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Vi frowned. “Eden.”
“I can see that,” Alicia interrupted. “Look… this shit is crazy. I’m not about to sit here and tell you it’s not.”
“Right?” I looked around when I realized I had shouted. Clearing my throat, I leaned in slightly. “This is a lot.”
Vi’s eyes dropped as she picked up her napkin and tore off little pieces. The smile she wore when I arrived slowly slipped off her face and misery worked its way over her features. Her curls were wild today, more unkempt. Her bottom lip was trapped in her teeth as she finally lifted her eyes and looked at me.
I hated that look on her. It was the same look she wore before she told us she was getting separated. The one she wore again when she announced her divorce. The heartbreak there was quiet, but it was always something I would see.
“Vi. Baby girl. Don’t.”
Her eyes glassed over as she forced a smile. “I know. It’s just… this past year feels so much harder than it needs to be. No matter what steps I make, they’re the wrong ones. You know?”
Alicia’s hand wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her into her chest. “Hard steps don’t equate wrong steps, Vi. You know that.”
Abandoning the warmth of my cup, I reached across the table and took one of Vi’s hands. She had a tough year. Divorcing the man she’d been with since her teens was no small thing. Not to mention having to rebuild her home alone. Now, they found themselves in an impossible situation no one could figure out how to navigate.
“Vi. You know I don’t blame you, right?” As weird as it was, I didn’t. There wasn’t much these women could do in my life that wouldn’t be forgiven if I even blamed them at all. Summoning a demon husband was something none of us could have predicted, and Vi would never do shit like that on purpose.
She was near tears just knowing she’d done it by accident. How could I blame her for that? It wasn’t like summoning a demon was something that happened every weekend.
“This is some freaky shit, none of us could be blamed for it,” I tried to reason.
“Mhmm,” Alicia agreed. “I still can’t believe it, to be honest.”
“Same,” I added, voice sombre.
Our words did nothing to soothe Vi as the edges of her nose darkened and she sniffled.
Alicia looked at her with eyes that held a world of love before she tore her gaze away and looked at me. “So… what’s up? I know this is wild but you look extra shaken right now.”
I dropped my voice to a whisper. Even with the soothing music playing and the hum of patrons, I was worried I would be overheard. “I could have sworn someone was following me today. I just…” I ran a hand over my face before I cupped my chin. “I can’t shake the feeling I’m being watched.”
“By him?” Vi asked, her curiosity making her lean in.
There was no way for me to know that without a sliver of a doubt, but my gut told me no. Asmodeus had been in or around my house since he was summoned and it never felt quite like it had in the parking garage.
The shake of my head was slow as I thought it over. “No. I don’t think so.”
Alicia’s dark brow cocked. “Who then?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know.”
Lips pursed, Alicia hummed low in her throat. “I mean, wouldn’t it make the most sense that it would be him? The odds of us,” she looked around to make sure no one was listening, “inviting him to your place and you randomly getting a stalker in the same week seem unlikely.”
I sunk back in my seat, a frustrated sigh inflating my chest before I blew it out slowly and let it vibrate my lips. “Listen, I hear what you’re saying. The easiest answer is that my husband is following me around. For what? I couldn’t tell you. But…” I shook my head slightly, thinking. “Okay, don’t call me crazy but it’s like I would know if it was him. Like whatever we did set something in my chest that works like radar or some shit.”
My fingers sought my chest, running over the raised key under my flesh through my shirt. I should probably tell them about it, but I wasn’t ready to face that level of music yet. Especially not in a little coffee shop on Queen Street West.
“Who am I to try to understand how the hell all this works?” Alicia shrugged. “If you say you would know, then you would know.”
Vi leaned over the table, her eyes red as she sniffled again and grabbed my hand in both of hers. “Come stay with me for a few days.”
My brow cocked. “What? Why?”
Alicia snorted. “Ede, babe, you can’t be serious.”
Right. Because I was married to a demon now and someone was stalking me.
