Page 9 of The Fang Arrangement (Celestial Witches #2)

I wake with a jolt, my breathing heavy as the dream fades away.

I’ve had this dream plenty of times, a faceless man, his teeth in my neck as he holds me against his chest. But this time?

This time he had a face, Warin’s handsome face to be precise.

It felt natural, like it’s been him all along in my fantasies and I’m not sure what to do with that realization.

Why did it feel so right? He’s secretive, he broke my fucking doorframe last night.

Though, I think it was over the idea of another vampire being around me.

Still, he can’t be trusted and I absolutely should not be having wet dreams about the vampire who’s basically blackmailed me into an arrangement.

It must be because I’m tired. I spent the entire night consoling crying fairies and dealing with Gus berating me about getting involved with vampires. I hardly got any rest, that must be why my mind is playing tricks on me.

Disassociation is the only way to handle a wake up call like this, the fairies and Gus must still be asleep, instead of sitting over here stewing over what I’ve come to believe is a century old vampire, based on my limited Google research.

So instead of thinking too hard about the dream or how I’m going to get myself out of this mess, I gather up the supplies Violet requested for her clinic and head to Main Street.

After I drop off the herbs with Violet, I chastise myself for not telling her about Warin.

But as I watched her rushing around her clinic helping a set of twin sisters and talking about what’s going on in the pack along with all the coven drama—most of which is centered around my grandma and other elders who hate change—I know I need to handle this myself.

I glance down at my protection ring and pride fills me. I did that. First try, with a workaround that I figured out. I’m capable. I just need the chance to prove myself.

I’m so caught up in my thoughts that I startle as I bump into a man standing outside of Iris’ shop.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, tilting my head back to see the man, he’s extremely tall.

He’s scowling, his dark eyebrows pinched together as he looks down his nose at me. He’s dressed in simple jeans and a T-shirt, but his arms are covered in strange geometrical tattoos.

Suddenly, and almost animal-like, he tilts his head at me, his pupils dilating quickly, almost so black and large I think I’m imagining it.

“Do you shop here?” he says, pointing at Goddess Apothecary.

“Yes, it’s one of my best friends’ shops. Are you looking for something in particular?”

“Best friend?” he asks and I look around the street.

“Uh yeah,” I reply, a tingling sensation shooting up my spine, and my pointer finger kinda throbs, so I squeeze it tight.

Who the fuck is this guy and why is he asking a million questions?

He looks down at my hand, his eyes dilating again.

“Interesting. You’re Married?” he asks.

He stares at my ring and then looks over my shoulder, his pupils dilating. I glance over at where his gaze hits, and all I see is an umbrella swiftly shifting behind a building. His behavior is odd, but I shrug it off and cover my ring with my other hand.

I’m absolutely disillusioning this bitch the moment I get home.

“No. Uh. Sorry again for bumping into you.”

“Right. Stay safe,” he says, and I swear he looks back over at the building.

I’m sure I’m looking at him like he’s crazy. There’s no controlling my face at his weird words.

“Um, sure. You too,” I say, picking up speed, getting the hell out of there.

Well, that was fucking strange. Despite the weirdness in town, I make my way home, while sending a quick text to Iris.

Me

The guy out front of your shop is a little creepy.

Iris

There isn’t anyone there?

Me

Okay good.

I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he isn’t bothering her. But when I finally open the gate to my house, that relief falls away. My grandmother and mother are on my porch, and I already know it’s going to be a shitty visit. Wonderful, just what I needed at the end of a very weird day.

The fairies are in the garden, and I swear to Hecate, if they mentioned anything about my little vampire situation, I’ll disown all of them.

My grandmother sits on a rocking chair, her red hair graying, her green eyes just like mine as she looks at me with disapproval.

My mother leans against the wall, her arms crossed, but she looks down at the porch floor boards, not at me. I spent so much of my life wishing she would grow a spine and stick up to her mother, but she never has.

“What in the hell did you do to your hair?” my grandmother asks and I sigh, running my fingers through the strands.

“Felt like a change.”

She rocks in the chair, looking unimpressed. I immediately shove my hand in my pocket, remembering the ring. The old witch is too perceptive and I don’t need her asking questions.

“Seems like that’s the whole coven these days. Aster did so much for this coven and they set her aside for an alliance with a shifter. Our High Priestess is married to one, created that abom?—”

“It’s time for you to leave,” I say, cutting her off. There’s no way I’m going to let her talk about Violet or her parents that way.

“You’re going down a dark path, granddaughter. I can feel it. The Hallows have been a part of Celestial Coven since our ancestors left Ireland. We need to fix this coven before it’s irreparable.”

“Do you have anything to add?” I ask my mother, who shakes her head, not even looking at me.

My grandmother rises from the rocking chair slowly, hands on her hips. She glances at the broken door frame.

“What happened there?” she asks and I try to quickly come up with a lie.

“I don’t know.”

My grandmother scoffs. “That’s the problem isn’t it. That head of yours never knows what’s going on. So lost in your plants and your daydreams. This is serious. I know you’re one of the weakest witches in the coven, but you need to pick a side.”

