Page 37 of Moonveil and Magic

"We’re turning the shop into a decoy," Kael corrected, moving closer until his heat was a solid presence at my side. "After last night's hit on the penthouse, the Council knows we're on the move. While they’re busy poking at Lola’s loud new wards and Mia’s cameras, thinking you're hiding back on home turf, it buys us the time we need to finish the triad and vanish for good. We stay one step ahead of the Storm Legion by making them chase smoke."

Lucien set his phone down and walked over, his expression softening as he looked at me. "Aggy asked me to tell you that she is keeping the garden charms fed. She said to tell you, ‘The lilies are screaming', which I assume is code for her being very annoyed with the current situation."

I laughed softly, the sound a brief relief from the tension. "It means she’s ready for a fight. She only uses the screaming lilies when she’s planning to hex someone into the next century."

"Good," Lucien murmured, his fingers brushing my shoulder. "She’ll fit right in. We are all ready for a fight, Ivy. But for today, we focus on the foundation. We let the boys and the girls handle the shop while we handle the source."

I looked at the two of them—the warlock and the wolf—and then at Violet, who was sitting on the windowsill, watching the city with a predatory focus. We were reinforcing every wall, every ward, and every secret. The Council might have started the fire, but with Kingy, Mia, Aggy, and Lola on our side, we were the ones about to finish it.

Blood, Wards, and Screaming Lilies

Aggy

The scent of burnt wood and cheap coffee hung thick inside Moonveil Books and Craft. Morning light filtered through the temporary plywood covering the front window, casting jagged shadows across dusty floorboards and overturned display cases.

Outside, the city went on as normal. Inside, we were turning Ivy’s cozy, magical sanctuary into a death trap for anyone foolish enough to breach the perimeter twice.

“If this firewall drops one more time, I am hexing the entire internet,” Mia muttered, not looking up from a triple-monitor setup balanced precariously on an upturned wooden crate. Her fingers flew across her keyboard with terrifying speed, lines of glowing green code reflecting in her thick-rimmed glasses. “I’ve tapped into the Council’s local enforcer frequency, but Shirl and Muriel’s signatures are completely off the grid. Whoever is paying them is using ghost-servers and dark-web channels.”

“Let them hide,” a dark, gravelly voice echoed from the shattered entrance.

Kingy hauled a massive panel of rune-etched, reinforced glass through the doorway, his broad shoulders filling the frame. Behind him, two burly mechanics from Kael’s garage followed with heavy steel mountings. Kingy set the glass down with a heavy, deliberate thud, wiping grease and dried blood from his jawline with the back of his forearm.

“This stuff withstands a level four containment spell,” Kingy grunted, rolling his shoulders as he glared out at the street. “The warlocks sourced it overnight. I’ve already swept the block three times—no sign of the Storm Legion, but there’s an unmarked sedan two streets over. My guys in the van are keeping eyes on them.”

Near the threshold, Lola was on her knees, her hands pressed against the exposed red brick. She was breathing heavily, her teeth gritted as raw, golden shifter-magic flared from her palms, bleeding directly into the mortar.

“Almost... done,” Lola hissed, a harsh, wicked smirk breaking across her face as the brickwork flashed a faint, dangerous crimson before dimming back to normal. She stood up, dusting off her jeans and flexing her bloodied knuckles. “Shifter-based feedback ward complete. Any Council scum or rogue enforcer who touches this exterior without Ivy’s bloodline permission is going to get five thousand volts of kinetic feedback straight to the chest. It’ll rip their skin off before they even hit the pavement.”

“Subtle,” I remarked dryly from the back garden aisle.

I turned back to the row of potted, viciously writhing black plants on my bench. Their fleshy petals opened and snapped closed like miniature iron traps. I carefully tipped a vial of shimmering violet liquid into the soil. Instantly, the plants let out a series of high-pitched, echoing shrieks that rattled the remaining glass jars on the shelves.

“Hush now, girls,” I crooned softly, tapping a petal until it snapped harmlessly at my leather glove. I smoothed down my pink apron, my expression hardening into something far darker. “The screaming lilies are fed and primed. They’re anchored to the shop’s ley line. If an unsanctioned spell is cast within fifty yards, these sweet, little babies will scream loud enough to shatter the eardrums of every witch in a three-block radius.”

Mia slammed her laptop screen half-shut with a satisfied snap. “Thermal sensors are live. Micro-cameras are hidden in the moulding. The digital grid is officially synced with Lola’s wards.”

The four of us stood in the centre of the ruined shop, surrounded by humming electronics, glowing runes, and deadly flora. We were exhausted, bruised, and operating on zero sleep, but as I looked around at my makeshift family, a quiet, dangerous unity settled over the room.

Kingy crossed his massive arms over his chest, his eyes glinting in the dim light. “They think they broke her shop.”

“They think she’s helpless,” Lola added, her golden shifter eyes flashing.

I smoothed my apron once more, a dark, terrible smile gracing my lips. “Let them come. Ivy protected us for years. Now, we hold her house.”

Shifting Gears and Secrets

The safehouse was quiet, the air thick with the scent of rain and heavy security wards. We had moved under cover of darkness into a sleek, underground residence Lucien maintained for emergencies. In the corner, the shard sat on a stone plinth, pulsing softly and bathing the room in a calming blue light. I spent the rest of the day in a constant state of electric awareness. I watched Kael and Lucien move around the safehouse, two powerful and gorgeous men strategising our survival and the safety of the shard. They talked in hushed tones, occasionally glancing at me with a mix of fierce concentration and possessive heat.

Goddess, this is my life now, I thought, pulling the velvet blanket tighter. Escaping a magical attack, hiding in a billionaire warlock’s sanctuary, and caught between a wolf and a puma, who both want me. It was surreal yet utterly grounding. They had kept me on strict bed rest, plying me with blankets and endless cups of coffee and tea until I felt more like a prized relic than a woman.

I finally spoke up when Lucien finished a call, his face taut with lingering concern. “You keep looking at the clock, Lucien. Do you have to go somewhere?”

He turned, his amber eyes softening as he approached the bed. “I have a business engagement, a highly sensitive one. It can’t be cancelled without drawing unwanted attention, unfortunately. The Council has already noted my absence from the office. Kael can stay here with you while I handle the High Circle and keep up appearances.”

My pulse quickened—just Kael.

I watched the two men exchange a look, a fast and complex communication that acknowledged the sexual tension and the absolute trust they had finally rebuilt. Lucien reached into his pocket and slid a heavy, engraved silver ring onto my finger. It hummed slightly against my skin, cold and reassuring.