Monster Baiter (An Obscure Magic Book 6) (4 page)

She heard his feet crushing the blades of grass behind her, and she listened for another set of footfalls. His brother was quieter. She only heard a soft rustle in the shrubs as his sibling walked around her, sniffing and snuffling until he circled in front of her.

Sophia had seen scarier monsters but few had had the intense look of fascination in their eyes that the bull-headed man had as he stared at her.

His nudity wasn’t a surprise. His father had wide shoulders, a hugely developed chest and still a narrow waist. His son was nearly done becoming a man, but the animal nature was definitely in full control. The lust that was riding him was also evident, but she was able to ignore that by concentrating on the sounds instead of the images.

She whispered chants, waiting for the response of energy, no matter how faint. When the second bull head appeared and the brother joined his sibling, things were coming to a head.

They eyed each other warily, walking around her, keeping her between them.

When one would step toward her, the other would snort, and she continued her work.

Hours passed as she continued to ask for what she needed. A trickle of power finally came to her and told her what it needed. Thankfully, it was the same thing she had planned.

She set down all weapons but her dagger and rose to her feet, stepping into the glade and allowing the minotaur to get closer.

Sophy stood quietly and let the beast men come. They circled her for several minutes before the one on her left made his move. He grabbed at her arm and pulled her against his chest.

She screamed as she was supposed to and let the events unfold.

The other beast bellowed a disagreement, and he grabbed her arm, pulling her away from his brother. Sophy was slammed into the chest of the second minotaur and then pulled away. The fight for the tribute was on.

She backed away until the rock was pressed against her bare spine and shoulders.

The bulls now had their cow to fight over, so they fought.

Calls, snorts and, finally, the collision of head against head, horns scraping horns and finally goring flesh.

Sophy watched what she had set in motion. The thud and impact of skin on skin made her flinch. Knowing that she would have been helpless in the grip of just one of them, and now goading two into a death match, she felt a curl of nervousness roll up her spine.

The smell of blood filled the air as sunset threatened, and their horns did their work as they collided over and over again.

When the left brother fell to the ground, blood shooting from his muzzle, she left her safe place and walked onto the crimson battlefield. Her bare feet squished in the blood.

She knelt at his side and continued chanting.

In her words, she told Neptune that his bull had been sacrificed, and he was free to remove the curse. There would still be a minotaur to carry on the mythos, but he could pull the power from this one man.

A trickle of energy ran through her, and she touched the minotaur’s elbow. It was one of the only spots not scratched or bruised.

The power unlocked the minotaur energy, and he reverted to human. His brother thickened up and gained the power that had been lacking.

The man next to her rolled over, blood burbling from his lips. “Who are you?”

“I am the one to walk you into your death.”

“I don’t want to die.”

“Your body has to give up its soul. Your brother needs it to keep control.”

She took his hand and held it as his breathing slowed.

She heard the thick whisper, “If he needs it, he can have it.”

The last exhalation was done with a smile, and he dropped to the ground.

Sophy muttered, “Come on, come on.”

The soul freed itself from his body, and she redirected it to the minotaur. The bull man roared as he was made whole.

She ignored him. She had to go to work.

The Cursed One only took over when she was an adult, because every moment of every day since she could walk was spent learning spells, hexes and chants until she was more magic than living being.

Calling a soul was not an easy task. She had to find one and pour the energy down into the body, letting the cellular memories take over and rule. Finding a blank soul was tricky, but that was why she was wearing the glyphs.

She triggered the markings on her arms and raised them up, calling a new soul that hadn’t made a mark on the world. It took ten minutes, but a bright strand came to her, wrapped around her fingers and she took it, holding it to the lips of the dead man.

He started to breathe, and she wrapped him in healing magic, lifting him from the ground and holding him safe as the soul bonded to his body and the injuries sealed and healed.

“Can I help?”

She looked over her shoulder, and the man next to her was the dead ringer for the one in front of her, but he was healthier.

“Drop the labyrinth so the medics can get in. They have been crawling around the edges for hours.”

She watched as the cleared twin slowly opened his eyes as he floated. “Bor, what the fuck is going on?”

“You get to finish your doctorate, Del. Just stay still while she works on you.”

Dolin looked to her, and his eyes widened. “Bor, is there a half-naked chick sitting there with her hands on me?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry. You are naked, too.”

Borik stood behind her and observed.

The medics crashed into the clearing a moment later and got Del on a gurney.

“Take it easy with him. He is settling in.”

They gave her a series of nervous glances but carried Dolin off through the woods.

Sophy got to her feet and shook the bloody fabric away from her legs.

“So, not that I am complaining, miss, but who are you?”

Borik was standing there, his arms crossed, with a smile on his face and only the healing wounds on his body.

“Oh, Sophia DeMonstre. The Cursed One. Your father called me, but he was setting me up. I had to distract him, but he should be fine. Just called him an ambulance before I came in here.”

Her tongue ran away with her as she spoke to him. It always did when confronted with attractive, naked guys built of muscle and magic.

He extended his hand. “Thank you for coming. May I know what you did?”

“Sure. Just let me get my things.” She clambered up the rock and got her blades. She was happy she didn’t have to stab Dolin to get him to die. It was always easier when she didn’t have to kill directly.

She slung the leather strips over her shoulders and smiled at him. “Let’s go.”

She jumped to the ground, and he led the way out of his maze and back to the house.

She stopped at her car, opened the trunk, stowed the weapons and pulled on a sports bra and a long tunic. Once they were on, she removed her bloody clothing and put it in a bag for laundering when she got home.

A few wet wipes, set of leggings and sneakers and she was comfortable again.

Borik watched every moment, stark naked and comfortable in his own skin.

She smiled. “Right, so you know that your family carries the minotaur curse.”

