Maudlin's Mayhem (Bewitching Bedlam #2)(75)

His shoulders slumped and he hung his head. “I didn’t mean for anybody to really get hurt. She said…never mind what she said. I shouldn’t have asked her to help.” He held out his hand. “Truce? For real this time?”

I honestly wanted to just stand here and bitch him the fuck out, but I decided that we already had too much collateral damage. “Truce. But see that you abide by it. And don’t you ever invite her here again. You want to see her? Go visit where she lives.”

“All right.” He turned, starting to shuffle away, then stopped. “Maddy? What say we do a joint promotion? Maybe we can entice more tourists if we go in on something together?”

I was about to say, “You’ve got to be kidding,” but stopped myself. “On one condition. You send Snow and the boys home right away.”

He squirmed. “There’s a little problem with that. I can’t. It was Honey’s spell and I can’t undo it. I don’t even know if another Dirt Witch could.”

“Great…just great. All right, then—new condition. You stop making cheesy porn flicks, you pay for Snow White and her boys to find a place to live and you help them find jobs. Good jobs that they want to do.” I leaned toward him, hands on my hips. “Do that, and we’ll figure out some joint advertising venture, as long as it’s tasteful.”

Ralph shifted from hoof to hoof, but then just shrugged. “Fine. I’ll help them, and until they find a place to stay, I’ll make room for them here.”

I looked at Sandy. “Are we done?”

She thought for a moment, then nodded. “I think we are.”

“Well, I’m not.” The voice from the door was one I hadn’t heard in a couple of days and had been longing for. I whirled as Aegis came slamming into the room, and before I could say a word, he decked Ralph with a right hook that sent the satyr careening onto the already broken bed.

Ralph groaned, pushing himself up as he rubbed his jaw. “I suppose I deserve that.”

“Oh, I’m not done yet,” Aegis said, his hair flowing over his shoulders. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and in his leather pants, he looked entirely yummy as his eyes blazed crimson.

“Stop, love. I already had a long talk with Ralph. And we sent his cousin home to where she came from.” I stepped between the two men.

Aegis glared at Ralph, but then he paused, staring at me, before he swept me up into his arms. “Maddy, I’ve missed you,” he whispered as he covered my face with kisses. And then his lips met mine, and the feeling of his kiss was all I could think about.

Relieved and grateful that he was all right, I whispered, “I love you.”

And Aegis whispered it back.





Chapter 21





THE NEXT EVENING, I entered the Memoriam, which was next to Wyers Undertakers, my arm wrapped around Aegis’s. Sandy and Max were there, near the front, and a number of people were milling around looking for a seat. The urn sat on a podium, and I saw what had to be Bart’s parents sitting in the front row.

“How’s Sandy taking this?” Aegis whispered to me.

“Hard, but Max is helping her through it, and she has me, too. Bart was really a good guy, but his parents wanted him to be the all-American son, and because of that, a lot of people got caught in his deception, and hurt.” I leaned on his arm, my head resting against his shoulder. “Aegis, will you come visit Essie with me? She called last night and left a message asking to see me. I know she wants to discuss the situation with the Arcānus Nocturni, and I don’t know what to do or say around her. I’d feel better if you were there.”

“I’d be happy to, love.” He kissed the top of my head. “I wish we could have stayed home tonight. I really didn’t enjoy being stuck in bat form, and it’s put me behind on rehearsals and a number of things. But most of all, it took me away from you for a couple of days.”

We found our seats and settled in. The hall filled up, and Sandy took over, introducing various people who knew Bart and were slated to speak about him. We listened quietly, the mood solemn and melancholy, as people allowed their grief to have its reign. When Sandy was ready for the Cord Cutting, I would lead the ritual, but for now, we were all just a group of people saying good-bye to someone who had been a part of our lives.

I thought about all the people I had left behind, all the people I had lost in my life, and I found myself wondering: what drew us together? Why did we instantly click with some people who became a part of our lives forever, while with others, we moved on and left them behind?

Sandy was in my life from near to day one. We were best friends. Soulmates, of a sort. I couldn’t imagine her not being part of my life. Bubba, too, was here to stay. And Aegis—he was quickly becoming a fixture in my life. The thought of being without him made me want to cry.

There were others who passed through, and then, like a glimmer of sunshine on a cloudy day, vanished. Tom, my sweet Tom, who was stolen by vampires and roamed in a realm of shadow and fire, forever taken from me.

And then…there were some who walked in twilight, appearing and vanishing at will. We loved them, and yet, we dreaded the thought of seeing them again because when they entered our lives it was on a whirlwind of chaos, and they left a trail of debris and love in their wake. Fata had been one of those.