Martini #3
“Oh my gods,” Laura muttered, horrified.
“This is mega,” Aleece muttered, thrilled.
“I thought you said you were going to deal with this,” I called to Tanyn.
He scowled at me and asked, “Did you want me to turn away a guest invited by one of your dearest friends?”
“No. But I heard there’s a dungeon in this place. Maybe you could have thrown Cormac in it before you brought Sirk up for dinner,” I suggested.
“You’re not helping,” Laura whispered urgently to me.
“And what should I help?” I asked, then something hit me, and my focus shifted to Gayle.
Cool, calm, collected Gayle.
“You’ve taken it,” I whispered.
“Yes,” she confirmed.
I closed my eyes.
“Taken what?” Cormac asked.
“I’ve spelled myself so I won’t feel our ties,” Gayle told him.
“You what?” Cormac bellowed.
And if I thought the room was sweltering before, I didn’t know the true meaning of what it felt like to swelter.
“You can hardly be upset by this,” Gayle retorted calmly. “You don’t want me. And now, I don’t want you.”
“You allowed this?” Cormac demanded of Sirk.
“Unlike you, when my female makes her mind up about something important, I don’t interfere,” Sirk replied.
Cormac turned to Aleksei. “You allowed it?”
“I have no control over Gayle,” Aleksei replied.
“Who did you source the spell from?” Cormac asked Gayle.
“It’s none of your business,” Gayle didn’t answer.
“My mate took a bespoke potion concocted from an unknown witch, it’s my fucking business,” Cormac returned.
“I don’t see how,” Gayle said casually.
“I think you need to give him that ten second breathing strategy, Nayden,” I suggested.
Nayden’s eyes lit with humor, but he pressed his lips together so it wouldn’t be audible.
“I claim you,” Cormac stated, directing this to Gayle, and we all went still. “You are mine.”
“Too late, Your Highness,” Gayle replied.
I wasn’t the only one who saw the white-hot sparks sizzling from Cormac’s fingers.
Tanyn did too, because he said, “You need to walk this off, Mac.”
I wasn’t a fan of the focus Cormac had on my male when he demanded, “And you tell me you could walk off witnessing another male paw at your mate.”
“I didn’t fuck around in claiming mine, my friend,” Tanyn said calmly.
“Now, we need to figure out how you can live with this situation, and feel Gayle’s safe, and how she can live with it, and her emotions are safe.
Gayle made the first move. You can figure out how to work with her on that, or I’m going to have to intervene, and you’re not going to like how I do that. ”
I was curious how he would do that.
Though, more, I wanted to rush him and kiss him all over for taking Gayle’s back.
But Cormac wasn’t curious, because he simply asked, “Are you threatening me?”
“You’re hurting her,” Tanyn said quietly. “Are you telling me you’re good with doing that?”
Finally, something shut Cormac up.
“You have a lock on it?” Bainon asked him.
“Only you’d have the balls to ask me that, knowing your mate half your life and letting her fuck other males,” Cormac bit.
Great.
Now Nayden and Uly had broken off holding back Cormac because they had to hold back Bainon.
“Ugh, this isn’t helping,” Gayle said, standing up and aiming her gaze at Cormac.
“Just so you know, Sirk and I are broken up. Yes, he came to rub your shit in your face because I asked him to. I did this before I took the potion. And he said yes because he cares about me and we’re friends.
But we’re just friends. I’ve since spelled myself.
I can be around you now without it harming me.
Maybe Sirk wasn’t a good play, but at the time, I felt I needed all the friends I could get.
If you truly were my mate, you’d want that for me. ”
What could Cormac say to that?
Nothing.
Which was what he said.
“So, we have a month to figure all this stuff out before it wears off,” Gayle continued. “Let’s focus on doing that.”
Cormac had something to say to that. “You’re spelling yourself at an uncertain time in a realm that’s under attack.”
“And you gave me no choice,” Gayle shot back.
I saw a muscle dance up Cormac’s cheek.
Got you there, fae boy.
Gayle started the negotiations.
“I need to go back to work.”
“You were working fine at Fleur de Flora,” Cormac pointed out.
“That isn’t my home. That isn’t my life.”
“But it was safe.”
“If you need to see I’m safe”—she shrugged—“move in with me.”
I felt my eyes grow huge at this offer.
Sirk dropped his head while shaking it.
But Cormac…
Something deep, struggling and sad flashed briefly through his eyes before he said, “That’ll work.”
“I’m not thinking this is good,” Aleece whispered.
I was thinking the same thing, and she didn’t know about Selediel either.
“Fine, that’s done.” Gayle sat back down. “Now you two,” she said, moving her attention between Aleece and Bainon.
“I dig you chicks, but when I say what I have to say to Bain, it’s going to be just him and me,” Aleece said.
Fair play.
“But as for you,” she said to Bainon. “Do not release the spell. If you do, I’m asking for the contact deets of Gayle’s witch and getting a potion too. You’ve had control of this for long enough. It’s my turn.”
Now it was go Aleece!
Bainon’s mouth got tight, he hesitated very long, very annoying moments, before he jerked up his chin.
“Now someone needs to make drinks,” Aleece decreed, like the kickass princess she was.
Manny moved back to the drinks cabinet.
Uly went to help him.
Tanyn looked to me.
And I really wanted to hold on to my huff of earlier, but he took Gayle’s back, therefore, I couldn’t.
So I stole his air kiss thing and sent him one.
One side of his mouth hitched up.
And he joined Manny and Uly at the drinks cabinet to see about the belated delivery of my martini.