Page 85 of The Secret Life of a Witch

Peyton narrows her eyes and places her hands on her hips. “Since when are you Eva’s boss?”

“I’m not her boss.” He mirrors her glare. “There’s just some stuff going on that requires her to stay in the house. And Eva knows that. I’m not making her do anything.”

“Yeah, that’s why you have her locked up in the closet,” Peyton sneers. “You wizards are such control freaks.”

“I didn’t have her locked in the closet,” Hunter snaps. “We were hiding from a zombie.”

“Since when do wizards hide from zombies?” Peyton mocks. “I thought you were powerful and scared of nothing.”

“Stop repeating my brother’s words as if they were mine,” Hunter warns in a low tone. “I’m nothing like him. Not at all.”

I tense at the mention of Troy, Hunter’s older brother, who Peyton used to date until he broke her heart. Hunter has never been a fan of him, either, yet somehow namedropping him into their conversation always seems to cause a wizard versus vampire showdown.

“Usually you are, but right now, you look different …” She eyeballs him over. “Why’re you dressed up like you’re about to hit up the freak show? Because, FYI, it’s by invite only, and only freaks are invited.”

“This is how I always dress,” Hunter replies, annoyed. “And I’ve been invited to the freak shows before.”

Peyton rolls her heavily lined eyes. “I highly doubt that.”

“Who cares if you believe me or not?” He takes a step toward her and shoos her away. “Now, get going to your freak show. I’ve got more important stuff to worry about.” His voice lowers to a hushed whisper, and I can’t make out what he says.

“You’re missing a zombie?” Peyton questions curiously. “I thought you were just hiding from one.”

“How the hell did you hear me say that?” Hunter asks with a frown.

“She has vampire hearing,” I remind him. “She probably heard everything that’s been going on for the past hour.”

“Actually, now that you mention it, I did hear a lot of banging going on up here.” She throws Hunter a sassy smirk. “I just thought that was you screwing around with one of your skanky witches.”

“Hey,” I protest. “I take offense to that.”

“Why?” she asks. “You’re not a skank.”

“But I’m a witch.”Sort of.“And you thought I was letting Hunter mess around in my room with a skanky witch? What does that say about me?”

“You act like you wouldn’t let him,” she says with her brows lifted in insinuation. “But we both know you would. You let him get away with everything.”

“I …” I trail off, knowing she’s right. The old Evalee; the klutzy, ditzy, spasm of a witch who was in love with Hunter let him do whatever he wanted. “Well, I don’t anymore.” Then I push him aside, as if that somehow proves my point.

It really doesn’t, though, since he’s way stronger than me and barely budges.

I clear my throat. “Anyway, where did you want to take me?” I ask Peyton.

“To the freak show.” Then, with her vampire quickness, she captures my arm and yanks me away from Hunter before he can even achieve another blink. “Now, let’s find you an outfit.”

“No way.” He chases after us. “I already said she couldn’t leave the house.”

“You said, you said, you said.” She releases my arm as we stop in front of my dresser. “Tell me something, Hunter. Have you ever thought:hey, I wonder if some people don’t care what I have to say?Because if you haven’t, you probably should.” She opens the top dresser drawer and starts rummaging through my clothes. “It might change your entire outlook on life.”

“My outlook on life is fine,” he says flatly, moving up behind me. “And none of that even matters because this isn’t about me. It’s about keeping Eva safe. And to keep her safe, she needs to stay in this house.”

“Why?” Peyton asks.

“We have our reasons,” Hunter replies tightly.

“A reason that doesn’t have anything to do with your control freak issues?” Peyton questions while holding up a lacey camisole.

“Yes. I mean, no.” He huffs an aggravated breath. “I mean, I don’t have control issues.”

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