Page 50 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
"You have a demon inside you. Demon," she said addressing the creature in his head. "It’s time to use your skill. Burn it, now."
Shane eyes swirled and then went black. Fire shot from one of his hands and incinerated the clothes.
Scary.
But useful.
"What the…?" Shane stared at his hands. Then rubbed them on his thighs as if they burned.
"You okay?"
"I didn't know he could do that." He nodded as he walked back toward her, toward the car. She scrutinized his eyes to confirm they’d gone back to clear blue. They had.
"We need to get inside. Got to wash." She took his hand and ran for the front door.
One knock. Two. No answer.
"What about Antonio? Should we wash him?" He glanced to the trunk of the car where the vampire was caught in day sleep.
"Vampires are as affected by a necromancer's power." Where had that knowledge come from? The crystal, which she hadn’t shed, warmed. "He’ll be fine for now." She peeked through the front door window "Shower. Have to wash this off. Can’t you feel it trying to burn into your skin, to find a way to take hold?"
"Not really." He rattled the locked door.
She glanced around. "Maybe we can find a spare key?"
"I got this." Shane nudged the door with his hip. It broke open.
She searched. The only bathroom was a small standing shower stall that would barely fit both of them inside.
* * *
"You go first,"Shane said, resolving the uncertainty of the small shower.
Madeline, shivering next to him, butt naked and freezing, said, "We have to do this together so I can do the cleansing spell."
Him naked with the literal woman of his dreams in a shower? Terrible idea.
"I’ll be fine."
She glared. "No. You won’t. You’re getting in the shower."
"What kind of spell is this, exactly?"
She chewed on her lip. "You’re tainted from years of this muck. Today is an opportunity to get rid of it."
Not thinking about how they committed a crime to break into a human’s house. Not thinking about her naked.
Not looking.
Oh, so looking. Who was he kidding? He’d already looked. Her curves were perfect. Her breasts were perfect, not too large and just enough to put his hands around. But the three slash marks on her stomach still wept blood. She grabbed a small hand towel to hold over it when she caught him staring.
"I’ll live," she said.
It was about to become another amongst a legion of scars that crisscrossed her skin. Lots. Her skin told the narrative of years of dodging death. He longed to touch each puckered mark and learn the story behind it. He couldn’t erase the painful memories, but he could offer understanding.
She turned on the water and waited. "Come on, hot water. I’ll take warm water. I’m not a cold water shower girl." She glanced up. "I can feel the negative energy from that being eating at me. Can’t you?"
He nodded more to offer assurance than because he actually felt anything. This kind of "filth" wasn’t new. He didn’t feel more or less phased by it than at any time in the past. Never had he done anything this extreme to "purify" after such an experience. Usually, he might change clothes when he had the opportunity and take a shower. Was he supposed to be committed to cleansing afterward? Maybe it’d help him not feel as exhausted by the constant exposure to different forms of evil magic.
