Mochas and Minotaurs (Possessive Monsters #8)

Chapter 9

Griselda

“He’s back!”

That was the message that came right before Declan sent a picture of a rental U-Haul parked just down the street from our location with the perfect view of the building. And who was inside? None other than our Faux Hobo.

“We found our troublemaker,” Marcus said.

I could almost feel him relax through the air between us. If it was Arcane, then it wasn’t his dragon.

“I guess he never got the wasps out of his car. The question is: is he the one prodding at my wards, or is he simply spotting for someone else?”

“I still don’t understand how that works,” Marcus admitted.

“It’s kind of like this. Let’s say I want to open a portal that joins your living room with my living room—”

“Why would we need to?” he asked. “We can just knock down the walls.”

I tried my best not to roll my eyes. “Let’s, for the sake of this explanation, pretend we live across town from each other. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“And I want to travel from my place to your place without stepping out of my living room. I’d have to open a portal between our homes. But I can’t just guess where it is and open a random portal, even if I have a map and have been to your place before. I could miss, and it might open up in your basement, or in your neighbors’, or in the air above your house, or worse, underground.

“So, to make it more accurate, I’ll use you as a reference point so the portal opens up in front of you. And if you were another magic user, you can set a location in your home where all portals open so I won’t step out, say, onto your dining room table.”

“I think I understand now. If this guy isn’t our magic caster, he could be the one helping him or her reach us.”

“You got it.”

“One question.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

It was the sexy smirk lifting the corner of his mouth that gave him away before his words did. “What if I want you to portal into my bedroom instead of my living room?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, and he burst out into laughter as I smacked him playfully on his chest with my hand.

“Okay, but more seriously,” he said, still grinning. “Will it help you if he's distracted or if we block his view?”

“Yes. And if it doesn’t work, then we know it’s not him.”

Declan happily volunteered to create a distraction. He almost sounded excited to have something to do. It seemed like he preferred to cause mischief for a reason rather than just for the sake of it.

We went to my place through the rooftop patio so I could surround myself with my magical goodies. As I strengthened my magic, Marcus went through my kitchen to look for something to eat.

“I’m not sure what you’ll be able to find. I haven’t done groceries since last week. Here, catch.” I tossed him my phone. “Order in. Just choose something from my favorites list. As long as it’s high in calories, with lots of fat and protein, it will work. No salads, please.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“And grab yourself something too. I hate being the only one eating.”

As Marcus decided what to order, I dug a frozen chocolate sheet cake out from the back of my freezer and started into it with a spoon. I kept those on hand to replenish my energy in a pinch.

“Shouldn’t you defrost that first?”

“Nope. It’s best frozen.” I stabbed the spoon into the center of the cake, scooped out a big chunk, and shoved it unceremoniously in my mouth. Mmm. Cake. “And just for full disclosure, I turn into a total gremlin when my magic is low.”

“Well, I guess I better hurry up and order then.”

He ended up ordering Chinese food from a place down the street, which was just as well because greasy noodles were a great source of calories. Plus, they delivered quickly. As we waited, I focused on the war around my home, going right up to the wall and touching it, trying to find where the problem was. I technically didn’t need to touch it, but like seeing the target, touching made things easier. I was clearly outclassed here, and I needed every advantage I could get.

Triscuit knew the moment I picked him up that we were on a mission. This wasn’t play time; this was work. He sat on my shoulder and started preening my hair.

The problem was that no matter how fast I mended the barrier, someone was tearing it down even faster. It was shortly after the food arrived that I started to make leeway. It was also then that I got a call from Jules.

“Hey, Gigi. You won’t believe what’s happening right now. There’s a full-blown muscle man photoshoot happening right outside our door.”

So that was the noise I’d been hearing.

“Everyone’s coming in for coffee between posing,” Jules continued. “The place is full for the first time since those asshats started messing with us.”

I peered outside my curtains, and sure enough, there were about a dozen half-naked hotties strutting their stuff outside. There were also several large backdrops, and bright lights. One set of lights wasn’t pointed at the models but rather directly at the U-Haul, blinding our spotter. There were also several large trucks between Faux Hobo and the building now.

Jules assured me that they didn’t need extra help, but I told her I was upstairs and to call if she needed anything.

“A photoshoot?” I raised a brow at Marcus.

