Page 12 of Shattered Magic
The doctor and tech looked at the scans and spoke to Zerul. “There is some smoke damage, but she appears to be healing.”
“She is good at it.” Zerul smiled.
“Your consort appears quite fit, and her skin is changing to a healthy appearance rather quickly.”
Zerul took her hand. “She has skills.”
Hari snorted. “Yeah, but my hair is still fucked up, so it isn’t like I get out of this unscathed.”
Zerul smiled. “It is an easy fix to the right mage.”
“I only know alternative mages.” She snorted and then coughed. “No one specializes in hair.”
“You would be surprised.”
“Yeah, I will be.” She looked at him. “Is there a police report?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I need to go to the bank and get some funds out to get a hotel room, as well as apply for a new license and other cards.”
“You can rest for a day.”
She snarled. “I am not going to pause my life because someone hired a fire mage to take out both the gym and my apartment.”
Zerul lifted her, careful of her IV, and set her on his lap. “May I interest you in a cozy, twenty-room historical structure with updated plumbing? There is a gym and a pool.”
She grimaced. “I am not sure that the roommates would be up to my standards.”
He began running his fingers through her hair, crackling a mess on the ground. “We can work out a roommate agreement and a consort contract.”
“So, it’s a temporary thing?” She looked up at him hopefully.
“No. It is a lifelong commitment, but there are things you can request or demand from me that I will be obligated to provide.
“Oh. Obligation. Sexy.” She snorted. He sat so her back was to him, and he continued to work on her hair.
“You are a conundrum, Anhara.”
“You are the only person who calls me that.” She sighed as he ran his fingertips along her scalp. The slow massage was relaxing as her skin moved through black, red, pink, and to her standard white-blue skin.
“I know, you have mentioned it before. You screamed yourself out?”
“Yeah. I opened the tap, and fire came through. It kept coming after me, so I knew what would happen next.” She shivered and softly sighed as he continued the slow caress of each inch of her scalp. He was working slowly, and her bones were turning to warm jelly.
“This isn’t fair. How do you know how to do that?”
“You may not remember it all, but I have been trying to figure you out for the last five years.” He whispered in her ear, “I am confident I have found a few things that you like.”
“Why don’t you find a nice little twit and make them your consort?”
“I don’t want a twit. I want a woman with intelligence, savagery, and a sense of humour. Also, your energy signature tastes like sex, and that keeps me coming back.”
She tried to move her head, but he kept massaging her scalp. “Well, after a while, you will get tired of it.”
He chuckled. “I won’t. Just being around you satisfies and wakes me in ways I have not previously experienced.”
Being around him put sex first and foremost in her mind. There was something about the horns. He wasn’t a demon, but she didn’t know what he was, and that bit of mystery kept her interested.