What did magic and fairy stories have in common? Witches. There were always witches in old tales. I peered around and shivered. And we were in the woods which was where bad things happened in those stories.
“You’re scaring me. Just spit it out.”
“Long ago, my ancestors lived in the forest.”
“So? Many people did.” My head swiveled left and right. “Oh, is this your land? Your dad left this land to you and you’re planning on selling it for a million bucks and giving some of the money to me for dad’s operation? That’s so kind, but I can’t let you do that.”
Devyn put a hand on either side of his head. “Wow. You ran with that idea.” He did a three sixty. “I wish I did. I’d sell it in an instant though I know someone who’d rage if I did that ‘cause he loves coming here.”
I jumped up. “Are we meeting someone?” I didn’t hear a car.
“We are. A very important someone.”
“Who?” We’d kept secret about us meeting and falling for one another.
Devyn removed his coat. My body tingled but not in a sexyI’m about to get fuckedway. I gulped and raked my nails over the rough bark. Someone was coming and I’d be outnumbered. Inwardly I was freaking as my mind raced, thinking of how to get out of here.
His shirt came off and as goosebumps marched over my skin, I staggered toward the car. Dev had the keys, so that was pointless, but I couldn’t stay where I was.
“You’ll see.” The guy talking and removing his clothes wasn’t my Devyn, he was someone else. Bile slithered up my throat, almost choking me and I coughed before glancing around for a pickax. Or any weapon he’d brought with him. Perhaps the person coming had a knife or a gun. If I could find a big branch I could whack him and run.
As my heart sped up, my eyes filled with tears. How could I have been so wrong about this man, the love of my life?
“Please don’t be scared, Heston. I love you and I have to show you a part of me before we continue our relationship.”
I backed toward the car, not convinced by his conciliatory words.
“My love.” His bottom lip trembled and a single tear slid down his cheek. “I’ve done what I shouldn’t have.” He slapped his brow.
“And what’s that?” I snapped. I was in no mood to be nice as I calculated how far I’d have to run before finding other people. Fingering the phone in my pocket, I could call Dean to come get me, but he’d have to get Dad in the car and it would take a while.
He took a deep breath. “I figured you’d be uneasy, maybe afraid, possibly curious or pissed off. But that was during and after the big reveal. Now you’re all those things and I haven’t shown you what I came here to do.
The words combined with his expression, which appeared to be crumbling, eased my fear a tad. I was probably making the biggest mistake of my life listening to him but I picked upa fallen branch and brandished it between us. “Show me the magic. But hurry and get it over with.” There was no doubting the steel in my voice.
“I’m going to take off the rest of my clothes.”
I was almost glad he was fucking around with pretend magic because it put off me thinking about our future, my future. Devyn had shown a side of himself today that didn’t align with the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Whatever the fuck he was doing had freaked me out and he’d shown little consideration for my feelings.
He stood in the middle of the clearing and sort of fell forward on all fours. But that wasn’t the weird part. He sprouted fur and his mouth protruded, forming a snout. He had a tail and sharp teeth. I fell back onto the hood of the car and slid onto the ground. The last thing I remembered was that damned dog sniffing me.
Darkness enveloped me and I was warm and snuggly. There was an unfamiliar smell in the room. My dirty socks? Maybe I hadn’t put them in the hamper.
Wishing I could stay in bed, rather than haul myself up and go to work, I turned over, hoping for another few minutes of shuteye. But my face bashed into something hard and my eyes snapped open.
I was in a car and my fight or flight response took hold and I hammered at the door, trying to get out.
“Heston. I’ll take you home. Or if you prefer, you drive my car to your place and I’ll make my own way back.”
“How did I get in here?” I made myself small and huddled in the corner.
“You fainted.”
Memories flooded back of Devyn scaring me, taking off his clothes, me backing away and then the fur and teeth. Fairytales. He’d spoken of them and magic.
“Something… something happened that I can’t explain.”
“I can. But I suggest we do it at your apartment, a place where you feel safe.”
