Page 65 of Wicching Hour

“You’ll meet him soon and he’ll help you find your power,” she tells me.

I give her my best puppy eyes and a hug. The aunts and uncles all think I’m a little doll, so I use it whenever I can. I may not be able to do all the spells stupid Serena can, but she still gets yelled at when I screw up. How could she have let poor little me handle that problem all by myself? It’s hard not to laugh when she gets yelled at for something I did.

I whisper in Aunt Abigail’s ear, “Will I be as powerful as Arwyn?”

She scoffs. “She’s a freak, little one. An abomination. She’s not even a true Corey wicche. No one knows who her father is. We’re not even allowed to ask,” she whispers with an eye roll. “I’m sure he’s strong, but I doubt he’s a wicche. Have you noticed those scales on her leg?”

I nod my head, eyes wide. “Is her daddy a snake?”

Aunt Abigail laughs. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Don’t worry about her. It’s pure-blooded wicches who have the real power. I’ll talk to Gran and Sylvia, see if I can begin private tutoring sessions with you.”

I hug her again and mean it this time. “I knew I was special.”

Knocking startled me awake, but I was okay with that. I had no desire to spend more time with Abigail and Cal. They worked with demons, but I was the abomination. Yeah, okay.

I reached for my phone to see the time. Too early. More knocking. Ugh. Flicking my fingers, I opened the shutters and then was blinking against the sudden light.

I dragged myself to my feet and went to the door. Osso stared in the window, trying to see me. As my windows were spelled against snoops, he was out of luck. When I reached for the door, he relaxed. He might not have been able to see me, but he could hear me.

“Good morning, detective,” I said, trying my best to sound well-rested and alert.

“You look like hell,” he grumbled as he walked by me. “No sleep?”

“Always the charmer, aren’t you? And I was sleeping before you so rudely woke me up.”

He glanced around at the worktable and the couch. “You’re the one who wanted me to stop by before work.” When I stared at him blankly, he added, “Poison.”

“Oh, shit. That’s right. It’s been a long night.” I’d meant to copy the camera footage into a folder for him before he arrived.

Osso turned back toward the deck. “Sounds like Declan.”

A moment later, Declan strode into view. He raised a hand to knock, but I called out, “Come in.”

When I met him at the door, he wrapped his arms around me and lifted me into the air so he could kiss me more easily. Declan’s kisses were magical.

When we broke apart, he looked over my shoulder. “Did you know that Osso was raiding your honey jars?”

Squawking, I made Declan put me down. “What the hell?”

“What do you meanwhat the hell?” Osso grumbled, eating a heaping spoonful of honey. “You call me at home last night. You ask me to see you this morning, and then you’re oversleeping and making out. Why do I have to be here for this?” He put the spoon back in for more honey.

“You did that on purpose! You knew you were contaminating the honey and that I’d end up giving you the jar. Well.” I flicked my fingers, and the jar disappeared. “Now no one gets honey.”

The bear’s growl was deep and very loud.

Declan moved in behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “You should probably give him back his honey.”

“It’smyhoney.” When Osso’s growl got louder, I flicked my fingers and returned it, mumbling, “Big baby.”

Holding the returned jar closer to his chest, he eyed me warily. Finally, he pulled out his phone, hit the voice memo app, tapped record, and placed it on the coffee table. “Start at the beginning and tell me what’s been going on with this guy.”

So I did. I had to leave some magical things out of the official report, but when I did, I wiggled my fingers so he’d know there was more to the story. After that, I launched into the story of my stalker. When I got to the podcast and last night’s spy camera, Declan’s grip on me tightened.

Osso paced around the room as I spoke, finally stopping as the story wound down. Tapping his phone, he closed the app and returned his phone to his pocket. “Fuck,” he grumbled. “Now tell me all the parts you left out.”

I grabbed my laptop, sat back down on the couch with Declan, and filled in the magical bits while I hunted up footage of the stalker and the poisoner for him.

“An octopus?” he asked, shaking his head. “An octopus took out the camera?”

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