Page 41 of Hexes From Exes

“You are to come with us. You’re under arrest for unlawful interactions with a human,” the enforcer continued. The other enforcers around him looked disgusted, like Rick was the lowest of lows.

“Unlawful interactions?” Rick asked, his eyebrow raised. He was trying to stay calm. How the hell did they know? How could they find out so soon?

“Your trial will be this afternoon,” the enforcer continued. He nodded to the other two, who each grabbed Rick by the shoulder and muscled him through the underground chamber to a cell. Rick felt the first trickle of fear start up, trying to dig his heels into the rocky ground below him.

“What the fuck!” he hissed, trying to throw an elbow back at one of the enforcers. The enforcer hissed out a breath and faltered, giving Rick just enough freedom to try to deliver another blow to the other demon. He was faster, his hand closing over Rick’s quickly moving elbow, stopping him. His claws dug into Rick’s scaled skin, trying to find a space between the scales to hit flesh. The pain was instant, but the adrenaline coursing through Rick’s veins overrode it. He threw his whole weight against the enforcer, loosening his grip enough for Rick to break free and head for what he thought was the entrance.

Pain, so sudden and blinding, cracked up his arms from his wrist where the cuffs held him. He fell to his knees on the rocky ground, his vision going black for a few seconds. The third enforcer demon stood over him, a wide grin on his ugly face.

“Come now, don’t make me put it up to level three,” he taunted. He grabbed Rick and forced him to shaky feet, shoving him the last few steps toward the cell. He pushed Rick into it, laughing as he fell. He could hear them chortling behind him as they left.

“Human sympathizer,” and “Disgrace.”

Then the door closed, and he was alone.

Chapter Seventeen

Stephanie took her time getting ready that morning.

There was no watching the clock, no worrying about making it someplace by a certain time. It was a Saturday morning, she had nothing to do until her date with Diego that night. Even having to sit across from him in a restaurant wasn’t enough to upset her good mood.

She ate breakfast when she was hungry, went to yoga when she felt her food had settled, and then showered, enjoying the way the water felt on her skin. Something felt different. She wasn’t sure if it was just a side effect of the multiple orgasms or something else, but she felt alive, energized. Maybe it was just a good mood? Whatever it was, it didn’t fade as the day went on and she got ready for her date with Diego.

She opened her phone and texted Rick.

Stephanie

Meeting Diego at The Backdoor around 7pm. See you there?

It was in part a question, in part an invitation. Did sleeping with him mean things were different? Was that his way of saying that he believed her, that he’d mitigate the curse (whatever it was) and she’d be free of it? With a sudden lurch in her stomach, she realized that if that was the end of their deal, that it may be the end of seeing him.

No, there was no way. She didn’t misread the way he held her close, or when he whispered his real name to her as they fell asleep.

The hours dragged on and she hadn’t heard from Rick. He must be busy, she reasoned, getting ready for the night. She wasn’t some high school student texting their crush on a weekend, they had separate lives in entirely different realms. He was busy, it’s not like they messaged all the time before they slept together.

Plus, Stephanie wasn’t that needy. She was often without her phone, maybe he had business meetings all day or something.

On a Saturday.

* * *

Dinner time arrived and she was on her way to The Backdoor, feeling her smile falter a bit as she walked up to the hostess stand. “Stephanie Porter, for 2,” she told the hostess.

“Oh, yes, your date is already here,” the hostess said with a conspiratorial smile. Stephanie figured it was because Diego was very, very good looking. He was in pharmaceutical sales, specifically for skin care. He was also very put together. His beard was trimmed and never dirty looking, his eyebrows plucked just enough to be shaped without being obvious. He had smile lines along the corners of his face that he hated, but only made him seem more handsome.

The hostess led Stephanie to a table in the back of the restaurant where Diego sat with a full bouquet of flowers. Stephanie raised her eyebrows at the gesture. They only dated a few months before they broke up, but during that time, he never brought her flowers. If anything, he was standoffish, even moreso than Stephanie was known to be in the early stages of a relationship.

“Ah, Stephanie,” he said with a nervous smile, standing to slide out her chair for her. Another weird gesture, something he never did while they were together. She regarded him cautiously before taking a seat, trying not to be rude. Maybe this was a new Diego, turning over a leaf or something. It’d been over a year since they dated, that was plenty of time to figure out your life and what you wanted.

“Diego,” she greeted. She took the bouquet of flowers from him with a tentative smile. “Wow, these are beautiful. Thank you.”

“I’m glad you like them,” he replied, and he sounded genuine. Gone was the evasive, sometimes flippant Diego that made Stephanie feel like she was chasing a ghost.

“So, how have you been?” he asked, leaning forward. Stephanie was trying not to compare old Diego to new Diego, but never once did he ask about her during their time together. No ‘how was work?’ or ‘Wow, you do yoga! Tell me about it.’ It was always about Diego and the Diego show. She blinked a few times before shaking the weirdness off. Diego wasn’t a bad person, he was just a shitty person to date if you wanted something deeper than surface level.

“Oh, busy. You know how it is ramping up for the holidays,” she said with a shrug.

Diego nodded. “I do, but I don’t mean about work…how are you?” His gaze was intent, like he was asking a very specific question.