Love Croakies by Sam Cheever (the kiss of deception read online .txt) 📕

non-magics into a private room for deprogramming.” He grimaced as he said it. Like me, Grym apparently didn’t enjoy the idea of messing with other people’s memories. “Tell me what’s going on.”

I told him. He listened intently as Sebille stared through the large viewing window at the little sleepers behind it.

“So this brownie, you think she’s the creature who captured Hobs’ heart?”

“Yes. But it’s much worse than missing love serum. He’s been poisoned with Obsession.”

Grym whistled. “That’s bad, Naida.”

My stomach twisted with pain, but I nodded. “I know. The sooner we do what Desiree is asking, the sooner we can get Whom the poison so he can make an antidote.”

Grym paled. “Hold on. You’re not seriously considering taking her a baby.”

Of course I wasn’t. “She wants Devin’s pregnant wife.”

Something that looked like guilt slid over Grym’s handsome face. I narrowed my gaze on him. “What?”

Grym continued to avoid my gaze for another minute. Finally, I grabbed his hand. “Tell me.”

He sighed. “I just found out something important. I wanted to tell you but…” He sighed. “It’s not my story to tell.” When I braced to argue, he held up a finger. “Hold on.” Grym dialed a number and spoke into the phone. “I need you for a minute,” he told the person on the phone. “I’m at the viewing window.” He hesitated a beat and then nodded. “Good. I’ll wait.”

Grym disconnected and looked at us. “He’s on his way.”

“Who?” I asked, losing patience with the delay.

“Me,” said a husky voice I remembered from the mall.

I turned to see Devin Sampson striding toward us. Something was different about him. Something I couldn’t identify, except that he seemed taller, with an aura of power I hadn’t noticed before.

He nodded at me and then at Sebille. “Ladies. What can I help you with?”

“You tell me,” I said. “Grym thought you needed to be here.”

The gargoyle sighed. “They got a visit from Desiree.”

Sampson’s face tightened. An angry light filled his gaze. “I’m sure that was pleasant.”

In the interests of time, I decided not to dance around the issue. “She’s demanding that we bring your wife to her, or my friend Hobs is going to die.” I decided not to mention the brownie, who I assumed was in as much trouble as Hobs, because I didn’t want to spend time trying to explain her involvement.

The shifter didn’t look surprised. Scrubbing a big hand over his mouth, he asked, “What poison did she give him?”

“Obsession,” Sebille said. “Why am I getting the feeling you know Desiree personally?”

Sampson looked surprised by Sebille’s directness. He turned toward the viewing window. Something soft came into his eyes when he looked at the babies. It didn’t last long. His jaw tensed a beat later. “She’s my sister.”

Dimpled cherub cheeks! I hadn’t seen that coming. “Your…sister?” I narrowed my gaze. “You’re Denzel? Brother of Desiree and Lovelace?”

Devin…or Denzel…sighed. “Unfortunately.” When he saw how we were looking at him, Sampson shook his head. “Look, it’s not what you think. I had nothing to do with those nasty cherubs. They did belong to me once…”

I bristled and he hurried on.

“But I left all that behind.” He frowned. “I’m done with that life. I’m done with the cancer that infects the place.”

I threw Grym a glower. He’d known about Sampson and he hadn’t told me.

His handsome face creased in a frown.

“What cancer?” I asked, my voice too soft. My throat was tight as the pieces started to come together in my mind.

“Power, control, greed.” Samson’s look was pleading. He really seemed to want us to understand. “Love isn’t supposed to be controlling. It isn’t supposed to be domineering. But after millennia of learning how effectively love works to control and subjugate, my people have gone bad. Lovelace isn’t completely gone yet. He still tries to maintain a level of care for his subjects.” He said the word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. “But Desiree…” Sampson scraped a hand through his hair, leaving it standing up in tufts all over his head. “She was always a handful. As a little girl, she was very demanding and needed everyone to love her. That’s only gotten worse over the centuries.”

“Why does Desiree want your wife?” Grym asked.

Sampson looked at the cop as if he’d forgotten Grym was there. He frowned. “Desiree wants a child so badly. But she can’t have one of her own. I think it’s because her nature is too poisonous. A child couldn’t survive in that environment. So she wants the next best thing.”

“Your baby,” I said, nodding. “Couldn’t she pay someone to be a surrogate mother?” I asked, curious.

His smile was angry. “That’s what she’s trying to do with my wife. Though, in her usual fashion, she cares little if the surrogate or the father agree to the bargain.”

“Why your baby, though,” Grym said. “Not that I’d wish that on any child, but why not steal someone else’s baby? She has to know you’ll fight her.”

“Actually, until she sent her cherubs down to look for me, she had no idea where I’d gone. I’d recreated myself as a shifter. Shifter magic is a perfect cloaking device against cupid magics. But her spies found Nina, and they recognized the magic signature of our child. She won’t stop until she takes our baby. And Nina won’t survive the process.”

Another piece of the puzzle fell into place. “So that’s why they’ve been attacking? They were trying to draw you out?”

Sampson nodded.

“We need to get to Loveland,” I told him. “We need to save Hobs, and it sounds like you need to confront your sister.”

“You’re not sacrificing my wife and child,” Sampson said, his face dark with anger and his hands fisted. “I’ll kill you if you try.”

I held up a hand. “I have no desire to hurt your wife. I have another idea. But we will need your help. Can we count on you?”

“Of course,” Sampson said. “I’m going to have to fight this battle anyway. I’ll take all the help