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“Later,” he said in a low rumble. “I promise. We will finish this later.” He cupped my cheek and bent down to kiss my forehead. “If this continues, I’ll never be able to get dinner done. I do have a witch to feed, you know.”
Then the yummy naga was sauntering off to the kitchen, leaving me with my much less tasty, and definitely less filling, meal replacement drink.
I closed my eyes and focused on strengthening the protection around my condo. Whoever it was who wanted in, they wanted in badly. Fortunately they weren’t very powerful. It was more annoying than anything.
My little sexy interlude with Zayn had helped me recharge more than I’d thought it would. Normally, I wasn’t one to recharge my magic through sex, though I had nothing against witches who did—they were generally witches with strong magic. But today, my body had decided to draw on whatever was available.
Well, okay then, body.
I held Salt and Pepper to my chest as I stared up at the ceiling of my childhood room. I loved being at the bottom of a rat pile and considered finding a breeder to add to my rat pack. This place could handle more pets.
I didn’t want to end up a rat lady with a billion rats, collecting them like Sylvana had collected her artifacts. But just one more wouldn’t hurt, right?
Salt crawled up my chest, his claws tickling my throat, until he was in my hair. He started to groom my scalp, which felt nice. I doubt anyone who didn’t have small pets would understand.
There was a knock at the door and Zayn poked his head in. The smell of food drifted in with him, making my tummy growl. I wasn’t kidding when I said using my magic made me ravenous. That meal replacement drink had barely made a dent in my hunger.
“Meals on Wheels delivery for Salt and Pepper,” Zayn announced, holding up a small bowl of veggies, plain pasta, and shrimp.
Salt and Pepper sniffed the air excitedly and waddled over to the edge of the bed.
“They know they’re getting the good stuff today,” Zayn said, grinning.
“Wait,” I grabbed my purse and retrieved the small Tupperware with their emergency lab blocks—basically rodent kibble—and their carrot shaped food bowl.
“That’s adorable,” Zayn said. “Why is everything you own so freakin’ cute?”
“Because you only live once.” I put a handful of lab blocks into the bowl. “I don’t want to be on my deathbed wondering why I used ugly shit my whole life.”
Zayn tilted his head, looking pensive as I put both bowls into their cage and Salt and Pepper ran in excitedly to chow down.
“You know, I used to go all out, treating myself and buying things I loved, because I wanted to enjoy life until my curse hit. I was treating my curse like your hypothetical deathbed. Then the curse hit and I smashed up all the nice things I had.”
I frowned. “I don’t think it’s quite the same. You’re cursed. Not dead. You can still enjoy life. If you don’t, then the curse wins. You don’t want that, right?”
I checked the cage door one last time to be sure before we headed downstairs.
“Are they still trying to break through your ward?”
“Yeah. But each attempt is less effective. And it’s nothing like when the jerks from the WEC did it. I bet this is Nigel working his half-assed magic. I gotta give it to him, though, he’s persistent.”
“Wait, the old wizards at WEC messed with your wards?” Concern was plain on Zayn’s face.
“Yeah, when they heard Sylvana wasn’t around anymore. They thought they’d be able to break through with only a young witch at the helm. Guess I showed them.”
He looked at me, impressed. “You stopped the WEC? No fucking way.”
“Well, it’s a lot easier to hold existing wards than it is to break them. And the wards had been around for years, some even decades. Plus I had help from the guys at Redrock Protective Services. They let me stay at their penthouse so I didn’t need to worry about my physical well-being, and I didn’t need to keep an extra spell around my home. They also fed me. A lot. I think I ate more than all of them combined that week.”
“Redrock. That sounds familiar.”
“It should. The company was all over the news after Desmon’s wedding.” Desmon being Darlington’s very own resident dragon shifter.
“The gargoyles who run security?!” Zayn exclaimed.
“That’s them.”
“But don’t they charge an arm and a leg?”
