19. The Cost of The Pizza… Is Aldrich

CLOVER

The next morning, I’m up with the sun. I don’t know when it happened, but at some point during the night, I wound up lying on top of Fitzy. Aldrich is pressed right up against him, his hand on me. I’m not sure if Fitz can feel him, but it’s adorable to see them snuggled up in the bed.

I step outside to stretch and keep from waking the boys, only to pause as a tall, curly-haired blond woman and four handsome guys walk by.

“Hush, Felix. I told you what the haunted nuggets said. Is it my fault if they didn’t specify which spooky cemetery in New York I was supposed to go to?”

I hear a few snorts, but they walk around the corner before I get to hear a reply. If I wasn’t on a mission of my own, I’d like to find out more about these haunted nuggets.

To my surprise, I find Kushim sitting on a cushion in the back of Suisy.

“Did you sleep out here?” I raise my eyebrow at my materialistic demon.

“The bed was a little crowded, and I think it’s good for Aldrich to have contact with you. He’s becoming stronger. I also had some work calls to make and didn’t wish to wake you.”

“That’s very sweet of you.” I wrap my arms around his neck, and he leans into me, breathing deeply. We stay like that for a bit. “We’ll need a bigger bed, then, so we can all sleep together.” I pull away to sit next to him, leaning on Suisy’s door frame. He hums his agreement.

“I’m sorry that I complained about your van,” Kushim says, taking my hand. “For as old and… unworked on… as it is, it’s in pretty good shape. And I must say, you have some decent cushions back here.”

“Thank you,” I say, not mentioning that I’m pretty sure Mip may have stolen one or two from his casino the other day.

“I noticed a lot of unique fun little knickknacks and items throughout her. Did you make them all?”

“Oh, I did! Well, most of it. Some of them were…Umm… procured. Mostly by Mip.” I jump to my feet. “Would you like the grand tour? I probably should have offered one when you first got in, but you all distracted me.”

I guide Kushy inside, pointing out the windows of stained glass I made and added to the reclaimed barn wood cupboards. My mini slide-out bathroom decorated with small flowers. The small shower and curtain I painted for it. Followed by my pièce de resistance: the photo wall.

“These are all the people that I’ve met on my travels, mostly store owners and the like. Oh, I almost forgot.” I pull down my bag from the hanging hammock and fish out my newest photo of Mike and Lenny. I pin it on the board with my little daisy pins. “Ta-da.”

My stomach grumbles loudly.I blush and wrap my arms around it.

“It is a great photo, Clover, and I hate to interrupt, as I am enjoying the tour,” Fitzroy says, climbing into the van and leaning back in the bed. “But we should eat. I think I saw a diner across the?—”

“It’s not open,” Kushim interrupts. “But I will order us something.”

I poke my head out the door and look across the road at the diner. Several cars are in the parking lot, and a small plume of smoke puffs from the little metal chimney on the roof.

Snooty demon. I snort but say nothing. We just had a good moment, so I’ll give him this.

“I don’t know that anyone will deliver out here, man. We’re a pretty good drive away from the city,” Fitz argues.

“That’s not a problem. One of my men can bring us something.” He looks at me. “What would you like to eat?”

Hmm… “I haven’t had pizza in a while.”

Aldrich pops his head in the door. “What is a pizza?”

“It’s amazing cheesy goodness and other toppings on a flat piece of bread,” I tell him.

“Yup. What kind would you like?” Kushim asks as he starts typing into his phone faster than I’ve ever seen anyone text.

“Extra cheese and fungi.”I say.

Fitz quirks a brow at me as Kushim smiles. “Done. Anyone else?”

Aldrich makes a grossed-out face, pursing his lips. “Why would you want fungi on cheese-covered bread?”

“Can I get ham and pineapple?” Fitzroy asks.

Kushim grimaces, but nods, typing away. “Mip?”

“He can share with me.” I smile at the handsome demon, and he smiles back.

“I assume Aldrich won’t be needing any?”

“No, he wouldn’t be able to eat it.”

The man in question sighs as he presses against my back. I lean against him, and he wraps his arms around my waist.

“It’s a shame, too. I think I might enjoy it… minus the fungi.”

I hum in response as Kushim sends off our order.

“What should we do while we wait?” Fitzroy says as he pulls me away from Aldrich. Not on purpose… I think.

“I’ve got a few ideas.”

Fitzroy lets out a whoop and throws me over his shoulder before running back into the motel room and diving on the bed, turning just in time so I’m not squished under his massive body. I giggle, and when Aldrich leaps on the bed, causing Fitz and me to go slightly airborne, I laugh outright.

“Children,” Kushim mutters as he closes the door to our room. But from the look in his eyes, I can tell he’s ready for more.

Forty-two, forty-three, forty-four…

There’s a knock at the door of our motel room.

Forty-five.

Another knock.

Forget it. I can’t make it to fifty. I’ll just have to remember my place. I put my stitch marker in the loop and jump up. I’m finally getting a chance to work on Aldrich’s body. When the guys realized I didn’t mean sexy times, all three of them pouted a little, but Aldrich ended up falling asleep again with his head in my lap. Mip introduced Fitzroy and Kushim to Needlestrike, and every time I glanced up, they were showing him different techniques to use and the best places to stab a human with such a small blade.

It’s been close to four hours since Kushim ordered our pizza, so he stepped out to make some calls, hopefully to make sure the food is actually coming, and as I grab the door handle, Fitz steps out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. I fan myself with my free hand, and he smirks, crossing his arms and flexing his pecs in a little dance.

I’m giggling as I open the door to find the big bald guy who grabbed my arm at Kushim’s casino.

“That’ll be twenty-two fifty,” the man says before glancing up at me. He shows me a far-too-toothy smile. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the whore. I think you owe me a tit-fuck, bitch.”

