“You don’t try to change me,” Damon adds. “You accept me for who I am. You jumped out of a plane without being able to use your wings. You trusted me. That means everything.”
“You were my first,” Sage blurts out as if he doesn’t want to be undone.
“Dude, it took you until now to have sex?” Damon asks with a laugh.
“I don’t sleep around with every fairy who looks at me.”
“I don’t either.”
“I don’t go around and kiss them all either.”
“Hmm.” Damon sounds more amused than anything. “How do you become better at something unless you practice?”
“Maybe you should practice being faithful.”
“When you aren’t in a relationship—”
“Don’t you want to be in one?” Sage interjects.
“Boys, can we not fight?” I ask desperately.
“I don’t think I like your judgmental tone,” Damon says.
“I don’t care what you like or don’t like. I don’t want you to hurt Rosemary.”
"No, because that's your job, right? You mistakenly thought she was Bay. You made a mistake, not her, and who did you blame?" Damon asks.
“To be fair, afterward, Rosemary admitted that she acted like Bay to get me to like her. She even said she wasn’t sure who she was so how exactly you can try to twist that around on me—”
“You could’ve helped her to find herself,” Damon says simply.
“Is that what you call that stunt?” Sage snorts.
“I’m beginning to regret calling you both,” I say with a groan.
“Why? You know you miss me,” Damon says. I can just picture his grin.
“You want to investigate the murder,” Sage says, bringing the conversation back on track.
“Yes, I do.”
“I have to say that I don’t know if I can work with Damon,” Sage says.
“I’m not the happiest about that idea either,” Damon admits.
“Look, I understand that. I really do, but I’m going to investigate with or without you, so… I just need to know if you’re in or out, and trust me, if you’re not going to be able to stop fighting, then just be a man and be out. I don’t need that to worry about on top of the murder.”
“I’m in,” Damon and Sage say at the same time.
“Good. Do you think we’ll have to wait until tonight to start?” I ask.
“The security guards are all over the place,” Sage muses.
“Yeah, but Bay’s able to get around them and leaves to be with Zoth every night,” I say. “Well, almost every night, so it is possible to do what we want after hours.”
"Potentially what we want," Damon points out. "It would be better to do things during the day, when it's light out. We need to see the evidence. At night, too many things can go wrong."
“For once, I agree with Damon,” Sage says.
“Oh, good. Nice to know you aren’t a complete idiot.”
I roll my eyes. “To look around during the day would mean disguises or…”
“What’s your idea?” Sage asks.
“And why do I have the feeling I’m not going to like it?” Damon asks with a groan.
I just smile. “Oh, boys, don’t worry. This’ll be fun!”
Chapter 21
“You really need to get a new definition of fun,” Damon grumbles.
I smile at him and place my hands on his shoulders. “It’ll be fun for me. I guess I should’ve clarified that.”
“This is not one of your better ideas,” Sage mumbles.
I turn so I can see them both. “It’ll work. It’ll be fine.”
“Fine is a word that I don’t think I like associated with you anymore,” Damon jests.
My smile returns. “If you’re cracking jokes, then you aren’t that upset about this. All you have to do is distract the teachers. It has to be a large enough commotion that it gets as many of them out of the office building as possible.”
“How are you going to slip in undetected?” Sage asks.
I wave my hand. I’m going to shapeshift into something small.”
“A bug of some kind?” Damon guesses.
I nod. “I was thinking a fly.”
“Don’t you dare get swatted,” Sage growls.
“Don’t worry. That is not on the to-do list.” I step back and admire my handiwork. “You both look like you’ve been through a war.”
“I still say you could’ve just let us have a few real swings,” Damon says.
I almost want to reach up and rub his swollen, split lip, only he’s not really injured. The entire campus has been spelled to remove magic so that any kind of glamor spells wouldn’t work, at least while out of doors. We have to have them look like they’re hurt badly without actually hurting them. Makeup is the best way to accomplish that.
“What you two do to make sure they’re distracted is up to you. Personally, I think that shouting and pretending to throw jabs will work given how you two look, but you also have to do your best to avoid the guards. If they take you away too fast—”
“We’ll give you the time you need,” Damon promises.
“Don’t make a vow you can’t keep,” Sage tells him. “We don’t know how long she’ll need.”
“I’ll be in and out as fast as I can, I promise. And I won’t get caught. Worse comes to worst, I’ll leave before I finish the spell.”
“Are you sure you’ll be able to once you’re inside?” Damon asks.
"They have to still be doing spells themselves, and the classrooms do allow spells, obviously, because we need them for class. The entire campus isn't magic-free. That would be a disaster. Besides, a spell would be the last resort. I'm hoping that the security guards and police missed something in their search of Professor Luna’s office. If I can’t find anything, only then will I do a spell.”
“You would be amazing at chess,” Sage murmurs. “Always thinking a million steps ahead.”
“I try. Now, go.”
Sage leaves first, but Damon hesitates.
“I promise you now that if we do ever have sex, that I will think a million steps ahead and give you more pleasure than you think possible.”
“Would you now?” I murmur. “Is that all I am to you, Damon? Someone to
