“It was a jewelry store. The owner recently retired, and the building will be vacant starting in January.” He shows me photos of the storefront, which is nestled between other businesses downtown.
“What would you put in there?”
"I’m not sure. I need to see what else is in town and how busy it seems tonight before I can make a decision. With it being a college town, any sort of restaurant would most likely be profitable.”
“Would you have to go to Paradise Valley a lot after you open some sort of business?”
“At first, just to make sure things are to my liking. You know we own many businesses, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” I break the last piece of bacon in half and pop it in my mouth. The hipster bar in Lincoln Park is Lucas’s most recent business venture, and he said he was hoping Eliza could take it over. He’s more involved in that particular business than he is in his others solely to train Eliza on how to manage something of that caliber. Anything that opens in Paradise Valley would be on a much smaller scale, I’m sure.
“The garland you ordered is out for delivery,” Lucas says, lowering his phone. “We can put it up today, if you’d like.”
I smile, nodding enthusiastically. “Is there an ETA on the delivery?”
“No, just arriving by six PM tonight. What about exterior lights? Would you like to order some?”
“Of course! I think classic white lights would look pretty on the house, with pre-lit garland on the porch and maybe two really big red bows each side of the arch where you walk to the front door.”
“You’ve thought about this, haven’t you?”
“Maybe once I slightly entertained the thought.”
Lucas laughs and kisses my forehead. “What do you want to do today?”
“I kind of want to do nothing.” The idea of lounging around with Lucas sounds amazing, but the thought of having nothing to distract myself with makes me anxious. My heart skips a beat, and I know Lucas can sense my nerves. “I’d love to read, actually. The library has big windows, too, so sitting by the fire watching it snow would be perfect. A few of my favorite authors just released a holiday anthology with little Christmas stories about some of their previous characters. I preordered it months ago and kinda forgot about it until now.”
“Then read,” he says with a smile. “I’d like to do a bit more research, and then I can join you with a book of my own.”
“That would be really nice.” I cut off another slice of my pancake.
“Do you want me to start a fire for you?”
I shake my head. “I can get it.” I wave one hand in the air, wiggling my fingers. “It’s easy to start fires with magic. I honestly don’t think I could start one without it.”
“There is a technique to it.”
He goes back to his desk, and I finish my food, watching the snow fall. Scarlet races ahead of me when I take my dishes into the kitchen and barks by the door leading to the covered back porch, needing out.
“Give me one second,” I tell her, getting the boots I took off and left in the kitchen last night. I hurry to put on my winter coat and go outside with her, unable to keep the smile off my face as I look around.
I’m not the biggest fan of the cold weather, but I’ll be the first to admit how gorgeous fresh snow is. It muffles everything, and the earth feels still and peaceful. Scarlet jumps down the stairs, leaping and bounding around the yard, stopping to eat snow before taking off again. There are only a few inches, and it’ll probably melt by tomorrow.
I inhale, soaking the silence in. It’s definitely not going to last long, and when I look out at the woods behind the house, my anxiety goes through the roof. Just last night, we almost died in that spot.
Just last night, a powerful demon broke himself out of a demonic prison because he found a loophole that would enable him to bind my angel powers so he could possess me. If he figured it out, others will, too, and it’s only a matter of time before they do.
Michael warned me more demons will seek me out. They’ll want to destroy me before I can sit on the throne, but they could also want to do what Bael wanted to do. And before we knew Bael’s true plan, we thought he was going to try to force me to be his demon-bride, which is another very real possibility.
And that’s not to mention if my angel side of the family finds out about me, I’m toast.
I swallow hard, trying to push the lump that’s rising in my throat back down. I suck in a shaky breath, curling my fingers into my palms. I can feel magic humming around me, and I don’t want to send off another blast of power that will alert anyone—or anything—that I’m here and I’m not who I’m pretending to be.