Chapter 6 #2
He nodded. “If you go to the library, ask Sebastian and Aspen to look up the old legends of Harmony Glen pre-great revelation and you’ll see there’s a lot of lore about Sven and I.”
“Oh? Did you get up to hijinks?” she teased.
He grinned devilishly, winking. “A bit.”
“Where did you live when you had to remain hidden?”
“There’s a cave, close to the cemetery, but actually part of the conservation area. We still go there from time to time. Honestly, it’s kind of depressing being there. It was home. I sort of miss it, but also don’t. It’s weird, I know.”
“No doubt. I’m sure it’s a lot better being out in the open.”
“I wish everyone could live so freely,” he said quietly. “No one should have to hide.”
“I agree with that. My family, however, doesn’t, and that’s why I’m here. I had to get away from all that. Bloodlines and ancestral magic…”
“Exploding things randomly,” he teased.
She laughed. “Right.”
They made their way to Cool Beans and he held the door for her. They ordered their coffees and then found a cozy spot to sit in the corner, where it was quiet and they could talk.
“This place is cute,” Mercedes remarked. “There are so many twee places around Harmony Glen.”
“Twee?”
“My grandmother used to say it. It means cute.”
Magnus glanced around at the counter of baked goods, the booths. “I suppose so, I mean it’s a coffee shop.”
She rolled her eyes, but smiled at him. If his heart were still beating, it would be racing, he was sure of it. He liked when she smiled at him.
It was better than glaring.
And whose fault is that?
He hated how he acted like a fool the first time they met.
Mercedes sighed, her shoulders relaxing as she wrapped her hands around the mug of coffee. “Thanks for this break, boss.”
He winced. “You don’t have to call me boss.”
“You literally said in the laundry room that you were the boss after I mentioned Sven was. You made me say it.”
“That was just teasing you. I mean, yeah, I guess I’m one of your bosses because I’m part owner of the dead-and-breakfast, but maybe…it would be nice to be friends.”
Her eyes widened. “Friends?”
“Is that so implausible?”
“Well, considering how you thought I was out to destroy you a while ago, then you said it would be nice to be colleagues, and now you want to be friends? I’m going to get whiplash.”
What he wanted to tell her was he missed their text conversations, the movies they watched simultaneously while texting. He longed for that. “Sorry. It’s just…I don’t meet many people who have similar interests to me.”
“Agreed.” She cocked her head to one side, studying him. “I just don’t know about the friend thing though.”
“Why’s that?”
“Revenge, curses, and explosions seem to come to mind. Besides, if my family—”
He held up his hand. “I’m going to stop you right there. I have a confession to make.”
“Oh?”
“After that bad first date, you know I went to a place that’s a bit steeped in blood magic and tried to put a counter-curse on you.”
“So you said, but you’re not a witch or a mage. How could you possibly do that?”
He sighed. “It’s a place I spilled Yrsa’s blood and well…”
“Oh. Yeah, I see. I really don’t think it’s you though.”
“To be fair, I don’t know a thing about curses. It could be me.”
She sighed. “Could you show me this place? I can find out for sure if your curse worked. Blood magic is powerful.”
“Sure. We can do that.”
Mercedes nodded. “Good. And I seriously doubt it was you that caused this, but thank you all the same for telling me that you tried to curse me. I appreciate it. Usually, people who curse others aren’t so forthcoming.”
Magnus chuckled softly. “Well, Yrsa was. She told me she was going to curse me. Quite loudly.”
“Sorry about that. Do you think maybe we could talk about something else and not my enraged ancestor? I try not to think about her, but she’s come up a lot lately.”
“Sure, we can talk about something else.” Magnus was also glad to get off the topic. “Tell me about the ghosts that haunt Room with a Tomb. I’m kind of curious about them and wondering if they’d be willing to help bring that authentic haunting experience to those who want it.”
“I can ask, but they might not be receptive to being used for marketing,” Mercedes teased. “They might get mad at you.”
He shrugged. “I’m used to it. I mean, I’m here because someone got angry enough at me.”
“We’re talking about her again.”
He winced. “Sorry.”
“Seriously, you’ll have to tell me sometime what you did.”
“I thought we weren’t talking about Yrsa anymore.”
“We’re not.” A sly smile spread across her cute face. She spun her coffee cup around on the table, and he couldn’t help but stare at her hands, her soft, delicate little hands, and all he could picture was them wrapped around his cock.
Dude. Seriously. Stop.
“Okay, I’m curious. What did you do?”
“Who said I did something?”
She shot him a look of disbelief. “Come on.”
“Okay, well you might think differently of me.”
Mercedes leaned in close. “I won’t.”
“I found her trapped in the woods. Asked her if she needed help. She said my kind trapped her there and then cursed me so she could be released.”
Mercedes sat up straight. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “It’s simple. Sven and I were among a landing party that had been exploring the Great Lakes.
We thought they were the sea. During a bad storm on Lake Ontario, we got tossed to its southern borders.
We travelled inland, looking for help. One by one the party ended up dying until it was just Sven and me.
We came to where Harmony Glen sits now and I found your ancestor bound by magic in a clearing.
Once she cursed me, I must’ve been screaming in pain, and Sven came to rescue me and got cursed too.
She escaped and after we regained consciousness, we both went looking for her.
It’s when I found her that we got into our altercation that led to the place where I spilled her blood.
I did try to chase her farther, but learned I can’t go too far before I start to rot. ”
“Oh, that’s horrible.”
Magnus shrugged again. “It could be worse.”
“How could it be worse?” she asked in disbelief.
“I could be scared of cocks like Finn.”