“Have you ever been arrested?” I ask, slitting my eyes open.
“Many times.”
“Really?” I tip my head up to look at his handsome face.
“Yeah. Hunting demons and illegal activity go hand in hand. You have to break and enter more times than not, and it’s kind of hard to explain to the police why you beat the shit out of someone who was possessed and trying to kill you.” His voice is calm and level, seemingly not bothered by being arrested. “The Order has connections to get us bailed out in a timely manner, though I have spent several nights in prison.”
“I shouldn’t find that hot,” I say, smiling and feeling the biggest sense of relief. I trust him. I have to…which would be an issue if Laney were onto something, but she’s not. “I’m tired,” I mumble. “And I didn’t let Hunter out.”
“I’ll do it,” Ethan says, kissing the top of my head before forcing himself out of bed. I close my eyes, giving in to the pull of sleep, and am in that hazy state of almost falling asleep when Ethan and Hunter come back into the room. I snuggle up close to Ethan, with Hunter on my other side.
Sandwiched between my two boys, I fall asleep and don’t wake until late the next morning. Ethan and I lounge around in bed together, cuddling and drifting in and out of sleep. It’s a little after ten AM when I tell myself I have to get up. But first, I grab my phone off the nightstand to scroll through social media and check my email, and I see one that makes me sit up.
“Everything okay?” Ethan gives my thigh a squeeze, opening his eyes for a second to look at me.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I got an email from the lawyer my aunt hired. He’s reminding me the utility bills are due.” I let out a sigh. “I need to figure out something to do with that house. I’m not sure if JoAnna Lancaster was the original owner or not, but Aunt Estelle has owned it for years, and I don’t want to sell it, yet I can’t have it sitting empty.”
“You could rent it out,” Ethan suggests. “You said it’s not far from Chicago, right?”
“Right.”
“More and more people are moving out of the city and commuting to work since the cost of living in Chicago is beyond ridiculous.”
“That’s something to consider,” I say, though I know I cannot have strangers inside that house. “The house was empty for years and was fine. Another month or so won’t hurt, right?”
“Right,” Ethan agrees, though we’re both more than aware a big house sitting empty for a couple of months could spell disaster.
“What should we do today?” I put my phone on the nightstand again and lie down, resting my head on Ethan’s bare chest. The wounds there have almost healed as well. “Demon-wise, I mean.”
Ethan’s hand goes to my back, and he traces my spine with his fingers. “You should practice using magic. If you’re attacked again, being able to defend yourself is key, especially if I’m not around.”
“You don’t happen to know a Dumbledore, do you?”
“Shockingly, I don’t. Nor do I know an Obi-Wan to show you the way of the Jedi.”
“I thought Yoda did that?”
Ethan lifts his head off the pillow. “We’re going to watch Star Wars later, because it’s obvious you haven’t seen it.”
“I’ve seen it! Just not for like years and years and years and I think I fell asleep during like all of them. My dad is a huge Star Wars fan.”
“Good. I’ll have something to talk about at dinner.”
I smile and hook my leg over Ethan, not wanting to leave the bed. We lounge around for another hour and then force ourselves up, only to make coffee and move to the couch. So much for being productive, right?
Though the second half of the day actually is, and we go through more of my Book of Shadows, I make an attempt to cast a protective circle around the house, and I sit with a bay leaf in my hands, trying to unlock more memories.
We go to the barn in the evening so I can take care of Mystery, and go into the woods, stopping at the threshold of the trail. Ethan is armed to the max again, and I have my magical dagger. We’re more than prepared to fatally injure a Pricolici, but none come. After an hour and a half, I’m cold and have to pee, so we go back to the barn.
Leslie is putting her grooming supplies away, and she eyes me curiously, no doubt thinking Ethan and I went off to have sex in the woods. Maybe next time, we’ll go the other way through the woods, coming from Ethan’s dad’s house instead.
We repeat the same thing the next day: practice magic, Ethan gives me a basic training lesson on hand-to-hand combat using the dagger, and we walk through the woods. And again, nothing happens. It’s nice, that’s for sure, to have a couple of days off, but the whole sitting around waiting to be attacked thing is driving me in-fucking-sane.