Starfire (Grim Gate 2)

“We call them reaper demons,” Ethan explains, voice calm and steady. “Demons and monsters exist in our world. And people like Anora and I hunt them.”

Rene’s eyes flutter closed. “I tried looking this up online,” she tells us. “And I didn’t find anything I can deem as concrete.” She looks right at me. “H-how?” She opens her eyes and looks from me to Ethan. “How do you know about this?”

“I was raised as a demon hunter,” Ethan goes on. “And Anora recently found out when demons attacked her. It’s how we met, actually.”

Rene just nods and pulls her phone into her lap. “Were you this freaked out when you found out?” Her eyes go to me.

“I was pretty shocked,” I admit, not wanting to lie. “But I’ve, um, always been able to see ghosts, like actually see them, so demons weren’t too far off.”

Another few seconds of silence tick by. “How did you hold fire in your hand? I know what I saw.”

“You did see me holding fire in my hand,” I slowly tell her and flick my eyes to Ethan. We discussed what to say on the way here. I’m not a good liar and Rene has already seen me use magic, so telling her the truth seemed like the best bet. That way, everything is out there. I don’t have to worry or hide the truth. And if she wants to be friends with me after this…I don’t want to get that far ahead of myself.

I fidget in my seat, waiting for Rene to say something. She’s staring at her phone again and nearly a full minute goes by before she looks up, lips curving into a half smile. “I always knew magic and demons were real. After vampires came out, I thought more things like them would.”

Oh, thank god. “I thought the same, to be honest. It helped me accept everything pretty quickly when I found out I was a witch.”

Ethan’s hand lands on my thigh, and I relax a bit more. “Most people need some time to process when they see demons for the first time.”

“Wait, what do you mean, you found out you were a witch?” Rene drops her phone back into her purse. “Maybe I’m thinking about this like something from a movie. Or maybe being a witch doesn’t mean you got a letter to Hogwarts, and you can do spells.”

Now it’s my turn to hesitate before speaking. Unfortunately, there’s no Hogwarts, but Grim Gate Academy is close. Or is it? I’d know if I could freaking remember. “You’re probably thinking along the right lines, and it’s a really long, kinda weird story about how, um, everything came about.”

“I’d love to hear it.”

Not wanting to overload Rene, I choose my words carefully. Ethan already had a background check run on her and she checks out. She’s a real person with the photos to prove it. She’s lived in Paradise Valley all her life and we’re certain she’s not a demon trying to trick me into giving her my powers.

“My great-aunt,” I start and then stop when the waitress comes over. She has short red hair pulled back with a green headband. Immediately, I go to compliment her—us redheads have to stick together—but her eyes meet mine for half a second and she comes to a dead stop. Sputtering, she quickly shakes her head back and forth and then turns, walking away so fast she bumps into another server carrying a tray of drinks.

“Okay, that was weird.” Rene runs her hands over her head, smoothing her hair. “Do I look that bad?”

“You look fine,” I assure her, watching the waitress hurry away. “And that was weird. I think I know—” I cut off, suddenly placing her face. Us redheads have to stick together. I wait until she disappears into the kitchen area of the restaurant to turn to Ethan. “She’s the receptionist at the salon where I got my hair cut.”

CHAPTER 19

“I must be missing something.” Rene turns around, looking at the swinging doors our waitress just ran through. “Because I don’t see the big deal of working two jobs.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I say, impressing myself with how calm my voice is coming out. Mentally, I’m panicking. If Yuma’s theory was right, then this girl stole a lock of my hair and is doing something to fuck with me. It would make sense why she freaked when she saw me, and I don’t know what to do: act like nothing is out of the ordinary or summon fire in both my hands and charge after her. “I worked two jobs when I lived in New York.”

Words keep spilling out of my mouth thanks to some part of my brain that tells me to act natural. Ethan, on the other hand, is tense and rises to his feet.