Chapter 6
Itoss and turn for most of the night, yet I can’t get Dimitri’s words out of my head.
He spoke of Death and Karma like they were real people. Maybe not people, per se. Definitely living beings, though. I never really gave much thought to demons beyond what Aunt Star had said. She refused to answer Lark’s and my questions, so we figured out pretty quickly not to ask.
Lark never could leave well enough alone, though.
She’s fascinated with the darker side of things, whether it be demons and Hell or dark spells.
It’s why I’m sure she got herself into something when she fucked off to gods-knows-where.
Should I be saving her? No. But she owes me and I’m not about to let her die with her debts unpaid.
Plus, it wouldn’t be very sisterly for me to leave her to her fate.
I stare at the shadowy ceiling, too tired to reach over and turn off the lamp.
It would probably help me sleep. Then again, every time I close my eyes, I’m plagued with images I don’t understand.
A dark cage surrounded by even darker stone walls.
A closet filled with cleaning supplies. In one there’s an iridescent egg, much bigger than I’m used to.
Another one has a hooded figure stalking through a misty landscape.
I’m sure if I fell asleep right now, I’d be subjected to the images come to life.
The soup may have helped whatever illness is assaulting my body, but nightmares would send me straight back.
My shower earlier did absolutely nothing, mostly because he was loitering about.
It’s like I could feel his presence hanging around.
I still don’t understand why he keeps showing up.
I don’t even have any texts to consult. My internet searches came up empty.
I slam my palms on the fluffy comforter. “Ridiculous. Stop thinking about him. He’s a demon.”
A very sexy demon, my mind whispers. It sounds like my sister’s voice, which is annoying as hell.
“Doesn’t matter what he looks like.”
But he’s sweet. He fed you.
I scoff, rolling my eyes. “He didn’t feed me. He served me, maybe. I made the damn soup myself, thank you very much.”
I don’t know why I’m arguing with myself.
It’s not like it’ll change anything. I’ll still be stuck in this fucking town, on a fool’s errand with a demon trailing me.
Unless I never see him again. He did walk right into a purple cloud of smoke and disappear.
Maybe magic or the balance or whatever decided I’d suffered enough.
Except he looked like he was suffering too.
A groan escapes me, and I squeeze my eyes shut. “And that’s my problem, how?”
The voice doesn’t answer. Because of course it doesn’t.
It’s me, not my sister, and I don’t have any answers.
If I did, I’d love to be able to solve all my problems just by talking to myself.
If I could pluck solutions out of thin air, my life would be very different.
I sit up and glance around the shadowy room.
It’s too early to get up, yet too late to go to sleep.
I opt for rising and shining, though I doubt they’ll be much shining going on.
Once I’m dressed, I drag myself to the kitchen and make a cup of coffee.
As the hot liquid slides down my throat, my muscles relax.
My head may be pounding and my chest may be tight, but I’ve got caffeine and that makes all the difference.
For about seventeen seconds.
Then it all crashes down as someone pounds on my front door.
If it’s an angry mob, I’m going to lose it.
I’ve never cursed someone before, but I’ll do it if they try to burn me at the stake.
Jeremiah wasn’t particularly happy with my threats.
I doubt he’d be about to rile up the community, though.
It’s a small town, yet not enough to back an asshole for no reason.
I shuffle toward the window overlooking the porch. When a crowd doesn’t appear, I sigh, then pull open the door. Percy, my only friend in this town, shoves past me with a frustrated growl.
“Come right on in,” I mutter as I swing the door closed.
“You’re not naked, so…” She flops onto my couch.
“And if I had somewhere to be?” I ask, crossing my arms.
She snorts, peering at me from under her lashes. “You never go anywhere other than the mailbox. You even have your groceries delivered by the little old lady who lives at the end of the lane.”
“You sound like you’re quoting a nursery rhyme.” I collapse into the wingback chair I use when I’m working. “Wait, it’s like five in the morning. Why are you here at the ass crack of dawn?”
“Shit’s going to hell. Needed to get out of my hovel.”
I glance at her and realize there are dark rings under her eyes.
She looks as bad as I feel. My nostrils flare when I spot the dark bruises peeking from under her sleeves.
Someone grabbed her—hard. I grit my teeth, knowing I can’t ask her about them.
She’ll brush off my questions, then clam up.
Waiting for her to reveal what happened isn’t ever easy.
I clear my throat. “Gonna tell me what’s going on?”
“Lost my job. Date was a bust. Saw my mother. Pipes in my bathroom burst and flooded the entire upstairs. Car broke down, though that one I don’t really care about.
Oh, and I got scammed out of a bunch of money.
So, not much.” She lists everything off so flippantly, I wonder if she’s making half of it up.
I know she’s not, though. Percy is honest to a fault.
“Why’s it always you?” I mutter.
She shrugs, closing her eyes again. “Karma hates me. Look into my future and destiny will show you doom and gloom. Fate has it out for me. My ancestors must have been bad witches or some shit. I know they cursed a random dude who ended up being important. Maybe that’s the reason I’m being punished in this life. ”
“So dramatic.” My eyes dart to the closet, then back to Percy. “You want advice, to vent, or silence?”
“Advice because I know you’re dying to give me some.” She softens her words with a slight smile.
“Positively perishing over here. Okay, get a new job. Put a hex on the date, then stop dating. Stop going to see your mother. She’s toxic personified, and you’re better off keeping her at a distance.
