Page 20 of Curses & Cold Brew (Maple Hollow #2)

IRIS

W ith swollen lips and bleary eyes, I darted through the town square, uncaring that I’d be the talk of the town for my dramatics. The tears that came thick and fast surprised me. I couldn’t contain them even if I tried.

I could’ve forgiven Ramona for tricking me into staying, for luring me in with her deceptions.

Hell, I could’ve forgiven her for throwing me over her shoulder and tying me to a chair just to keep me there.

But kissing me like I was the air she breathed when I knew it was all a ploy had been cruel, even for a demon.

And what was worse was that I knew I had no right to be hurt by it.

This was what demons did—toyed with their marks, played with them like a cat with their many mice.

I’d dug this grave for myself. After all, I had been the one chasing after her , goading her at every turn, pestering her, even.

I was just another soul addicted to her allure.

But for some ungodly reason, I still thought that I was different.

That maybe I was special to her. I wanted to be.

Fuck .

The thought left me reeling, and I nearly barreled into Agnes and Billy Bacchus as they chatted about the Halloween Festival decorations and the fact that everything was “too beige these days.” They ignored me as I stumbled past them.

A single thought rang like a Klaxon through my mind: I wanted to be special to a demon .

Had someone poisoned my tea? Was a lock of my hair being burned in a hex right now? What was I thinking?

I swiped at my eyes as I crunched across the thick layer of golden leaves toward the apothecary.

When I reached the front door, Jordyn and Harlow were already standing there.

But instead of canoodling like they usually did, they were frantically pouring a line of salt across the threshold while Jordyn muttered incantations while sparks of magic emanated from her fingertips.

“What’s going on?” I called out.

Jordyn gave me a look that meant she was serious. “Get inside, quickly.”

I dashed into the darkened apothecary.

“There.” Jordyn shut the door and bolted it. “That should hold for at least a couple of hours before we have to start the ritual all over again.”

Together, we ascended the stairs up to our apartment.

Neither Jordyn nor I had been around much to clean, and we were greeted by sprawling clutter when we entered.

Spell books were piled up on the coffee table, kitchen counter, and small dining table.

Discarded teacups crowded the kitchen sink.

Baskets of dried herbs and hastily discarded sweaters covered the couch.

“An extra-strength warding spell?” I asked incredulously. “What big bad has shown up in Maple Hollow this time?”

“Uh, hello! There’s a rogue vampire on the loose, Iris!” Jordyn balked, grabbing me and pulling me into a fierce hug even as she chastised me.

“Oh, right. That,” I muttered. “Does the whole town know?”

Ichabod mewed from his bed on the windowsill, which was crowded with candles and crystals.

“Ramona called the café,” Harlow supplied, crossing the room and picking up our furry familiar. “She sounded furious.”

My mouth fell open. “She called the café ?”

“She said that Wyatt had been attacked by a vampire. And that you stormed off and that we needed to make sure you’re safe and, if at all possible, convince you to go back to her house, which is probably the safest place in Maple Hollow to be right now, apparently.”

“I am not going back!” I erupted. “Not after she—she kissed me.”

“I knew it!” Harlow snapped, pointing a finger at a shocked Jordyn. “Told you.”

“You don’t seem particularly happy about this kiss,” Jordyn hedged. “Talk to us. Harlow brought coffee and sugar cookies to hold us over for the evening.”

“They’re meant to be shaped like broomsticks, but they snapped in the cabinet,” Harlow supplied. “We couldn’t sell them at the café, but they still taste good. We really need to think of sturdier, more reliably shaped objects, like pumpkins.”

“You’ve got a lot to catch us up on.” Jordyn pulled me toward the couch and handed me a cookie. “Now, spill.”

At first, I wavered on how much I should tell them.

Tears pricked my eyes as I connected all the dots for them: the knitting circle discovery after the summoning, the stop at Midnight Market, and Wyatt leaving Ramona’s house shirtless.

