Nope, I tell myself and close the book. I’m not going to go there yet. Statistically, we should have some time before another demon strikes, and we’re not going to look for them. Though I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I got a huge rush and sense of satisfaction from killing them.
Ethan is a demon hunter. I’m a witch. We make a pretty great team if I’m being honest.
“This is amazing,” I say, taking a bite of the potpie Nik made up for dinner. It was another thank you gift for letting him crash with us. And he said this is a traditional food of his people. It’s a veggie pot pie, since faeries don’t eat meat—he only does when he’s here in the human world and his mother can’t yell at him for it—and it’s delicious.
Rene and Keith came over for dinner, and Nik and Rene take turns dramatically telling Keith about how I defeated Xozon. I’m not sure if Keith believes everything they’re saying because it sounds farfetched even to me and I was there.
After dinner, we cleared the dining room table and played a board game. It’s such a nice, normal thing to do, and I haven’t laughed that hard in weeks. Once Rene and Keith left, Nik asked if we could watch a movie together.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I’d love that. But I get to pick the movie.”
“It’s my turn to pick the movie,” Ethan counters. “I can’t suffer through another musical or horse-movie again.”
I laugh and get a bag of microwave popcorn from the panty. “We let Nik pick? He’s a neutral party.”
“I also like musicals,” he says and we all laugh. I take the popcorn into the living room and we settle on the couch, deciding on a new comedy series that just came out on Netflix. We stay up way too late binging half the series, and all crawl up to bed half asleep.
The next two days passed in a similar fashion. I enjoyed the calm and the peace of mind knowing that it shouldn’t be short-lived this time. The ground is still too mushy to ride, but we’re having another snap of warm weather so I’m making the most of it by grooming the horses outside in the sun.
Ethan and I have dinner plans to go to Chicago tonight, and I check the time on my phone. I need to shower, dry my hair, and then attempt to curl it, going all out for a nice date night in the city.
I get the last tangle out of Sundance’s tail and then get their food set up for tonight. Ethan and I are leaving before their feeding time, and Nik will bring them in and feed them, keeping them on their schedule. It’s nice having a roommate in this sense.
And I like Nik, even if he wasn’t as helpful as he was. He’s optimistic and energetic and just fun to be around. I can see why my aunt was drawn to him, that’s for sure.
“I’ll be back out in a few hours,” I tell my little herd as I put my brushes away. “Try not to roll in the—” too late. Sundance finds a nice section of mud and plops down in it, rolling on both sides. “—mud.”
Laughing, I put the rest of my stuff away and go inside to start getting ready. “Heading out?” I ask Ethan, seeing him dressed in athletic clothing.
“Yeah. It’s nice and I didn’t get to the gym this morning. Hunter and I are going for a run.”
“But we have to leave in two hours.”
He chuckles. “I don’t need two hours to get ready, unlike you.” He takes me by the waist and kisses me. I continue upstairs and take a shower, mentally going through my closet as I wash my hair. Most of my clothes are casual, but I do have a few nice dresses I rarely wear. Once I’m out of the shower, I wrap my hair in a towel to help it dry. The doorbell rings and I groan, thinking it’s Donna.
“Nik?” I call. “Can you see who is here?”
He doesn’t respond, and I remember him saying he wanted to go to the store to get more sugar because he used it all up. The guy puts like fourth a cup in his tea, and he drinks several cups of tea a day. It must be a faery thing.
I pull on a black dress, not the one I intend to wear but one that’s good enough to cover myself, and take the towel from my hair, raking my fingers through it as I go down the stairs. Normally, I’d ignore the doorbell, but I’d like to try and make things up with Donna so the entire town doesn’t think I’m a weirdo.
I peer through the glass before I open the door, edging on caution. It’s not Donna, but a woman appearing to be my age. She’s thin and pretty, with long black braids handing down her back. I gather a bit of energy just in case and open the door.