“True, but daggers you buy online aren’t tied to the occult.” He takes the dagger from me and pulls it from the sheath. “This triple-moon symbol.” He taps it. “It’s the crest of a coven. I don’t know what this says. I think the language is called Theban. If your aunt gave you this dagger, she probably belonged to the coven.”

I’m sure she did, and I know without a doubt now that Aunt Estelle was a witch. I want to tell Ethan everything. He knows more about what’s going on than I do, yet I know I can’t let my guard down and trust him just yet.

“She might have.” I bend my legs up, tucking them under the blanket and take the dagger from Ethan, looking at the triple-moon before setting it back down. “I wish I had the chance to get to know her. She could have answered some questions, that’s for sure.”

“When did she die?”

“I was told it was last Friday.”

“The day before I met you?”

“Yes,” I tell him.

“Your aunt dies. and then twenty-four hours later, Pricolici are sent after you. It’s connected somehow, and if we can figure that part out, we can figure out why a demon wants you dead.”

“Your guess will be as good as mine, considering I don’t know a damn thing about what’s going on.”

“We’ll figure it out,” he tells me and rests his hand on my thigh again.

“Thanks.”

“Of course. This is what I do, but I, uh, have special interest in this case.” His lips curve into a half smile.

“Then I expect special treatment,” I say back.

“Lucky for you, I’m quite good at that and can be really attentive.” He’s not talking about keeping me safe from demons at the moment.

“In that case, can I have something to drink? My throat kind of burns from almost drowning.”

“Yeah, what do you want? Coffee? Something stronger?”

“Just water is fine. If I have anything stronger, it makes it hard to block out the ghosts.”

Ethan gets up and leaves the room, coming back with a glass of water. I take a few sips and set it on the coffee table.

“Thanks,” I tell him.

“You still doing all right? I know this is a lot to take in.”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s jarring to know someone wants me dead of course, but knowing demons are real…it makes me feel not crazy for thinking they could be in the first place. People still look at me like I need to be in a psych ward when I say ghosts are talking to me. I thought after vampires came out of the coffin a few years ago, people would be more open to other supernatural things, but apparently not.”

“I’ve been doing this for twenty-six years and I’m still surprised at how much people want to brush off or rationalize something that’s glaringly obvious and not normal.”

“Oh my god, yes! I’ve seen people totally ignore things that should freak them out. No, you don’t see dead Betty knocking books off the library shelf, but you see the books falling. Why the hell are you shrugging it off?”

“Dead Betty?”

“I don’t always know their names, but when I see them over and over again, I name them. There’s a ghost at the barn I named Bob.”

“You name stray ghosts?” He chuckles.

“I never thought about it that way.” I laugh and reach for the water, taking another drink.

“Do you want to go out to dinner tonight?” he asks, catching me a little off guard. “I never did take you out like I wanted.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was on a job.”

“A demon hunting job?” I click one of the buttons on the shirt against my nail.

“Yeah, a couple hours away, hunting wraiths.”

I’m not sure what a wraith is outside of fantasy novels. “So you just…didn’t call? You totally ghosted me, and that’s a dick move, Ethan.”

“I know,” he admits with no hesitation. “It was, and I’m sorry. I wanted to call you. Jobs don’t always run smoothly. What I thought was a one-day assignment to kill one wraith turned out to be much bigger. I couldn’t tell you that, obviously.”

“Why didn’t you just lie?”

“I didn’t want to lie to you,” he admits. “I don’t know why. I lie a lot and it never bothers me. Hell, this is the most honest I’ve been with anyone in a long time. There’s something about you,” he starts. “I like you, Anora.”

“Me too,” I say. “I mean, not myself—though, I do like myself but not in a self-absorbed way, but in a self-love kind of way that wasn’t always easy to do.” I cringe at my own words. “But, uh, yeah. I do have to eat.”

“Way to sound enthusiastic.”

“I, uh,” I start and cast my gaze to the fire. I just killed a demon. I can speak up and tell the truth without fear too. “I don’t like getting stood up. I haven’t had the best luck with men, so putting in the effort to dress up for a dinner date that never happened rubs me the wrong way.”

Tags: Emily Goodwin Grim Gate Paranormal
Source: readsnovelonline.net