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Closing my eyes, I released a breath, and dug deep, collecting all the magic within me. The best way to describe magic was as an electrical current. It flowed through all of me, through every vein, every muscle, every limb. It pushed through my heart, kept my brain turning, and fed each of my cells. Without magic, I’d be a husk, a nobody.
Magic was home, and I pulled onto that comfort as I collected all I could, thought about what I wanted, how I wanted it to work, and then asked my magic to do it. The Magic Be Gone device sat in front of me and mocked me, calling me a failure, and I was more than ready to prove it wrong. It would bend to my will. It didn’t have a choice.
My hands grew hot as they hovered above the device, and once I had what I hoped was enough, I shoved it all into the device. The device ate it up. And then continue to eat it when I tried to stop. The small hairs on my body stood straight up as my skin tingled. Pain shook through my limbs, and I grunted, trying to cut off the source.
The device didn’t care. It wanted it all, and it was willing to take it all from me.
“No!” I snapped out, and as a last effort, forced my body backward, slamming into the counter. The hard top bit into my lower back, and I grunted at the slight pain. My lungs screamed for air after the strain of fighting the device, and I had to use short quick breaths. When I stepped forward, my back reminded me of the abuse it had just taken, and I rubbed at the spot, knowing a bruise was already forming.
That fricken hurt.
My thoughts were slow, my body sluggish as I sat up. My limbs didn’t want to work right and exhaustion pulled at me. It would be so easy to just lie back down, close my eyes, and get some rest. I was completely drained.
“Dammit,” I whispered into the empty lab. Frustration clawed at my insides. This should have been the easy part. I wasn’t even trying to activate the device yet. I was trying to add in a layer of protection. I had to do this in rounds, adding layer after layer so that the device would go beyond what I could do. It had to be stronger than me.
The thing hadn’t even been calibrated to drain me. That only meant it was working, taking more of me each round. Minutes ticked by until I was finally able to lift my arms. Of course, a second later, they were flopping back down at my side. Useless.
Maybe just a short nap on the floor would be okay.
My eyes were drawn to a cabinet nearby.
Or, I could just take an emergency potion. It’d give me the boost I needed to at least move around again. That sounded a lot better than sleeping on the cold, hard floor.
I shimmied my way to the cabinet, hating how powerless and weak I felt. This wasn’t even my first round, and it seemed every time, a part of me was stripped away. Too much of me was going into the project, and if I were smarter, I’d stop. But then Elliot’s defenseless face flashed through my mind. I didn’t want any more Elliots in the world. They needed this.
Reminding myself why I was doing this helped, and after a few long minutes had passed, I finally made it to the cabinet. I swung it open, grabbed the small black case tucked off to the side, and pulled it onto my lap.
This was my emergency case, for when things went to shit. The potion itself was dangerous, not because it had addictive properties, but because if I weren’t careful, I’d use it as my fallback to get me through. I’d done it before. I didn’t want to do it again. There were two ingredients that, in large quantities, was dangerous for the body.
The vial was about the length and width of my pinky finger. The neon green liquid inside looked as unappetizing as it tasted. “Bottoms up,” I grumbled, and before I could overthink it, I unscrewed the cap, knocked it back, and then swallowed the instant bile that rose up, forcing all of it down. I grimaced as it hit my stomach and went to work instantly flooding my body.
The best way to describe it was like opening up all my pores and allowing energy to flow inside. I gasped as I recharged in seconds, the deep exhaustion fleeing from my body. I stood up, shaking out my limbs. My lower back still ached, but it’d be fine in about an hour.
I needed a break. A nice long break to just relax. Carefully packing everything away, I cleaned up the lab, locked it down, and then headed outside. Lombardi had caved and built a massive garden behind the building. Shifters and anyone with an affinity to nature could be found there if they were taking a break. Right now, there weren’t many people out.
Finding a bench, I claimed it as my own and sat down, tilting my head back to feel the sun on my face. There weren’t many days like this anymore. We were well into November and winter was ready to roll in. The air was crisp and fresh thanks to the rainfall we’d had early in the morning. There were more dark clouds in the sky, but at least the sun found a spot to shine through until it was covered up.
I closed my eyes and worked on my breathing, doing a simple meditation to clear my head. A soft breeze blew through the area and with it the light fluttering of pixie wings as they prepared for the winter weather. I wasn’t sure how they did it, but the pixies knew how to work their magic, and I had no doubt that the garden would stay just as beautiful through the winter months.
Shadows moved over my eyelids and I shot them open to see Ami hovering over me with a grin. Her look clearly said I wasn’t going to like what she had to say.
“What now?” I moaned and straightened.
I was surrounded by Ami, Henzie, and a handful of other employees, half of them other labbies. Ami’s smile widened as she stepped back and Henzie sent me a sultry smile, his incubus coming out to play.
