Buttercup (Spell Library #10) - Helen Scott Page 0,51

rival Julia Roberts’s.

"My pleasure. Have a good day!" I called as she left, jogging out of the store area and disappearing down the street.

As though my thoughts of adventures had called him, Casper came around from the back. "Hey gorgeous."

I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. "Hello to you too," I replied when I pulled away.

"Time for that adventure." He opened the back of the display cabinet, pulled out a macaron, and popped it into his mouth whole, chewing and groaning at the same time. When he finished, he asked, "What was that?"

"Blackberry lemonade. And what's this about an adventure?" I put my hands on my hips as I waited for an answer.

"You promised if I let you sing to me that you'd go on an adventure with me. I'm calling that in right here, right now." He jabbed his finger at the countertop like he didn't know I was already walking over to flip the closed sign and lock up.

"That's my girl," he said. "Now, come on, we have to hurry."

He grabbed my hand and led me from the store, into his car and then drove us to this park area. When we got out, he started walking away from the car with purpose.

"Hold up, if we were hiking you should have told me so I could have worn better shoes! These are going to get ruined," I said with a sigh, continuing to follow after him.

"I've got you, my mate," Ausar's voice came from somewhere above me. I looked up and saw my sphinx, actually in his sphinx form, jumping down from a ledge on a rocky outcropping. He shifted as he landed and strode toward me.

Buck naked.

I knew the man could shift with clothes on, so this was a conscious choice to be naked in a national park. We were going to get kicked out for sure if anyone saw us. I didn't have the heart to scold him though, not with such a decadent sight walking toward me.

He scooped me up and ran to catch up with Casper. In no time at all we were at a cave entrance.

"My turn," Magnus's voice came from just inside the dark area.

Ausar handed me off, and the three of us followed Casper into the darkness. "Are we even allowed to be in here?" I asked quietly, scared to disturb any creatures living in the area.

"This is one of the entrances to the springs our town was named for," Casper said, taking on an almost tour guide-like voice. "The amount of magic the springs put off makes it hard to feel any magic that happens close to them, which in turn allows me to do this."

He shifted.

The horse that was standing before me looked more like a dragon or a fish or something. Dark blue-green scales covered his body like he was a sea serpent. His mane was more like a fin than a true mane, although it had some hairs coming off the ends of the spines of the fin. The same was true of his tail, and he even had fins at the side of his face and down the backs of his legs.

I'd never seen anything that looked quite as strange or quite as beautiful. He trotted forward and splashed into the water, which was surprisingly deep since he disappeared into it. I tapped Magnus's arm and he gently set me down so I could walk over to the edge of the pool. Casper was swimming around looking like a foal frolicking in the springtime. A grin broke out over my face at the sight of such enjoyment. I wanted to get in there with him, but I also didn't want to interrupt his fun.

"We've got some food and drink here. Thought we could have a picnic," Logan's voice sounded from deep in the cave. He was carrying a giant picnic basket and what had to be a cooler full of drinks. "Sorry I'm late. It's hard to run with all this stuff."

"Are you okay? Where are your coverings?" I asked, thinking about how bright the sun was when we came in a few minutes ago.

"This cave is part of an underground system that goes all through Silver Springs. There’s an entrance close to home, and I left my hoodie and shades there." He set the cooler and basket down and immediately began unpacking it. For the first time I noticed that there was already a blanket and some candles set up.

"He'll join us in a