Page 85 of Obsession

Chris and Damion stalk toward each other, and I think for a moment, holy shit, maybe they are going to arm wrestle, and that’s something I wouldn’t mind watching. And then I mentally slap myself because that sounded way too much like Grandma.

Instead, a scroll appears in Chris’s hand, and he shoves it at Damion. “Official. Dominions. Business.”

Whatever’s written on this scroll, it’s making Damion’s eyes flicker like crazy, but he gives an easy smile and hands it back to Chris. “Sure, Choirboy. Aubry, I’ll see you later,” Damion says, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I try not to jerk away; his fingers are red-hot. He and Chris play stare down for a moment, and then Damion vanishes.

“What just happened?” I demand, leading Chris outside to my car. “Before you say, ‘not your concern,’ you know I’m going to ask Damion, so go ahead and tell me.”

“Demons cannot interfere in Official Dominions business.”

“Why?”

“It’s part of the treaty.”

“What treaty?” I get behind the wheel and Chris slides into the passenger seat without complaint. Angels do make better passengers than demons.

“There are some rules even damned, evil creatures have to follow.”

Guess that’s as good an explanation as I’m going to get out of Chris. “What did you find when you checked Lucy’s property?” I ask, following my car’s GPS directions.

“Small farmhouse set on about ten acres. Family cemetery near the back of the property. Large barn next to a soybean field. The house is heavily warded.”

“Come on, you must have a theory of what happened to Augustus.” He grunts, and I’ve never wanted to throat punch someone as bad as I do now. “Lucy was the high priestess of the coven Augustus was working with before he disappeared. What if Lucy was somehow involved?” I try.

“Don’t know. That’s why we’re going to talk to her.”

“What if Bettina—”

“Enough with the ‘what if’ game,” he growls.

“Alright, new game. Let’s play 21 Questions. I’ll go first. Are we ever going to talk about the kiss?”

“What’s there to talk about?”

“I know you’re new to playing games, but in 21 Questions, you can’t answer a question with a question,” I inform him.

“A momentary lapse of judgment on my part. As for your part, you’ve demonstrated your complete lack of judgment by letting a demon weasel his way back into your life.”

“I’m not sure which part of that offends me more.”

“Is that a question?” he taunts.

“No wonder you don’t like games, you suck at them,” I say smartly, turning on the radio. Sarah McLachlan’s nineties hit Angel comes on and I can’t help but laugh. Chris gives me a side-eye look. “Come on, that’s funny. The Universe has an excellent sense of humor.”

“I haven’t found that to be the case in my existence,” he mutters. I’d love to press him about that comment, but the GPS starts barking orders, forcing me to pay attention. Turning on a gravel drive, it eventually takes us to a cute, one-story white farmhouse with a wraparound porch.

Climbing the stairs to the front door, I ring the bell. I’m nervous, not sure how this is going to play out. Chris, of course, looks as cool as a cucumber. Lucy answers, and I can tell she’s startled by my company. “Hi, Lucy. I hope you don’t mind; I brought a guest.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” she recovers quickly. “There’s plenty of food. Right this way,” Lucy says, leading us to the kitchen.

“We’re not here to eat,” Chris announces. “Care to explain why you sent Aubry a necklace laced with dark magic?”

“Aubry, I hated tricking you,” Lucy says, not even trying to deny it. “I just wasn’t sure what lies Bettina was feeding you. She destroyed the coven and ran Cora off.”

“That’s not the story you told me,” I say, crossing my arms.

“Aubry, I wasn’t completely honest with you. I didn’t want to reopen old wounds,” she sighs. “Your mama came to me after Bettina betrayed her. Bettina had sex with Cora’s lover. In Cora’s own bed, no less! Poor thing walked in on them. Cora was heartbroken and told me she was leaving.”

Bettina claimed that she was having sex with Augustus when Cora walked in on them. So if Augustus was Cora’s lover, that means…Augustus could be my daddy? Chris locks eyes with me and shakes his head no, signaling for me not to show Lucy our hand. Easy for him to say; he didn’t just learn potentially life-changing news.

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