BMS employed nineteen lab technicians, or as I liked to call them, labbies. There used to be twenty but one of them was a pixie who thought it’d be fun to break into labs and steal for fun. Lombardi ran the little guy not only out of BMS, but out of Springer City too. Last I knew, he was down south, trying to find another company, but no one wanted anything to do with a thief. Lombardi’s influence was far. Henzie was another researcher and also one of my competitors. While I came in as the top labbie, he came in close behind as number two. We weren’t able to outdo one another because while I played with gadgets, Henzie specialized in technology.
He took his job seriously, but by the black-lit fire in his brown eyes, his incubus was looking for trouble.
“No,” I said, staring at Henzie. The handsome devil had curly dark brown hair framing a masculine face. Everything about him was intense as he pulled at the very existence of those around him, demanding they pay attention to him.
“I didn’t say anything,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes. “And you don’t need to. I can see it all over your expression. You’re on the hunt.”
He shrugged. “What’s wrong with wanting the perfect bowling partner?”
“Huh?” I stared after him, feeling like he was talking in tongues.
“Bowling,” Ami said. “We’re all going and so are you.”
“Pass,” I said, preferring to go back to my lab. The rest of the group was smiling with amusement. I recognized Anaria, number three labbie. She was a shy one, and I refused to go into her lab, or my need for organization would take over, and I’d clean up the room. She called it organized chaos, I called it a death trap in waiting.
“It’s cute how you think you have a choice,” Ami said. “It’s Friday, you’ve been working too much, and we need to get going. The others are waiting, so come on.”
And just like that, I was dragged out to go bowling with a group of people. I didn’t do large groups. I was pretty sure I also didn’t do bowling.
The destination wasn’t far, the bowling alley just a couple blocks down from BMS. Another group waited outside for us, putting us at ten people. I grinned when I recognized the shaggy blond hair of the man standing taller than the others around him.
“Babe,” Davies called out and pushed through the crowd. My grin widened even more when Venni followed with Alijah. I hadn’t seen Alijah in a while. The tiger shifter was a real predator with orange eyes, dark skin, and a scowly personality. He had helped a lot when I needed to upgrade BMS’s security for Shanton’s visit, patiently showing me the ins and outs of the property.
“You got dragged here too?” I asked Alijah.
He nodded and jerked his head at Davies. “Bombarded me while I was in the bathroom.”
I laughed. Davies would do that.
We headed inside and took over three lanes. I got my guys in my lane. Ami, Henzie, and Anaria took the next lane and the other three people who worked with Ami took the last lane. I managed to find a bowling ball with swirls of purple and blue that was light enough for me to throw. The other guys grabbed balls I couldn’t even lift.
I snorted to myself.
“What’s so funny?” Venni asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “Did you find the right ball?” I snickered again.
He nodded. My eyes met Ami’s and then we both broke out laughing; the others looked between the two of us, confused. I shook my head trying to calm down.
“So, competition between the lanes,” Davies said, his competitiveness coming out.
Ami eyed Davies. “You’re on, human.”
“Oh, ouch, that really hurts,” he said, mocking being shot in the chest. Ami rolled her eyes.
“Okay, Laila’s up,” Davies commented. He even held his fist to his mouth as if holding a microphone. “Who will the beauty be going up against? Who will take on the challenge of beating her on the other two teams? Oh, and Michael steps up to the plate on Team Three. And Team Two sends out Anaria. The talent is so thick in the air you can taste it. Who will be victorious and who will be the first to introduce themselves to the gutter.”
“Shut up.” I laughed, unable to focus on what I was doing, too busy listening to him.
“Don’t distract her,” Venni said, and I sent him a grateful smile as Davies sat down.
I walked up to the dotted line, trying to remember how to even play. If my memory wasn’t making shit up, I’d last bowled for a school field trip when I was about ten years old.
The goal was to knock down all the pins. I could do that. I eyed the dots on the lanes and then approached, swinging my arm and letting the ball loose.
It went right into the gutter.
The group laughed as the ball inched its way down to the end and disappeared. I scowled.
“Don’t you know how to bowl?” Davies asked, holding his side. He was laughing that hard.
“No,” I said.
The second time I went, it didn’t go any better. I scowled at the ball the entire time it rolled its way down the gutter. It took a while.
Davies stepped up next to me and rubbed the top of my head, making my light brown hair a mess. I sent a glare his way to let him know I didn’t appreciate him messing my hair up.
Chuckling, he grabbed his ball and waited for the lane to reset. “If I get a strike, I get a kiss,” he said.
“I don’t think Venni likes kissing guys,” I said.
