“Holy shit,” Tony barked out a hysterical laugh. “I married a witch!”
Kendis winced and wondered what she’d done in a past life to deserve such horrid luck. Tony kept gaping down at her, his eyes wide as saucers. His expression would have been hilarious if it wasn’t for the fact that she’d had a total and complete breakdown that had led to her having a huge surge of accidental magic.
Kendis felt her cheeks go warm, and she was probably as red as a tomato. She hadn’t had an accidental magic incident that bad since she was 15 years old.
“Can you get off of me?”
Tony quickly scrambled to his feet. He offered her a hand, and Kendis was thankful that he wasn’t shying away from her touch. She took it and stood to her feet.
The glass, crumpled under the soles of her house shoes. Kendis was thankful that she’d put a charm to stiffen the bottom of her shoes (because Alke had a stage in which she liked to use Kendis’s things as chew toys).
Kendis felt like her heart was being squeezed out of her chest as she thought of her baby alone in that sterile clinic, even though she knew Alke was in good hands. Dr. Lan had been Alke’s veterinarian since she was a pup, and Ian and Jason had highly recommended him; she was lucky that he took emergency cases.
“So, magic?” Tony flailed his arms around. “Get back to the magic part!”
Kendis took out her wand and, with a flick and swish, parts of her lawn chairs flew through the air and reassembled themselves.
“Magic exists.” Kendis shrugged. “And I’m a wixen, not a witch.”
“What’s the difference?” Tony asked in amazement as he walked over to the chair and poked it. “Whoa, it’s as good as new.”
Kendis could practically see the cogs in his magnificent brain spinning. He shook his head and then poked the chair again. “There have been some governmental experiments and studies at M.I. T and Stanford on energy manipulations, but nothing on this scale. Not to mention the telekinesis and the power to perform transmogrification on such a precise, miniature level.”
Tony started bouncing up and down, and if he had been a dog, his tail would have been wagging back and forth. Adorable. She thought to herself and then shook her head. The way she was switching from emotion to emotion was exhausting. She needed to get off this mental roller coaster.
“Wixen is the gender-neutral term for witch or wizard.”
“Wait, like Merlin?”
Kendis frowned, confused. “What?”
“Back in Vegas, you said: “Oh, Merlin.” Tony tilted his head curiously. “Merlin actually existed, huh?”
Kendis rubbed her throbbing head, and then she walked over to Tony and pulled him off the porch into the house. His eyes roved over her living room, which was relatively neater than her porch
“The dimensions of this place make zero sense.” Tony whistled as his eyes gazed over the cavernous great room.
“What can I say?” Kendis shrugged. “It’s bigger on the inside.”
Tony threw her a smirk. “Doctor Who, really?”
Kendis snorted as she pointed her wand at the window and said, “Don’t move.”
“Reparo!”
“Fucking hell!” Tony jumped as the glass flew back into the frame, instantly melding back together. “That was so cool!”
Tony hurried across the room to press his fingers against the repaired windows. “Wow! I want to run all the tests. Can’t you even imagine what type of data I could get—”
“Tony!”
Tony stopped and turned to look at her.
“Magic and technology don’t really go together.” Kendis walked over to him. “Can I have your phone?”
Tony blinked at her. “I think it’s a little too early in our marriage to start checking if I’m sexting other people.”
Kendis rolled her eyes and made grabby hands at him until he took out his phone and handed it over to her. Kendis was surprised that his phone screen wasn’t cracked. If she hadn’t put her iPhone back into her warded lock box earlier, it probably would have been in pieces by now.
However, the moment Kendis touched the phone, the screen flickered once, then twice, and then froze for a second before it went black.
“What…” Tony’s eyes were huge as he indignantly snatched his phone out of her hand. “That is impossible! This model has survived active war zones. One of my phones saved Rhodey from a bullet, and it still worked.”
Kendis winced. “I would check your other devices.”
Tony took a little remote out of his pocket. “Jarvis?”
There was nothing, and he shook his head in bewilderment. “This didn’t happen back at the hotel.”
“I am pretty powerful.” Kendis pinched the bridge of her nose. “For the most part, I keep my magic tightly controlled. You just happened to catch me at a really bad time.”
“Even when you are drunk or asleep?”
Kendis nodded. “Yeah, one of the side effects from the war.”
“War?” Tony asked in dismay. “You were part of a war??!!”
More like a War General and sacrificial lamb, Kendis thought to herself, but she was not opening that can of worms tonight.
“Let’s get those cuts looked at, then I’m checking on Alke.” I’ll tell you the details later.”
Kendis took Tony’s hand and led him to the sofa. “Sit,” Kendis ordered.
“I’m not a dog!” Tony scoffed.
Kendis snorted, then dashed to the bathroom for some dittany. She was gone for a quick minute, but when she returned, Tony had moved from the sofa to her bookshelf and was reading ‘Dark Wizards of the Twentieth Century’.
