The Lying, the Witch, and the Werewolf (Down & Dirty Supernatural Cleaning Services Book 4) by Kate Quinn (best books for 8th graders .txt) 📕

He shifts back into wolf form and dashes down the path, his promise—or is it a threat?—sending a delicious shiver down my spine. I shake it off, and square my shoulders. With Nico gone I can hopefully keep my wits about me once I’m in the building. Nevertheless, I should hurry because if that stuff does what I think it does—activate passion for the person right next to you—I need to grab a bar and make myself scarce before the first shift shows up.

At the lab, the door is wide open, and I can see people moving around inside. Crap. I guess as long as I know exactly where I’m going, I can grab a bar and make a run for it before anyone notices me. Nico is right. I can’t exactly expect Brent or anyone on his team to believe me when I show up with an accusation and no evidence. I decide to do what I do best—bullshit my way through this. I have a degree in English Literature, after all. I know how to tell a good story.

I saunter in like I should be there, trying to slip past a vat of chocolate like it doesn’t hold the nectar of the gods. But I can’t help it. As soon as I’m near it, my feet take me there of their own accord. I’m leaning against the metal and bending over the vat before I can even question myself. I’m two seconds shy of going for a full-body chocolate immersion experience when I’m grabbed from behind, and shoved against a wall. I push my attacker away and make another dash for the vat. I don’t even care if I’m caught; I just need a lick before I go down.

“Paige!” Someone grabs my wrist and yanks me back again, and a hand covers my mouth and nose. This is it. This is how I die, asphyxiated next to a vat of chocolate inside a supernatural sex cult.

Dad would be so proud.

“Take a deep breath, it’s okay,” someone is saying, and my gaze focuses on Seamus, who is holding a finger to his lips, urging me to be quiet.

But his hand is still over my mouth and nose, and my oxygen levels are getting alarmingly low.

“Breathe in,” he tells me again, and I realize there’s something in his palm. It’s like sand or sugar, tickling against my nose. I shake my head no.

“Paige,” Seamus says calmly. “Do you trust me?”

And I guess I do, because I inhale. Either that or my other option was dying. The little grains go up my nose and Seamus lets me go as I rub at my face. I expect to turn into a raving sex maniac, or maybe start frothing at the mouth from whatever poison just went into my system. But instead, nothing happens.

I shake my head, clearing my nose with a little sneeze, and Seamus motions to me again to be quiet, glancing behind him. He’s not wearing a shirt, and I get a good look at his neck muscle as he turns. His little horns are poking up through his curls and he is just so adorable.

Crap—just smelling that stuff must have made me…but no. I don’t want to throw Seamus down and devour his dick. I just kind of want to give him a cuddle, which is exactly how I already felt. We’re tucked tight in between one of the vats and the wall, somewhere I could easily take advantage of this satyr if I wanted too…and I don’t want to.

“What are you doing here?” Seamus asks, his voice low. “Are you crazy?”

“Yeah, crazy about finding out what the hell goes on in this lab,” I snap back. “I accidentally ate some of that shit last night and—”

“And…?” Seamus asks, one eyebrow popping up.

“And I almost got super funky with a werewolf,” I admit, to which he looks a little disappointed.

“Interesting.”

“What?” I ask.

“Never mind.” He shakes his head. “You can’t be here. You’re lucky I spotted you before anyone else did.”

Over his shoulder, I can just make out commune members moving the boxes marked for the Firsters rally out the door and onto a truck.

“What did you stick up my nose?” I ask.

“It’s to protect you from the chocolate,” he explains. “It’s spelled to draw you to it and consumed it. Once it’s wrapped the effect is considerably dimmed, but the liquid stuff is pungent. I’ve seen two workers who hadn’t inhaled the antidote yet take a head dive into the vats. And when they’re actively churning, that is not pretty.”

“The antidote?” I ask, rubbing my nose. “That’s what you gave me. I’m immune now?”

“To the intoxicating smell, yes,” he says. “But don’t go chowing down, or you’ll end up...how did you put it? Getting funky with a werewolf.” He eyes my ripped shirt and adds, “You must’ve had a hell of a night.”

Behind him, someone struggles with a box and another member runs over to help them with it. Almost all the boxes are loaded, and a spike of panic hits my gut.

“Seamus, I can’t let this happen.” I tell him. “You know it’s not right.”

He sighs and replies without much conviction, “We’re not hurting anybody.”

“You’re not?” I push back. “I don’t think you believe that. At dinner you gave me the heads up when I was about to put incubus spunk all over my french fries, but now you want to trick tons of people into eating it with their chocolate?”

“No,” Seamus shakes his head. “Incubus semen, I would never mess give that to someone without their knowledge.”

“Then what’s in that chocolate?” I demand.

He frowns at me and hesitates a long moment before answering. “Incubus semen is a common aphrodisiac, but there’s a lesser known…erm, essence that comes from the female succubus.”

I squint at Seamus trying to figure out if he means what I think he means. There’s only one way to know for sure.