I shook my head. That would be a chore. “I’m hiring someone for that and giving it all away. I’ll go through it first to take a few things, and I’ll pack up his magic room on my own. I don’t have it in me to do anything else. He was a borderline hoarder.”
Not that my dad kept junk. He had many valuable things in his house. At the reading of the will, my father had left clear instructions on what I should keep and what should be given away. He’d even left the packing company I should hire and where certain objects should be given. He had prepared well for his death. Of course, I wouldn’t put it past him that he’d hired a psychic to tell him when he would die. I just wished he would have told me if he knew.
I never had any doubt that my father cared for me. We’d never struggled financially in life. His status had also gotten me into the best magic and non-magic schools, which had allowed me to pursue a successful career as a magic healer and a doctor. I didn’t take for granted the privileges I’d been afforded. Privileges that were not as widespread to many who looked like me. However, in our world, power trumped almost everything, and my parents had it.
My dad was one of my best friends, especially after my mother passed. I would talk to him practically every day about everything, including my hatred of going omega. He never forced me to pick an alpha like many other parents. He also never forced me to be more active in the coven. Of course, he desired it, but he never pestered me about taking on more of a role. He would focus more on praising me on my work ethic.
My heart cracked as a vision of his beaming face at my medical school graduation ceremony popped into my head. He kept going around saying that the smart one was his daughter. I was so embarrassed, but he wouldn’t stop. Then he, Lila and I went out to a fancy dinner in which he boasted to the whole room that I was a doctor. He could have bragged that I was a witch. Not everyone was born with those gifts. However, he said the fact that I didn’t rest on my abilities and still went to school was the most impressive. It also turned out to be the intelligent thing to do. Using magic was draining, so I had to mix it up at the hospital with traditional medicine and magic to be able to be fully effective.
Lila sighed into the phone again, bringing my attention back to our conversation. “Please tell me you are not going back to work anytime soon.”
I reached behind me and unzipped my simple black sheath dress. I shimmied out of it and took off my stockings. It was still a bit chilly in my apartment, and I immediately got under my comforter. “No, I took some time off.”
Honestly, I needed the time to clear my head, and working at the hospital, where my father had taken his last breaths, wasn’t something I was jumping back into right away.
“Good, good,” Lila replied. “You need to rest. How are the symptoms today?”
That was the last thing I wanted to focus on. For the past few weeks, I was getting daily cramps in my stomach and constantly woke up in a sweat but not before going to bed in a chill. I also had dizziness spells that occurred at inopportune times, like at work.
I didn’t have to go to the doctor. I was smart enough on my own to know what was going on, and it was one of the last things I’d spoken to my father about before he passed. I was running on borrowed time just as the ghoul shouted, and I wasn’t fully sure of what options I had left.
“It’s all still happening, and I don’t want to talk about it right now. Sorry,” I said in a thin voice. Emotions began to press on me like a heavy weight. I just needed to rest.
“Okay, just relax. I’m going to keep checking in on you whether you like it or not, so you better answer my calls.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Lila snorted, said goodbye, and then hung up.
I connected my phone to my charger on the nightstand. I left the light on in the hopes it would force me awake in a few hours, and then I wiggled further under the bedspread, closing my eyes.
Sleep came, thankfully, fast.
* * *
Something moved within my apartment.
Or maybe I just dreamed it. Either way, my eyes opened. I scanned my room in the darkness, noticing nothing out of place.
Wait, that wasn’t right. I had left my overhead light on when I’d fallen asleep, intending only to have a little nap. My clock read 3:00 a.m. The witching hour. Okay, that had to be a coincidence. But then, who the hell had turned my light off? Had I done it in my sleep?
An icy streak of fear ran down my spine. Someone was in my apartment, and they were messing with me. Of course, turning down my thermostat and my light weren’t the most offensive things to do, but still, I didn’t like uninvited strangers in my place.
Luckily, I was not a defenseless woman. I had magic, and if that somehow failed, I had a baseball bat. I hopped out of bed, pushing my magic to the tips of my fingers as I readied myself for an attack in my undies. “Whoever is in here, this is your warning to get the hell out before I set your ass on fire. You’re messing with the wrong witch!”
I expected— no, I hoped to hear scrambling feet and my front door open and close. I did not expect to see mere seconds later a tall figure appear in my darkened bedroom doorway. He had a solid build. But it wasn’t just his form that took my attention. It was his face and eyes. His eyes glowed red, and thin vein-like lines crisscrossed his face, the color of lava. Short horns protruded from the top of his head, and was that a tail flicking behind him?
Crap, I knew what he was.
I had a damn demon in my apartment.
And not just any demon, an alpha. His scent was overpowering, filling the room and my nostrils with the smell of earth and cinnamon. My mouth practically salivated. Stupid alphas tended to have that kind of effect on people. Especially certain kinds of people like omegas.
This was so not needed.
CHAPTER2
BILLIE
