Sorren
Idon’t let myself fall asleep, instead I watch Eva for a few hours while she quietly snores on my chest. Her eyebrows occasionally pinch together then go slack.
What is she dreaming about? Leylines? Margaritas? Me?
Her alarm goes off on her phone that she didn’t plug in last night. She slowly wakes up and bangs her hand around the bed looking for the source of the irritating noise.
I grab it for her and silence the ringing.
“Good morning,” I whisper.
“I have a headache,” Eva groans and turns her head into the crook of my arm.
“It’s time to get up. People need their coffee. They need you.”
Almost as much as I do.
“Caffeine addiction is not healthy. No café today, it’s for their own good.” She pulls the covers up over her head.
“If you take a shower, I’ll go make you some coffee and some toast.” It’s the best I can offer.
“Need more sleep,” she mumbles beneath the warm bedding.
“You’re going to be late.” I gently pull the covers back. “Come on, Evie, It’s time.”
“I don’t wanna,” she protests.
“You can do this. I’ll go turn on the shower.” I pull myself out of bed and head to the bathroom. I leave the door open wide so the light will rouse her a little.
“You have three minutes before I throw you over my shoulder and dump you in there in your sexy little nightgown,” I call out over the running water.
“It’s a floor-length flannel,” she says, tossing her pillow at me.
“Three minutes, starting now.” I jokingly scold before heading downstairs.
It’s cold in the living room, the fire having gone out hours ago. I snap my fingers and it starts back up in a blaze, waking Riley up from her drunken slumber.
She stands up and sways. It takes a lot of effort to get her feet under her. She folds the blanket I laid over her when I came back downstairs to get water for Eva.
“Did somebody say coffee?” She straightens the rumpled clothes she slept in.
“It’s on its way.” I begin the procedure that I’ve carefully studied Eva perform. While the water comes to a boil, I poke my head up the stairs. “Eva, you’d better be in the shower!”
“This is all very domestic,” Riley observes.
“Sure.” I return to my job of making coffee. I don’t want to piss off these two hungover witches. There have been enough curses put on me for a lifetime.
“If you pull some demon shit with her, I’ll track you down to the depths of Hell and make your life a living nightmare.”
“No demon shit. I promise.” I don’t exactly know what she’s referring to, but I do know I would rather die a slow and painful death than hurt Eva.
Eva strides into the kitchen with wet hair and a sleepy look on her face. “What demon shit are we talking about?” She shoots a pointed look at Riley.
“Oh, nothing specifically. I just needed to do my due diligence and make sure he has the fear of Sekhmet in him before he tries anything with my best friend.”
“Sekhmet?”
“Only the most badass and ferocious of our deities,” Eva answers before Riley can lob any more threats in my direction.
“Here are your coffees. Go to work. This town will riot if you don’t open on time.” I push the sealed travel mugs into their hands and nudge them toward the door.
Eva turns at the last minute before leaving. “Thank you. I’ll see you tonight?” she asks. A vise clamps my heart at the question.
“Of course.”
“They’re overreacting, this will blow over, just like it always does,” I say, trying to reassure him.
“This isn’t like last time.” Malachi stands, “I’ve been telling you. You’re not here, and they blame the witch. Now Jeff is missing, and they think the witches are to blame for that too. I can’t say I disagree.”
The idiocy of it all makes my temples ache. “You leave Eva out of this. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Listen to yourself, Sorren. She kidnapped you! She is to blame for all of this.” He waves his hands around wildly.
“She has nothing to do with Jeff. Tell the Board I’m working remotely now. That everything is under control. They don’t need to know I’m still up here.”
“That’s not possible, and you know it.” Malachi says, “You can’t be the face of the company while you’re hooking up with a witch up there.”
Steam billows out of my nostrils at the insinuation that this is something casual.
He knows he took it too far. “They’ve threatened to take legal action,” my step brother says quietly.
“Fine. Let them. I don’t fucking care! I never wanted the job!” Fires rage inside me, begging to escape. I tamp them down, not wanting to destroy Eva’s garden shed.
“Don’t take it out on me! It’s not my fault Dad left us to clean up this mess.”
Malachi is right, this is not his fault, and he has stepped up while I’ve been up here.
I rub the sore spots of my head where my horns should be.
Part of me has been living in denial, holding out hope that I could escape my fate, but seeing Malachi struggling down there on his own, makes me realize how important it is that I go back.
I can’t abandon my brother when he needs me most.
“Buy me some time. Things are happening here, and I should be home soon.”
I feel sick to my stomach making that promise. Less than an hour ago, I was ready to pledge myself to Eva, but I am being dragged back to Hell. Where I belong.
Fucking Jeff better show up before things escalate. I’ll dismantle Mephisto brick by brick before I let Eva get pulled into this mess.
Going back is the simplest solution. It’s also the one I hate the most.
“We both know it’s hell down here, but Mephisto plays an important part in the larger universe. If it goes under, who knows what would happen with all those demons haunting the human realm,” Malachi reminds me of what I had managed to forget.