Sorren
Ido my best to imitate the exact way Eva made us coffee.
Her little ritual was done with such ease and fluid movements, totally second nature.
My coffee-making skills have been majorly stunted due to the lack of quality coffee I usually have at my disposal.
Freeze-dried coffee grounds are not the same as what I’m looking at right now.
Catrick Swayze winds between my legs, desperately trying to get my attention.
“Ready for breakfast, buddy?” I shake out a small pile of cat food into a dish and set it down. He smells it skeptically. “I know it’s not tuna, but you’ll like it.”
I turn my attention back to my coffee experiment and take a small sip. The end result isn’t as good as Eva’s, but it’s got potential.
Eva shuffles into the kitchen rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Her hair is a tangled mess around her head. “Morning,” she says with a yawn.
I fill up her cup and hand it over. “Looks like you could use some of this.”
“Yes, please.” She takes a satisfied gulp and sits down at the kitchen table.
“Sorry I ran out of here so fast last night. I was supposed to meet Grant, and I was super late.” She looks sad, her eyebrows slightly turned up in the middle.
Her energy feels tired, and not just because of a bad night’s sleep.
I get the feeling things didn’t go well with him.
The evil demon part of me rejoices at the possibility.
“Everything okay?” I try to play it cool.
“I think so?”
The sadder she looks, the more desperate I become to make her smile. “You look like Malachi when he comes out of a marathon meeting with Debra from Accounting.”
“I don’t need to know Debra to know that’s not a good thing,” she says with a hint of a smile. It’s not enough, I need the whole thing. One that lights up her whole face.
“She made a demon cry during a budget meeting. An actual demon, with actual tears.”
“Did that demon happen to be Mr. Future-CEO?”
“In my defense, she really is terrifying.”
That does it. Her smile breaks wide open, full and unguarded all the way up to her eyes.
“But, really. Did things go okay last night?”
“I broke up with Grant,” Eva says with a heavy sigh.
I temper my reaction. Yes. Now she’s single and fair game. She’s also just gone through a breakup.
“What happened? Did you fight?”
“Not a fight, but a conversation that was way overdue.”
“Isn’t it weird? That a fight is easier, yet a conversation takes courage.”
“Isn’t that the truth.”
“The Eva I know handles tough situations with kindness and grace. I know that from personal experience.”
Her eyes catch mine. A faint blush warms her cheeks, and she looks back down at her coffee, like she doesn’t quite know what to do with the compliment.
I sweep up Catrick Swayze from between my feet and plunk him on Eva’s lap, silently begging the cat to stay there. She could use a win. He’s stiff at first, but eventually warms up to her as she pets down his back and up his tail.
“It gets worse. Grant surprised me with an impromptu engagement party. Our closest friends and family were there.” Her face screws up into a pained expression. Guilt? Sadness? Both?
“Oh shit. They saw the whole thing?” I cannot imagine doing that with an audience.
“Riley managed to get everyone out of there before it all went down, but it was pretty obvious things were not going how Grant had planned.”
I knew I liked Riley. She’s a good friend.
“How did he take it?” The poor guy, if he has a single brain cell left, he’d realize the best thing in his life is gone.
“I think he knew deep down that we weren’t good for each other anymore.”
“How are you feeling about it?” It’s a dumb question, but I don’t know what else to say. No one feels good after a breakup, regardless of what side you’re on.
“Honestly? I’m sad that it’s over. Well, not exactly. I’m sad for what could have been. It was hard to let go of that. But once I made up my mind, I had to act on it. I couldn’t drag it out.”
I’m in awe of the witch sitting across from me in the morning light. She’s insightful, self-aware, and decisive. Eva doesn’t need me to make her feel better, she just needs time.
“What do you like to do when you are feeling low?” I ask.
“I like to practice magick. I go outside and putter around in my garden, letting it call to me. I go into a flow state, and the next thing I know, hours have flown by.” Her face lights up with a full smile. It gives me an idea.
“How about this? I’ll clean out some space in the shed out back. I’ll work with Malachi from there. You can have your house to yourself. Do your magick without a demon breathing over your shoulder.”
“I’ll work on figuring out a spell to send you home.”
“Don’t worry about me today. You do your magick, let it lead you. We’ll figure out the rest tomorrow.”
“Sorren, you really are the best demon I’ve ever met.”
“I am pretty great,” I say, hoping to get an eye roll or exasperated reaction out of her.
“Humble, too.”
“Demons are notoriously modest.”
