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They both breathe out puffs of brimstone-smelling air in relief.
But I’m not done. “Afteryou tell me who you are spying on me for,andafter youswearto work formenow.”
They look at each other with just their eyes and shrug the best they can under the pressure from my fingers wrapping around their wings and arms. At the same time, they say, “Okay. Sounds like a good deal.”
I blink and turn to look at them out of the corner of my eye. That seemed way too easy. I am trying to decide how to know if they’re being honest when Jake comes jogging up behind me.
“Hey, Miranda. I wanted to check and see what’s taking so—Oh. Holy god in heaven, what the hell are those?” My big, strong, beating-up-our-twenty-five-year-old-trainer husband hides safely behind me, peeking down into my hands from over my shoulder.
“These,” I hold my new friends up a little higher so Jake has a better view from his foxhole, “are imps. They were just about to tell me who they are working for and swear their allegiance to me so we can have spies inside whatever network of baddies they’re a part of.”
They smile and nod over-enthusiastically. Cliff answers, “We do. We swear. We will do whatever you want. We will tell you what she wants to know about you and what she has others doing.”
My eyebrows go up in surprise. “She? Who is she?”
Jerry doesn’t want to be left out and promptly answers next. “Calliope.”
At that name, Jake lets out a groan, and I involuntarily squeeze harder. “Calliope is still keeping tabs on me?Why?”
Both tiny demons swallow hard. Jerry is the one to answer again. “She…can you just...loosen your grip a touch? Ah, thank you. She wants to make sure you don’t try to interfere with the Muses’ popularity. That’s all. She doesn’t want you, oryoufor that matter, anymore,” he uses his chin to point at Jake. “She just wants to make sure you don’t get in the way of her fame and fortune again.”
Now I am raging. “Oh, well, you can tell that little goddess wannabe that I wouldn’t have gotten in her way the last time if she hadn’t kidnappedmyhusband and kept him for her, her, her…sex plan!”
I’m disappointed in myself for tripping over my words. My snark is usually much more on point. Damn, I’m really off my game. But whatever. Cliff and Jerry work for me now.
I shake my head and take a deep breath. “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to fly back to wherever those skanks are and tell them whatever you were planning to tell them before I grabbed you. Because I don’t really care about them as long as they’re not fucking with me. Got it?” They are nodding so fast that they look like two bright-red bobble heads. “Good. Donotforget to keep me in the loop about anything you hear that you think may be the slightest bit relevant to me. Yousworeallegiance to me. I take that very seriously.”
“Yes, mistress,” they say in unison.
Oooh. Mistress. I like the sound of that.
I nod and loosen my grip on them both. “See you soon, boys.” I release them the way I always picture my kids releasing their class butterflies to the wild after they have raised them. As they fly away, I mutter, “Fly away, little ones. Fly away.”
Jake’s brow is furrowed when I turn to him.
I don’t have time to guess why he’s confused so I just ask. “What?” I suppose he still has a lot to get used to.
He shakes his head. “How do you know they’ll stick to their promise?”
I shrug. “I just have a hunch. I’m powerful. They’re weak. I think they’re probably too afraid to cross me, even if the magical binding isn’t real. But for all I know, it is.” I shrug again and turn to head back inside the restaurant.
“For all you know?” He runs a hand through his neat dark brown hair, mussing it, and paces a couple of steps. “Shouldn’tyoube theoneto know? What the hell kind of trainer is George if you’re still out and about saying things likefor all I know? You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m out.”
I freeze where I stand; it is suddenly hard to even breathe. “You’re…out? Out of what, exactly?” Tears fill my eyes. “Out of our marriage?” I am starting to hyperventilate.
Jake concentrates for just a second with a furrowed brow before he realizes how his words came across, how I took them. His eyes get wide, and he shakes his head quickly. “Oh, Miranda, no. I just meant out of the training. I can’t be a part of that anymore. Since we can’t do anything to change this whole situation and since I’m going to kill George one of these days, or would, if he wouldn’t kick my ass for trying, I think I should stay out of that part of your life. At least for now. But forus? I’m here for us. Forever.”
I didn’t know how badly I needed to hear him say that until I heard it. I collapse against him, sobbing. His arms wrap around me without hesitation for the first time since Las Vegas. We are a team again, at least for this moment. And knowing that the possibility of us being a team still exists is everything right now.
Chapter 4
George
Iclosethedoorbehind Miranda and Jake and pull out my phone from my back pocket. As luck would have it, I have a message from Andrew. The corners of my mouth rise into a subtle smile while I tap my thumb on the black and yellow icon to open our chat. The gray bar of text says,
I can’t believe there are still six more hours before our date!
My smile spreads into a goofy grin when I write back,
