Chapter 18
Marcus
There was nothing here. Nothing at all. We’d gone through and tapped on every brick, knocked on every patch of wall, and checked every floor tile. There was nothing here . But something still nagged at the edge of my consciousness.
“I know we’ve looked everywhere, but a part of my brain is still telling me that we haven’t,” I said, looking around the basement.
We’d brought down as many lights as we could since the basement had only one blinking fluorescent bulb lighting the entire place. Now, lamps from Gigi’s home flooded the floor with warm light.
“I know what you mean,” Gigi said. “It’s like the answer is right here in front of my face”—she gestured to the wall in front of her—“but I can’t see it.”
“Do you want to call it quits for today?” I hated to quit, but we’d been down here long enough, and the longer I stayed, the more hopeless everything seemed.
Today had been a day of ups and downs, and it was getting exhausting. First we had our windows broken. That had brought Seth, bearing information about both the dragon and Arcane. Declan had found the book…which had been basically useless. Then we’d gotten our hopes up about the basement after visiting Evy and Andy. We’d gotten back just in time for the repair company to arrive. And now I felt as if we were back at square one.
“We’ll try again tomorrow with fresh eyes,” she agreed. “We should probably relieve Declan anyway. He’s been up there dealing with the window people all afternoon.”
“He said they’re almost done.”
“Did Elise ever come back?” Gigi turned off the lamps so that the only thing illuminating our way was the unflattering fluorescent bulb.
My mother had dropped by just after lunch and had milled around until Gigi had gone up to let her know the coffee shop was closed, but they would open again tomorrow. She’d used the opportunity to feel around Elise’s aura to see if she had magic. She didn’t.
“But it’s hard to tell,” Gigi had said. “Because witches are taught at a young age to hide our powers from people who might want to use us.”
“Well, I don’t remember her casting any spells or doing any magic of any kind,” I’d told her. “The only ‘crystal’ she’s interested in are diamonds, and I’m pretty sure that if she could cast beautifying spells, she would.”
“In that case, I’m just going to go out on a limb and say that she has no magic. This makes my life easier. When she comes back tomorrow, I’ll be ready to mess with her memories.”
We were lucky she only spoke with Nick twice, for about thirty seconds in total, and that meant we only needed to erase any memory she had of him. That made the spell concise and easier to prepare.
According to Declan, Elise never came back. But I was still extra careful and made sure my glamor was running when I went upstairs.
“Ready to paint the logo?” Declan asked when he saw me. He had already penciled in the outline on the wall.
“Yeah. More than ready.” We were already days behind schedule.
“Any luck ah… cleaning the basement?” His eyes flitted to the workers who were just on their way out, their job done.
“Nope,” Gigi replied. “Still a fucking mess.” She looked as disappointed as I felt.
I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her until she smiled again, but now was not the time, not with all this work ahead of me.
“Well, I’ll let you gentlemen get back to work.” She gave my hand a squeeze and turned to the door.
“Call me if you need anything.” I meant it. Anything at all.
I watched as she made her way out of my gym, my eyes on her swaying hips and wishing the logo would paint itself. I’d much rather be spending time with her.
“Aww,” Declan said when we were alone again. “Look at you, all moon-eyed for the little witch! You’re smitten!”
“I am not.” I picked up the bucket of paint and shook it vigorously.
“Oh, come on, look at her! Of course you are. You’d be crazy not to want a piece of that.”
I growled at the thought of my friend thinking of Griselda like that.
“Ha! See! I’m not even allowed to compliment her without you growling at me.”
I sighed and pried open the bucket of red paint. “Alright, so maybe I am. But you and I both know nothing good can come of this. Not with my problem.”
“Okay. So the future isn’t certain, but when is it ever?” Declan picked up a brush and dipped it into the paint, brushing the extra off on the edge of the paint bucket before starting on the left side of the bullseye. “That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve happiness. Hell! If we all waited until our future was set in stone before doing things we love, life would suck all around. And trust me, of all the people I know, you deserve happiness the most. Look at this place. Bullseye Fitness is a community. You saw how many guys showed up the other day for the photo shoot.”
“Yeah, because you promised the winner a free membership.” I joined him, starting on the right side.
“Pshh. You fucking kidding me? Half those guys are loaded. They don’t need a free membership. They did it for Bullseye Fitness. They did it for you. Remember back at the old place right before the move when we were talking in the office about what we were going to do about Arcane Developments if they came knocking? Some of the guys overheard us. They know what you’re dealing with; I didn’t have to spell it out.”
“I didn’t know about that.”
“Because you were busy getting all the legal shit together and signing all the important paperwork. You were stressed, and they didn’t want to bother you, so they came to me. You know the guys are proud of you, right? They look up to you. Bullseye Fitness is their home away from home. It’s their gym. And you made it happen. They’re willing to stick their necks out for you.”
“But the big question is, who’s willing to fling a wasp nest through a windshield? ”
Declan chuckled. “Anything for my brother from another mo—”
He must’ve seen my reaction to the mention of my mother and changed course. “My point being, you’re not alone. You’ve got friends. And not just me. I know you can’t tell anyone else about the dragon, but Gigi knows now, and it looks like she’s willing to help. Don’t fuck it up. Don’t throw it away because you’re scared.”
“I ain’t scared.”
But Declan’s words had me thinking. Maybe it was time to open up and let someone in. Hell, I didn’t think I could stop it even if I tried.