I thought about his offer, about how I would be cramping his style, and realized I had no other options. I was scared, and I didn’t even know if I should be. Right now, all I had was Duely’s offer and that would give me time to figure out what was happening.

“Okay, thank you,” I said. “I can’t stay hidden here, but I might sleep better at night being here. I have work tomorrow, which will be a good distraction.”

“You’re always welcome here. Not sure if I’m much protection. This mother fucker may kill us both,” was his ever so comforting response. “You want another drink?”

I started to say no then changed my mind. “Vodka cranberry.”

He gave a nod of approval. “You working tonight?”

“No.”

“Good. That gives me a little time to think about how I have no clue what the hell to do about this shit.”

I laughed. I had no reason to laugh, but Duely always managed to make me laugh.

“Other than being stalked by a scary ass warlock, how are things going with Margo and Heath’s new roommate? Heath getting jealous over the new guy showing interest?”

“No. Heath is my friend. He isn’t attracted to me. I’ve told you that already and Rathe… we’re friends,” I replied, even though it sounded odd saying it. I’d almost forgotten my embarrassing interaction with Rathe today. Almost. My cheeks heated as I remembered how stupid I had sounded.

“Ah, there’s a story there,” he said already amused. “What happened? Fuck knows I need a distraction. Entertain me with whatever is making you turn cherry red.”

I took a long drink of the red liquid, hoping its relaxing power kicked in soon. Inhaling deeply, only to cringe a little at the scent of cigarettes that permeated the bar, I lifted my gaze to Duely and gave him a brief rundown of my earlier interaction with Rathe.

FOURTEEN: THE PHONE CALL

Fourteen

The Phone Call

Sleep came eventually that night. The noise from the bar below wasn’t what kept me awake, although I was used to the silence that surrounded the house I’d lived in most of my life. Sleep was impossible when my brain refused to shut off. I tried thinking of a million different things, but my thoughts always found a way back to the warlock or whatever he was. The last glance at the time on my phone had read 2:38. The bar would have had last call at three and maybe it had quietened down then. I couldn’t remember, but it had been shortly after that I’d fallen asleep.