Sorry, Ric,” I said, then instantly berated myself for apologizing. I used a burst of magic to slam the door shut behind me, summoning the nerve to continue with my plan, even though I swore I could feel his angry glare boring holes through the back of my head.
AFTER POCKETING MY wand and phone, I tiptoed toward Ethyl’s room, praying I wasn’t interrupting anything, though usually I would be able to hear strange moos and squeals coming from the room if they were engaged in cow/pixie coitus.
Even though all was quiet, I hesitantly knocked, relieved when Ethyl threw open the door, her wings rapidly buzzing as she pulled me inside.
They were dressed in pink silky robes, which perfectly complemented Ethyl’s hot pink hair.
Though I thought I’d gotten used to Frederica’s floppy dildo horns, that pink robe made her look like a big bag of cotton candy.