Before I can respond, Fitzroy flies past me, grabs the pizza dude by the throat, and lifts him in the air with a menacing growl. The guy claws at the steel band that is Fitz’s hand, and the pizza boxes fall to the ground.

I shriek, bending over to make sure none of the precious pizzas fell out. I don’t mind eating a messy pizza, and while this motel is one of the cleanest ones I’ve been to, the floor still looks a little on the grungy side. I may be a magical witch with magical powers, but I don’t know if any powers are strong enough to fight the diseases and infections you might get from eating off motel carpet.

“Kushim said his man was bringing the pizza. That you, baldy?” Fitz grits out, fighting a shift.

“Mmphh,” the pizza guy mmphs.

“Then I guess he’ll want to know what you said to his girl.”

The words are like a bucket of ice over Baldy’s head. He freezes, and the blood drains from his face. Fitzroy’s hand opens, Baldy crumples to the ground, then Fitzroy executes a pretty, spinny kick right to Baldy’s face. His nose crunches like a mouthful of potato chips, and blood spurts like that ketchup packet did that time I stepped on it. That will definitely stain the carpet.

Fitzroy leaps on top of him, landing punch after punch. Aldrich pulls me farther into the room, scowling. I’m not sure if it’s because Fitzroy is having all the fun, or that Baldy asked to see my boobs. After about five minutes of unending pain for the boob who wanted to see boobs, Fitzroy finally gets up and pulls Baldy into the room.

“Got any rope in that van of yours, darlin’?” Fitz asks, looking extra sexy in his towel.

Maybe I should make the guys wear nothing but towels if we aren’t in public. Or maybe nothing at all…

“No, but I’ve got some really thick yarn,” I say, setting the pizzas on the bed and rifling through my bag for my thickest skein of yarn.

“Does that happen often?” Fitzroy grits out as he ties up our new prisoner, finishing the job by grabbing one of his dirty socks and shoving it in Baldy’s mouth.

“Oh, on occasion. I never agree, though. Well, except this one time I flashed the girls and got a pretty sweet discount on some extensive work on Suisy. Saved about two hundred dollars.”

It was a good deal, too. I did some research before taking her in, and I had just enough saved up, but that two hundred dollar discount meant I could still get that new sparkly yarn I’d been eyeing. Mip had needed a shirt to go dancing in, after all.

“That will never happen again,” he says, approaching me with a predatory gleam in his gaze. His bloody hand cups my cheek and then slides into my hair, gently pulling back so that I’m looking up at him. His eyes have shifted, and those brilliant purple galaxies are hard as they search my face. “Tell me that will never happen again, little mate.”

“Well… what if Suisy needs a new engine, or I?—”

He cuts me off with a rough kiss. “Tell. Me.”

“It won’t happen,” I pant.

“Damn right it won’t,” he says.

Before I can catch my breath, he’s kissing me again. His tongue caresses the seam of my lips, urging me to open for him, and I do. He pulls me to him, and my core clenches. This mate thing is something that I could definitely get used to.

Fitz runs his hands down my sides, grabbing the hem of my shirt and starts to pull it off, and Aldrich sandwiches me in between the two walls of muscle, dipping his fingers into my pants. His form flickers, growing in strength once again as we come together.

Suddenly, the room cracks and shatters in a blink. It takes me a second to comprehend that I’ve shifted to the other side. Shitballs. A deep, dark, distorted sound that is similar to a growl rumbles in the air, and right in front of us, slowly creeping forward, is a red-eyed Blobby.

“Guys?!” I say as I take a deep breath, trying to get back.

The world shimmers back into place as Aldrich’s hands touch my back.

“Fuck!” Fitz says, dropping my shirt back into place and grabbing my hand. “Are you all right? You started to fade away like a fucking horror movie.” He rubs my body all over, his brows drawn and a frown on his face. It’s like he’s making sure I’m not an illusion.

A portal starts to open over the bed, and black goo plops out onto the bed, just missing the pizza boxes. Aldrich spins to face the blob of doom, his hands faintly lighting up with magic. That’s new…

Fitzroy shoves me back, away from the rapidly widening portal. “Clover, you’ll need to close it again!”

“I’m trying to remember how…. I think… I think you need to be touching me…” I say, but Blobby’s face appears in the portal.

His gaping maw stretches into a grin, and I gasp as he tries to push himself through.

“Caaalllaaa,” he rasps, his creepy eyes glued to mine.

I cling to Fitz as I try to grasp the magic I need to close the portal.

“Aldrich! Kushim!” I call. “I need you!”

Aldrich’s eyes are wild as he throws yellow magic at Blobby. It knocks him back, just slightly.

“It won’t matter, sunshine!” he calls. Another blast of magic hits Blobby as Aldrich spins, looking at Fitz. “Kushim isn’t here. She needs us all. Keep her safe.”

Fitz nods and pulls me against him as Aldrich’s eyes meet mine. “Find me in Spell’s Hollow, love,” he says. Then he throws a big blast of magic, knocking Blobby back enough so he can jump into the portal as it closes, then the room snaps back to normal.

“No,” I whisper, and seconds later, Mip’s voice squeaks on the bed behind us.

“Oh, good. The pizza is here! It’s a good thing, too, because I tried to filch a mozzarella stick from across the street, and the worker called me a filthy rat before throwing some tiny green pellets at me. They smelled too… Hey…Is the pizza burnt? Why is the cheese falling off?”

“Aldrich,” I say, my voice a whisper. I suppose it won’t get any louder. I must be in shock.

“Aldrich did this?” Mip growls. “I’ll skewer him!”

“Aldrich is gone, Mip,” Fitz says as he lifts me into his arms, squeezing tight. Like he can squeeze the sadness out of me. And oh, how I wish he could.