I glanced at Venni just at the right moment to see his lips twitch. He wasn’t big on broadcasting his emotions. He fought with himself daily to hold back. As a wolf shifter, he relied on control. Unfortunately, he took that to a whole new level, rarely giving anything away in his expressions. Most wolf shifters were scruffy, but Venni took care to stay cleanly shaven. Only his bulky size gave him away.
Even Davies looked like a better wolf shifter than Venni did, which I now found entertaining considering I’d recently learned his shifter blood was from a lion.
“Venni would be lucky to have a taste of these lips,” Davies said. “And while I’m all for sexual freedom, dicks don’t do it for me.”
“Kalman, watch what you say,” Alijah growled.
Davies rolled his eyes. “Dick, dick, dick. I’m a dick, you’re a dick. We’re all dicks with dicks and I know how to wield mine.” He eyed Alijah. “I can’t say the same about you.”
Alijah’s eyes flashed red, and he stepped toward Davies.
“Enough,” Venni said. “You’re going too far.”
“Ruining all my fun,” Davies muttered.
I frowned and stared at Davies. Something was bothering him, but I didn’t know what, and while he was a playful guy, he was also usually respectful.
“So, kiss?” Davies said.
“Fine,” I said. “Just bowl already.”
Davies grinned as he approached the lane.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Venni said.
“Who said I didn’t want to?” I asked, already thinking about the kiss I’d shared with Davies last night and the kiss I was about to give him now. No doubt, he’d get the strike. He was a man on a mission. I also wanted to do it because something was bothering him and I wanted to soothe whatever was plaguing him.
“Fuck, yeah,” Davies said, breaking me from my thoughts. His arms were in the air in victory, and I noted how all the pins had been knocked down. “And Team One is back in the game,” he said, turning to me.
Before I could say congratulations, he scooped me up in his arms so I was against his chest and covered my lips with his. My eyes fluttered closed as his hard body pressed against mine, his hands gripping my ass to hold me up. Finally, he pulled away, laughing, and I smiled at him, playing with one of his blond locks. I liked that he kept his hair a few inches long.
Realizing what was going on, I looked over to see Venni and Alijah staring at us. I couldn’t quite grasp their expressions. I just knew they weren’t upset. If anything, they seemed more turned on than anything else. Something I hadn’t even realized had locked up tight loosened at their acceptance.
“Good job,” Venni said and grabbed his bowling ball to go next.
Venni got eight pins, and Alijah got a spare. When my turn came up, I glared at my ball, willing to place blame on it instead of on my lack of skills.
“Just aim it right down the middle,” Davies said.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to do that,” I said.
“You’re not, it’ll increase your risk of getting a split. But in your case, aim for the middle and you’ll end up being off center, which should put you right where you want to be,” Davies explained.
I listened and let the ball fly down the lane. It rolled right where he said it would, off-centered just enough to hit the pins and send them flying.
“Strike!” I cheered, staring in amazement at all the downed pins. They had no chance.
Strong arms wrapped around me and swung me around. “Fucking told you,” Davies said and made a whooping noise as he put me back down. “We are going to destroy you all,” he said, pointing at the other two teams. Ami rolled her eyes as she went up to bowl. I glanced at their screen, noting two strikes from the first round. The third group had one strike and high scores.
“And your reward,” Davies said, leaning down and giving me a quick kiss.
I grinned back. If we were going to kiss every time one of us got a strike, I needed to up my game.
The next few rounds flew by quickly and I was right, every time Davies got a strike, he kissed me. I didn’t get another strike, but I managed a spare and got a kiss for all my hard work. It was fun. I was laughing, teasing, and ribbing the other teams as we stayed in the lead, though just barely.
When the guys showed any affection to me, we did get curious looks, but it seemed like no one cared. Maybe what the guys were trying to build with me was more common than I thought? Ami grinned big every time Davies kissed me and waggled her eyebrows, but other than her teasing, we might as well have been invisible. It was nice.
I had expected some kind of reaction. Anything.
“You’re overthinking it,” Davies said as he took the spot next to me.
“Overthinking what?”
“Us. Every time I give you a kiss, you stiffen slightly. And when we finish, you glance at the others. No one cares.”
As if to prove a point, he leaned over and gave me another quick kiss before wandering over to the third group. When his turn came up, he was still distracted. We didn’t mind since we weren’t in a rush. I sat down, glad Alijah had ordered our drinks.
“How are you holding up?” Venni asked, sitting down next to me. His knee bumped into mine and instead of moving to give him more space, I shifted closer. The energy inside him reached out and brushed against my skin.
“Checking up on me?” I cocked an eyebrow.
“Sorry,” he said, drawing his energy back. I regretted saying anything, missing the feel of it against my skin. “You look tired.”
I shrugged. “Been working more. Not like I had anything better to do.” I said it as nonchalantly as I could as I watched Ami laugh at something Henzie said.
“Nothing else? Have you gone on any dates?”
