I hear his words but panic and logical sense battle over what’s going on. Pulling my hands away from my eyes, I brandish them in front of me to warn him back. “Your kind?”
I couldn’t have summoned him.
“Yes, my kind. Shouldn’t you know this? I’m here because of you. But… help me and I may answer more of your questions.”
“How do Ihelpyou? And I sure as hell didn’t summon you!” I’m not that kind of witch—I’m not even a witch!—let alone have that kind of power. I squint, trying to get a good look at him again, but the water only obscures things further. I feel wet from my shins down, but I push the odd sensation away as a side effect of whatever is happening here.
Freezing, I hesitate, realizing if he’s speaking the truth, then he’s a…
“Demon,” I whisper under my breath, my hands back at my eyes to try and clear them.
“I do not know what you speak of, human, but I am not whom you think you are referring to. I am going to die without your help. I need water!”
“Die?” Demons don’t die. “Who are you then? Why can’t I leave the circle?” I swipe my face furiously, feeling my skin become increasingly raw. “How are you dying?” God, I hear my mom’s voice coming out of me. “Why the hell won’t my eyes stop?!”
“Help me first,” he demands.
“Help you? I can’t even help myself!” I drop my hands again.
Screw this. I turn and charge out of the circle.
My foot is barely hovering over the reddest part of the remaining outline when I’m launched straight back into the middle. This time the sneeze overtakes me midway, and as I try to catch my body from falling to the ground, something swoops in front and around me. The demon!
Grabbing me, he hauls me down upon him and cushions my fall. I’m too overcome by shock to react at first, but the smell of something wet yet… enticing, touched by the lemon carpet wash, hits me, making my entire body squirm inward. Feeling a strange, unknown man’s naked body against mine…
He’s definitely not aman.
Men don’t have tails.
Caught between what I think is his torso and the tail, I blink the water from my eyes, frantically using my hands to push off and away from him. “Let me go! Let me go!”What is he!?
“Please, I need your help.” His voice is softer than before, abruptly dark and luxurious sounding, throwing me off guard. “I do not aim to harm you. I believe we are both… confused by my being here.”
“Then remove your big slimy fishtail thing and release me!” Because whatever has me is wet and silky, his body smooth, slick, and velvety under mine. The water from my eyes drips on him, all over my hands, adding to the wetness, and I slip pushing off of him.
He lets out a grunt when I land on something hard and bulging.
The tail lets me go and I lurch back on my hands and crawl away. Putting as much distance between us as possible, I swear I see a grin on his face before my eyes are overtaken by more tears.
“You are released. Now that I have given you what you wanted, you must give me what I want in return.”
“And what is that? I never agreed to that,” I blurt out before thinking, scared and deeply regretful that I texted Mom I didn’t need her help to clean the house. I’m on my own in this until I can find a way to get out of the remnants of the summoning circle. “Never mind you’re dying and I’m trapped, how can I possibly help you?”
“That’s right, I’mdyyyying.”
Rubbing my sore eyes, I try for another look at him once more, to no avail. Frustrated, I run my teeth across my lower lip and pull it in. “I don’t care either way. If I help you, what do I get if we’re talking exchanges? My freedom?”
“That’s better. You’re getting it, little witch. I like that. I like you. Everything should always be an exchange. It’s funner that way, I think. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“I’m indifferent,” I snap.
“Is that so?”
I gape, astounded he could be so cool about all of this, especially if he is what I think he is. He’s just as trapped as I am if I really did summon him. “I don’t need to have an opinion on everything. I want out of this circle, and you out of the house and my life, that’s what I want. And for none of this to have ever happened!” Now that I know the long lower dark half of him is a tail, I catch glimpses of his large fins, recognizing them despite the blurriness.And with the mention of water sigils…
“That’s all? Surely you can do better than that.”
My brow furrows and water streams down my face. “Anything?”