He just grinned. “That’s Declan for you. You said you wanted a distraction. Declan called the boys in and said they were doing a photoshoot to advertise the new location. Anyone chosen for the ad gets a free month’s membership.”

“I guess it’s working because they gave up. I managed to fix a bit of the ward, but there’s so much more to do.”

The photo shoot continued for about an hour after our spotter gave up and drove off. By then, I was totally exhausted. I checked the time. It was almost 6 p.m., which is when the Witch’s Brew closes on weekdays. While I’d managed to boot the intruder with Declan’s help, I’d only managed to patch up a few holes.

And I had the advantage of playing defense. Defending a long-established barrier was much easier than breaking one down from the outside. Magic liked consistency, and the channels that protected my home ran decades deep. They’d been set down by my grandmother. Even the extension around Marcus’s place felt secure, and I assumed it was because it had found the grooves left by previous magic.

I moved to find the next area that needed work and tripped on something on the floor.

“Fuck!” I swore, frustrated. Why was it on the floor? That was when I noticed that many of my beloved objects were scattered around the room next to the walls. I had been grabbing them and then just dumping them as I went.

“I think you need to stop and rest,” Marcus said. “You did great.”

“But there’re still so many weak areas.” Wow, my voice sounded so whiny.

“You can fix them tomorrow. You need rest now.”

I was so tired that I didn’t remember Marcus luring Triscuit into his cage with a pistachio, proof that my familiar must be exhausted too. I also didn’t remember him guiding me to the couch. All I knew was I was eating some very yummy Mongolian beef. The fork came to my mouth again.

Wait. Was Marcus feeding me? I blinked. He was! And I was curled up in his lap like a child. His brows were furrowed, highlighting his bullish features.

I then realized I had random items tucked around my body. Had he done that? I knew I tended to hold things to myself when I worked, letting the objects help refuel my magic.

When I didn’t eat the next spoonful, he held up a sugary milk tea for me instead.

“Thank you.” I took it from him and took a long drink. It tasted like milky syrup with a hint of tea, which was fine right now because I needed the sugar to function.

“Are you feeling better?” Marcus asked. “You had me worried.”

“I am. Thank you for…” I waved at our unconventional setup.

I looked around, and I caught the reflection of myself in a mirror shard on the mosaic lamp stand. My makeup was a smeared mess, and the natural red of my hair was peeking out through the black illusion. But it wasn’t these external features that worried me the most. It was my sunken eyes and hollow cheeks. I looked like I’d aged thirty years. No wonder Marcus was so concerned.

“I think I overextended.”

“You think?” He pulled me a little closer. “Don’t do that again, little witch. Is there anyone else who can help you fix up the wards so you’re not doing this by yourself?”

“I’m not by myself. You’re here.”

He grunted, unamused. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” I said, grabbing a pair of chopsticks and feeding myself. “And if I’d known this would happen, I would’ve called them before I started. I should call them now.”

Marcus handed me my phone, and I was soon catching Lily and Penny up on a three-way call.

“I can come by right now,” Penny said.

“Me too,” Lily agreed. “I’m working from home tomorrow so I can totally zombie it.”

“No,” Marcus said, surprising the other two, who didn’t know he was listening in. “Gigi’s been working on this for hours already. She needs rest first.”

There was a collective gasp on the other line.

“Is that the sexy minotaur next door?” Lily asked. “He sounds close.”

“Sexy minotaur next door? I’ll take it. And yes, it is. But Gigi needs rest.”

“Hey, I don—”

“You were about to pass out standing up with Triscuit on your shoulder. Then you couldn’t get the fork to your mouth and started pouting.”

Shit, did I? Okay, maybe he was right. Technically, the ward was still up, the spotter was gone, and whoever was fighting me must be just as tired.

“Tomorrow then,” Penny said.

“Yes,” Lily agreed. “Tomorrow. And Mr. Minotaur, sir?”

Marcus scrunched his nose in the cutest way, wiggling the septum ring he wore. “Yes?”

“We, her coven, leave our sister in your hands,” Lily said, sounding super serious. “Griselda is your responsibility until we retrieve her tomorrow. Take this responsibility seriously.”

I knew Lily enough to know that was her way of making sure Marcus stayed for the night, and I got lucky. But how she managed to keep a straight voice through all that was a mystery.

“Yes, ma’am.”