Gianna was right. I didn’t have any connection to any of these items, so they just looked like dust collectors.
“You might as well donate everything you don’t want. Eventually, it will end up in the right hands.”
I glanced around the room with all the books and plants and what nots. “That’s going to be a lot of hands.”
After we filled a box, Gianna clapped her hands on her thighs and flashed a mischievous grin. “So did you and vamp guy kiss and make up last night, preferably with some killer, hot make-up sex?”
Why did she have to put it that way? I’d given Gianna a quick summary yesterday. I blew a strand of hair out of my eyes. “Nope. I figure we could each use some space.”
Gianna tilted her head and scrutinized me with a knowing gaze that called me out on my bullshit. “Is that what you want?”
I ignored her skepticism. “It’s what’s best,” I dismissed. “We agreed it was just a fling. Now that we hooked up, it’s out of our system, so we can put it behind us. Why make our lives any more complicated than it needs to be?” A part of me whisperedYou’re full of shit.
When Gianna said, “You’re full of shit,” I gasped.
“Can you read minds now or something?” I asked. “Or have you always had that ability and you kept it from me?” I thought of all the embarrassing things I must have thought about as a teen in my angst-ridden, awkward, the-world-hates-me phase and cringed.
Gianna scrunched her nose. “No. It’s written all over your face. You have this sappy, longing look like you want to go over there and ride him like you just got a cowgirl license.”
My cheeks reddened, but I laughed. “Jeez Louise, I wasnotthinking that. And that doesn’t even make sense.”
“Yeah, sure.” Her words dripped with sarcasm as thick as Vermont maple syrup.
My tongue seemed thicker, and I swallowed. Maybe she was a tiny, itty-bitty, miniscule bit correct.
After we filled a few more boxes, we brought them to a charity drop-off site and then stopped for a bite to eat downtown. A woman walking toward us from the opposite direction on the sidewalk looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her.
“Sadie!” Gianna declared.
Ah right, Sadie—the sadist with the laser. No, I shouldn’t think that. She was sweet. I was just a wimp.
After they greeted each other, Sadie appeared to recognize me, but in an odd manner. She turned pale and stared. “I’m so glad to see you’re okay, Nova.”
What a perplexing reaction. “I know I was a pain in the ass at the appointment, but I wasn’tthatbad, was I?”
“It’s not that.” Sadie exhaled. “I was worried and thinking of reaching out. Because remember what you told me about the night terrors or whatever that was?”
How could I forget? “Yes.”
“And I’d mentioned how my friend experienced the same thing?”
With a wary nod, I replied, “I remember.”
She pressed her fingertips together and then tapped her mouth. After she lowered her hands to her sides, she said, “Here’s the thing. My friend died suddenly on Halloween.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I said.
Sadie leaned forward and whispered, “Traces of dark magic were found.”
My heart leaped against my ribs. The three of us exchanged glances that all but screamed in the silence. What the hell was going on in this town?
Gianna triedto calm my anxieties after we saw Sadie yesterday, yet the tension remained.
When I’d called Colleen to report it, she replied, “Yes, we’re aware. She’s the young woman I mentioned.”
I explained the darkness I’d encountered in my aunt’s bedroom, and how Sadie had mentioned her friend had experienced something similar. “Is there anything I should do?”
“Not that I can think of,” she replied. “Just be vigilant. If you notice anything odd, call me.”
