Page 25 of The Fang Arrangement (Celestial Witches #2)

E xhaustion fills me as I finally make it back into my room after another fruitless night of searching for the Slayer. It’s truly like he disappeared out of thin air.

If I was fully fed I wouldn’t feel this tired, but without sustenance I feel sluggish. Regardless, I have a plan for the day and I refuse to have my witch sad and displeased in my room another day.

I send a text to Samantha and Achille confirming that everything is organized for our day trip.

The council doesn’t need to know what we do in the daytime and I may just ask another spell of my witch. I want to make her happy, and I know right now, the thing that would make her the happiest is getting out of the house.

She sleeps soundly as I enter the bedroom, and I don’t disturb her as I go to my closet and open the safe.

The mechanism whirls, and when I slide the door open, I tilt my head. One of the spines of the grimoires is misaligned.

It seems Ember did more snooping than I realized. That means she knows, or at least suspects, that this obsession with her has lasted far longer than she ever imagined. She didn’t confront me, either, even when we were exchanging secrets, or when I stayed up with her all day.

I’ve been sensing that maybe this magic between us isn’t as one sided as it originally seemed. A vampire can dream.

With the grimoire I need in hand, I dress in one of my most expensive suits, grabbing gloves, glasses, a hat, and my largest umbrella on hand. All of them are the best money can buy.

I take the liberty of setting out a pink sundress for Ember and I sit on the bed, waiting for her to wake from her sleep.

Her lips are slightly parted as she sleeps, her raccoon next to her, a hand gripped in her hair, as he uses her breast for a pillow. I never thought I’d be more jealous of vermin.

She doesn’t have her guard up. Even when she wants to let go around me, she doesn’t fully let herself.

She said that she wants my honesty, that she wants to know the real me. I haven’t been a particularly honest man in a very long time, but I suppose for Ember to potentially like me, for her to want to stay with me and not run away once there’s no longer imminent danger, it’s what I’ll have to do.

The thought that there won’t always be some danger is ridiculous.

Ember is mortal, though her lifespan is longer than humans, it doesn’t seem long enough.

I will give her the tools to make herself more powerful.

I’ll protect her with my last breath—well, not breath I can’t breathe—with my last moments on this earth I vow them to Ember’s safety.

Now, to become a man she would entrust with her wellbeing.

I push a piece of her strawberry hair off her face, a smile taking over her face as she sleeps. I’m greedy with my touch, as I glide my fingertip over her freckle-covered cheekbones.

“I am yours, even if you never let me have you. You are everything to me,” I whisper, and she doesn’t stir.

However, her raccoon’s beady eyes are staring right into my soul. I stare right back until Ember mumbles and blinks her eyes open.

My ego inflates tenfold when she doesn’t startle at my presence on the bed.

“How does brunch sound?” I ask cheerfully and Ember drags a hand down her face.

“It’s daytime and you don’t eat food.”

“I see no issue with either of those things.”

She squints at me. “You can go out in the sun?”

I hand her my sunglasses. “The best money can buy.”

She puts them on her face and moves her head around. “How can you even see with these on?”

“Vampire vision. The suit and umbrella are also made with anti-UV material.”

“Like your windows?”

I tilt my head. “Who told you about the windows?”

She grimaces. “Conner.”

I make a noise in the back of my throat. I haven’t forgotten he needs to be murdered. It’s definitely a setback in being a better man, but Ember doesn’t need to know everything.

“Imported from Japan. There’s a vampire there that’s rumored to be from the Yamato period. Who knows how true that is, but he invented the material, so he could see the outdoors during the day and he makes a fortune selling his inventions to other vampires.”

She rubs the material between her fingers. It’s thicker than a usual suit, and would probably send a human in Louisiana right into heat stroke.

“Isn’t it still dangerous?”

“Yes, but worth it. Now put on your pretty dress and I need you to cast a little spell so my unwelcome houseguests don’t question our whereabouts.”

I pull out the black leather grimoire and flip to the page for sleep paralysis in vampires. Granted if any of them are awake, this will be difficult.

“It’s very odd that you keep giving me spells to hurt you,” she says.

“Yet the only thing you’ve hurt me with are items from my own bookshelf.”

She winces at the reminder and takes the grimoire into the bathroom to get changed.

The raccoon lies on my bed, arms crossed, staring at me like I owe him money.

“Can I help you with something? Perhaps I should have some popcorn brought up?”

He adjusts himself, no longer in a defensive position, as I take out my phone and text the chef.

“It’s done. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to your mistress. I’d rather die than ever see her harmed.”

He seems to believe me as he grabs the remote and puts on a show, no longer interested in our one-sided conversation.

Ember comes out of the bathroom looking like a vision. If I burn in the sun, it would be worth it seeing the smile plastered on her face as she reads off the spell. I can feel it wash over me, and I’m nearly tempted to fall asleep myself.

“Do you think it worked?” she asks, nibbling on her lip.

“Undoubtedly, my talented little witch.”

She doesn’t bluster and I wonder if this is the turning point of her accepting my compliments.