“I sealed his doors closed so he couldn’t get out of his car until the warlock was out of sight. Before you ask he walked away he didn’t vanish. I didn’t have to explain that to Rathe. He never mentioned his doors being locked or being unable to get out of the car. Which I expected him to. Odd.”

Duely let out a loud breath. “Damn, your morning has been busy. Kicked out of your crazy mother’s house because you’re dangerous, faced the warlock again, and Rathe coming in for the rescue,” he replied then yawned loudly. “Too damn early for all this.”

“How did you know Persephone had kicked me out and that she thinks I’m evil?” I immediately asked him. If he’d just woken up then he shouldn’t have this news yet.

“My mother texted me after calling while I was alseep and I didn’t answer. She said Persephone had forced you out of the house because you were dangerous. That there were things I didn’t know and I needed to keep my distance. Not to let you come inside my apartment. Not to talk to you or take your calls. So, when are you going to bring your shit to my apartment? The spare bedroom is yours as long as you need it.”

Tears stung my eyes, and I blinked them away.

I couldn’t say I wasn’t loved or cared for by my family. Duely was my family and this was his way of letting me know they could all go to hell. He wasn’t disowning me or shutting me out. Duely loved me. More tears threatened. I was going to mess up my makeup and have to do another charm.

“You love me,” I said, with the emotion clogging my throat.

“Of course I fucking love you. It’s us against them. It always has been. Besides, if you’re so damn evil and dangerous, I don’t want you as an enemy. If you morph into a demon or some weird shit like that then I want that kind of badassery on my side.”

I was laughing now, and the tears had rolled down my cheeks. Duely could always be counted on to look at the bright side of all situations and make them comical. “I love you, too,” I told him.

“Yeah, I know. Which means you’re not going to turn into a sinister demon from the pits of hell on your next birthday.” He sounded let down about that, which made my smile grow. “Just because I have to let that idea go doesn’t mean you won’t still be some all powerful mythical being or some shit. Because whatever dark secret your birth giver has about you she’s terrified of you.”

The reminder of my mother soured my short lived good mood. “She just hates me. It’s not terror,” I clarified.