Page 77 of Which Witch is Willing?
She looked the little girl straight in the eyes. “I want you to do that to me. Do you understand?”
The cheerfulness slipped from Violet’s face, and her expression turned serious.
“Just take out my soul,” Claire said in encouragement. “And then if you can also put it back, that would be great.”
Violet continued to stare, and Claire kept her gaze trained on the child’s purple eyes.
Do it, she thought.Do it.
Knowing if one was immortal or not was nothing to be trifled with. If she couldn’t die, then that changed everything.
The door to the attic burst open, causing Claire to shriek and Violet to wail. Dru strode in looking wild-eyed and angry with Kai hot on his tail. “What the hell is going on here?”
Kai marched forward and stared at her with accusing eyes.
Claire pulled the crying child to her chest. “Look what you did? You made Violet cry. You big bully.”
She kept her head down, unable to look Dru or Kai in the eye for fear she’d give herself away.
Dru crouched next to them. “Claire. Look at me. Tell me what you were doing and don’t lie because I’ll know.”
She steeled her gaze and tilted her face upward. “I was playing with Violet until you barged in.”
“No,” he said in a commanding tone. “You were in danger.”
She wrinkled her brows in disagreement. “Violet wouldn’t hurt me, and there’s no one else here.”
“Tell. Me.”
She huffed and turned Violet toward her so she could pat her back. “Fine. I thought maybe Violet could try to temporarily borrow my soul like she did with Aunt Justine. If she managed it, then I would know if I’m immortal or not.”
Dru shook his head in disbelief. “Are you insane, woman?”
She frowned at his insult. “No, I am not. No harm came to Aunt Justine when it happened, and I have a safety measure in place.”
Just then, Aerin appeared in the doorway. “If you’re wanting me to take a turn babysitting, sorry. Children and I have a mutual dislike.”
Violet sniffed and turned to Aerin. Her face immediately split with a huge smile, though tears still stained her cheeks.
Claire frowned at Dru but answered Aerin. “No, I wasn’t going to ask you to watch her. I needed your help with something, but Dru showed up instead.”
Dru held her gaze, his own expression supremely unhappy.
Aerin’s phone rang, startling Claire all over again. Aerin answered and then shifted her gaze to Dru and Claire. “Nick’s back. I’ll get Tierra and Killian and meet you guys downstairs.”
Claire headed for the door, but Dru blocked her way. “Promise me that you’ll never attempt anything like that again.”
She huffed in disgust as Kai pressed hard against her leg as though admonishing her, too. “I can’t live my whole entire life not knowing if it is my entire life.”
“And you won’t have to,” Dru said. “But it might take ten years before you realize you’re aging or not.”
“Ten years? Think of all the crazy things I’m going to miss while riding my bike.”
He snorted and shook his head. “Promise me.”
She stared at him for a long moment and then sighed. “Fine. I promise not to ask Violet to steal my soul again. Now, let’s get downstairs. We have more important issues at hand.”
Though she wasn’t about to promise that if another viable opportunity presented itself, she wouldn’t take it.
