Page 37 of She is the Darke

She inhaled deeply and nodded. “You can go up and look.”

He pulled her in and kissed her forehead, then sauntered over to a ladder that was leaned against the wall. He dragged it over to where her nest was hidden, on top of the shelves in the darkest corner.

He climbed the ladder easily, and she closed her eyes against the tingling that consumed her skin; that said the animal needed out.

Everything was okay.

She shed the blanket and let the crow have her skin. It always hurt, but it was a fast pain—like a bolt of lightning through her system, and then it was done and she was airborne.

She flapped her wings hard and flew up toward her nest. She landed in it and watched his face, ready for the disgust she would probably see there.

He crouched by her enormous nest of twigs and trinkets and feathers, eyes locked on her.

Tyler didn’t look disgusted at all. In fact, a small smile tugged at his lips.

He sat next to the nest and leaned back against the wall, studying the bed she sometimes slept in when the human side of her life was too overwhelming and she needed extra time in this form.

“I love it,” he murmured. He reached for her, his knuckles out like he wanted to pet her feathers.

She snapped her beak at him, and he flinched back.

She cawed a laugh.Caw, caw, caw.And then she hopped over to him and got still so he could feel her feathers.

“Jerk,” he muttered through a chuckle.

He tried again, and brushed his knuckles gently down the length of her back. She was four times the size of a normal crow, but he seemed to be okay being this close to her.

She’d shown him her nest, and he wasn’t running.

She’d shown him her crow, and he was still here, relaxed, seemingly content to just exist in the midst of her secret hoard.

He was seeing the real her, and he was okay with it.

“I think we should bring the glitter-bats into your house. Maybe some of the plastic headstones for your mantle. Definitely some of the spooky pictures.” He talked to her easily, making plans to decorate her home. She loved this.

Making happy little guttural crow-sounds, she sidestepped closer to him and listened intently.

Never in a million years had she ever planned on showing anyone this side of her, and especially not Tyler Durock—but so far, she had no regrets.

It was nice to finally,finallyfeel truly seen by someone.

Chapter Eleven

October 29th

Two days from now, it would be her favorite holiday.

She stood in the middle of the street and scanned the houses she’d done on both sides. This might be her most inspired year ever. The interiors were just as warm and inviting, and tastefully spooky.

In two days, hundreds of people would be touring these houses, parking in a big side lot, bringing their kids to trick-or-treat in one of the best Halloween-themed neighborhoods in the state.

The yards were adorned with extravagant skeleton and vampire décor, haunted graveyards, and enormous webs hanging from towering trees with mechanical spiders that would drop down when anyone got close enough to the motion sensors. Every yard was different, and over the top in the best way.

Danielle hadn’t done many of the houses on this part of the street, so it’s where Demi had decided to come and take promotional pictures for her flyers and website for next year.

She felt a sense of accomplishment. Danielle had put a huge dent in her business. At times, Demi had been working scared, nervous that she wouldn’t make enough to pay her property taxes and the yearly rent for her warehouse. The rest of the year she coasted, making her income from the pumpkin patch that they would shift over to a Christmas-tree farm in a week’s time, and then the growing season in between. It was tulips in the summer, and a fruit farm where families could pick their own berries. But this seasonal job? This was where she felt alive, and like her exact self. She enjoyed the creative process so much.

She wished Halloween could last all year round.

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