The Luna's Bodyguard [a mature werewolf romance]

Ch 8: Coffee Date

OPHELIA'S POV

"Why does it feel like I'm about to get murdered?" I muttered, frowning as they led me into the cargo hold. It was dark and dusty, full of parked cars and big wooden crates.

"That's just suspense," Nate reassured me, ushering me towards a shipping crate in the back. The door was ajar, leaking flickering candlelight and sweet-smelling smoke.

Nate slipped inside, pulling me after him. Fallon brought up the rear. Our hands accidentally brushed and a jolt ran up my arm. I yanked it back, looking up guiltily.

Fallon wore the disinterested mask of a soldier, which made me feel stupid for being so hyper aware of him in the first place.

"Took you guys long enough," Addy complained, drawing a knife across her palm. I flinched as blood welled in a thick, glossy line, complimenting the shipping container's scent of rusting iron. "Are you ready?"

My mouth fell open. The four candles burning at each corner of the crate; the symbols Addy had already drawn on the wall with her own blood... "You're a witch."

The British girl rolled her eyes. "I'm a half witch, darling. Now do you want to go shopping, or are you going to stand there drooling all over the floor like the purebred savage you are?"

She hurled the word purebred like an insult, but we were more alike than she realised. All of a sudden her pinched posturing and prickly attitude made perfect sense. She was lashing out at the world before it had a chance to hurt her first.

And it had hurt her deeply. Of that I had no doubt.

"What do I need to do?" I asked, my senses tingling at the proximity of magic.

"You all have to hold hands," she said, pausing to blow a bubble of gum. After it popped and she loudly chewed it back into shape, she added: "And kiss with tongue."

I didn't know which of the boys to look at first, but it didn't matter. Both were suddenly looking anywhere but at me.

"A three way kiss," Addy declared. "Three's a charmed number, you see. Three Fates. Three wishes. Three kisses."

My brain stalled. Was she serious?

I must have said it out loud, because Nate chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous. You only have to give her your firstborn child."

I shrugged. "Okay." It wasn't like I was planning on living long enough to have kids, anyway.

Addy leaned forward, a hungry look in her eyes. "Do you mean it?"

"She promised you nothing," Fallon snarled, stepping between us. "Stop screwing with her and do the spell, Addison Sinclair, before I have a mind to pull your lungs out through your nostrils. And you," he snapped, jabbing Nate in the chest. "You should know better than to joke about bargaining with a witch. Kingdoms have been lost for less."

To my burgeoning horror, Nate booped him on the nose. "You're so cute when you're angry."

It was sudden as a lightning strike. Fallon grabbed him by the throat, slamming him against the wall. The metal dented with a shrieking complaint. "This isn't a joke."