Page 54 of Midnight Enchantment

“Is it for sale?”

“Yes. But only because it is no good to me.”

“How much are you asking?”

“Five thousand dollars, cash.”

“Five thousand! For a book I may not be able to open?”

The witch shrugged.

“Very well.” Turning away from the woman, Ava whispered a summoning spell. Within moments, the cash was in her hand. She offered it to the witch.

The woman took it and ran her hands over the greenbacks. Nodding, she handed Ava the book. “I wish you good fortune.”

“Thank you.” Heat crawled up Ava’s arm as her fingers curled about the black book. “I think I’ll need it.”

Slipping the mysterious book into her handbag, Ava left the shop.

Lily had just finished a cup of green tea sweetened with honey when she went cold all over. Her skin prickled. Her stomach clenched with fear. Alarmed, she lurched to her feet as Ava stepped into the kitchen.

“What is it?” Ava asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Something’s wrong. What evil have you brought home with you?”

“You can feel it?”

“Whatever it is, get it out of here.”

Reaching into her handbag, Ava withdrew the black book and placed it on the table.

Lily felt a chill when looked saw it. “What is that?”

“I’m hoping it holds the answer to destroying the demon.”

Lily stared at the book as if it was a bomb about to go off. There was no title on the cover. No decoration. Nothing at all. “Where on earth did you find it?”

“A little shop on Bourbon Street, one I’ve never noticed before.” Ava quickly relayed her visit with the witch.

“Why couldn’t she open it?” Lily asked.

Ava shrugged. “I have no idea. And no idea if I’ll be able to open it, either.”

“You spent five thousand dollars on a book and you don’t even know if you can read it?

Ava shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I’m a little afraid to try.”

“I don’t blame you.” Lily reached out a tentative finger, poked the book, and quickly withdrew her hand as power raced up her arm. “I don’t think you should keep that thing in the house. And since Raedan is no longer part of my life,” she said glumly, “I don’t think we need it at all.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Raedan rose with the setting of the sun, his whole being tense as he sensed the black magic emanating from within Ava’s house.

Curious, he prowled the darkness. In Savaria, he had made the decision to leave Liliana. Although the thought of never being with her again was almost beyond bearing, it was the right thing to do. The demon had been teasing and taunting him, urging him to give in to his vampire nature and devour her blood and her life and move on. He had tossed his cell phone in a dumpster to keep from calling her, had closed the blood link between them. But he didn’t need it to find her. The demon could locate her easily enough.

Try as he might, he couldn’t stay away from the house where she resided. He needed to feel her presence, inhale her familiar scent, listen to the sound of her breathing, hear her voice as she spoke to Ava. By day, he rested in the earth in the witch’s backyard; by night, he left long enough to feed and then he returned to Ava’s, his presence masked from one and all.

He frowned into the night. What the hell was causing that insidious, dark miasma that hovered over the house?

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