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“I thought you said—”
“It’s not about love. It’s bigger than that.”
He raised his eyebrows with his trademark, ‘Okay, if you say so’ look. “What do the guys say?”
I shook my head. “I can’t tell them shit. They’d tell me to ghost her just to be safe. Especially Stone.” He nodded, probably agreeing. “I can’t just walk away, man. I can’t.” She was too damn tempting, and I knew how fucked up that was, but I was in too deep to fight it.
We walked for a little while in silence. I figured he was processing the whole sordid thing, and I was stuck again in my cycle of kill her or fuck her.
“Sounds hexilicious to me,” he finally declared.
“Feels like it too. I’m drawn to her like an incubus to L.A.”
“Yikes, Mav. You know what I’m going to say.”
“Don’t. I know! I know how suspicious that sounds, but I told you I can’t walk away.”
“Maybe we should do a spell to break whatever hex she’s put on you.”
“I don’t really believe she’s put a hex on me.”
“What else is it, man?”
“I don’t know, but it’s time to figure out what to do about it. I’ve got to make a plan. I can’t just show up and look in her eyes again without knowing what I’m going to do. Because, like last time, I’ll just take her home and—”
He raised his hand, interrupting me. “Uh, yeah, I get it.”
I shook my head. “But it can’t involve leaving her. I cannot bear the thought of never seeing her again.”
“Yep. You said that. Gotcha.” He blew air out of his puffed-out cheeks. “You got any ideas?”
“It’s risky, but if I claim her and she’s a hunter, then she’d have to stay with me. She’d be bound by her duty to escort me back to Hell, but then she’d be bound by the laws and traditions of the seraphim to stay locked up with me while I’m punished for my ‘betrayal’ of living somewhere else.”
“Risky? Mav, that’s risky, like summoning the Archangel Gabriel into your living room is risky.”
I waved a hand. “Don’t be dramatic. Now, if she’snota seraphim hunter—”
“Then she’ll die, man.”
“I wouldn’t let that happen. I’ll know what to do then. We’ll be okay. And then we could be together. That’s my best-case scenario.”
“Mmmmm. So you’ve got either get dragged back down to Hell or risk killing this enigmatic woman you can’t lose.”
“Don’t be so negative, dude. Listen, I refused to commit to the last love of my life. I know it sounds soppy, but I’ve regretted it for five hundred years. I will not make that mistake again.”
“Is it the same deal, though?”
We arrived back at the shop, and I finished up the last dregs of my coffee. “Not exactly, but almost. Thanks, man, I feel much better.”
“Not sure I did anything, but you’re welcome. I guess.” He tossed his empty cup in the outside trash can after mine.
I held out my hand for him. “Don’t tell the guys, okay? They wouldn’t get it.”
“No, I agree, they wouldn’t get it at all.” We shook, both slapping each other’s shoulders as hard as we could and said goodbye.
I got in my car, drove to an alley a block away from Empire Decay Ink, and parked. I blew out a long breath, hoping I could cope with whatever the outcome would be.
It was time to finally fix this problem because if she wasn’t a hunter, they were still out there on our tail, and being all caught up in this nightmare with Tess was keeping me off my game. It seemed to me most paths led me straight back to Hell. It was only a matter of time. The only way I’d win this was if Tess really was who she said she was. An innocent witch I’d randomly fallen head over heels for. As unlikely as it seemed, I had to risk it.
