Page 26 of Spookily Yours

His soothing voice shook me from my inane thoughts. “So, you normally walk into town?”

“Huh?” I wasn’t expecting the question. Or, rather, I wasn’t expecting small talk at all. Once I’d processed his question, I nodded. “When the weather's nice. It’s not very far, and I always love walking this path.”

It was one perk of living in such a small community—being able to walk almost everywhere. Ihada car, but I didn’t use it unless I had to drive all the way to the other end of town. Mainly, I drove when I needed to go into the closest human city for something, like getting our coffee machines repaired.

Today, the air was crisp and clear, just a hint of rain that clung around, and it relaxed me. That and the crunch of the leaves littered on the ground made for the perfect fall day.

“I see.” Damien shoved his hands in his pockets, and I turned away, not wanting to look like I was still staring at his face. Even if I was obsessed with it.

I hummed in response, thinking about what I was going to say to Luna when I stopped at the bakery. ‘I’m sorry’didn’t quite cut it, but I owed my sister an apology after I’d ditched her so much these past few days.

Besides, I still owed her that trip to the bar.

“So you like it here, living in this town?” He looked around, surveying the houses that sat right at the edge of downtown. Main Street, full of small businesses and cornerstone witchy establishments, was only a block away.

Nodding, I tried to look at the town through the eyes of a stranger. Wondering what this place might look like to someone new. “I’ve lived here all my life. My coven and I grew up together. Most of us only left for college, and even then, we moved back. It’s hard being a witch and not living in the community.”

There was too much at stake. And no one would understand—except I thought Damien might. Not being able to practice magic, for fear of someone seeing you—that was the true curse of the outside world. Maybe a higher education wasn’tnecessary—several of the witches I’d grown up with had simply learned their family’s trade and never left town.

But I’d appreciated the world-view I’d gained by going into the human world for those years. It was before my parents had died, so I hadn’t felt as bad about leaving Luna. But now… I couldn’t imagine not being by her side.

“All my best friends are in the coven,” I continued. “There’s thirteen of us, and they’re practically family.”

It was a perfect number: thirteen. My mom and her friends had all belonged to a smaller coven, and all ended up having kids during the same few years. There had never been another idea when it came time to form ours.

The humans had Girl Scout Troops, and we had our coven. We learned magic together, practiced together, discovered what our innate gifts were together. I’d never once taken them for granted. And I’d always had my sister—even with the three years between us, she was still my best friend—by my side.

“What about your parents? Where are they at?”

I cast my gaze to my feet, my voice growing smaller. “They’re gone.” Sometimes, I wished I could imagine that they were just off on vacation. Seeing the world. Enjoying themselves. That was easier than the reality.

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

Shaking my head, I willed myself not to look at him. If I did, I’d probably cry. And I didn’t want to mourn my parents. Not today. I just wanted to enjoy myself for once.

Pasting a somber smile on my face, I watched as my town came into full view. And I let the jack-o’-lanterns, paper ghosts, and string lights distract me from the rest of the thoughts rattling around in my mind.

Like the subject of my once-cat-turned-demon, followed by the man himself. The stranger, I tried to remind myself—who was currently walking beside me.

I kept my eyes pinned to the ground, trying to force myself not to keep from staring at his face. At the eyes I knew he’d changed to a deep-chocolate brown, which somehow seemed endless. Like if I stared into them long enough, I could find answers to questions I hadn’t even thought to ask yet.

At least he didn’t look like a demon, even if he still stood taller than any human man I’d ever seen, and the physique his body sported wasunreal. He was a foot taller than me, and even with my heeled boots, I still felt impossibly short.

Something I was trying very hard not to focus on. There was no reason for me to think about it—how good he looked, simply strolling down the street beside me.

But even as I crunched over leaves in my heeled booties—I knew there was no way to ignore the way I couldfeelhim next to me.

How was it possible that I could find his very nearness so comforting after only a few days? He was a stranger to me, in every way, and yet it felt like there was nowhere else I would rather be.

I cleared my throat. “After I help out at the bakery for a bit, I was thinking I could show you around town. And then tonight, if you wanted to go… there’s the Pumpkin Festival.” I looked up at him under my lashes.

“The Pumpkin Festival?” Damien raised an eyebrow, shaking his head in amusement.

“Mhm. We normally have a booth, serving pumpkin hot chocolate, pumpkin coffee, and Luna’s famous cookies.”

“Let me guess, they’re pumpkin too?”

I couldn’t help the giggle that slipped out. “Yes. But also, she makes regular sugar cookies too—those are just pumpkin shaped.” I was almost drooling, just thinking about her cookies. Not a single person in town could bake like my sister. “There’s also a pumpkin patch, hayrides, a pie-eating contest, and at the end of the night there’s a…”

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