I want to tell my grandma off, I want to tell her that I’m not weak, that I perfected a spell on my first go that I’m sure no one in the coven even knew existed.

She’d be mortified to learn about my deal with Warin.

She’d just say it proves what an idiot I am that I got myself into this mess.

It’s exactly why I need to prove myself.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, grandmother. But I think the coven is in a better place than it’s ever been. I hope you have a good night,” I say, passing her on the porch.

She grabs my arm, squeezing too tight.

“Whatever it is that you’ve gotten yourself into, I’ll fix it, like I always do. Just make the right decision, the one that benefits the coven. No more outsiders, we need to repair our coven,” she says.

I glare down at her, and it feels like she can see right through me, like she knows the trouble I’ve gotten myself into, and that it was inevitable that I’d be a disappointment.

“I think I’ll be just fine without you,” I tell her, and for the first time, I think I truly mean it.

There’s no way I’d ever betray my coven. Blood doesn’t determine the people who are most important to you, my grandmother has proven this point time and time again.

I tug myself from her grasp, and don’t look back as I slide into my cottage. The altercation made it even more clear that I need to handle this Warin situation on my own. I don’t need my grandmother telling me she told me so, and I don’t need the potential blow back from my coven.

I can do this…I think.

It’s just after dark, Gus is watching The Incredibles , and I’m attempting to read more spells in the grimoire Warin gave me, when a car door slams in the distance. We both pause what we’re doing and stare at each other.

“I swear if my grandmother came back to try and talk some sense into me,” I groan.

“Do you want me to bite the old bitch?” Gus asks and I snort.

I’m about to get off the couch and peek through the windows, until suddenly, there’s banging noises against the house.

“Holy shit. The vampire is fixing the door frame,” Gus says.

“Holy shit is right.”

He doesn’t knock on the door, doesn’t say a word. Gus turns down his movie as we listen while he works. It definitely sounds like a saw, and hammering at different points.

“How long is it going to take him to fix?” I ask Gus.

“Long enough to give me indigestion. I need the Tums.”

I sigh, walking to the bathroom, where I grab him two Tums and hand them to him. As he’s chomping on the tablets, there’s a firm knock on the door.

“Do I answer it?” I whisper.

“I can hear you. Come to the door, Ember,” Warin says from the other side of the door and I wince.

“Do you think he heard everything I said earlier?” I ask Gus.

“Yes,” Warin confirms.

“Fuck.”

I consider not opening the door, just talking to him through the walls, but then he knocks again.

“I’m not leaving until you open the door, witch.”

“Ugh. Fine,” I groan, walking over to the door and swinging it open.

My mouth parts and I quickly shut it.

He’s lost his dress shirt and suit jacket. Just his undershirt on, combined with a ridiculously expensive belt, dress pants, and leather shoes. Despite all the effort he put in my doorframe, he doesn’t have a bead of sweat on him.

Why is he so devastatingly handsome? And why despite myself do I find it charming that he actually fixed the doorframe? Did he do it because he wanted to see me again?

No, can’t be it right, he needs me for nefarious reasons. I need to stop staring at the hot vampire on my porch and remember that I’ve entered into some messed-up agreement with said vampire who broke my doorframe in the first place.

“I fixed the door frame,” he says.

“I can see that.”

He stands perfectly still, his light eyes meeting mine. “Why don’t you invite me in?” he says, his pupils dilating.

I hold up my hand, pointing to the ring. “Remember, protection spell.”

He smirks, his fang digging into his bottom lip, and I can’t help but openly stare, wondering how exactly that fang would feel deep inside of my neck. Does he know what he’s doing to me?

I shake away the image and glance back at his eyes; he’s smiling now, caught me in the act, which has me putting my guard back up.

“Was just double checking. I had no doubt about your capabilities.”

“You’re that sure that I’m the witch that you need?” I ask.

He leans against the door again, not able to enter, and the shirt stretches over his chest. I almost let out a wistful sigh as I openly stare at him.

“My eyes are up here, Ember,” he says.

I clear my throat, crossing my arms over my chest. “I wasn’t…”

“You weren’t what? Checking me out? Look away, witch, whatever piece of me you want you can have.”

I gape at him, not sure how to handle this open flirting. “I thought you were mad at the whole vampire blood thing?” I say, raising my eyebrow.

He’s just as suspicious as he is attractive, which is a dangerous combo.

“Maybe I overacted,” he says.

“You broke my doorframe.”

“Yes, only because I was under the impression that some other vampire thought he could touch what is m?—”

He doesn’t finish his sentence as he turns sharply as he looks at something in the woods lining my property.

“Get in the house. Do not open this door, do you hear me?” His tone is firm, honestly the scariest I’ve ever heard him.

Instead of listening I peek my head out the door, and Warin grabs my chin now that I’m outside of the property.

“Ember. Do not leave this fucking house,” he says sharply, before pushing my face lightly back into the house.

I swallow thickly and do as he says, shutting the door and grabbing Gus around the armpits, and hefting him close to my chest.

The fairies are screaming about how they’re all going to die, and I wonder if they’re right.