Page 77 of Sigils & Spells

“I love you,” he said.

When he tipped his face to kiss me, I stared wide eyed at him.

“You what?” I pushed him back.

The rain eased, and we mostly dripped at each other.

“I love you, you little witch. You turned and walked out my door, and I saw the ghosts of our life together leave with you, echoes of our children and pets. You walked out my door, and happiness and meaning walked right behind you.”

I was crying again. I gulped and tried to pull him closer. The stupid big chicken was between us.

Merle pushed the rooster out of my lap. “The only cock I want to come between us is mine.”

I launched myself into his arms. We fell over onto the wet walkway. He rolled until I was on top of his chest and looking down into his face.

“I love you. I don’t deserve you. You know me better than I know myself. You figured it out, and you came to help when it wasn’t your problem.” He kept trying to hook my wet hair behind one of my ears, but it just kept falling forward. “I wouldn’t have been able to pull on the powers I needed to rip the demon out of Ramsey without you.”

“Did you do it? Did you free him from the demon or simply send him away?”

“He tried to hurt you. I no longer cared if I killed Ramsey in the process. It worked. With your help, the demon was destroyed.” The Adam’s apple in Merle’s throat bobbed as he swallowed.

“You think a little demonic possession is going to scare me away?” I smiled at him. He smiled back. His features softened when he smiled. He had a breathtaking smile. I thought he was painfully handsome when he brooded and glowered. A stern look from Merle made my insides tingle, but his smile melted me. “When you said you saw echoes of our children, did you mean it?”

He nodded. “I meant it. I saw all the possibilities of happiness with you, and I realized I was going to lose all of it.”

“You haven’t lost anything.”

“You’re right here, aren’t you?”

I leaned down to kiss Merle and was cock blocked by that over-sized, pitifully scared chicken. Dripping with rain, the big Brahma stuck his face in between ours and made mournful noises.

“I have hot tea and towels inside,” Merle said with a defeated sigh.

“Yeah, we had better get out of the rain.”

A car stopped on the side of the road. I recognized it. Darren. The tinted window lowered, revealing a little old lady. Nan Weiss. I hadn’t expected to see her.

“And I always thought ‘too dumb to get in out of the rain’ was reserved for the chickens.” She clucked her tongue and shook her head.

“Get a room, why don’t you?” I could hear Darren laughing as the window went back up and the car pulled away from the curb.

I started laughing too. Merle rolled me away, and we managed to get to our feet.

“Upstairs,” he demanded.

I left damp finger marks on the wood paneling on the way as I let him lead me back to his apartment. And his bedroom.

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