Hire a plumber.” I hold up my hand when she makes a sound of protest. “No, you’re not capable of fixing it yourself.
Your car isn’t broken down. It needs a new battery, which I told you two weeks ago. And how much money are we talking?”
Her nose wrinkles. “I’m not hexing someone. That seems messy.”
“Out of everything I said, that’s what you latch onto? Seriously, Percy. Everything is fixable until it’s not.”
“It was five hundred,” she mumbles as she picks at the fluff on my pillow.
“What was the scam?”
She rolls her eyes, and I know this’ll probably be the last answer I get out of her.
“A golf cart. It was a great price, said it was an estate sale, then poof, he ghosted me. Do you think ghosts are real? I mean, witches are real. Obviously. But do you think there are like, ghosts and werewolves and vampires, too?”
“I think it’s more likely bigfoot is real rather than vampires.”
She shoots upright, wide eyes finding mine.
“Have I shown you my cryptid folder? I’ve been researching them, and I swear some of these stories aren’t just stories.
They’re eyewitness accounts. Can you imagine going camping and suddenly you find bigfoot bumbling around? Honestly, sounds like a dream.”
“A dream? To go camping? You’re not exactly…outdoorsy.”
“I can learn.”
“To camp?” I snort, and she bursts out laughing.
She wipes her eyes of nonexistent tears and sighs. “You’re right. There’s no way I’m running away to live in the woods. I’d take a nice, wounded werewolf, though. Or a demon.”
If she was paying attention, she’d be able to read my face like a book. Thankfully, she’s too busy giggling to herself. I clear my throat, forcing my breathing to even out.
“You definitely don’t want to meet a demon.”
“You’re probably right. I’m going to take a shower. Then we can talk about your latest victim.”
She pushes off the couch, and I groan. She shoots me a cheeky grin, then flounces off down the hallway, her shawl billowing behind her.
I’ve borrowed that one before when I ran a seance.
Not that we were truly communicating with the dead, but they didn’t need to know that.
They weren’t very nice, so I had no problem taking their money.
It’s the ones who are truly seeking solace I turn away.
Except for the neighbor who brings me groceries.
In exchange, I whip up a simple tonic to make her life easier.
It’s a good exchange and helps my credibility among the townspeople.
Have to have a couple wins or people get suspicious.
I doubt they really think I’m a witch, though.
I flop onto the vacated couch, and my eyes flutter shut.
I need sleep. I won’t get any with Percy hanging around or my mind refusing to cooperate.
I peek at the closet and bite my lip. After a few minutes, I can’t take it anymore and I push to my feet.
Percy’s singing echoes over the noise from the shower, and my stomach flips.
If Dimitri is hiding in the closet, I’m going to have to explain to my best friend why I’m hanging out with a demon.
“No, I’m not hanging out with him. He just shows up. And he’s not in the closet.” I suck in a deep breath, then turn the knob and rip open the door.
Nothing jumps out and there’s no billowing purple smoke.
Just a bunch of candles, a defunct cauldron, and some winter things I don’t need anymore.
Half of it is my sister’s shit. I just don’t have the heart to go through any of it.
Or the things in her bedroom. I took over the guest room and left hers exactly as it was when she disappeared.
It’s a relic of a moment in time. I can’t bear to mess with it until I know what happened to her.
A soft glow floats in the deep corner, and I lean in to get a better look.
“Searching for something?”
I jump back straight into Percy, then spin around. “What the fuck. Why the hell would you do that?”
She grins, her head tottering from side to side. The towel wrapped around her head unravels, then drops to the floor. She kicks the fabric to the side.
As she makes her way to the kitchen, she calls over her shoulder, “Won’t find any answers in there, Mariweather.”
I roll my eyes and shut the door. “Not my name.”
She knows it’s not, but her guesses get more and more ridiculous as the years go by. “If you’d just tell me, then we wouldn’t have to go through this all the time.”
“Everyone calls me Mari. My aunt, my sister, my professors in uni, my friends—”
“You have friends?” she quips as she pulls pans and food from their respective places.
“Hardee har.” I collapse onto the chair and tuck my legs up.
“Pretty sure I’m your only friend.”
“Way to rub it in. You realize if I told you what my actual name is, I wouldn’t have any secrets left?”
She drops a pan onto the stove, obscuring her response.
It doesn’t matter. We’ve had this conversation a thousand times before.
And it always ends the same way—her saying secrets don’t make friends.
Then I’ll say my friends know the secrets that count, and she’ll once again act surprised I have friends. It’s a tale as old as time.
Even though my nail beds hurt and my muscles are fraying and my bones are slowly being ground to dust, it’s good to have her here.
Anything to keep my mind busy. Today I’ll focus on just being with my friend.
She’ll feed me and I’ll feel better. We’ll sit on the couch watching campy horror movies while downing an entire tub of ice cream. The usual.
And at no point will I be worried about the closet. The demon has no place in my life. He’s vanished and I’m perfectly okay with that. Even if he could help me find my sister, I don’t need, nor want, his help. I’ll find her on my own like I planned to do all along.
Percy drops a plate in front of me, and the distinct smell of bacon wafts up. My mouth waters at the feast. She takes the chair Dimitri sat in and I shake my head, pushing him from my mind. He’s long gone, back to Hell and out of my life for good.
At least I hope he is.