Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Lexi had been her miracle, and Mordecai with her. It hadn’t mattered that Lexi’s house was beyond tiny, or that they lived in poverty, or that they had to scrape and steal just to eat. Lexi and Mordecai’s kindness, their love, had felt like heaven.
So when Lexi had gotten into trouble and needed to move into the magical zone so a Demigod of Poseidon, who was at the peak in power of their magical world, could protect her, Daisy hadn’t balked. She’d marched right into the fire alongside her family, ignoring the fact she was the only non-magical person allowed here. This was where she belonged, regardless of blood. Regardless of magic. It was where she’d stay, the dangers inherent in being a magic-less “Chester” in this brutal world be damned.
Besides, when Lexi had then gotten a magical upgrade, Daisy had finally taken the blood magic. Lexi’s blood magic. Being tethered to Lexi was a comfort, and the benefits from the magic were sensational. She was faster now. Stronger. Able to heal much more quickly. She wasn’t nearly as breakable. It didn’t close the gap between her and real magical people, but it lessened the danger just a touch. Enough to keep Lexi from forcing her to live with people of “her kind.”
Because of that Demigod, now Lexi’s fiancé, their family unit had grown. First with Kieran’s Six, the guys who’d pledged a blood oath to protect their Demigod, and then Bria and Dylan, Amber and Jerry—their crew. The people she’d fight beside until her dying breath.
Daisy ignored Jack while shoving Mordie this time. “What’d she do?”
“Leave it alone, okay? It’s none of your business,” Mordecai said a little too loudly, his face creasing in misery.
“Oh, his woman?” Jack lifted his dark brows as he set the grocery bag on the island. His bronzed arm, thick with muscle, stretched his shirt as he lifted out a carton of milk.
“Whose woman?” Donovan walked in next, lean and blond and very good-looking. All of Kieran’s original Six were.
Zorn entered right behind, dressed in a button-down shirt and slacks. His wavy brown hair had been freshly cut, and his gray eyes were their usual sort of intense and piercing. His gaze swept the room, taking stock of the surroundings and assessing for any danger. He did it constantly and had taught her to do it, too. Very little escaped his notice.
“Rumple Sad-Sack here has girl problems, it seems.” Daisy put a hand on the edge of the counter so she could lean over Mordecai to see his face. He’d gone back to scrolling through his phone. “Hey. What happened? I can help.”
“Do not let her help.” Donovan smiled as he reached into a cabinet and grabbed a frying pan. Oh good, at least they planned to make breakfast.
“Why?” Daisy’s brows lowered. “What do you know?”
It was Jack who answered. “We know it doesn’t matter what that girl did. You’d slit her throat for it if Mordecai let you.”
Jerry, whom the magical world referred to as “the Giant,” walked into the kitchen behind the rest. The nickname wasn’t because of his size, though he topped out at six-foot-six with a large breadth of shoulder. It was because of his abilities with rock. He could literally move a mountain, bit by bit.
He sat at the kitchen table as Mordecai made a disgruntled sound and pushed to standing. Apparently the whole crew would be eating at this residence, taking a break from ruling Magical San Francisco for the day.
“It’s fine,” Mordecai said testily. He gave Daisy a hard look. “It’s none of your business. Just leave it.”
She put her hands on her hips as she watched him walk from the room.
“I don’t blame him,” Jerry said in his deep baritone, resting his forearms on the table. “What that lady did would crush any man’s ego.”
Daisy turned toward Jerry slowly.
“You weren’t supposed to say anything, Jerry,” Jack said, emphasizing his name. It was a joking sort of mocking they’d been doing since they met the giant a handful of years before. Jerry, alone and lonely on his solitary mountain, had been an instant addition to their crew, belonging with the rest of the misfits.
“Yeah, Jerry,” Donovan intoned, chuckling. “We aren’t supposed to let the angry little gremlin know the situation for fear of her retaliation. Mordecai and his broken heart said so.”
Jerry’s eyebrows slowly lifted. “Oops,” he said unapologetically.
He clearly wanted revenge for Mordecai, and the others knew she would get it for him. No one fucked with her family and got away with it.
“Spill, Giant,” Daisy demanded as Zorn slipped into another seat at the table. “Tell me everything.”
2
Cold rage slithered within Daisy as she moved through the darkness. Zorn drifted just behind, down the deserted alleyway. The cobblestones shone in the low light, wet with moisture from the heavy fog. Golden-yellow street lamps glowed with diffused halos. Somewhere a cat screeched before a garbage can rattled and a glass bottle rolled across cement.