Page 22 of Darkside


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I can’t help but smile. “I like her already. When will you guys be here?”

“That’s why I’m calling. I got out of a client meeting early, so I can be at your place in about an hour. Is that okay?”

I glance at the clock and wince. I still need to change, make up the guest room, and help Nik get dinner and dessert ready…as well as feed the horses. But I’ll be damned to let that get in my way. “Yeah, that’s perfect.”

* * *

“SoI totally didn’t possibly find a body buried under a shed at that haunted B&B today.” I glance over my shoulder, looking at Ethan walking through the back door. He stops a few feet into the kitchen and takes his shoes off. Wearing dark athletic pants and a matching t-shirt, he looks so fucking good. I’m elbow deep in dishwater but he’s making me want to shake the soap bubbles from my hands and climb him like a tree.

“That’s an interesting way to start a conversation,” he quips and comes up behind me, strong arms going around my middle. I close my eyes and lean back, taking solace in just how damn good he feels against me.

“Okay. Let’s try again.” I tip my head up and wait for him to kiss me. “You know how we thought the most shocking thing today was the vet bill? Well, I got something to top it.”

“Now I’m kinda scared to ask.”

“Hah, right? Well, that house Keith’s aunt bought is totally haunted. I picked up a few spirits there but the one that stood out the most was a dark spirit that was keeping the others from reaching out. But anyway, that’s not my news. We went outside and were about to leave when I felt something telling me to go to this little old shed. I didn’t have time to investigate more, but Hunter was able to smell something rotten and decaying under the floorboards.” I turn the water off and twist in Ethan’s arms.

“Hmm. We’ll have to check it out soon. Were the remains human?”

I raise and lower my shoulders. “Hunter couldn’t tell.”

The floorboards creak as Nik comes down the rear stairs, emerging into the kitchen. “Best let sleeping dogs lie. And by that, I mean skeletons.”

“That’s what I said,” I tell both Ethan and Nik. “Mostly to make myself feel better for not telling Keith. But digging up a corpse will not only delay the renovation project but could anger spirits and we kinda have enough going on.” Just saying it out loud makes me feel guilty all over again. But I already feel scatterbrained and stressed, and I know whoever tried to frame Ethan for Patrick’s murder isn’t done messing with us yet.

“One thing at a time.” Ethan kisses my neck and steps back, grabbing his gym bag and going upstairs to shower.

“Everything looks good,” I tell Nik with a smile and pull a glass bowl for the salad out of a cabinet. “And smells amazing.” I take the bottles of wine I was chilling in the fridge out and open them so I won’t have to mess with the cork later. Stepping back so I’m leaning against the counter, I end up pouring myself a glass of wine, looking around the kitchen as I take a small sip.

I’ve never been overly concerned with getting my house spotlessly clean before someone comes over, telling myself my guests are here to see me and not my house. My previous house was so small I didn’t have many places to hide all my clutter, and I thought moving here would somehow make me a wonderful housekeeper.

It didn’t.

But Nik enjoys keeping things clean and tidy and even though we’ve told him over and over we don’t expect anything in return for him staying with us, I think it makes him feel better to do his part, so to speak. And right now, the kitchen looks perfect, with most of the dishes already washed and put away. The dining room table is set, and the guest rooms upstairs are clean with fresh sheets on the beds.

I scrubbed Romeo’s cage before heading out to meet Keith, and it was finally warm enough today to open the windows to get some fresh air in the house. The guest bathroom is sparkling clean as well, with brand new towels rolled up in the little linen closet. Why I’m so worried about making a good impression on Harrison’s girlfriend is beyond me.

It’s important to him, though, so in turn, it’s important to me. And I assumed at some point, he’d grow up and stop being such a manwhore. If I’m being honest, I didn’t think it would happen anytime soon.

Hunter lets us know when Harrison pulls onto the road, able to detect him much sooner than a regular dog. I take the salad into the dining room and Nik holds his hands over the candles on the center of the table, using magic to light them.

Ethan comes down the stairs right as Harrison and Saanvi get out of his car. I watch out the dining room window, trying my best not to make any assumptions about her until I actually get to know her. Keith is right: statically, Harrison isn’t going to date two demons in a row.

My brother is dressed casually in jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. We’re twins and share a slight family resemblance, but I definitely take after the Lancasters more than anyone else. Finding out there was another redhead in the family was almost as pleasing as finding out I’m a witch. Saanvi is gorgeous, with her dark hair swept up off her face, gently blowing in the spring breeze. She’s wearing a knee-length blue dress with a coordinating sweater and is clutching her purse tightly in one hand and holding onto Harrison’s arm with the other.

I go to open the door, welcoming them in, but then Saanvi abruptly stops. I wouldn’t think too much about it except she stopped directly in front of a circle of protection.

ChapterEleven

My eyes widen and I feel fire flicker around my fingers. She can’t cross the warding. She is a demon! I knew it and I—

“We forgot the wine,” she says, voice drifting up through the open windows. “It’s in the car.”

“Shit, you’re right.” Harrison pulls his hand out of hers, kisses her cheek, and jogs back to his car. Saanvi inches forward, walking over the invisible line of protection. Hunter bumps me with his nose in a veryI told you somove.

“I know,” I whisper to him, rolling my eyes at myself. I’m on edge, and I need to chill. Closing my eyes, I take a few deep breaths, waiting for Harry to make it to the door before I open it. Hunter, playing the part of regular dog, wags his tail and jumps up excitedly when Harrison comes into the house. “Hi,” I say, standing to the side to welcome them in. Hunter settles down and Harrison gives me the bottle of wine.

“You must be Anora,” Saanvi starts, holding out her hand to shake.

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