Page 28 of Spookily Yours

Yeah, well, maybe you don’t worry enough.

Nonsense. I just worry about the important things.

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, and Damien turned around to face me, raising an eyebrow. “What?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I… thought you said you couldn’t read my mind.”

“I can’t.” He looked confused for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“You’re joking, right?”I didn’t say that out loud. “And you answered me.”

He searched my face, and I wondered if he found whatever answer he was looking for there.

How come we can communicate with our minds?Silence was my only answer.

“Why did I think you were actually going to answer me?” I grumbled to myself. There were some witches who had… abilities, but nothing like this. It certainly wasn’t anythingI’dexperienced before. Even with Luna, sometimes it felt like I could anticipate what she was going to say before she said it. But she was my sister—myTwin Flame. Of course, I was in tune with her feelings.

None of that explained this.

I started moving again, my demon-cat-turned-human matching my pace, stride for stride.

“No one’s ever come with me to the festival before,” I admitted, my voice low. “I don’t know what they’ll think.”

“Your friends?”

I nodded. “And my coven.”

“Right.” He winced, as if it was a sudden reminder of our standings in this town. That I was a witch, and he was ademon. “And why can’t we tell them the truth?”

My jaw fell open in shock. “No one’s going to believe that.” Watching to make sure I didn’t step on any cracks on the pavement—definitely not because I was avoiding watching his face—I continued on. “Besides. One witch already cursed you. My kind… they don’t trust demons. I’m not sure I’ll be able to fix it if it happens again. Do you really want to advertise who you are?”

“You’re not going to tell your sister?”

“No.”

“But aren’t you… close? She even came over to check on you yesterday.” He frowned.

She normally came over a few times throughout the week. It was her old house too, after all. And we worked together.

What would I say when she inevitably asked me whyDamienthe cat was gone andDamienthe not-human was strolling around our town with me?

“We can be close and still keep secrets from each other. Important secrets. Don’t you have them with your siblings?”

His voice was quiet, withdrawn. “I’ve never really had anything to hide. My brother…” Damien shook his head. “It’s not like that. My life’s never really beenmy own.” When I looked over at him, he’d focused his eyes on a distant spot in the background.

“Oh.” That sounded… sad. And lonely. Suddenly, a lot of things made sense to me about him. Why he didn’t seem to want to leave my side, and why he was in no rush to go back to the demon realm. He said he had unfinished business here, didn’t he? Was it presumptuous of me to hope that it was justme?

Was I the first friend he’d ever had? It seemed strange to call him that, since I’d known him less than a week, but it felt right. Better than strangers.

A thought occurred to me, and I let it slip out before thinking better of it. “How old are you?”

“Two hundred and eighty-seven.”

“What?” I hadn’t expected that.

“Aging works differently in the demon realm.” He shrugged. “In human terms, I’m not even close to middle-aged yet.”

“Wow. I can’t even imagine living that long.”

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