Page 79 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

The words had barely enough time to leave his lips before he bumped into the nearest shelf, knocking a potted plant to the floor.

“Nice going, rabbit,” Rowan said.

Callum shot him a look before stooping down to clean his mess. A small shriek left him as a different plant near the table lunged at him. “It tried to bite me!”

The strange plant swayed from side to side, reminding me of the carnivorous flowers we’d seen in the courtyard. It had vibrant blue hooked bulbs on the ends of its green leaves.

“I would keep my distance from that one,” Briar told him, standing beside Phantasia.

As Callum inched away from the aggressive blue plant, he bumped into another table, rattling the glass jars on top. Thankfully not breaking them though.

Phantasia closed her eyes and took a breath. When she spoke, she used the kind of clipped tone that signaled she was about to lose her shit. “Why are you all in my clinic? There is no reason for you to be. Only Briar and the boy should be here.”

“Because Evan needs us,” Maddox answered, the vibrations of his deep voice rumbling against the back of my neck. He sat on a stool and held me on his lap, his arms around me like a protective cage.

“What he needs is to focus.” Phantasia’s eyes narrowed. “Not to be distracted by all of you.”

“They aren’t distracting me.” I tried for a smile. The shake of my lips probably made it more of a grimace though. God, I was nervous. “I’m glad they’re here.”

One of my men was absent though. Not that I should’ve been surprised. Onyx had made progress in the romance department, but it was unrealistic to think all of his issues toward love would be fixed so easily. Baby steps were needed.

“We wouldn’t be anywhere else,” Maddox murmured, holding me more firmly against his chest. “Whatever happens, you won’t face it alone.”

“He will actually,” Phantasia interjected, setting aside the stirring spoon. “The elixir will send him down a path of enlightenment only he can travel.”

“Lovely,” I said, voice hitching. “Will it hurt?”

“Probably.” The female demon offered me a tight smile. “Though it won’t be a physical pain. As I said before, you will be forced to confront your deepest and darkest fears. Things you’ve buried so deep you may not realize they’re there. These traumas created a block keeping you from fully awakening your magic.”

“And this potion will lift that block?” Rowan asked, toying with the golden cuff holding his hair together. My redhead had the best poker face around, hardly ever revealing any fears or worries for himself. But the worry over me had him fidgeting.

“Yes.” Phantasia stepped over to a cabinet and took out a glass vial, then returned to the crafting table. “When he wakes, he won’t be the same.”

My nerves started to bubble with more intensity, mimicking the potion in the cauldron. Lake straightened up from where he’d been bending over to examine medical tools on a nearby shelf and walked over to me and Maddox, resting a hand on the top of my head.

“I’m okay,” I rasped, knowing he could feel my anxiety. “It can’t be that bad, right?”

“Right,” Lake said, apprehension reflecting in his purple eyes.

“It’s nearly time.” Phantasia removed the cauldron from the heat and moved her hand through the green smoke rising from the top. “Please move over to the cot. You need to lie down and make yourself as relaxed as possible.”

“The cot?” I shifted my gaze to the area she’d indicated. One right beside a certain buzzard-sized bird. “No thanks. I’m pretty relaxed right where I am. You know. Far away from murderous beaks of doom.”

A rough sound left Lake’s throat. His unique laugh never failed to make me smile. Even when I was facing certain death in the form of a feathered monstrosity.

“Salem.” Phantasia faced the bird. “No biting the humans.”

The bird’s wings ruffled as he shifted on his perch.

After being reassured several more times that I wouldn’t be meeting my demise by nearing the large bird, I moved over to the cot against the wall and laid down.

Maddox didn’t release my hand the whole way and pulled up a stool to sit beside me, refusing to let go even once I was settled. Like Rowan, he skillfully hid his emotions. A mask that faltered when it came to me.

“Don’t worry, big guy,” I said, trying to reassure him, as well as myself. “You might want to step away, though, once I drink the potion. If it awakens my powers, I don’t want to sneeze and shoot a fireball out of my nose or something.”

“I’m not leaving your side, sweetheart.” Maddox brought our joined hands up to kiss my middle knuckle. “Never.”

My heart lifted into my throat. “Okay.”