Page 43 of Adepts and Alchemists
“Are you really miserable or did you just want an excuse to call?” Lydia asked, shaking me from my irreverent train of thought.
“Why would I need an excuse to call?” I sniffed. “I can call whenever I damn well please.”
“Because witches break out in hives when exposed to tender emotion,” she informed me smugly. “You’ve called twice a day every day this week. You can just admit you’re worried about me, you know? It won’t kill you to say that you care.”
“But why take the chance?” I asked, flipping a strand of inky hair over my shoulder. This hairstyle left a few strands loose on my neck, and I hated it. I always felt like someone was brushing my shoulders, and my heart would jump when I turned to find no one there.
Another laugh. “Okay, okay. I’ll stop pushing. But seriously, I need your answer on Friday’s dinner party. Come over, please. I don’t want to meet my future in-laws alone.”
It would serve her right if I abandoned her to the amorous whims of Angelo’s family. From all accounts, his parents were stereotypically promiscuous as you’d expect. Lydia didn’t have to worry about her mother-in-law hating her guts.It was more likely that she’d be propositioned for a threesome over dinner than have a screaming match with his parents. That was about as painfully awkward as it got. Of course she needed a buffer witch. It was the only way the dinner wouldn’t descend into mass chaos and nudity.
“Fine,” I huffed. “Do I need to bring a date?”
Because I wasn’t certain about bringing Anthony to a gathering full of demons. He was a stickler for justice, and I was certain that both of Angelo’s parents were involved in white-collar crime of some sort. It was how most demons acquired mortal money. But if I didn’t go with someone, I was certain Angelo’s father would try to seduce me at some point. Call me jaded, but I was through with my wild years. I was too tired to deal with the constant appetite of a demon. So who did that leave?
“Might be for the best,” Lydia said, seeming to think along the same lines as me. “Is Anthony available anyway?”
“No,” I said, the word leaving my mouth before I could really think about it. “He’s busy.”
I wasn’t sure why I was lying, except to spare her feelings. I knew that she felt guilty for keeping us apart. It was ludicrous,of course. I’d been a squatter in her body back then, and I didn’t want her sleeping with Anthony to satisfy some kind of imaginary obligation she felt to me. Even now, it felt strange to be near him in this body—which still wasn’t mine. I felt something for him, but increasingly, I was beginning to think it wasn’t enough. Anthony couldn’t be with me publically, and... it wasn’t fair. Not to either of us. I didn’t want to be his dirty little secret. He shouldn’t have to avoid rubbing elbows with me to preserve his reputation as an upright bounty hunter. I wasn’t going to muddle things by taking him on a date when I wasn’t sure we were even compatible.
“Shame,” Lydia said offhandedly. There was a light, fluttering sound on the other end of the line as she flipped through some ancient tome.
“What are you reading?” I asked with dry humor in my tone. “Is it my mother’s book of shadows?Again?”
I swore she’d poured over all three journals more than I had. Somehow, she was able to interpret it better than I’d been able to. It didn’t seem fair. She hadn’t been born a witch, and yet her gift was more compatible with mother’s magic than mine seemed to be. I might have resented it, if I weren’t so damned relieved she was alive.
“There’s a lot of good stuff in here,” she said defensively. “Like this bit about the masked king.”
My eyebrows shot up. “The what?”
Lydia clucked her tongue. “I mean, it makes sense. If there are lords, there’s probably a rank or two higher, right? I don’t think anything you were sold is the actual reason the operation started. I think it has to do with this guy. From what I can tell from your mother’s book, he’s dimensionally locked or something. There has to be some serious ritual preparation to bring him into our world.”
A chill traced its way down my spine. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Grief and anger had blinded me to anything but the possibility of power, no matter how distasteful I found the process of getting it. I regretted that now. I wished I’d never gotten involved, but I couldn’t change the past. I could only fight whatever Murrain and the other Masked Lords had in mind.
“That sounds ominous,” I muttered.
“Not as ominous as Friday night’s dinner party,” Lydia said, a touch of whine in her voice now. “Please save me.”
“I’ll act as your witchy shield, don’t worry.”
A sigh gusted over the other side of the line. “Thank you so much, Indie. I’ll owe you big time.”
As if I’d ever collect. The foolish former gypsy had given me more than I’d ever dreamed of. I had a new lease on life with her old body, a home, and a job, no matter how demeaning. As long as I stayed in the borders of the Hollow, I was safe. Well, as safe as any of us ever were.
A bell jangled distantly and Lydia said a hasty goodbye, hanging up before I could reply. It left me standing in my ridiculous costume, pacing the entryway, waiting for the contractor that William, Wanda’s vampire brother, insisted I show around. The crunch of gravel tires outside made me wince. Someone to see me in this ridiculous getup. Wonderful.
My bad mood evaporated when a tall, strapping, and very familiar figure entered, carrying a toolbox and a ladder under one arm. RJ’s face brightened when he spotted me in the middle of the foyer glowering at the door.
“Indigo!”
“RJ,” I said, surprised when my voice came out soft and uncertain. I wasn’t sure he’d want to see me after the nightmare I’d dragged him into weeks ago. “What are you doing here?”
He raised the toolbox. “Maintenance. I’ve sort of become William’s unofficial handyman. I’m the only one who does weirdhours around here. I should have guessed he was a vampire. I never see him in the daytime.”
But who expected a teenage-presenting person to be one of the walking dead? He looked more like a cover model than a vampire. Too young for me but certainly handsome enough if you liked the type.
“So you work here often?”