Page 65 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
She recalled the way Shane had touched a few scars on her body, even kissed them. "Why should what Shane thinks matter to you?"
With a knowing smile, Evie pulled out a long-sleeved, long-skirted black dress. "How about this?"
"That’s beautiful, but I really shouldn’t."
"I forbid you to wear jeans to my dinner table. I would prefer you go naked over wearing that abomination. I’m not sure Shane would be able to handle you naked. It might be entertaining, though, to see him try to fight carrying you off and having his way on a full moon night while simultaneously preventing his brothers from looking at you."
"I don’t see that as entertaining. The demon might come out again."
"Take the dress." Evie thrust the dress at her. "Go change in the washroom over there while I look for some shoes. Then we’ll deal with your hair."
She changed, avoiding looking in the bathroom mirror.
"Better," Evie announced when she emerged. "Here are some shoes that should work." She handed her a pair of heeled strappy shoes that looked like they cost more money than she’d seen in five years. "Now let’s do something with your hair. You prefer it up or down?"
"You’re going to do my hair?"
Unexpected.
"Sit." Evie pointed at a small stool in front of a vanity.
In a daze she sat. "Aren’t you going to advise me to do my thing to lift the curse?"
Evie shrugged and grunted as she got supplies out of a drawer.
"Aren’t you going to warn me away from Shane?"
"Where’s the fun in that?"
"You’re going to kill me, then?"
"What’s the point? Then the lads will be trapped in this curse. Plus, I think Shane would lose his mind if I hurt you." She lowered her voice. "I can handle almost anything coming at me, but I’m not sure what that demon has turned him into."
"Probably smart to be scared. It’s a bit chilling when he fights and lets the demon take over. They merge. He can do all kinds of unimaginable things with its power, like turn to mist."
"That's freaky. He likes you." Evie brushed her hair, getting rid of tangles gently. No one since her mother—the one who hadn’t been her biological mother—brushed her hair like this. She didn’t go to stylists very often. Usually, she did DIY dye kits for highlights or color.
"He doesn’tlikelikeme. He’s stuck with me as a way out of this curse." She squirmed on the chair. "Plus, he's probably still pissed at me for leaving him handcuffed to a bed in Puerto Rico."
She laughed. "What stupidity did he do to deserve that?"
"It’s complicated."
Evie laughed. "My poor boy has been fighting a demon in his head and lust for his enemy?" She chuckled. "Karma’s a bitch. It’s getting him back for pretending he died and hurting his mother so much."
Madeline fought back a smile. It wasn’t supposed to be funny. But she liked Evie. "I think he felt as if he was a liability on missions so long as he didn’t have control of the demon. His best chance to find that control was to disappear and try to find someone to help." She rocked her head back and forth. "Not that he has predictable command of it now."
"He’s behaving like he bonded with you." Evie paused her work to meet her gaze in the vanity mirror.
"No bonding. That’s ridiculous. My kind doesn’t do that. By reputation, we’re promiscuous and fickle."
"Uh-huh." Skepticism dripped in her tone. "Be careful, Madeline. If you bind him too close, he won’t be able to let go when you rescind the curse. He might not survive you dying. I know my son. Shane doesn’t do anything half-assed. He won’t just let you into his heart, but he’ll commit everything to you."
A chill swept down her spine. "I won’t let him do that. Living with a defined endpoint over the past few years, with the reality and finality of that, changed me. I’ve accepted I had my chance at a life. I lost my family. I’m on borrowed time."
"I’m not sure you’ve had a chance yet to live. Sounded to me like someone else took everything away from you. And…" She paused brushing her hair dramatically. "I’ve met one or two bad witches. You don’t come close."
"I swear I’m going to make sure all your sons live through this."
