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EDEN
My nerves were shot.
Never in my life had I felt so thoroughly put through the wringer. I sat through dinner with my clients with a smile on my face so tight and fake, I had to keep brushing my fingers against my cheeks to make sure it wasn’t flaking off like old cheap paint. I laughed at their jokes like I didn’t feel like my heart was going to pound out of my chest and managed to look around the restaurant as though admiring the fine dining experience and not looking for the faces of monsters in the crowd.
By the time I had the design finalized, I was so exhausted I worried my knees would give out when I tried to stand.
Still, my handshake was firm. Gran and Abuela didn’t raise no punk.
I kept that air of confidence on my face all the way to the valet who I tipped generously before I clicked the locks on my car and drummed my fingers nervously at the wheel.
The feeling of being watched was making me paranoid. The flesh around the thumbnail on my right hand was a bloody mess, a result of my picking at it throughout the day. An itch that could never be scratched.
Anxiety wasn’t really my thing. I was too much of a control freak. I needed to have a firm grasp on everything and this was something I just couldn’t wrap my hands around. I didn’t know who would be watching me. I didn’t know what they could want.
Alicia was right, there was no way this was a coincidence.
That thought was even more troubling.
It wasn’t like there was some random person — I don’t know, Jane Smith or something — sitting around waiting for someone to buy that book hoping they would summon a demon husband. Right? No, whoever was watching me had to be… other.
Were there other things besides demons?
Was there some witch waiting for my blood so she could cast a spell with it? Some werewolf waiting on a full moon? Asmodeus had pretty much told us vampires were a thing, so just what else was out there?
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath as I pulled onto the Gardiner at the bottom of Jarvis and was stuck behind standstill traffic. “Just great.”
Even though I knew better and would be pissed beyond reason if I got slapped with the fine, I pulled out my phone. I kept it on my thigh while drumming my thumb on the wheel.
3 messages from Imani.
2 messages from Alicia.
7 messages from Sarika.
1 missed call from Vi.
1 missed call from Abuela.
“Shit.”
I hit the command button on my steering wheel. “Call Abuela.”
‘Calling Abuela.’
The call rang twice before she answered. “Eden Leah Perez.”
And I was in trouble. “Yes, Abuela.”
“You didn’t call.”
A long sigh left me. “I know, I’m so sorry. I’ve just been so out of it since the weekend, and struggling to get my mind functioning again.”
“Functioning? Why would you need to have your mind functioning again? Did you drink too much? You know I don’t like when you drink.”
My head fell back against the rest as I slowly crept behind the BMW in front of me. My eyes rolled as I mentally cursed myself for my slip-up. At this big age, I acted like I needed her permission. “I didn’t drink too much.”
“Lying through your teeth too?” There was something about being chastised by her that made me feel like I was ten years old again. “You lie to me when I was sitting here with your Gran waiting for your call. Slaving away in the kitchen.”
