Totally Spellbound by Kristine Grayson Read Free Book Online Page A

his arm
around Zoe, and then glared at Megan. “Magic has a cost, you know.
You just made her waste some on something trivial.”
    “Da-ad.” Kyle was clutching the dog,
who was straining to reach the new plate of sausages. “Stop being
mean to Aunt Megan.”
    “I didn’t know magic had costs,” Megan
said. “I didn’t even know it existed until a few hours
ago.”
    She took a bite of the eggs. They were
extremely delicious, light and soft and warm, just the way she
liked them.
    “This is really good,” she said. “How
much do I owe you for this magic?”
    “That’s not the kind of cost I mean,”
Travers snapped just as Zoe said, “You don’t owe me
anything.”
    “So what’s the cost?”
Megan kept her gaze on Zoe, deciding to pretend that Travers didn’t
exist. She used to do this when they were kids, and it always
irritated him.
    “People who use too much magic age
quicker than those who use it sparingly,” Zoe said. “I don’t even
think you cost me an age spot. I wouldn’t worry about
it.”
    “Age quicker? I thought
you lived forever. Kyle said you were a hundred or more and that
the Fates were thousands of years old.”
    “They are,” Zoe said, “and I don’t
know if they age. But mages age. Just very, very slowly. Once we
hit our magic, that is. Until then we age like mortals.”
    “Mortals.” The term sounded so
derisive. “If you age—and presumably die—then how come you call us
mortals?”
    “I didn’t call you a
mortal,” Zoe said, and Travers gave her a sharp look. She ignored
it. “It’s just a custom. I think mages used to believe they were
immortal. But we’re not. Several thousand years is the longest I’ve
heard of anyone making it. Most only go for about three or so, max.
It’s tough to control your usage. I mean it’s really tempting to do
things—”
    “Like fix breakfast.” Megan was
beginning to understand. And it bothered her. She was also
beginning to feel embarrassed about how rude she’d been. “How about
having some?”
    “Don’t mind if I do,” Travers
said.
    “I was asking Zoe,” Megan said. “Not
you.”
    “Stop fighting,” Kyle said.
“Please.”
    Megan looked at her nephew. His nose
was red, which had always been the first sign of tears. He looked
miserable.
    Now she remembered why she had given
up sparring with her brother. It upset her nephew. It had upset him
from the moment he was born.
    “I’m sorry, Kyle,” Megan said. “I
didn’t mean to upset you.”
    He nodded, grabbed a slice
of bacon off his plate, and slipped it to the dog. Everyone saw the
movement, and no one complained about it.
    “Have some breakfast, Trav,” Megan
said. “After all, you’re paying for it.”
    “I have a hunch I’m going to pay for a
lot of things today,” he said and slipped into a chair.
    But he didn’t look unhappy. He looked
like a man with a plan.
    A plan that would probably make Megan
unhappy.
    “Tell her, Dad,” Kyle said, still
feeding bacon to the dog.
    “Huh?” Travers frowned at his
son.
    “What you and Zoe just did.” Kyle
still wasn’t looking at him.
    “I really don’t want to know that,”
Megan said. Besides, she could guess, considering how well kissed
each of them looked.
    “You mean in Faerie?” Travers
asked.
    Whatever he wanted to call it, Megan
thought but didn’t say.
    “No.” Kyle finally looked up, his
frown matching his father’s.
    “He knows,” Zoe said to
Travers.
    “Oh.” Travers’ eyes widened. “I’m
never going to get used to the psychic thing. Sometimes I think it
was better when I didn’t know.”
    Kyle’s cheeks reddened. He had clearly
taken that badly. “I can’t shut it off.”
    “I know,” Travers said, and
sighed.
    “We should really discuss that,” Megan
said. “If Kyle has truly been able to read adult thoughts since he
was pre-verbal, then he might have some issues—”
    “I don’t have issues,” Kyle said. He
grabbed another piece of bacon, and this time, he ate