“The more answers I get, the more questions it arises.” I let out a sigh and lean back against the chair. Ethan drops his hand onto my thigh again, and I rest mine on top of his.

“So, I am a witch.” I tip my head. “Man, that’s weird to say out loud. But I am, and obviously I haven’t known about it for long enough to do anything to piss the demons off. It’s just another damn puzzle piece to the puzz—dammit I said that wrong.”

“All we can conclude is the demon wasn’t able to locate you until it could sense your magical abilities,” David says. “Which doesn’t make this any different.” He eyes Sam in a way that makes me think another unspoken message is being said right in front of me. “A demon has sent Pricolici after Anora, and we—as demon hunters—are going to find the son of a bitch and kill it before it can hurt anyone else.”

“You make it sound easy,” I say nervously, knowing it’s far from it.

“Hey, I haven’t met a demon I can’t kill,” Ethan tries to assure me.

“Don’t get cocky,” Julia and David say at the same time, making me think it’s something they have to remind him frequently.

“The day that happens, you can say I told you so,” he says.

“At your funeral,” Julia adds pointedly.

I reach for my coffee cup, mind whirling. Ethan and his family are demon hunters. It’s what they do. But would they be going after this particular demon if Aunt Estelle had come clean with me? If I’d known from the start who I am, would I have been able to learn magic so I could defend myself?

I hate all the unanswered questions, and I hate even more that Ethan is in danger from the Pricolici. It’s not my fault, no, and I’m not going to play the role of a martyr, feeling bad for something I can’t control. But there is someone to blame here, and it’s Aunt Estelle.

I clench my teeth and steam starts to rise from my coffee mug. The ceramic feels hot against my skin and I jerk my hand back, gasping when I see the coffee boiling. “Holy crap.” Everyone looks at the coffee mug before me. “Did I do that?”

“Yeah, you did,” Ethan says.

“Whoa.” A smile takes over my face and I have to swallow the urge to start laughing. Because this is a little insane and a lot amazing. “Holy shit,” I say and then flick my eyes to David. “Sorry.”

“How did you do that?” Ethan moves the mug in front of him, needing to take a closer look.

“I don’t know.” I shake my head. “I was thinking about how much it pisses me off that my aunt thought it was okay to toy with me like this and…I don’t know. My hand felt hot.” It’s not much of an explanation, but it’s all I have.

Ethan takes my hand in his and turns it over, making sure my palm isn’t burned. “It’s okay,” he says.

“Is it?” Sam crosses her arms and hikes up her eyebrows. “I don’t want the house to explode.”

“Reheating a cup of coffee is a far cry from an explosion,” Julia says, giving her the side-eye.

Ethan’s chair scoots as he stands. “Come on, let’s get some air.”

Exhaling, I nod and let him pull me to my feet, thankful to be away from his family. They seem welcoming enough—save for Sam—but I need some time to myself…with Ethan, that is.

“You okay?” Ethan asks when we step onto the covered front porch. “That was a lot to take in.”

“Yeah.” I put my hands on the railing and exhale. The sun is out today, warming the air and bringing back the false sense of a late-summer return of nice weather.

“Really?” Ethan’s hand lands on my back, and I have to work hard to repress the shiver that wants to run down my spine.

“I’m mostly just mad,” I admit, straightening up. “Did my aunt not think I could handle it? That I’m not strong enough to deal? I don’t want to cry about being abandoned, because I wasn’t, but how could she just leave me like that? And I know you don’t have the answers, and I don’t expect you to.” I let my eyes fall shut. “I mean…demons, come at me. But messing with my memory and binding my powers, it feels so wrong.”

“Rightly so,” Ethan says, surprising me a bit. “Your past is yours and yours alone. No one should be able to take that from you.”

“Do you think there’s a spell?” My eyes lock with Ethan’s. “A spell that can undo everything she did so I can get my memories back?”

“I don’t know,” he says apologetically.

I let out a sigh and bring my hands up, flattening my palms against Ethan’s chest. “Maybe I should go see a hypnotist and see if they can help me remember.”

Tags: Emily Goodwin Grim Gate Paranormal
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