“You got all that from a vision?”
“Yes and no. I don’t just see pictures, it’s like I download a file or something. I see an image and at the same time know a lot, and sometimes random, information.”
“I never knew how it worked.”
“Have you met other mediums?”
“The Order has worked with some over the years.”
“Are they witches too?”
“Some believe they have a witch in their family line years back, but they can’t perform spells or anything.”
“Interesting. I don’t mean to complain or say my life was rough, because it wasn’t. I never went without, but lying and never being understood just sucks sometimes. Most times I just feel like a loser who talked to a ghost thinking he was my blind date and then the real blind dates shows up, and I realize I’ve been talking to no one.”
Ethan laughs. “Sorry. It’s not funny but it is.”
“I can laugh now. And the ghost was a much better date than my actual date, who only went out with me because I reminded him of his sister, who was also a redhead.”
“That’s messed up.”
“Right?” I let out a breath and shake my head. “What about you? What was it like growing up in the Order?”
“It was my norm, but it’s isolating too. We traveled a lot, going from job to job. I couldn’t tell anyone who wasn’t in the Order the truth, of course, and being in the car with just my dad for hours on end got old fast.”
“Your sisters didn’t come with?”
“Sam and Julia aren’t my sisters through blood. Their parents were friends with my dad, and when they were killed by demons, my dad legally adopted them so they wouldn’t end up in foster care. They’ve been with us for ten years now.”
“Oh, wow. That was really kind of your dad.”
“We grew up hunting together. They felt like family before they legally became it.”
Ethan tells me a bit more about growing up in the Order, and I can tell he’s feeling the same sense of relief that I am. It’s so fucking nice to be able to open up like this, without having to worry the other person is going to go home and gossip about how looney-tunes you sound. We stop talking about demons and ghosts by the time our food comes, and it’s like how it was when we talked on the phone.
Ethan is easy to talk to, and he makes me laugh. Things seem so normal between us I almost forget he knows my secret of being a medium. And he’s okay with it.
“What are the chances I’ll get attacked in my sleep tonight?” I pull my keys from my purse, glancing at Ethan as we walk to my front door.
“If you stay inside and keep everything locked up, I’d say low to medium.”
“That’s reassuring.” I make a face and hesitate before I stick the key in the lock. “Do you want to come in?” I ask. I know exactly how my question sounds, and yes, I do want Ethan to spend the night. In my bed. Next to me. Naked.
But I shouldn’t, and I have to remind myself to keep my guard up. Men like Ethan are dangerous when it comes to matters of the heart, and much more lethal than demons.
“Sure.”
I unlock the deadbolt and push the door open. Hunter races over to greet us, and I hold my box of leftovers up so he doesn’t knock it out of my hands.
“Did any demons break in while we were out?” I ask Hunter, and his tail wags faster. I turn on the foyer light and go into the kitchen, looking down the hall to my bedroom and feeling a little nervous.
“Benefit to having a small house, I guess,” I start as I open the fridge to put my leftovers away. “There aren’t a lot of places to hide. Though the basement has always freaked me out a bit.”
“Want me to check it out?” Ethan asks.
“It would make me feel better,” I admit.
He reaches behind his back and pulls out a gun. “Just in case,” he says with a cheeky grin.
My eyes go wide. “You’ve had that on you this entire time?”
“I told you I was armed. I also have two knives. One is brass, and the other has a silver tip. You never know what you might find yourself up against.”
I blink. “I suppose better safe than sorry definitely applies to demons.”
“For sure. Where are your basement stairs?”
I point to a door off the kitchen. “It’s cluttered down there.”
“Perfect place for demons to hide,” he teases.
“Not funny,” I say, playfully nudging his arm. “I’ll come with you, and if there are demons down there, they should at least have the decency to do some laundry for me.”
He laughs and opens the door to the basement stairs. Hunter runs ahead, which is really all the reassurance I need to know if there are actually demons down there.