I flick my fingers against her forehead. “Go do literally anything else.”
She straightens and kicks the leg of my chair. “Fine. Be all mysterious and stuff. But if Emery walks in here later with hickeys on her?—”
“Out.” My voice rattles the walls.
Lucy raises her hands in surrender, grin wide. “Oooh. Protective. Gross. I love it.”
She finally disappears into the front room, humming obnoxiously off-key. I exhale slowly, silently shaking with laughter I can’t let Lucy hear, otherwise she’ll never stop tormenting me today. I rub my eyes hard enough to spark lights behind them.
This might end up being the longest day ever.
Not because of the intricate back piece I’m inking. Because in every moment of quiet I have, I’ll be replaying the feel of Emery’s body against mine. Or catching her scent on my shirt. Wanting to hear her voice, her laugh, feel her lips on me again.
My phone buzzes. I pull it out. A picture of Emery smiling on the front porch of the inn fills my screen.
Made it here in one piece. Showering, then breakfast.
I should get groceries so I can make her breakfast tomorrow morning.
I text back:Good girl.
She responds with a heart eyes emoji.
My pulse kicks like she reached through the screen and touched me.
Lucy’s right about one thing—I feel lighter today. That’s Emery’s doing. She brightens everything without even trying.
Which means when the darkness returns, it’ll crush me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Emery
Steam curlsaround me while the water beats down, loosening muscles I didn’t know I’d used last night. Every time I blink, I see Declan’s mouth on my skin. Feel his hands on my body.
Fantastic.
Now I need acoldshower instead of ahotone.
The mark on my arm is fainter than I’ve seen it since it appeared. It’s barely a dull warmth under my skin. Is it because Declan and I aren’t together? Because weweretogether last night? Or is the curse trying to trick me?
I lather my hands and scrub the mark until my arm stings.
Still there.
I turn off the water, wrap myself in a towel, and comb detangler through my hair.
Wren.I need to call her. She sent me a dozen texts last night, then tried to call this morning. Her next step will be filing a missing person report.
I flop onto the bed with my phone. Should I tell her about Declan? We usually share all sorts of details about guys we’re seeing. But this feels different.
Before I can lose my nerve, I hit Wren’s name.
She answers on the second ring. “Em? I’ve been freaking out. Everything okay?”
“More than okay,” I gush, then stop myself.
“Whoa.” She laughs. “Does that mean you actually found evidence of this curse?”
