“Alvarez! Hex!” Elle hit my back. “Let him go. He wasn’t going to hit me.”
“Then what was he going to do?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“Get in my face and try to bully me, but he wouldn’t put his hands on me.”
I gazed into Michael’s eyes and tightened my hold on his neck to make sure he understood how serious I was. “In my family, if we see a man getting in a woman’s face and yelling, the guy would be lucky to have his balls by the end of the hour. Do you like your balls, Michael? My grandma can slice them off in two seconds, so clean you’ll think your balls were never there to begin with. Would you like to meet her?”
He shook his trembling head. “Let me go.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“Don’t ever get in Elle’s face again.” I loosened my grip. “And get the fuck off my property.”
“And don’t call Elle names either.” Hex smacked him. “You talentless hack.”
“I have talent. You’re the one who tried to steal her so you can milk off my fame, you devil painter.” We let him go, and Michael flipped his middle finger at Hex as he struggled to get away from us.
“I didn’t have to steal her. She contacted me.” Hex let him go completely. “And if you think you’re going to stop my painting of her and any other works from coming out, then I’ll see you in court. Meanwhile, I’ll tell the media how you’re scared to have me release my work of your model because you know it will surpass all the ones you’ve already done of Elle. That is the truth, right? You’re scared I painted her better.”
Michael came closer to Elle, too close for my comfort. I grabbed him by the arms.
He looked at me. “What? I won’t touch her and no, Hex. I just don’t want to share her, you psycho. Knowing you, Hex, you probably surrounded her with bloody skulls and corpses.” Michael turned to me. “Can you please let me go? I won’t yell at Ellie again.”
“Say sorry to her.” I shook him a little, glanced at Elle, and caught her giggling under her hand.
He sucked his teeth. “Sorry, Ellie.”
I released him. “Elle stays here with us for as long as she likes.”
“No.” Michael straightened his shirt.
“You have a contract that binds her when it comes to modeling, but you don’t have any contract over her heart. Pick up your dignity and go home.”
“No.” Michael glared at Elle. “Hell no. Our love has lasted ten damn years. That’s too much to let go. We belong together. We complete each other.”
And then black liquid spilled out of Michael’s mouth. Shrieking, he extended his hands, as if grabbing for air.
“Michael?” Elle attempted to rush over to him.
I seized her before she could touch him. “No. Don’t. The spell might transfer over to you.”
“Spell?” she screeched.
“It looks like Michael did get to meet Grandma after all.” Hex leaned against the wall and laughed.
“What’s happening to me?” Michael swayed, stumbled back, and fell to the floor as his eyes rolled in their sockets and revealed only the whites.
I held Elle closer to me as she shivered. “Hex, call Grandma and tell her to get back in here. Knowing her, she’s hiding or something. Find out what she gave him.”
When in the hell did she get in here to give it to him? She must’ve seen him heading to the castle somehow and got to him first.
Hex laughed. “Are we sure it was Grandma? Maybe it’s all of the crap he’s full of slowly dripping out.”
“Not funny. He could be seriously hurt.” I looked at Elle.
She shook her head. “What kind of spell is it?”
“I have no idea.” I shrugged my shoulders. “But he’s fine. Grandma would never kill anybody.”
At least that’s what I try to tell myself.
“What the hell happened?” Elle asked. “He was talking and now black stuff is. . . oh my God.”
Michael groaned and rolled back and forth. “Oh God! The pain! Help me!”
Hex pulled out his phone and went into the hall.
I let go of Elle, walked over to Michael, and kneeled by him. “What happened when you got here? Did you talk to anybody?”
“The maids.” Michael’s lips quivered. He blinked his eyes as he hugged himself. “Oh God. The pain. It’s like fire in my stomach.”
“You only talked to maids?” I asked.
“Yes. A young one and an old woman.”
“Old woman?” I raised my eyebrows, knowing that all of our staff was in their early twenties or thirties. “Did she have gray hair and was really short?”
“Yes. The nice one. She gave me the punch.” Drool leaked out of Michael’s mouth as he screeched. “Fuck! What was in that punch?”
Only Grandma knows.
Michael’s body shook, riding erratic spasms. Ignoring my warning, Elle got on his other side and held his hand until the shaking stopped and Michael seemed to drift off to sleep. “What can we do for him?”