Then I had to give them all the juicy details of the kiss Ramona and I had shared at the summer camp, all the way to Ramona’s kiss less than an hour ago.

When I finished, Jordyn stared at me for a long moment, her pinched mouth tight as if holding back her storming thoughts.

I folded my arms with a huff. “Whatever you’re going to say, I’ve probably told myself the same thing a million times over.”

Jordyn chuckled. “Are you sure? It may be exactly what you need to hear.”

“Ugh, fine, tell me.”

“I think you should go back to Ramona’s,” Jordyn said.

I nearly spat out my lukewarm latte. “Are you crazy?”

“If Esme is willing to go after a full-grown werewolf, then she’ll have no qualms with attacking you.”

“I agree,” Harlow chimed in. “It may be awkward, but Ramona clearly wants to protect you.”

“So she kissed you? So what?” Jordyn admonished.

“I can’t believe you, the one who made me promise no demons, is saying this,” I shot back.

“Things have changed,” Jordyn countered. “I mean, sure, she’s a terrifying hell dweller whose sole purpose on this plane is to entice unsuspecting people into giving her their souls, but who doesn’t have baggage? You are still safer with her until this vampire is found.”

“I’m safe here at home with you guys.”

“No, you’re not,” Jordyn chided. “All we know about this vampire is that she used to live in Maple Hollow and she has it out for Ramona. We don’t know how powerful she is or what access she was granted to one of these centuries-old buildings.

Our warding spells are like flypaper. She’d have to step right into one of them for it to work, and we have no clue how long they’d hold.

Vampires are tricky, and our kind of magic doesn’t always work on them. You know that.”

Ichabod meowed as if in agreement.

Just like him to take her side.

My shoulders drooped, and I let out a soft grunt of acknowledgment.

“Ramona’s house is all shiny and new, which means it was built after Esme was banished,” Jordyn continued. “Esme has never been welcomed across the threshold, and I stand to bet that Ramona would slit Esme’s throat before she let her anywhere near you. You’ll be safe with her.”

“I don’t know,” I protested. “Agnes is a pretty powerful vampire, and Harlow nearly killed her with a rogue chai latte last year.”

“It was a cappuccino,” Harlow corrected with a glare.

“Still! I’ll just dash some cinnamon at her! We have tons downstairs.”

“Nutmeg!” Harlow threw her hands up. “And can we just move on from that? Agnes had the allergy in life and it followed her into her transformation as a vampire—I looked it up. So, who knows if crop-dusting Esme with a spice cabinet will even work?”

Jordyn gave Harlow a pat on the knee before turning back to me.

“Listen, if you’re adamant about staying here, we can figure it out.

” She looked exhausted just thinking of what that would entail.

“I will call the coven and we’ll take shifts all night patrolling for vamps on the prowl and recasting?—”

“Don’t call the coven,” I cut in. “The last thing I need is getting my parents involved in this. And there will be more than hell to pay if the coven finds out that I made a deal with Ramona. We can’t do that.”

It was hard enough keeping the sigil and the true impact of my deal with Ramona from Jordyn; my parents would be so disappointed.

I knew the secrets would come out eventually, just like Jordyn’s had last year, but for now, the coven was safer not being involved.

If Esme was as dangerous as Ramona insisted, there really was only one solution.

“I don’t see any other way to keep you safe,” Jordyn added more gently. “And I realize how hypocritical this is. I didn’t want you anywhere near the demon. But what else can we do? Go stay with Ramona, we’ll help hunt down this vampire, and then we can go back to life as usual.”

I mindlessly stroked the sigil on my collarbone. The truth was, I didn’t want to go back to life as usual. I wanted there to be a time when Ramona didn’t need a sigil to want to kiss me, a time when she wanted me to be hers without making a deal.

Goddess, help me.

Going back to Ramona’s house for protection felt like putting my feet directly to the fire. I didn’t know if I could see her again without my heart breaking into a thousand pieces. I wanted us to be . . . more than a deal. And that thought just might kill me.