“Will he help you find who hurt my dad?”
I gave him a look. “Um, excuse me. I don’t need his help. I’m an asskicker.”
Both boys laughed, and Gemma stepped forward. “Right. To bed, both of you.”
I watched as they negotiated, finally agreeing to go to bed in exchange for chocolate chip cookies in the morning. Witches filed out of the living room, shooting me wide-eyed looks, and a vicious headache took up residence in my left temple.
“Dani?”
“Yeah.”
Evie slumped on the sofa the gnomes had just vacated. “You almost died.”
“I told you that when I visited a few weeks ago.”
“Hearing it is different from seeing it. What are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to protect the kids, find out who hurt Gary, kill them, discover who leaked this video, kill them too, and find a new job.”
Evie blinked at me. Then she laughed. “At least you have a plan. Can I help?”
“Keep the kids safe. Listen to them when they think the adults aren’t listening. If they remember anything about whoever attacked Gary, call me. No matter what time it is. Even if it’s something small like the sound of his voice or the way he said a particular word.”
Evie nodded. “Want to stay here?”
I perused the living room. It was empty now, but a few minutes ago, it’d been full of witches who’d just seen me help a demon slaughter another coven. If I stayed here, someone was likely to wait until I fell asleep and then try to smother me with my own pillow.
“Maybe another time. I need to feed my cat.”
Awkward silence stretched between us. She cleared her throat and leaned against an overstuffed armchair. “I know you hate the coven, Dani. But they were my only family.”
Fury burned through me. “I was your family!”
“You were gone. I was a kid.” She sighed and ran her hand through her long hair. “Gemma was there when I got my first period. Noelle bought me chocolate when my first boyfriend broke my heart. Ainsley taught me how to ward.”
“Because you didn’t want anything to do with me.”
She shook her head, and it was my turn to sigh. We weren’t going to get anywhere tonight. Both of us were too tired. Too resentful.
“Let’s talk about this another time,” I said.
“Yeah. Another time.”
5
Danica
Icouldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see that expression on Samael’s face. He had no right to look at me that way– his killing-spree expression tempered with a kind of reluctant tenderness.
I hadn’t seen it at the time– I’d been too busy staying alive. But watching him on that screen tonight had made my head ache with confusion.
Lia let out a displeased meow as I flipped onto my side again. I’d rescued the kitten from a flooding gutter, and now I spent my few moments of free time fretting over how I was a bad cat mom.
Parenthood, yo.
“Sorry,” I told her. “Don’t blame me. Blame that big, dumb demon.”
I scowled. Ultimately, it didn’t matterhowSamael looked at me. He’d refused to remove the bond, and even if he’d left me to my own devices for the past month, the fact remained that if he wanted, he could make me do anything he pleased. That thought hung over my head like a guillotine, ensuring I woke up in a panicked sweat at least a few times each week.