I sighed and glanced at Venni, noting his frown. “Why is everyone asking me that?” I mumbled.
“None of the guys took you out?” Venni actually looked confused.
“Let’s not talk about it.” I tried to get up, but Venni stopped me by putting his hand on my thigh.
“Let’s talk about it,” he said. “Didn’t Davies say he was going to take you out when we got back?”
“He got busy.”
“What about Rhett?”
“Busy.”
Venni sighed. “And I was busy too. What about the others?”
“Do they even like me?” I asked, looking away. Davies was still chatting away with one of the guys, I thought his name was Traj. “Other than the three of you telling me your intent, I haven’t even seen anything that tells me you weren’t lying through your teeth. I get it,” I said, now going into a rant, my chest aching as I put it all out there. I wasn’t one to shy away from confrontation, and I refused to back down now, even as my cheeks warmed with embarrassment. “It was just a spur of the moment thing, or because of all the crap we went through, you thought you did, but then when we came back and everyone had space, I had thought you all changed your mind. I had just wished you guys told me that instead of leaving me confused. And now you’re here again claiming that you’re still interested. I don’t know what any of you are thinking. I don’t even understand why you guys like me.”
I took in a breath and was about to keep going when Venni gripped my chin and turned it so I faced him. His lips descended on mine, and I gasped, shocked at the suddenness. He took advantage of that and dipped his tongue into my mouth. Waves of energy washed over me, and I could practically taste his need. He wanted me. Hard. But in good old Venni fashion, he was holding himself back. I leaned into him, wanting more, wanting him to let go.
He pulled away, and I closed my eyes, holding myself still. If I saw his expression right now, I was going to jump him. “Don’t even think for a second that we don’t care. I spent months with the guys talking about you. We care. So get rid of those thoughts.”
Venni got up and stalked over to the carousel to grab his ball.
“Hey, it’s my turn,” Davies said, running over. As the two of them bickered, my eyes met orange ones.
Alijah tilted his head to the side as he considered something. Once he had an answer, he got up and came over.
“I overheard,” he said.
“Ugh, great.” Just kill me now.
His lip twitched. “Just know, he’s right. We do care.”
My heart jumped with hope. “So you too?”
“Yes, me too.”
“I don’t get it,” I said. “What did I do that got all of you interested in me?” I narrowed my eyes. “Or do you guys just want to use me?”
“For me, it was when you put yourself between a crazy lizard man and a family.”
I frowned. “What? My idiocy caught your attention?”
“You weren’t an idiot, you were reacting. You ignored your own safety to protect a little girl and her two daddies. Not many people can do that and it caught my attention.”
“That memory still scares me.” I shake out my hands. “That was the first time I did something like that.”
I remembered that day and the first time I met someone from Biomystic. There was this grotesque lizard-like guy who could use magic. He was trying to get to a little girl. I didn’t even think, I just reacted, doing what I could to keep him away. That day scared the crap out of me, and I had nightmares for weeks after that.
“Alijah the tiger shifter.” I smirked.
Alijah smiled and nodded. “Since that moment, I was curious about you, but I never saw you again until you began working at BMS. And the way you composed yourself at the company. I find myself watching you, making sure you’re okay. I can’t not watch you.”
I glanced at Davies as he teased Venni. Venni took it all in stride, used to his partner’s antics. He said something back to Davies that got the human worked up.
“Did seeing Venni kiss me bother you?” I asked. “Or Davies.”
“I was jealous,” he said. He waved his hand to cut me off before I could even respond. “I was jealous that I hadn’t gotten to kiss you yet.”
“We can kiss,” I said, moving closer to him.
He smiled and shook his head. “Tempting, but not yet. I won’t kiss you just because I haven’t. I want to kiss you for the first time knowing it means something, knowing it gets your heart rate up.” He reached up and touched my chin. He ran his thumb over my lips, and I gasped at the intimacy behind the touch. “I want your lips red and plump because of me alone.”
“Alijah, your turn,” Davies called out.
The shifter sent a smile my way before getting up.
The rest of the night flew by as we bowled. We won the first game, the third team won the second game and then we had to call it a night. It was fun teasing Ami and Henzie since their team didn’t win any. They came close the first game, losing by only two points.
I walked back to work with everyone, and then we split ways.
The rest of the night, I kept thinking about what Alijah, Venni, and Davies had said about our relationships. The thought of not having to choose, of going on dates with all of them, warmed me to the core. I had never been in a relationship. Hell, I’d barely dated. We would meet up and then hook up. There was nothing reoccurring about it. I never even got phone numbers from my hook-ups. It wasn’t worth the hassle.
But now, the guys at BMS were changing that. They wanted to date me and only me.
I couldn’t wrap my head around it, and I was beginning to feel like a hussy, dating more than one person. I had my fair share of men, but my time with them never overlapped.
