Page 9 of Resting Witch Face
Sissily was already grabbing books by the armful and shoving them haphazardly wherever she found space. I almost laughed at the idea of someone coming to find incantations and ending up with a demon summoning circle. I didn’t say anything though, just followed her lead and stuffed texts wherever I could place them.
“And don’t think I’ll forget about River and what happened here,” my friend informed me evenly. “I want to know every word he said while we are scrubbing gore from floors.” She shivered, and I burst out laughing.
“Nothing really, apart from just coming here to take up space for no reason.”
“Well, he did look like you kicked his puppy when I passed him in the hallway.” She was staring at the books in her hands, but I could tell she was watching me like a hawk. A sensation I didn’t want to examine too closely stirred inside me, and I stomped on it before it grew to the point I had to acknowledge it. I didn’t answer my friend, instead pretending I was hurrying to finish up lining the ancient texts. Her noncommittal hum spoke volumes, though. Sissily was a glass half full type of a person, unlike me. I just dumped whatever was in it and crushed the glass under my foot. She wouldn’t understand, even if I tried to explain it.
River Blackman was the enemy.
He just didn’t know it yet.
5
Iwas tired to my bone marrow when I finally dragged myself home. The keys dangled in my fingers, and it took great effort to lock the car as I climbed up the few stairs leading to the wrap-around porch of my house. Well, Danika’s house, where I sort of existed, much like a piece of furniture placed in a corner that you know was there but you rarely looked at it. Just how I liked it. She was under the impression it was too dangerous for me to live alone, and after a few attacks, I agreed.
Now we just were.
My grandmother minded her own business, and I did the same.
Match made in heaven.
The front door loomed in front of me, inviting and promising a warm bed where I could curl up and rest my aching muscles. Its proximity gave me a boost of energy I didn’t know I had, and I almost tripped in my haste to get to it when Davon spoke from the path behind me.
“Hazel, do you have a minute?” By the time I managed to turn, he was already standing at the bottom of the stairs with his head tilted up to lock eyes with me.
Lesson number three: never tell a guy where you live so you don’t have to deal with stupid shit.
“No, I don’t, but I can tell that won’t stop you from speaking your peace, so let’s get on with it.” The human didn’t miss my wince when I shuffled to the side and leaned on the railing.
“Are you okay?” Whatever else he was about to say trailed off when my hand slammed the air between us.
“Stop right there. This is not a social visit, so move to the important stuff, mkay?” Davon seemed put out, but I couldn’t care less.
The moment he told me I should just register myself as a human instead of a witch since I had no magic, and when he laughed about my explanation why I couldn’t, we were done. There was nothing to say anymore. He should’ve left it at that. Not that Davon was a bad guy, per se. The cop was nicely built with a swimmer’s body, and he had a handsome face to match. The dark waves of his hair were cut military-style short, and the shadow darkening his square jaw complimented the light blue of his eyes. He just couldn’t understand why I was stuck in my own world and couldn’t all of a sudden jump ship and decide I was a human.
What he didn’t know, and never would, was the fact that I actually considered it and went as far as suggesting it to my grandmother. My humble offer was received as well as an ex you wanted to murder showing up at your wedding reception just when you were about to seal the union with a kiss. Danika was also kind enough to tell me that, until that moment, she never thought I’d be the ruin of our bloodline, magic or not. It still smarted just remembering the disappointment on her face and in the tone of her voice. All that was not Davon’s fault, but I was hurting and needed someone to blame. He drew the short end of the stick since it was his idea in the first place.
“What exactly happened in that warehouse a couple of days ago, Hazel?” The worried glint in his gaze was replaced with detached coldness, which would’ve bothered me once upon a time, but not anymore.
“I was drunk and chased a dog to the warehouse. It turns out it was a racoon, go figure.” A sharp pain cramped the muscles of my shoulders when I tried to shrug. I’d never scrub melted wax from alters again, even if Danika killed me. That shit did not come off, and I had a broken nail and chipped nail polish to prove it.
“You are lying.” Davon bared his teeth at me in annoyance, telling me that this conversation would not be ending soon.
On a heavy sigh, I dragged myself to the swing on the porch because I needed to sit, or I’d keel over. Those were my only options. Soft cushions cradled me when I plopped on it, the swing rocking back and forth from my weight as I watched Davon come up the stairs to join me. It brought back a memory when we used to sit in this same spot with me curled on his chest and his arms wrapped around me while the air around us filled with the scent of herbs and night blooming jasmine. Everything was the same, only the two of us were different.
“First, I’d think twice before calling me a liar.” He didn’t join me on the swing, opting to lean his butt on the railing, and I didn’t invite him. “Second, I’d go with what I just told you because you are not going to get a different answer. Not now, not ever.”
The house was silent and dark, all four stories looming over us. Danika must’ve stayed late in the coven, and Davon was ruining my chances of escaping her by staring at me through narrowed eyes. Stupidly, I shared a few things with him that I shouldn’t have, and this was what I got in return. A human cop interrogating me in front of my damn house.
“Today is the first day I actually know what I’m doing, Hazel,” Davon hissed at me. “Two days. Two fucking days are missing from my memories.”
I flinched at the venom in his tone.
It slipped once that some witches could alter memories when we had random conversations while enjoying each other’s company. As I’d always said, Davon was a good cop, and he paid attention to things that would never cross my mind. He was attentive, and I knew it’d bite me in the ass eventually. I had to get him off my porch before my grandmother showed up, otherwise he might be missing more than two days.
“Have you ever known me to lie to you so I could manipulate you or harm you in any way?”
“You mean apart from the bullshit you fed me when you dumped me?” He looked sinister when he pushed off of the railing with the lamps illuminating him at his back and hiding his features. He was just a dark shadow staring down at my upturned face. I said nothing until he snorted and shook his head. “No, I don’t think you’d lie just to be malicious.”
