“Alright. I’m out. Text me later. I promised my aunt I would help her run circle tonight,” Luna said, standing up and taking her drink with her.
I stood up, too, giving her a hug goodbye before slinging my bag over my shoulder.
“Okay. Text you in two seconds,” I said, and she grinned at me.
“You better.” And then we parted ways, and I made my way home.
Harper left the cafe patio and headed in the direction of her house. I took off to follow, keeping a close eye on her while enjoying the way my wings cut through the warm afternoon air.
I hadn’t seen Shemhazai since the night he’d used the elixir on me, but his absence wasn’t a surprise. This was pretty typical of him.
He would be back eventually. Chasing him down would just drive him further away. He needed to come back to me on his own terms.
I knew this, but it still stung. While he’d been gone, I’d disposed of George’s body and taken over watching Harper, who we were both sure was actually Hecate with altered memories.
She was feisty and funny, and I had to admit I liked her. She actually reminded me of Shemhazai a lot, with her quick wit and the fierce sense of loyalty she seemed to have for her friends.
Who Ididn’tlike so much were her two twin brothers. There had been a few times they had interrupted Harper and my little evening conversations, growling and snarling at me to stay away from their sister.
It was amusing that they thought they could truly be a threat to me. If anything, their hostility just spurred me on more.
I knew after what had happened with Shemhazai I needed to come up with a grand gesture of sorts, and I was beginning to think I had an idea of what I could do to win him back.
However, my plan would take some finesse, and I had been biding my time. Waiting for the perfect moment to swoop in and get close enough to Harper to put my plan into motion.
It would seem that luck was on my side today as I followed Harper into Charter Street Cemetery on her way home.
I felt Axel before I saw him. He was waiting for her in the center of the cemetery, and to her credit, she noticed him right away. I landed behind a nearby tree and shifted into my human form, grateful that it was late enough on a weeknight that the place was essentially deserted. Just me, Harper, and this Axel dude.
I’d noticed that Harper’s two brothers had a strange way of showing upconvenientlywhenever she was in the least bit of trouble.
I was honestly surprised they hadn’t appeared at the cafe to scare away those two bitchy girls that had appeared to give her friend a hard time.
Remembering how Shemhazai used air quotes in reference to Harper’s older siblings, I was beginning to suspect that they weren’t her brothers at all but her guardians, hiding in plain sight.
I would need to get them out of my way first for everything to go smoothly.
For my plan to work, I needed Harper alone, far away from her home, as I had learned that I couldn’t cross onto her property without an invitation.
Good witches usually warded their homes against malevolent beings, such as myself, and of course, the Bishop’s house was no exception. I’d hoped that maybe they had a welcome mat or something of that nature that I could have used as an‘implied’invitation, but of course, a practicing witch like Harper knew better than that.
The mat at her front door literally said: fuck off.
I watched as Harper approached Axel, her entire body tensing as he turned to face her, a sinister smile curling on his lips.
I narrowed my eyes. For all my time stalking Harper, I hadn’t been able to really look into this guy and what his deal was. I still didn’t get what his connection was to this church that had sprung up out of nowhere.Frankly, I didn’t get why the god of war would want anything to do with a church dedicated to Yahweh.
It wasn’t like Yahweh could reap the benefits of any churches built in his name at this moment. He was still crucified to one of his own crosses in Heaven and being bled dry.
Once I had Harper under control, I would deal with this new threat, but until then, Axel was the perfect red herring for me to hide behind.
In the last few days, I’d been able to build a solid repertoire with Harper. She wasn’t a naturally trusting person, and she seemed to especially distrust men. However, slowly, she started to come around to me.
I was good at appearing harmless and good-natured. I wasn’t loud or boastful, and I was an excellent listener. These were all traits that tended to make people like you, and Harper was no exception.
After the first few encounters, she had begun to greet me on her own, and now she was the one who often initiated conversation, which was perfect.
Now, when I swept in to help her in her time of need, she wouldn’t think twice about trusting me and would fall right into my arms.