“Of course.”

She leaned against her car. “Well, the curse was never meant for twins, and your mother’s family carried a special style of twins. Split souls. You and your brother were literally the same person living in two different bodies. Normally, one twin kills the other in childhood. It is classified as accidental and no one bats an eye. The twin parent is usually able to cover the death, but if not, a visit to the Mage Guild usually clears things up. Bloodlines have a tell; the split soul belongs to the Yorful.”

“My brother and I always got along.”

“I know, and that is because of your father’s curse. Until you were adults, things would have been fine. When you took on the curse—happy birthday by the way—the transformation was split. No control, no humanity or thought when you were in the minotaur form, just animal instinct.”

Borik smiled. “So, you knew how to fix that?”

“Your father tried to trap you two, using me as bait. I didn’t go for that, and that is why your father needed the ambulance.”

“What did you do?”

“Punched him in the groin, hard. In explanation, he had tried to drug me in order to use me as bait. I took exception to that, but I didn’t kill him.”

Borik blinked. “You punched...”

“Yeah. Not my finest moment, but he is a little bigger than I am. The cheap shot is usually the most effective.”

He frowned. “What about Del?”

“Dolin’s body holds his recent memories. The cells hadn’t begun dying yet. I called a loose, unlinked soul and used it to restart him.”

“Loose soul?”

She twisted her lips. “Babies die all the time. After they are born or even before. These souls are unformed by life, and they can be caught and given a second chance before they return whence they came. I called a pure soul and offered it your brother’s body. His memories are already there, so the binding is taking hold.”

“Will he be himself?”

“As much as you are living with the curse in your blood.”

“It will take some adjustment for me to feel like myself again. I can feel the bull in my blood.”

She smiled slightly. “And so it will be for your brother, learning to feel without wondering whether it will be him or you for the change.”

“He is going to be a doctor.” Borik smiled.

“What were you in school for?”

“Law. I don’t think that is a good vein for me now.”

She grinned. “You might want to take up accounting. A lot less drama when you lose your temper.”

“I will consider it. Will you come inside?”

“No, I think that the moon is rising, and I need to check my phone. Full moons are buggers for curses. Everybody wants to play with magic.”

She nodded her farewells, got into her car and watched his muscled backside stalk into the house. It was a shame to go, but she was too old for him. Cougar had never been in her job description.

Pity.

Two cursed Ouija boards and one ring later and she dragged herself into her house.

The shower was definitely called for. She was covered in slime from an exploding orb and deeply resenting the ancestor who saddled her with the curse.

Delwin’s room was dark, and she went past it, waiting until she got into the bathroom before she stripped to the skin to survey the marks of an active evening as the Cursed One.

Her wounds were healing, but that didn’t make them hurt any less.

She had untangled three humans from disaster, and all she had gotten to show for her efforts were screams, slashes and shrieked curse words. Her job sucked.

Her clothes hit the floor with wet splats. She gathered them up and dropped them down the laundry chute.

Her shower had a bar of spray nozzles that hit her from all angles. It was a necessity.

She was scrubbing at her hair when Delwin waltzed in, his pajamas riding low on his hips.

“What is that smell?”

“Necrotic slime.” She kept scrubbing from the top down.

“Sophy! What happened to you?”

“Oh, whips of the undead. Not particularly fun.”

“The marks on your arms?”

She rinsed her hair off in the hot spray. “Soul catchers. What do you want, Delwin?”

“Can I bring dates over?”

She dumped a squirt of body wash onto a scrubbing puff. “Sure. If they have no ill intent, they can pass through the doorway at your side; send me an email so I set the wards in the morning.”

Delwin blinked. “Do you always look like that when you get home?”

“With this much activity, I can usually barely move when I get home. Was there something else?”

He scowled. “Give me that scrub.”

She blinked, and he crowded into her shower, kneeling and carefully scrubbing her from shoulder to heels.

“Turn.”

She rotated toward him, and he scrubbed carefully around her body and removed all of the traces of muck, dirt and anything else.

“This looks dangerous, Sophy.”

“I managed to wrangle you, Delwin. Of course, it is dangerous. You were not even close to the deadliest thing that I went after, venomous or not.”

He got up with his pajama pants sodden. “There, all clean. There were some spots that you would never have reached in that shape.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Thank you, but this won’t give you a break on your rent.”

He laughed. “I have figured out a job to apply for.”

She raised her brows, naked and nearly chest to chest with him. “Do tell?”

“I think you need a housekeeper. I can stay with you, do laundry, learn to cook, and in exchange, all I want is free rent for a few months.”

She poked him in the chest and narrowed her eyes. “I will think about it.”

“If I get the stains out of all your clothing, will you do it?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Yes. Now, hand me a towel and stop coming into my bathroom!”

He laughed, peeled off his pajamas, grabbed one towel for her and one for him. With the fluffy white fabric around his hips, he gathered his pants and left.

She called out, “Delwin!”

He turned around warily. “What?”

“Thanks for scrubbing my back.”

He winked. “Any time, as long as I don’t have company. Skin like yours doesn’t deserve that kind of punishment.”

“Don’t worry. I will be healed in the morning.”

He called out over his shoulder. “I was talking about your body wash.”

He closed the door behind him, and she was left fighting exhausted laughter.

It seemed that once you let a merman into your home, you were stuck with him.

She wished that he had come with an instruction book.

Yawning her way through reports the next morning, she looked at the approaching cup of coffee with relief. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Go home, Soph. We will take care of it.” Her mom handed it over with a grin.

“I have the first quarter up to date, filed my reports from yesterday and am due for a visit to the estate shops.” She slurped at the coffee without hesitation. It burned slightly, but she gulped it down.

“So, is that merman still living with you?” Her mom’s eyes were gleaming.