Grandmama stirred. Her eyes opened. Elliot grabbed her hand, and she squeezed back. His magic sensed her pulse, felt the aliveness of her aura. The health of her powers.
Relieved tears sprang to his eyes.
“I knew you could do it,” Damon said. He put his hand on Elliot’s arm and pressed his chest into Elliot’s back.
Elliot turned, and not letting go of his grandmama’s hand, he buried his head into Damon’s neck and hugged him.
Damon rubbed his back, murmuring soft nothings until he settled.
Chapter Fourteen
Damon knew it was wrong. He knew it was toxic. But he’d overheard Grandmama tell Elliot it was okay that his magic only worked when Damon was around.
It’d been wrong to feel something like pleasure flip-flopping in his stomach. Elliot was upset about it. He thought he wasn’t a good witch. He’d blamed himself for Damon’s dad’s death.
But Damon liked that Elliot needed him.
It was wrong. Very wrong.
And Damon knew that Elliot’s magic didn’t actually need him. He was glad that was true, else Grandmama would be dead right now.
Still, that evil little voice in his head taunted him, now that things were weird between them, if Elliot’s magic didn’t need him, why would he keep him around?
Chapter Fifteen
Elliot and Damon tried to convince Grandmama that they could skip prom and stay with her, but she refused.
“I want you both to go,” she said, smiling. “I’m fine now. Go have fun. You only have one senior prom.”
They relented when Elliot’s parents came over and promised to watch over her for the rest of the day.
She got a scolding from Elliot’s dad for overworking herself at the clinic yesterday, but almost dying must have scared her as well because despite her dismissive attitude toward their fussing, she agreed to cut back her hours at the clinic now that Elliot was able to command his powers at will.
Which was how Elliot found himself standing in a park, trying not to sweat in his suit, as he watched Chelsea position Damon in front of one of the blooming flower trees.
Damon started making robot mouth sounds, acting like he was just a prop for Chelsea to move around as she pleased.
Chelsea playfully smacked his arm, laughing along with him. She fixed his tie and smoothed his jacket, then snuggled her body against his to pose for the cameras.
A hollow feeling permeated through Elliot. He was having a hard time getting into the prom mood.
He wouldn’t have been here if he wasn’t sure that Grandmama was okay, and if he were being honest, it wasn’t worries about her health that was leaving him feeling unmoored.
“Hey.” Madison walked up.
“Hey,” he said. “Are we getting more photos?”
“I think we’ve taken enough, don’t you?”
Elliot snorted. “Yeah, but I don’t think Chelsea would agree.” Madison and Elliot watched as Chelsea and Damon repositioned for another round of photos on the bridge.
Damon’s smile was huge, all bright-white teeth, happiness radiating from him. He could even pull off the ridiculous orange tie. The color brought out the depths of his warm brown eyes. Chelsea looked beautiful too. They looked good together. Like a real couple.
The hollow feeling thickened and turned darker. Would prom be the beginning of their official relationship? He knew that they’d messed around a few times, but he wasn’t sure how serious they were.
He didn’t want to know…except hedidwant to know.
“I know I made you put on that whole scene in school, but I’m not actually all that interested in being looked at,” Madison said.
