Page 67 of The Witching Hours

“Right.”

Living with fictional terrorists was an indescribable hardship. I looked at my husband with adoration because he wasclearly committed to sharing my burden. I was beyond grateful to hear the pronoun “us” formed on his beautiful mouth when discussing the supe situation.

“Yeah.” I sighed as I pushed my chair back. “I’m going to the Ladies’. You get the check.”

“Are we going back to visit family?”

Nodding as I stood, I said, “Indeed we are. I want a refund.”

Daphne came to the door. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw us. “Back so soon?”

“Got a problem,” Nick said. “A big one.”

“Okay. Come in.” Daphne had two personas: unpleasant and unreadable. She welcomed us in her unreadable way.

We sat at the sunroom table while Daphne disappeared, presumably to fetch Aunt Ceija. When she returned, Nick’s aunt led the way.

“What’s happened?”

“One of the characters joined us for dinner and ate one of Catherine’s shrimp.”

The statement would’ve been laughable if I didn’t grasp the full range of implications.

The surprised look on Aunt Ceija’s face was somewhat gratifying. It told me that she hadn’t thought that possible. Her next words confirmed it.

“That…” she began, “is more than unusual.”

We watched in silence as she appeared to be thinking it over. Even though she was wide awake, her eyelids moved rapidly like she was in REM sleep. It was fascinating enough to make me forget why we were there. I was so much into witnessing that I jumped slightly when she spoke.

“The creatures have been in this world long enough to make material adjustments in their essences. When you werea child, they were visible, but their composition was like wisps of ether. I should’ve realized it when you mentioned physical contact.”

“You mean the wrestling match with Nick?” I said.

She nodded slowly. “Maybe more important, it seems they like it here and don’t want to go back. You no longer have a choice. The only way to get rid of them is to banish them to their world of origin.”

I took in a long, slow breath and let it out the same way, closing my eyes as I did.No good night’s sleep tonight.

Looking at Nick I said, “Is that what we want? To banish them permanently?”

He searched my eyes for a few moments before responding. “We don’t want to be constantly wondering where, how, who will show up and what they’ll do.”

“I’m really not a gambler by nature.”

He grinned. “You took a chance on me.”

I smiled thinly without feeling any humor. “That never felt like a gamble.”

He looked at his aunt. “Okay. We’re agreed. What’s next?”

“That’ll be five thousand dollars,” Daphne said.

Geez. The girl had a one-track mind.

“I didn’t bring that much in cash,” Nick said.

“Well,” Daphne answered. “Go get it.”

“Daphne…” Aunt Ceija began. I thought she was about to intercede on our behalf, but she didn’t get far into expressing that thought.