Page 44 of Mending Mayhem
“Princes of Hell do not apologize.” He relaxed his stance. “However, my behavior was fueled by distress and rage, and I should not have acted before speaking with Ember. Please accept my humble apology.” He bowed regally, though I couldn’t tell if it was sarcastic or sincere.
Miles stepped toward him. “We would never try to come between you and Ember. Fate is fate, and we won’t tamper with it.”
Shade stepped to his side. “Fate or not, neither of us is interested in her like that. We never have been.”
“I know. She informed me of?—”
I cleared my throat, stopping him from finishing the sentence. Just because I knew the bond between Miles and Shade, it didn’t mean they had figured it out yet.
“Apology accepted.” Miles offered his hand, and Mayhem shook it.
“Just don’t mess with us again.” Shade shook his hand as well.
“I will do my best,” Mayhem said.
“And that’s the best you’ll get from him.” I started down the hall but paused, turning back to them. “Are we all good?”
“We’re good,” Shade said. Miles and Mayhem nodded.
“Good.” I strode into my room and retrieved the shard of amulet from my nightstand drawer. When I returned, Ash had set the piece from Patrice’s house on the counter. I laid mine next to it.
No one said a word, but they all looked at me like I’d grown horns. “What?” I asked.
“Is that a mechanical penis?” Mayhem’s face scrunched with confusion. “It’s rather small.”
“I cloaked it in case anyone tried to find it. Let me remove the spell.” I held my hands over it. “What I’ve done is now undone. As I will it, so mote it be.”
Nothing happened.
Ash pressed her lips together, holding in a laugh. “Em, that’s your real vibrator.”
“No, it’s…” I looked at the object in question, and my cheeks heated. “Shit, it is. Hold on.” I snatched it off the counter and speed-walked to my room.
My ears burned as I opened the drawer and traded the real deal for the fake one. I couldn’t tell you why I was embarrassed. So what if I used it on the regular? I hadn’t had a date in ages, and women had needs too.
But Mayhem had seen it. He’d called it small, which, from his point of view, I supposed it was. But it didn’t matter. I had a sexy demon prince ready to worship me if I ever had time to fulfill my womanly needs again.
Oof. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
“This is it,” I said as I returned to the kitchen and laid it on the counter. “What I’ve done is now undone. As I will it, so mote it be.”
The vibrator transformed into the plastic jar with the amulet shard. I opened it, spilling the contents, and Ash did the same with her piece before opening her toolkit and taking out a pair of small wire cutters.
“What did Patrice say about the amulet?” Shade asked. “Where did you find it?”
“It was buried in her basement where Chrys was holding her with the roots.” I grasped the tweezers and held the shard still. “She buried it there to keep her spell in place. Patrice had no clue until we jogged her memory.”
“Damn,” Miles said. “I hope it wasn’t there to temper her magic like the ward Chrys put on this building.”
“If it was, it’s gone now.” Ash clipped the cage holding the piece of amulet, bending the wires so I could dump the shard onto the countertop.
“I don’t think the chain belongs on this piece either.” I gestured to the one we’d retrieved from Patrice, and Ash turned it over. “I guess the original one broke off. It looks like she used glue to attach it.”
“Indeed, it does,” Mayhem said. “The amulet used to hang from a chain of gold, forged in Hell.”
“Do we have to find the missing chain too?” I asked.
Mayhem shook his head. “No, it is the stone that contains the magic. Discord wore it constantly, taunting me with its power.”