I’m neither of those things any longer, and yet, the man who sired me continues to torment me.
I haven’t told my sisters yet. They’ll be angry that I didn’t confide in them, but I don’t want to scare them. We’ve had enough fear over the past year—hell, in our entire lifetimes.
I couldn’t bear to add more fear to their lives.
I rub my hand over my face and pad into the kitchen, making a beeline for the coffee maker.
My precious, wonderful coffee maker.
But before I can turn it on, a knock sounds at my door.
“I can’t be expected to be nice to people before I’m caffeinated,” I mutter as I pad to the entrance of my apartment and open it to find Jack standing there, looking fresh and well-rested and just sexy. “Do you realize that it’s, like, seven?”
“Good morning,” he says with that grin that always makes my knees weak. “I brought you coffee.”
He holds out the cup, and I snatch it away and take a long sip, not caring in the least that it’s so hot it could boil pasta al dente.
“Need,” I say with a grateful sigh, closing my eyes and then reopening them to stare at him. Goddess, he’s only gotten more handsome with age.
It’s not fair.
“Can I come in?” he asks at last.
“Oh. Okay.” I back away from the door and drop into a chair in the living room, pulling my feet up under me and savoring another long sip.
“Do you have any other clothes you can wear?”
I scowl and look down at my robe. “Why?”
“Because you’re likely naked under there, and I’m a mortal man, Daph.”
I don’t move to cover the cleavage that shows thanks to the gaping robe lapel. I’m just that spiteful.
Instead, I raise a brow and take another sip of coffee.
“That would be a no then,” he says with a deep sigh and shoves his hand through his hair.
“To what do I owe this visit and this delicious brew?” I ask.
“Just thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing.”
“I’m fine, thanks. You don’t have to hover, you know. Everything is fine.”
Except my father is terrorizing me in my dreams again. No big deal.
“I told you that I’d be sticking close, keeping an eye out.”
“That’s very chivalrous of you.” I suck down the last of the coffee, then stand and walk into the kitchen to brew some more. “Millie and Brielle are coming over tonight for a girls’ night and to work some protection spells. We’ve already recharged the stones at Reflections. He can’t come inside, Jack. I’m safe.”
“Listen, it’s no skin off your nose if I stick close.”
“It’s a free country,” I mutter and will the coffee to brew faster.
“How much coffee do you drink in a day?” he asks.
“As much as humanly possible.” I turn a steely stare at him. “And I haven’t had enough this morning to throw you out on your ass. Yet.”
“Good.” He leans back and grins, his arms spread across the back of the couch. It’s that cocky grin that always made me want to kiss the lips right off his face.
It would be so easy to fall in love with him once more. To soften and just be with him.
But he hurt me deeper than anyone ever has in my life, and I don’t trust that he won’t do it again.
“You know, when I met you, you were such a shy thing. Quiet and unsure. Even when things ended, you were quiet.”
“I’m not loud now,” I reply with a shrug. “But I am more confident.”
“I like it,” he says, watching me. “I liked you fine before, but you wear confidence well, Daph.”
“I have to go see my mother today,” I inform him and brush my hair off my neck, changing the subject. “With my sisters. And then we’re coming back here for dinner. Girls’ night, as I said.”
“Good. I’m glad you won’t be alone.” His expression sobers. “Is Ruth really doing well? From everything you told me back when we were together, she was a horrible person.”
I doctor up a new cup of coffee, forgoing the potion Millie insisted I use, and return to my chair.
“Yeah, she is doing well. She was possessed by…something…for a long time. Held hostage in that house. We’ve been there a couple of times in the past year, and the paranormal activity has only gotten worse, Jack. It’s full of spirits, shadows, and…evil. The house itself is falling apart. And my father is buried in the rose garden.”
I shed the vision that fills my head every time I think of that place.
“What is it?” he asks.
“What is what?”
“Your eyes just went unfocused. You saw something. What was it?”
How can he still read me so well?
I blow out a breath and then decide: What the hell?
“When we went to the house to find our grandmother’s grimoire, Mama led me out to the garden. Said she wanted to show me her roses or something. We were alone because Millie and Cash were upstairs, looking for the book, and Brielle stopped to look at something in the house. Anyway, she led me into the backyard. The rose bushes were ridiculous, Jack. As if they were grown with fertilizer on steroids. I reached out and touched a blossom.
“Now, I’d been so careful throughout the entire house because…well, you know.”
He nods, his eyes narrowed, and I keep going.
“Anyway, she was rattling on about how she killed my father. And I touched the bloom. Suddenly, it was as black as a moonless night, and my father’s voice started cackling in my head—an evil, awful laugh. I hadn’t seen him in years, not since Miss Sophia helped us get rid of him with a spell. But he’s buried in that garden, Jack. And his spirit is still very much in that house.”
“Jesus,” he murmurs and presses his fingertips to his eyes. “I’m so damn sorry, Daph.”
“I’m fine,” I assure him, even though not much about my childhood was fine. “I’m used to all of this. It’s happened forever.”
“And that just pisses me right off,” he says, but his voice is soft. “No one deserves to be taunted the way the three of you have been.”
“Four,” I remind him. “Mama got the worst of it. But she’s doing great now. Unbeknownst to all of us, we found out Mama’s a witch.”
“What? I thought she punished you guys if you talked about those kinds of things.”
“Oh, she did. Well, whatever possessed her did. But we discovered that not only was she a witch before, she was also a member of Miss Sophia’s coven.”
His eyes fly to mine. “Our coven?”
“That’s right.”
“And no one did anything? Said anything?”
“Miss Sophia said that Mama was always a little…difficult. Moody. Probably from being married to my dad.” I shrug. “She didn’t know what was happening at the house.”
“No one ever said anything to me about your mom,” he mutters in confusion.
“They’d probably tell you that it wasn’t for them to talk about. Or that it wasn’t time.” I roll my eyes. “This mystical stuff is damn frustrating.”