Mates & Magic Series Bundle

All magic comes at a cost and I’m willing to pay, but what if it’s not enough?

Basic looks, basic magic, basic life. That’s my curse.

When I saw the four Grace Brothers, I knew basic wasn’t going to be good enough anymore. My desire took over and I decided I can’t play it safe my whole life, but I had no idea how wrong things could go.

But there’s that one small thing about me that isn’t so basic – I can shift. Am I willing to risk my sweet panther body on the chance I’ll get my human life out of basic mode?

No risk, no reward…Right?!

I sniff the air and try to sense the world around me. My fox perks up. 

I do feel weird.

But I also feel as if we’re somehow headed in the right direction. 

“What do you think it is?” Mitch says.

“I don’t know,” I say slowly. “I feel magic coming… I just know that somebody needs us.”

Just then the CB radio buzzes, and I grab the receiver. 

“Two-Adam-ten, two-Adam-ten…”

“Go ahead,” I say, into the receiver.

“Ten-seventeen at Baker Books. Six hundred Colorado…”

Funny, that’s exactly the direction we’re headed because of our mutual “weird feelings.”

“Ten-four,” I say into the radio.

It’s not a siren type of call and the ride is short anyway. We park right in front of the store, and I get that strange feeling again but more intensely. It’s not just that somebody needs our help, it’s that I feel as if something very important is about to happen. Just as we pull in, I spot a tall guy with messy black hair who was previously standing on the sidewalk in front of the store, start to jog down the sidewalk. It sets every sense aflame, but he’s gone too quick to make anything of it. I just have a bad feeling about the guy.

It’s funny, but when we walk in, I don’t have to ask who we’re talking to. I see her right away, and I just know. The manager, Becca, greets us. She’s not the complainant though, and I already know that. I know the complainant as soon as she walks around a shelf, and I see her for the first time. I never get instinctual feelings that small unless I’m up against an enemy or I’m shifted. But the girl in a loose plaid shirt, rubbing her eyes and looking tired as she nevertheless smiles softly and reaches out to shake my hand, is important. I feel strongly drawn to her and at the same time as if I’ve met her before. But I try not to give anything away.

“Officer Ian Love,” I say to her. “Nice to meet you. I hope we can help you today.”

With some help from her manager, Victoria tells us about the asshole who won’t leave her alone. When they show us a picture pulled from a surveillance camera, I realize it’s the guy I saw run off outside.

Dammit.

She’s also been getting all kinds of harassing phone calls, texts, dick pics, and hangups. The poor girl’s been through the gamut. I try especially hard not to give off any creepy vibes despite my “weird feeling” and the sensation I have of being so drawn to her. It’s certainly the last thing she needs. 

The thing is, I can’t even say it’s because she’s so hot or anything. Not that she’s unattractive. I can tell she has a pretty face. But she looks like she hasn’t slept in a while. She looks a bit pale and disheveled. The point is, it’s not like I walked in and saw the most beautiful girl in the world or something. This is just a girl. Why would I feel this way around her?

Nothing special happens between us as we take Victoria’s statement. We promise to keep an eye on the store and scare off her stalker if he comes back. We also arrange to have a patrol car drive around her building a few times that night, and we tell her we’ll be checking our book to see if the guy’s face is on any warrants.

“Wait, I think I can find his name.” Becca snaps her fingers and goes to the registers. “He usually pays cash but he held up one of our other cashier’s once signing up for our charitable contribution program. This was just two weeks ago, let me see if I can find the sign-ups…”

After a bit of searching, she pulls his name. Derek Hardum. Given all the harassment Victoria has endured, it’s safe to assume that Hardum is also sending the unwanted messages. Sometimes it’s hard to prosecute harassment, and I’m no lawyer, but she might be able to get herself a restraining order. In the meantime, we’ll look out for her at least. 

I tell myself it’s just the seriousness with which I take the job that explains how strongly I feel about protecting this Victoria. I have to tell myself that. Because nothing else makes any damn sense.

When we finish up, we find ourselves hitting our break time. Which is enough of an excuse that I tell Mitch I want to browse the books a bit. Victoria goes home and we send a cruiser to patrol her place. That’s always something that makes people feel better. Truthfully, it’s not as if we can stakeout every block where somebody feels like there’s going to be trouble. We just don’t have the manpower. But if you send a cruiser over to drive around the block a few times, people appreciate it.

“Are you pretending you like to read, Ian?” Mitch says as I browse the biography sections. 

I thwack his shoulder with a copy of a biography on FDR. “Shut the hell up. I read plenty.”

“What’s the last book you read?” Mitch asks, leaning on the shelf beside me.

“I don’t know...I think it was The Great Gatsby?”

“Oh sure, you read that when it came out, right?” Mitch says, smug as ever. “1925?”

“Ass!” I thwack his head with the book, messing up his hair. He chuckles. “Seriously though, did you feel like… With that girl…?”

“Did I feel like she’s super important to me and I have no idea why and am I intensely attracted to her?” Mitch says without missing a beat. “Yeah, I sure did and I sure am. Weird as fuck. You too?”

“Yeah…” I shake my head. “There’s something at work there. I think she’s a witch too.”

“Definitely. Smelled magic on her like too much perfume.”

“Right.” I nod gravely. “I feel like I want her to meet Darren and Bren. Just...in case it comes up. See if they feel that way too. Feelings like that don’t just happen every day for me.”

“Long as we can keep her safe,” Mitch says, shrugging. “I’m happy.”

“You’re happy if you get sweet and sour sauce with your egg rolls,” I say wryly.

“Hey, man. Sometimes they forget!”

“C’mon. Enough jawing,” I say, motioning to the door. “If we hurry we can grab some coffee at Kitty before break is over.”

The rest of the day passes like any other. We get a couple of civil disturbance calls and one from a guy who just seems to be having a “bad day” and thinks aliens have crash-landed in his backyard. We get a lot of calls like that. They always put me in kind of a sad mood. Sometimes I take things too much to heart. Empathetic, I guess. I’ve found that my sense of empathy only gets deeper the older I get too. When I see somebody in pain, I truly want to help them. It’s frustrating when I can’t.

That makes me think of Victoria again.

It’s inordinately difficult to get rid of “creepy” men who are obviously harassing women and freaking them out. But being as old as I am, and having seen as much of the world as I have, I really don’t have a problem going beyond the law if necessary. 

Which is to say that this Derek “Creeper” Hardum better watch his ass. 

Foxes like us can pack a pretty mean bite.

♡ The Sharing Spell

♡ The Spell's Price

♡ Backfired Magic