“I feel so guilty about what happened. And I’m so fucking pissed at Aunt Estelle for keeping all this from me. She’s the one who put everyone in danger. If I’d known, if I was prepared…” I shake my head, feeling the anger bubble inside of me. “And if you hadn’t been there to help me, I would most definitely be dead.”
“That’s probably true,” he admits and tightens his hold on me, resting his forehead against mine. “Let’s take the day off from the supernatural tomorrow. You haven’t left the house in a few days, and it would be nice to take you out for dinner again…so I can show off my hot girlfriend.”
My lips curve into a smile. “You like saying that, don’t you?”
“You know I do.” He kisses me and then we break apart, needing to go upstairs before dinner burns. I put my hand on the railing and get a flashback of Aunt Estelle in the basement. The pretty black-haired lady is next to her, and when Aunt Estelle turns, I see the person tied to the chair.
It’s a man, eyes inked over from the demon possessing him. He’s pulling against the ropes on his arms, muttering in another language. Aunt Estelle rushes over to me, picking me up and hurrying up the stairs.
But she doesn’t get me out before the demon locks eyes with me, lips pulling into a thin smile.
Hello, Anora.
CHAPTER 8
I heft a trash bag full of old clothes out of the attic and let it roll down the stairs. I close the attic door behind me and pull my arms close to my body.
“I’m freaking freezing,” I mutter and go down the stairs, following my bag of donations. Wanting to stay true to my word, I spent the last few hours collecting things to drop off at Goodwill, not going through the attic in search of anything remotely supernatural. And really, I didn’t think about demons or magic too much today, thanks to Mystery slipping on ice in the pasture that, in turn, made him slide into the gate and get a nice gash on his neck.
A few hours and a few hundred dollars later, the vet stitched the wound closed and left. He’ll be fine, thankfully, and is resting in his stall for the rest of the day. Ethan and I then spent the rest of the morning breaking up the ice and trying to figure out how to rope off the slippery parts of the pasture. The ground is too frozen to move even my temporary fence posts, so I used jump posts instead. It doesn’t look the best, but it works.
Ethan is at the gym now, and I should have gotten in and out of the shower already, since we’re going to dinner soon. I drag the heavy bag to the back door, telling myself I’ll take it to my car when we go to leave.
Hunter has been by my side all day, and his presence is calming. If there was anything going on he’d sense it and let me know. And nothing is going on. He lies on the bed while I quickly jump in the shower. Once I’m out, I madly rush around to dry my thick hair, put on makeup, and try to find something to wear. I have a new green dress I’ve been waiting to wear and am tempted to put it on. Emerald green compliments my dark red hair, but it’s way too cold for this. Instead, I go with jeans and a long-sleeved black top.
I’m dressed and almost ready by the time Ethan gets home. It takes forever to curl my thick hair and I regret doing it not long after I start.
“You look beautiful,” Ethan tells me when I’m finally done.
“Thank you, kind sir.” I smile and flip my hair over my shoulder. “And you don’t look so bad yourself.”
He grabs me by the waist and pulls me to him. “You have no idea how much I want to fuck you right now.”
I slide a hand down his chest, feeling his cock through his jeans. “I might have a slight idea. But you’re going to have to wait. I got us a reservation at the Mediterranean restaurant in Paradise Valley.”
“Really? They said they were booked until February.”
“I might have lit a candle for good luck before I called. Someone canceled and we were able to get it.” I smile and hook my hands around his neck. “Perks of being a witch, right?”
His fingers press into my skin, sending a rush of heat through me. “How much time do we have?”
“We probably should have left like five minutes ago.” I wrinkle my nose. “Maybe I should light another good luck candle so we get there on time.”
“Dinner was good,” I say, putting a hand on my stomach. We just left the restaurant, and I can see why it books so far out in advance. It’s new and popular, and the building is tiny, limiting the number of people as well.