Page 86 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“I’m scared. Borderline terrified right now. I’m worried about Natalie. And I'm hoping I make it back home.” My honest words filled the space between us.
“I—” he started, but I put my finger up to stop him. I had to get it out while I still had the nerve.
“But I'm happy you’re here with me. It's strange right now with what we're facing, to have this underlying feeling of happiness. I don't know why I'm telling you now, but I think I need you to know. You make me feel safe, like my feet are on solid ground. Facing this…I'm glad that you're here with me.”
“You wouldn't be facing any of this if not for me.” He hardened. “You wouldn’t need me to keep you grounded if I hadn’t walked into your life to begin with.”
“To be fair, you tripped into my life.” That brought a smile to his face, and something in me softened a little more. “Besides, with my luck and with the way Natalie likes to play with magic, something like this was bound to happen anyway.”
“She does?” he frowned. “You never mentioned it.”
“I didn’t really have the time to. She found a grimoire, but the witch called it back. I’m sure nothing will come of it.” I shrugged. “It wasn’t even the first time. I'll tell you all about it when this is done.”
“Jericha, I'm sorry,” he said in an even tone.
“For what?” My stomach twisted into a knot.
“For all of it. For keeping a secret from you this big, for risking your life by staying around you. I'm sorry I had to bring you to this world, and I'm sorry for everything you're going to learn about me while you’re here. I hope that on the other side of this, you still feel happy to be around me. But I will also understand if you don't.”
“Okay, just stop all that right now.” I shook my hands between our faces. “That’s the wrong thing to be thinking about. I don't want to talk about us…I mean this…falling apart. I get it, this is dangerous, and you have a life here I know nothing about. I won’t hold any of that against you.”
“Jericha, I need you to face something for me. Seriously, think about it. At the end of the day, I am a demon. What you would consider a demon, anyway. To you, I may be the good guy, but to everyone else? I was a horrible person.” He pulled my hands back into his. “I did terrible things for terrible people. And being back in this world means all of that is going to come rushing back at me.”
I grabbed his hand. “And I'm here with you, holding on.”
“Yeah, you are.” His eyes dropped to our hands, linked between us. “But I won't hate you if you decide to let go.”
I can't explain why I did it, but it was something in the way he looked at me that made my heart flutter and my head spin, and suddenly, I felt like I actually wasn't breathing. I pulled him closer to me, lifted to my toes, and I kissed him.
And once again, it was a kiss that changed things between us. It wasn't one that would lead to sex, or to flirtation, or to passion, or to any of those superficial things. This was so much deeper. It touched every part of me, and it made the world, his world, seem so much bigger and yet so much smaller all at the same time.
“Why did you do that?” Raymond breathed against my lips.
“This is your happy place.” I tightened my fingers around his. “It’s the place you go when you want to smile, right?”
“Yes. It is.” He nodded, pressing his forehead against mine.
“So we should keep it that way.” I looked up into his green eyes then moved my hands to push his locs back over his shoulder. “I like when you let your locs hang free like this.”
He pulled me back to him again, this time pressing further into the kiss. His right hand slipped around me to the small of my back before he lifted me from my feet, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. For a moment, neither one of us had any problems. The sweet scent of his world mixed with the smokey taste of his kiss, and suddenly, nothing mattered. There were no demons chasing us, there were no friends in trouble, no worlds colliding. It was just him and me, and it terrified me with how perfect that felt.
“I want to keep you here, in this moment, forever.” He sighed. “Butwe have to go.”
“We do.” I huffed.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” He pulled back to examine my face. “Feeling well?”
“Yes.” I scrunched my nose. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Good.” He kissed my forehead. “Not all humans can acclimate to our world.”
“You forget, I’m not entirely human.” I winked at him, and then my stomach twisted, and that newfound worry must have been written all over my face.
“What is it?” he asked.
“You said humans don’t adjust well to being here.” I shook my head. “I’m not all human, but Natalie is!”
“Shit.” As the word crossed his lips, that shadow wall opened behind him. I expected him to put me down, grab my hand, and lead me through the shadows.
