Page 14 of Cursed Love
He nodded. “Sure.”
She handed him a glass and leaned against the counter. His presence in her apartment was unexpected. It made her both comfortable and nervous. She didn’t know how to feel about him. It was as if part of her called for him but the other saw him as a reminder of all the crazy things happening in her life. “Talk,” she demanded, her voice raspy.
“There is no easy way to say this…”
“Spit it out. You’ve already stalked my ass home, watched me while I work, and now you’ve done some weird thing to my door without asking.”
He pointed back with his thumb. “It’s a simple protection spell to keep things that go bump in the night out of your place. If you invite them in… well, that’s all on you.”
Her insides went warm and gooey that he would put up such a thing for her. She shook the thoughts away and waved her hand at him, silently telling him to continue.
“I followed you home to make sure you didn’t get in any trouble.”
“You disappeared before I left. How did you follow me home?”
“No, I didn’t. We can’t vanish into thin air, Brandy. I merely hid my presence from you, a simple charm when you don’t wish to be seen.”
She found it both disturbing and super cool. How many times could she have used it when she had been in trouble with her dad? Or when her brothers wouldn’t let her go out with them?
“I went to the café today to see how out of control your powers are. Clearly, you don’t have a rein on them—”
“Hey!”
He merely raised a brow and continued, ignoring her indignation. “The amount of tubars, lemures, weres, and other supernaturals hanging around your block was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”
“Monkeys are hanging around the café?”
Ryan shook his head and ran a hand over his head. “No… Lemures are spirits. You are thinking lemurs, and they aren’t monkeys anyway. They’re primates.”
“They’re not?”
His rich chuckle made her breath catch.
“Why are you laughing at me?”
“Sorry, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just—” Ryan stopped and sighed. “I expected this conversation to go differently.”
“You’re the one bringing up primates and ghosts,” she said and drank from her water, hoping it would cool her suddenly hot skin.
When he only stared at her as if she were a Rubik’s cube he needed to solve, she asked, “What did you mean byweres?”
“Exactly what you think it is. Werewolves are the most common around here. They can maintain their human form regardless of the moon’s state. Alphas and betas can shed their skin for their fur easier than others, but not all of them are safe, so stay clear of them.”
Brandy’s brows knit together as she pondered his words. “How do you know they’re weres if they are in human form?”
“Each supernatural being has a fingerprint per se. You recognized the tubar in the café easily enough. I’m sure now you recognize their stench of rotting flesh. They can shift their features, but they can’t change how they smell. It’s not on a human’s olfactory level. Weres have their own thing. They smell like the earth, or you could say dirt. They’re also carnivorous, so they like to eat their steak extra bloody.”
“Wait, so all those people who love their meat rare are—”
“No, not all. Weres hide a little better than the others since animals are great at blending in with their environment.”
Ryan became lost in thought as he stared out the window. Brandy’s brain tried to process all the new information. Ghosts, werewolves, and demons… Somehow, she was feeling calm for someone who learned the supernatural really did exist.
With his back toward her, she studied him. His dark hair needed to be cut. The jeans he wore were worn in but formed nicely to his butt, one she wanted to grab and dig her nails into.
“Why?” The word escaped her dry mouth. She needed to bring her attention back to what was going on.
He faced her. “Why what?”