“Tony!”
He jumped and gave her a guilty glance. Tony looked like a kid whose hand was caught in the cookie jar.
With a roll of her eyes, she gestured toward the couch. With a sheepish shrug, Tony returned the book to its place on the shelf. He walked over and plopped down on her sofa.
Kendis pulled out her wand and quietly cast a healing spell. Tony’s eyes got huge when the gashes started knitting themselves back together. “Wow, that is so fucking cool!”
Instead of replying, Kendis thrust a vial into his hand. He eyed it suspiciously.
“What’s this?”
“That’s dittany,” Kendis said. “And it will stop you from getting any scars.”
Tony eyes darted between Kendis and the vial; with a shrug, he took a sip. “Ugh, that tastes terrible,” he grimaced.
“Most potions do,” Kendis sighed. “Now drink the rest of it.”
With a final, spiteful glance that she pointedly ignored, Tony sighed and then quickly tossed the rest back.
“Ugh,” Tony gagged. “Tastes like old dirty socks.”
Kendis clapped him on the shoulder. “Enough with the dramatics. I need to go check on Alke. I don’t want her to be at the clinic alone for too long.”
Tony looked like he was about to argue, then sighed. “Fine, but I’m taking you.”
“No, that’s okay—”
Tony raised his hand, and she stopped. “You are in no condition to drive. Either let me drive you to the clinic, or I’m going to make you call a cab. Either way, you are not driving.”
Kendis wanted to protest that they were a grown-ass person who could take care of themselves, but she was too tired to even try. “Fine.”
“By the way, I have been meaning to ask.”
“What?” Kendis replied wearily.
“Why didn’t you call the cops?” Tony waved his hands. “Or like the magical authorities?”
“Did you know I used to be an Auror?” Kendis asked suddenly.
“Auror is the word for magical law enforcement,” Tony clarified, and she nodded.
“Yes, I joined right after I graduated from school. My father and godfather had both been Aurors. My heroes, and most of the people I looked up to as a kid, were Aurors. And after I graduated, I wanted to make them proud. So, I joined the service.” Kendis gave a rueful chuckle. “We were taught that we were a band of brothers, that Aurors had each other’s back. But that was a sodding lie.”
Kendis shuttered as the memories of those years flooded back to the surface. “When Chester started showing up everywhere I went, leaving me gifts, and threatening letters, they didn’t take it seriously. They told me I was overreacting and that I should be flattered.”
Tony grimaced, and Kendis nodded in agreement. “Even when he started threatening Josefa, no one took it seriously. The Coil family was a respectable, pure-blood family with connections deep in the Ministry, and I begged them to do something, anything, to stop him. But they were too busy focusing on my change in gender expression to give a shit.
“And six months later, Josefa was killed.” Kendis barely kept control of her magic at the familiar impotent rage surging through her. Josefa would’ve been alive today if she had just taken matters into her own hands. “Now Chester Coil is free.”
“Okay,” Tony replied quietly. “No police. So how about you stay with a friend?”
Kendis was glad she’d sent Hortense and Isiah to Isla de Mánea. She imagined what Chester would have done to her friends if they’d gotten in his path. Alke had barely survived the encounter.
As for the rest of her friends? Kendis realized Ian, Jason, and Richie would become overprotective and coddle her if she told them. Besides, although the three men were perfectly capable of handling themselves, she preferred not to involve them unless absolutely necessary.
Thankfully, even though Dr. Lan and his husband Wei Ying were good friends with Jason and Ian, Dr. Lan was not the type of person to gossip.
Tony sighed and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “Okay, then you are staying with me.”
“What? No!” Kendis squawked. “Chester’s gunning for me, and he’s already hurt Alke. I don’t want anyone else’s blood on my hands.”
“Kendis,” Tony said, uncharacteristically serious. “Do you know how many death threats and assassination attempts I get in a year?”
Kendis frowned, “What—”
“Danger doesn’t scare me,” Tony insisted. “Besides, the mansion has round-the-clock security —It’s practically a fortress!”
“Did you miss the part where I said mixing magic and technology was bad?” Kendis shook her head. “I doubt even your tech could survive a magical attack.”
“Probably not, but it will give you enough time to run,” Tony replied, stubbornly.
“And what if I destroy your precious tech, huh?” Kendis crossed her arms and shot him a glare. “What then?”
“I’ll fix it,” Tony shrugged. “There is nothing you can break that I can’t afford to fix.”
Kendis could only stare at him with her mouth open.
“You shouldn’t be alone,” Tony insisted again.
Kendis groaned and slapped her forehead as she felt her resolve falling. “Fine,” Kendis finally agreed. “But only until Alke is released from the hospital.”
Tony narrowed his eyes, but then nodded. “Deal.” He waved her to the bedroom. “Now go pack a bag.”
Kendis huffed as she went to collect her things. She had a feeling this was going to be a long couple of days.
