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August interrupted Esther’s response. “Platt business. Nothing for you to bother with.”
Ashley scowled at him and caught Esther with a similar expression.
Esther held up the book, and August’s shoulders slumped. It was bound in dark leather, almost black, with silver decals on the corners and a matching lock fastening it shut. Embossed on the cover were the phases of the moon aligned in a circle.
“If I had to guess,” Esther said as she flipped the book to inspect the back, “I’d say this isn’t exactly a cookbook in the traditional sense.”
“A grimoire, huh?” Ashley stood, dusting herself off. “What would the Platt family be doing with a grimoire? In New York of all states?”
“I don’t know what being in New York has to do with it, but it’s fascinating. Based on this binding, it’s quite possibly the oldest piece in the collection.” Esther continued to look over the spine while descending the stairs. “Do you know if your family had a history of collecting objects from the occult?”
“You could say that.” August stood as well and gestured for Esther to pass him the book.
“Let me see it.” Ashley grabbed the book from August’s outstretched hand, ignoring the stupid smirk on his face. She fiddled with the latch.
A red heat nipped at her fingertip.
“Ouch!” She dropped it like a hot potato.
“Ashley,” scolded Esther. “It’s fragile.
“Dammit, August!” Ashley said.
But he was too busy laughing to pay attention to her scolding. Ashley popped her finger in her mouth and glared at him.
“Here, let me see it.” Esther gestured for Ashley’s hand, but Ashley shifted out of her grasp and away from Esther’s gaze that always noticed a pattern. “Do you have a metal allergy? This is the second time you’ve reacted like this.”
Too late.
Ashley hadn’t dropped Anthropology 101 like she’d promised herself. There just wasn’t another class at such a convenienttime. And until now, Esther hadn’t said anything about her rushing off into the night like a weirdo. She’d successfully cut back her Esther-watching from longing gazes to an occasional casual look. Okay, maybe it was more like stolen glances, but a girl couldn’t help herself. When she fixated, she Fixated.
“Sure.” August huffed a laugh. “Ametal allergy.” He used air quotes around ‘metal allergy.’
Ashley raised a choice finger at him. “Shut up, August.”
Esther snatched Ashley’s hand while she had it raised and gently pried open her fist. Inside, they found a perfect cross christening her pointer finger.
“Well, at least your other rash is gone.” Esther gently trailed her fingertips down the length of Ashley’s palm. Her expression remained absent, as though she didn’t even notice the effect she had.
Ashley wanted Esther’s hand to continue its gentle stroll everywhere on her. And strangely, she wanted to know what holding Esther’s hand was like as well.
“Probably for the best.” Ashley pulled her hand back, attempting to laugh off her overactive feelings. “My hand was looking like a cathedral.”
Right then, obnoxious hamsters started singing. Because, of course, now was the right time for a phone call, and of course, her phone had fallen out of her pocket when she and August had their mad dash for the stairs. August got to it first.
“It’s your mom,” he called, lifting the phone so she could see.
Of course it was her mom. “Tell her I’ll call her back.”
She realized her mistake two seconds too late.
“Hello, Ms. Ashley’s mom.” August reclined onto his chaise lounge. “This is August speaking.”
Total panic followed, and Ashley flashed to his side. “Give me the phone.”
“Her boyfriend?” August rolled off the chaise and out of Ashley’s grasp. “No, nothing as official as that.”
Ashley hissed through her teeth, barely remembering to keep in her fangs. “August, I will end you.”
