The Lying, the Witch, and the Werewolf (Down & Dirty Supernatural Cleaning Services Book 4) by Kate Quinn (uplifting books for women .txt) 📗

“Cassie, are you also only interested in a single partner sexual situation?” Adorra asks.

“No, I mean, like, I’ll take two,” she says, then blushes as she slips me a glance. “I’m curious,” she says, almost apologetically.

“I’m not here to judge,” I assure her. “I don’t think anyone here will judge you.” I give Shit a scratch under his chin. He’s super mellow from the smoke.

“Alright then,” Adorra makes a note. “Paige, how would you categorize your sexuality? Are you straight?”

“Yeah,” I say quickly. “Well, except for that one time in college.”

“That’s college,” Adorra says. “I’ll mark you as hetero for now. As I said, things often become more fluid the longer people are here.”

Adorra guides us through just about every imaginable situation—number of partners, supes vs. humans, lights on or off, bondage, voyeurism, and some things I have to ask for the definition of before I can confidently answer.

By the end, I’m feeling extremely chill. I know it’s Adorra and maybe something in the incense, but I don’t care. It’s nice to be light for a little while. Adorra begins to rub her hands together. A fine mist appears around them.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“This is how I create the spell that will surround you. It’s invisible, but it will communicate your wants and desires—as well as your dislikes and limits—to anyone you come in contact with. And by that, I mean true contact. Once you touch, you will each automatically know the other’s boundaries.”

“Cool,” I say. I’ve never been the biggest fan of magic, but that sounds like it could take the place of a lot of awkward conversations.

“It will also protect you,” Adorra adds. “No one can force or coerce you into anything that you haven’t agreed to with me today in this room.”

“Please market this in the real world,” I say, not kidding at all.

But Adorra shakes her head. “I’m sorry, boundaries will only work within the grounds of Together We Come.” With a flick of her fingers, Adorra sends the magic my way; it swirls around me a warm white mist, like I’ve just walked into a steam room. Despite myself, I relax into it, breathing in the barely detectable scent of citrus and clove.

“Nice,” I murmur.

“Yes,” Adorra agrees with a smile. “That’s why we’ve never had anyone come here who wanted to leave.”

A one hundred percent retention rate? That’s the type of statement that should be putting me on high alert. Instead, I find myself nodding, because yeah, I understand why everyone wants to stay.

14

Adorra gives us each a series of other spells, one to prevent STDs and one that makes us very fertile. I balk at that one and she offers us an anti-pregnancy spell instead.

“Aren’t you—we—all about mixing the species?” I ask.

“We are, but we are also about a free expression of love. Though a lot of the women who come here want to birth supe babies, we recognize that not all acolytes are ready to make that commitment.”

I’m really starting to think this place is on the up and up. Very woke. That being said, I’m gonna keep taking my birth control while I’m here. The whole free love thing could just be a way for them to trick people into dropping their defenses. By the time you’re knocked up with some half-breed baby, all they gotta say is ‘whoopsie guess the spell didn’t take.”

It’s possible all these spells Adorra is promising us could be bogus. The equivalent of a sugar pill instead of real medicine. What I need is a way to test one and find out if there’s really any juice behind all these magical promises. And I’ve got the perfect test.

“Would it be possible to get a charm that wards against incubus magic?” I ask. “You know, because the free expression of love thing is difficult when someone can turn me on just by breathing.”

Adorra tilts her head at this. “Actually, an incubus doesn’t have to be breathing for their magic to manifest. It’s why their bodies are burned when they die, otherwise there’s a very high chance of—”

“No need to explain,” I interrupt. “I totally understand.”

“Well then I hope you also understand, a charm against incubus magic is not something I can provide for you. There are only a small number of incubi that have become part of Together We Come and they are all very careful to control their powers. While giving you such a charm might provide peace of mind to you, it’s unnecessary and would be seen as an act of hostility against our incubi members.”

Cassie touches my arm, her eyes wide and beseeching. “It would totally hurt Mac’s feelings,” she tells me. “I know he seems this untouchable sex god, all virile and masculine and rock hard at a moment’s notice…” Trailing off, Cassie frowns. “What was I saying?”

“Mac’s feelings?” I supply.

“Right!” Cassie fans her face. “Sorry, I got a little off track there, but the point is, Mac is a real softie underneath all the—”

“Hot oozing sex,” I fill in for her, not wanting to use up all her adjectives describing Mac again.

“Yes,” Cassie confirms. Turning to Adorra she adds, “I definitely positively absolutely do not want any anti-incubus spells.”

“I”m glad to hear it,” Adorra says with a slight smile. She raises her eyebrows in my direction, clearly wanting a similar vow from me. I consider telling them about the time I accidentally drank something spiked with incubus sperm and it made me have an orgasm every time I touched another living creature. Thank goodness I didn’t have Shit yet; all his innocent puppy snuggles and licks might’ve killed me.

I decide to keep that story for now. Maybe if there’s a campfire later. In the meantime, I’ll just keep my guard up around Mac.

“It’s fine,” I say, and then realizing that sounds a little sour, I go for a more conciliatory tone. “Sorry, I think I’m just