Chapter 27

27

With my parents leaving so soon, the guys went into hyper mode to finalize their plans, including the menu, purchase items, create advertisements, and preparing for the grand re-opening.

All of that meant that our official mating was put on hold until we had time and weren’t rushed. None of us wanted to rush the mating, and it was enough for us to have our rings and have officially accepted each other.

As tourist season opened, a flood of annual visitors and new ones came to the city. Gina’s was so busy that we had a line out the door each day. There was no time for me to think or do more than focus on taking orders, serving drinks, and delivering the pizzas to the tables. We hired another person due to the massive increase, but they only worked part time, so I was still the main one in the front handling it all. As often as I could, I would give the two in the back breaks, since working around the oven and making pizzas was tiring. Especially when we had to also prep all the toppings, sauce, and pizza dough balls before the shift even started.

Gina gave the three of us pay raises due to our increased workload, which I was extremely grateful for.

My parents were leaving in two days, so they’d invited my soon-to-be mates and I over for dinner.

Jong-min tried to insist on cooking, but they wouldn’t accept.

After cleaning up the pizzeria like a mad woman, I raced home to shower and change.

As I finished rinsing the shampoo from my hair, the door to my shower opened. Shampoo was in my eyes, so I couldn’t see who it was. “We have to wash fast to make it to my parents’ on time.”

No one responded.

Fire and pain seared into my back as someone stabbed a large knife into me, between my shoulder blade and my spine.

I turned and gaped at Koia. “A gift from him,” she said in a weird voice.

I punched her in the chest, sending her flying against the bathroom wall. Her head cracked as it hit the tiled wall and she slid down it, unmoving.

“Help!” I screamed as my legs weakened and I fell to my knees in the shower.

Grant ran inside, saw Koia, and stepped over her to get to me. “Kass! What is Koia doing here? Shit, we need to get that knife out of you.”

“I think it’s poisoned,” I whispered as my breaths came in pants.

Reed ran in and his eyes widened.

“Call Theo,” Grant ordered him.

“Is … she … dead?” I asked.

Reed squatted and felt for her pulse. He shook his head. “She’s alive.”

“Why would she attack you like this?” Grant asked.

“I don’t know. She said, ‘a gift from him,’ but I don’t know who she could be referring to.” I felt pretty confident that I didn’t have any enemies that were still alive. Who was this mysterious “him”?

“Where is she?” Theo yelled as she came into the bathroom. Reed had dragged Koia out of the bathroom earlier, but I hadn’t wanted to move until we removed the knife from my back. She squatted behind me and inspected the knife. “It’s poisoned and there’s a spell on it.” Narrowing her eyes and using her magic, she focused in silence before she stumbled back. “No!”

“What is it?” Grant asked.

“I’m sorry, Kass. This is my fault,” Theo said and swallowed hard. Stepping forward again, she used her magic on my shoulder. “On my order, pull the knife, Grant.”

Grant stepped forward and nodded. “Understood.”

Closing my eyes and gritting my teeth, I said, “I’m ready.”

Theo set her hands on either side of the wound, making me grunt in pain. “Now.”

Grant jerked the knife out of my back, tearing a scream from my throat.

Theo used her magic, whispering something as she also put a poultice of some type on the wound as it was closing. “You should be good in about twenty minutes,” she whispered, stood and backed out of the shower.

“Why do you think this is your fault?” I asked.

Grant handed me a towel to wrap around my body as I stood. He kept a hand on my elbow in case I started to fall.

Theo moved into my bedroom, sat on the edge of my bed, and sighed heavily. “That spell, I was able to feel the creator’s magic. You can trace a magical signature if you know the person’s magic or have the ability to track people by magic. There are several who can do it, but it’s a special skill.”

She was rambling, but I decided to let her.

“In my former life, I was called a ‘Hound’ because I was sent to crime scenes to detect magic and then tracked the culprits down. My partner, Roman, was a powerful newbie with some wild ideas and little self-restraint. While hunting down a particularly heinous murderer, we cornered the culprit in a warehouse. My partner found him first and when I got there, he had almost killed him. I had to use my powers to toss him away before he killed the murderer. However, when I flung him away, he landed in a vat of some strange goo. Before I could help him, he sank to the bottom of the vat and when he emerged, he was nearly catatonic. It took me and six healers to heal him enough he could function normally. Whatever was in that vat changed him, and since I had been the one to knock him into it, I became his enemy.”

