Page 25 of Hexes From Exes

“Hey Rick,” she said, giving him a tentative smile. “Look, I’m a little busy…” she said, starting to turn from him.

“Yeah, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, but you’ve been dodging me,” he said.

Cass sighed. “I haven’t been dodging you, I’m truly really busy.”

“Been to Phoenix lately?” he asked. He intentionally kept his voice quiet in case anyone was listening.

Cass’s eyes widened, darting around the space outside the store. “Fine,” she hissed, jerking her head to get him to follow. He knew the direction they were heading. It was to her apartment on the opposite side of Anathamea as his. She’d done it intentionally after they’d split so there was no way they’d accidentally cross paths.

“Wait here,” she said just outside the door to the building. He frowned. It wasn’t like he was going to memorize her apartment number and show up unannounced. Besides, her apartment number was public record anyway, all he’d have to do is search it.

Which he hadn’t in over a year.

Cass reappeared a few minutes later without her groceries and motioned for him to follow her. He did so in silence, weaving through the streets of Anathamea until they got into the shadier parts of town. Here the streets were sparse, most of the buildings empty. Nature was starting to take back over, with the Sands of Time leaving a fine layer of dust on the ground.

“You can’t be saying things like that out loud,” she said, her voice low.

“Well, you weren’t answering my calls. I had to get ahold of you somehow.”

“So, what do you know?” she asked, rounding on him.

“Nothing, just that I saw you leaving…” Her angry glare made him pause then rush forward. “I saw you leaving a place in Phoenix but couldn’t catch up with you before you portaled. When I made it back here…well, you didn’t use an official one.”

Cass took a deep breath, her eyes closed. “Did you tell anyone?” she asked, her voice quiet, resigned.

“Like who?” Rick pressed.

“Anyone! Zed, Jerry?!” she exploded. “Did anything leave your mouth and enter some other demon’s ears about what you saw?”

“No,” Rick said, cowed. “I didn’t say anything to any demon. I wanted to talk to you first. Cass, no matter what happened between us I would never…” he trailed off. “Look, I had a feeling it was something secret. Just, are you in trouble? Do you need help?”

“Fuck, Rick,” Cass said with a shake of her head. “Don’t do this. Don’t act like you can protect me. I’m a big demon. I can take care of myself. What I’m doing is none of your business but,” she added, raising her hand between them, “I would appreciate it if you didn’t say anything. To anyone.”

“I haven’t told any demons,” he repeated.

Cass quirked a knowing brow. “What, you told some human?” she asked, a playful smile on her face.

Rick shifted uncomfortably and stayed quiet, looking everywhere but her.

Cass’s face fell. “Are you fucking serious? Rick, what are you doing?”

“I don’t know!” Rick erupted, his arms waving. “Listen, I’m just having some trouble with this case, is all. It’s…she’s…” he continued to wave his arms, unable to put a word to his thoughts.

“You like her?” Cass asked.

Rick was unsure what her tone implied. It was curious but oddly nonjudgmental. If he’d admitted something like this to Zed, his friend would laugh at him or threaten to lock him up in a mental institution until he got his mind right. It was forbidden, for starters.

“I mean, I don’t… it’s not like anything could… it’s just a thing that it’s hard to, you know. You know how it is sometimes, it’s just a hard…” He sputtered, unsure how the conversation went from confronting her about her illegal activities in the human realm to suddenly about him and Stephanie. Scratch that – there was no him and Stephanie. It was just a job, and she was that much closer to going on a date with one of those awful shit head pricks that summoned him. She had two of them on her list, it was a matter of time before she proved they were useless and not worthy of her.

Then he’d be gone.

“Looks like we both have secrets that need to be kept,” Cass said.

Rick narrowed his eyes at her.

“That’s not what I meant. I’d never do something like that to you,” Cass shot, offended.

Rick’s shoulders sagged. “I just have to finish this assignment, and I’ll be done. Maybe I’ll hunt down Peppercorn and kill her or something, make her stop selling my summoning spell.”