Page 16 of The Monsters We Are
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to take him out.”
“Orinvoke a demon and have them do your dirty work for you?”
He only scratched his jaw.
“For God’s sake.” Wynter plopped herself onto a seat with a weary sigh. With Xavier, disliking someone wasallthe reason he felt he needed to end their existence. Something she blamed on his previous coven, who had very few scruples. “You’ll need to find another way to deal with the Beta. Not only because it’s wrong—and no, I don’t expect you to give much of a shit about that—but because you’d be executed for murdering himunlessyou can first gain permission to do it from the Ancient who partially owns Stewart’s soul.”
His lips pursed, Xavier nodded. “I can do that.”
“Withoutlying that he’s done a bunch of things he actually hasn’t done.”
“I wasn’t gonna.” He looked appropriately offended that she’d think otherwise.
Wynter snorted, not whatsoever fooled. Was it really any wonder that she hesitated to move out of the cottage when they were all a danger to themselves? On that subject . . . “I should probably tell you that Cain is pushing me to move in with him soon.”
“I’m not surprised, he’s not a dude who’d be okay with his woman dragging her heels over something like this.” Delilah handed her a steaming cup of tea. “You need to stop stalling.”
Yes, she did. “You know why I am.”
The Latina rolled her eyes. “It’s not like we’ll burn the cottage down without your supervision,Mom.”
Flames erupted out of Anabel’s cauldron, giving off a weird green smoke. Coughing, the blonde wafted her arm through the air. “Motherfucker.” She emptied a vial of liquid over the flames, and they slowly died down.
Delilah cleared her throat. “If—no,when—you move out, you’ll still be here as often as you are now.”
Wynter sipped her tea. “That’s pretty much what Cain said.”
“And he’s right.” Delilah heaved her box of for-sale bespelled cosmetics out of the cupboard. “Look, you can keep your room here. Not that I think that things won’t work out between you and Cain in the long run. It would just be a symbol that this is still your home. In spirit. If that makes sense.”
“It doesn’t,” said Xavier.
Delilah threw him a dirty look. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Can’t say I care.” Xavier jolted in his seat. “Dammit.” He shot a glare at thin air and rubbed at his nape. “One thing I don’t like about this time of year is how active the spirits get. They can be seriously annoying at times.”
Delilah used her hip to bump a cupboard door shut. “I still say we should hold a séance.”
“Nu-uh,” said Wynter, shaking her head.
“But it could be fun,” said Delilah. “And Xavier’s an expert at communing with the dead.”
“Providing he has a corpse he can use as a conduit,” Wynter reminded her. “I am sototallynot going there.”
“It’s probably for the best that we don’t,” said Hattie, fussing with the little plant pots on the windowsill. “A lot of the spirits here seem angry and melancholy. Probably can’t get a ticket out of hell. Poor bastards. I’ll be heading there for sure myself.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Xavier told her. “Personally, I think the devil is gonna freaking dig you.”
The old woman smiled. “Well thanks, darlin’.”
Delilah turned to Wynter. “Back to the whole you moving out thing—” She stopped as Wynter raised a hand.
“I told Cain I’d move my stuff to his place little by little. And I will.” As for whether or not she’d bond with his monster . . . well, she didn’t see any harm in it. But she needed a little more information before she made an official decision one way or the other.
“Good,” said Delilah. “You shouldn’t hold yourself back. Especially out of some cute but silly need to watch over us. We’ll be fine.”
A crackling sound filled the room as purple smoke ballooned out of Anabel’s cauldron. The blonde hissed. “Motherfuckingfucker.”
Wynter sighed. “If you say so, Del.”