“Wait, so your partner had a true villain origin story?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes, but said, “Yes, and he did become a villain. He not only started going after confirmed criminals, but also suspected criminals. A few of them turned out to be innocent, but he killed them before it could be proven. I was sent to bring him in and it was a really nasty battle. I defeated him, but I was laid up for months after and that was when I decided to retire, and when I started accepting who I really am. He was locked up, but I’d heard a year ago that he escaped. They warned me he might come for me, but after a year, I thought I was safe.” She sighed and rubbed her face with her hands. “He must have been watching me, learned you were my friend, and used the spell to send Koia after you.”

“So, Koia’s not at fault?” Reed asked.

Theo shook her head. “No, she was under compulsion.”

“So, your enemy is here and he’s just announced his presence by showing us that he can bespell people,” Grant summarized.

“Are there limits to how the compulsion works?” I asked. “Would he be able to make me attack you?”

“Roman is a vampire mage,” Theo said. “He can make anyone attack anyone else. If there’s a hint of dislike, it strengthens the compulsion.” She scowled at Koia. “Which is likely why it worked so well on her.”

“Does he have to touch you, or how does the compulsion spell work?” Reed asked. “Do you have a picture of him so we can share it with each other?”

“He has to stare into your eyes to get the spell to work. I’ll get a photo from my computer files and send it to everyone,” Theo said and stood. “And I’m going to start tracking him down.”

“This is a trap,” I said with certainty. “He gave you a way to track him down, his magic, knowing you would do that. Why else announce his presence in this way?”

“I know,” she said and smiled sadly, “but I have to keep you and everyone I care about safe. This is my sin from the past that I must fix.”

“You don’t have to do it alone,” I reminded her. “That’s what we’re here for.”

She hugged me gently and said, “Thank you, Kass. I don’t know what I did to deserve a friend like you, but I’ll do what I can to protect you and everyone else. And I won’t do it alone. Unlike someone , I know it’s better to work together with your friends than face a strong enemy alone.”

“Wow, way to butter me up to tear me down,” I grumbled against her shoulder. “And after I got stabbed for you.”

She patted my back where the wound had been. It was fully healed already. “You can take it.”

Standing, she stretched and said, “I’m going to my apartment. I’ll send the photo and more details about him. What are your plans tonight?”

“We’re going to my parents for our farewell dinner,” I answered, dropped my towel, and went to the closet to grab clothes. “Do you want to come?”

“No, thanks for the invitation, though. Tell them I hope they have a great trip home. Guys, keep an eye on her, okay?”

“Will do,” Reed replied.

“You keep yourself safe, too,” Grant ordered her.

“Bye!” she called out.

“Bye!” I called back as I finished dressing. Stepping back into the room, I realized Theo had taken Koia. “Well, not quite the start to the evening I had anticipated, but I suppose our lives are rarely calm.”

“And for once, it wasn’t your enemy,” Grant teased with a smile.

“Come on, we’re already late. We need to hurry,” Reed said and pushed me out of the room.

“We should grab flowers as an apology on the way,” I suggested. “Mom will forgive us if we bring flowers.”

Turned out, she was just happy I was safe, but she did put the flowers in a vase in the dining room and kept looking at them throughout the meal.

We ate delicious food, told stories, and cried as we hugged each other for the last time.

“I’m so happy you’re mated now,” she said. “I was worried about leaving you alone, but you have come very far in your life. We are so proud.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I hugged her tight one more time before leaving them so they could finish packing.

As I walked out of the house, I felt like a chapter of my life was closing, but I also knew it was the start to another, greater chapter. One with mates who loved me as much as I loved them.

The greatest chapter of my life yet.

As long as we could take out the guy after my best friend, that is.

“Let’s go see Silver and my sisters,” I said, determined to keep Theo safe. “We need to prepare for yet another battle.”