Several years later...
Cal
The smack echoes through the room, but the impact, the heat, the glorious sting resonates through my entire body.
"Ah," I groan, feeling my skin light up, every cell flaring to life.
"Another?" Malikah asks, tracing my cheek with the soft tendrils of the whip.
"Please, Princess," I breathe, readying myself for the next—
Her phone rings.
Whack!
"Mmm!"
She chuckles, sliding the strands over my skin, grinning when it makes me shiver. "Now—"
My phone rings.
"Oh for fuck's sake! I'm going to turn them off—" she stomps away, leaving me panting on the side of the couch. I turn around to look at her, loving to way her body moves now. She's just so confident, so strong, so beautiful—
"Stupid lousy telemark—oh."
The hesitation makes me stand. I walk to where she is, both of our heads together, looking at the caller ID.
Lucinda
"Do you think—" she whispers.
"I don't know, Princess, but I think we owe it to ourselves to find out."
Gulping, she answers the phone.
"Sorry to interrupt, darlings," an ancient voice giggles. "My you two are naughty!"
I see Malikah's eyes grow wide, likely mirroring mine. Instantly I'm in motion, checking the windows, the doors—
"I'm not spying like that. I just get visions sometimes, and I've not learned to control them yet. Being physically fourteen is the absolute worst. You know, dying isn't the bad part about being reborn: it's puberty."
"Uh..." Malikah says hesitantly.
"Right, well, apparently you have been waiting for me to be reborn, wake up, yada yada—sorry it's taken so long, by the way—but I'm here again. Recently moved back into my house and started pissing off the Council. Oh, they're not completely sure it's me, but they suspect. Anyway, when do you want to go to Arreous? Or do you want to wait and go with the others?"
"O-others?" Malikah asks, brows furrowed. She looks at me. I shrug.
"Dustin and Ben will be going in ohhh probably eight-ish years I guess. They could probably use your help, especially with the Fae."
I stop breathing the moment she says the word, wondering if--
"I don't fear the Council, Lord Calandras, and neither should you. What's the worse they can do, kill us?" the cackle on the other side suggests death is a ridiculous punishment, but then again, to somebody that keeps coming back maybe it is.
"True," I agree.
"And it's not as if either of you fear pain," Lucinda snickers.
"Anyway," Malikah draws out the word, "back to the question at hand: should we wait?"
At my questioning look, she mutes the microphone, "She's supposedly an all-knowing Giftling that can see into the future. It seemed like a good question."
"Good point," I agree. "Maybe she's like a genie, and you've got to be specific."
"I'm not a genie," Lucinda laughs. Malikah checks her hand, but yes, it is still muted; with a shrug, Malikah unmutes it. Lucinda continues, "I didn't think to look, but now that you said it, it might be better for you to wait. I think your father is looking for your reborn mother—yes, he is. He won't win her for a few more years, so you'd show up to a kingdom that's largely empty of a ruler...well except for your stepbrother, but we all know he's more concerned with his ship and being a fake pirate. Really, what is there to pirate in Arreous? He doesn't want to start a war with any of the other species, so—"
YOU ARE READING
A Spell of Hate
Romance*Complete but still subject to edits until it goes to Kindle Unlimited* Malikah and Cal have been at each other's throats since the day they met. He hates her because she's a Vampire; she hates him because he's a dick. Time and experience change a...