The shed’s barn door slides open with a hefty pull. I look over my shoulder and see Eva watching me from the kitchen window. I smile and wave before turning back to my office for the day. Spiderwebs spread across both corners of the doorway. I grab the broom and swipe them away.
A workbench laden with tools is perfect for my temporary desk. “Will the shed work?” Eva asks when I step back inside to gather everything.
“It’s perfect.” Eva helps me get set up and then is gone too quickly. I had promised her space today, but I immediately miss her presence when she leaves.
I light the candles with a snap and knock on the bench three times. Malachi’s face appears. “Oh, thank Satan! Sorren, the meeting with Jeff did not go well.” Malachi doesn’t waste any time on pleasantries, “He interrupted the board meeting and demanded an amendment to the budget.”
“Oooh.” I grimace. “And they did not like that,” I finish for him.
“They want him gone. But I’m pretty sure that spiteful asshole has rigged the entire operating system to self-destruct if he is fired. There was a threat muttered on his way out, and I don’t want to be the one in charge when shit hits the fan down here.”
“Alright. It’s not great, but I think we can fix this.”
I spend the rest of the day walking Malachi through how to appease the board and deescalate things with Jeff. We need both of them to be relatively happy to keep things running down there. Malachi is a fast learner, and he shows some genuine interest in the operations of Mephisto Inc.
Throughout the day, Eva catches my eye through the dirty window while she putters around in the garden humming to herself and gathering herbs.
The sun is already setting when I finally step back inside the house. It smells incredible. Eva spins around, her shirt splattered with stains—the kitchen looking like a small bomb went off, but she’s smiling.
“What magick is this?” I ask.
“Not magick. Dinner.”
“Oh good, I’m starving. What did you make?”
Eva beckons me into the kitchen. I feel the pull as if I am under her spell again.
She sticks a spoon into the pot on the stove, and when it comes out, it’s loaded heavily with soup.
She holds the spoon up for me, and I blow on it before taking in the whole bite. Potato, sausage, and kale warm me up.
“Wow. I think that actually is magick!” I take the spoon from her and help myself to another bite.
Eva opens the oven and pulls out freshly baked bread.
“Now we’re even. You made breakfast yesterday, and I made dinner today.”
“I couldn’t disagree more. This is way better than what I made.”
Eva hands me two bowls, and I fill them generously. I follow her to the dining room table, which is still mostly covered with random items, plus the grimoire. It’s the elephant in the room. Maybe our doom, maybe our salvation. Only time will tell.
“How was work?” she asks, cutting into the warm bread.
“It was alright. Malachi’s doing a good job filling in for me, but I can tell he’s getting antsy. How was your day?”
“No magick called to me today, but all of this did.” Eva nods toward the pot. “My grandma used to make caldo verde for us when the weather finally cooled down after a hot summer. My job was to peel the potatoes when I was little. It felt right to make it today.”
She looks relaxed and already better from this morning. Meanwhile, the muscles in my upper back are tighter than they’ve been all week from talking about Mephisto all day. The Board’s poor decisions ultimately fall on my shoulders while they get all the accolades when things go right.
“I’m guessing from the pictures on the refrigerator that you were an only child?”
“Yep. No siblings, just a long line of witches.”
“So you all just spring up out of the Earth? Or are there men hiding around here somewhere?”
She laughs at my characterization. “They play a part but don’t stick around long.”
“Fools.”
“It’s probably for the best. My grandmother used to say that we don’t need men hanging around getting underfoot.”
“Hey! I resent that!” I say with a laugh.
“Demons must be different from human men. I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
My chest puffs up with pride from the offhand comment. “I am one of a kind.”
“So, what’s the plan for tonight? More reality TV?
Organizing the basement? Or the attic this time?
Scrying with the dried-up bones of your enemies?
” I ask. It’s easy for me to forget that I have responsibilities waiting for me back home, but working with Malachi was an unwelcome reminder.
The situation with the Board will only get more dire the longer I’m up here.
“I keep thinking I must have summoned you for a reason. It couldn’t have been an accident.
One of our fundamental tenants as witches is that there is a purpose for everything.
And casting spells is almost entirely intention.
I was trying to open the leylines, but instead, you showed up.
” She takes a shaky breath. “So, at the risk of sounding like I'm not trying my best to get you home, maybe that's the question we need to answer. Why did I summon you to begin with?” An apologetic half-smile tugs at her lips.
“Tell me about these leylines. It sounds like I am here to help.”