Devin nods and steps back when the library doors open and shut, letting several students in.
“Well, Anora Benson, my longest standing relationship though you don’t recall any of it, I’d love to take you out to lunch so we can catch up. Who knows, maybe it’ll help jog your memory.”
“Yeah,” I agree, eager to do anything that will help recover what was taken from me. “I’d like that.”
“Should I expect to see you again?”
“I will be around. Are you the librarian?”
“Only occasionally. Mrs. O’hara was the librarian when we were young but she’s not ready to retire yet. I teach seventh years about energy reading.” He tips his head, looking at me. “Which is why I hope you don’t think it’s odd for me to say that your aura is…lacking.”
“Lacking?”
“It’s as if something has taken energy from you. You’re not associating with vampires, are you?”
“I’ve yet to actually meet one in person.”
“Good. Light two white and one yellow candle tonight.”
“Why yellow?”
“Is it not still your favorite color?”
I smile. “Yeah, it is.”
“Damn,” Ethan says, taking his headphones off when I step into the parlor. “I was hoping you’d come back in a school girl uniform.
Laughing, I join him on the couch, pulling a blanket over my lap. “I’ll see if I can get an official one next time. Or I could order something off Amazon.”
“Don’t tease me, now.” He puts his controller down and runs a hand up my leg. “Did you have a nice time sitting in on classes?”
“I did. Most of what they went over I already knew, but it was really interesting just to watch the kids interact with one another. Oh, and I met someone I used to know.”
“Do you remember them?”
“Kind of. He’s that boy from the picture of me in the dining hall. His name is Devin and guess what? He was my boyfriend. Things were obviously hot and heavy back when I was like, ten,” I try to say seriously but end up laughing. “He’s a professor at the school now.”
“You met an old boyfriend?”
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous. Though, also, don’t tell me you’re not. I like you fighting over me, Ethan Bailey.” I wrap an arm around him and nuzzle my head against his neck.
“I will fight till the death for you, babe. So this old flame—”
“Is he an old flame when I don’t remember any of it?”
Ethan slides his hand up and down my leg. “He must not have been good at anything to stand out.”
“We were like ten. I think the most we would have done is hold hands.”
“Obviously he wasn’t good at that.”
I laugh and snuggle closer to Ethan. “No one is as good of a hand holder as you.”
“I know. I’m a champion hand-holder. And I’m not too shabby at a few other things.” He wiggles his eyebrows.
“But are you good enough to be memorable?” I purse my lips, tossing my head.
Ethan advances, laying me down on the couch and moving between my legs. I hook my arms around him and he kisses me, tongue pushing past my lips. The strangest feeling passes over me, reminding me when I give my energy to a spirit to manifest, but there are no ghosts in this house. At nearly the same time, Hunter shadows through the house, shifting into dog-form by the back door. He barks, and Ethan jerks up.
“Is something out there?” he asks me, knowing Hunter can communicate telepathically with me.
“I…I don’t know.” I scramble up after him, fighting off the sudden depletion of energy. A vision of the gargoyle from my dream the other night flashes before me when I blink. I dreamed about it again last night, but only because I was thinking about it before I nodded off. And last night, the gargoyle didn’t just look like Ethan, but was Ethan. Just with wings.
Ethan’s phone rings and we ignore it, going into the kitchen. Hunter is waiting by the door.
“Anything?” I ask my familiar, and he lets me know there was some sort of shift in the air, sending a flash of negative energy over the house. But whatever it was is gone now, though we both feel like something is watching us.
“What is it?” Ethan asks, impatiently waiting.
“Hunter sensed something passing over the house but it’s gone now, though I…” I look out the window at the barn. It’s still daylight out and the horses are way out in the back of the pasture. “I feel like I’m being watched.”
“Stay here,” Ethan says and runs upstairs, coming back down only a few seconds later with his shoes on and his gun in hand. He and Hunter go out on the back porch to check things out. Nik comes down stairs as I’m grabbing my coat.
“What’s going on?” he asks, eyes darting from me to the open door.
“I’m not sure yet,” I tell him. “Hunter sensed something dark and right before, I felt like something zapped energy from me.”
“Like a spirit?”
“Kinda, but it’s not a spirit. I’d know if one was here and whatever this was…it took a lot more than what a spirit takes.” I blink several times to keep eyes from fluttering shut from the sudden exhaustion. “The last time I drank too much, it hit me all at once and I had to go lay down and take a nap. It’s almost like that without being drunk, of course.”
Nik comes onto the back porch with me and I hold out my hands, letting my mental shields drop. “There’s something out there,” I whisper, reading the energy. “Watching from the tree line.”
Hunter gets there first, followed by Ethan and I. There’s nothing there, and my breath clouds around me as I stop next to Ethan, throwing my hand out in front of me again. The same feeling of intense dread that I felt back at the ghoul-infested apartments pushes down on me and I whirl around, certain I’m going to see the person who’s watching me.
Because it feels like they’re right here.
“Sense anything?” Ethan asks, gun drawn.
“Yes, but also no.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t make sense. Hunter felt it, and whatever it was took my energy.”
“Let’s get back in the house,” Ethan suggests. I shake my head in protest.
“I want to get the horses in first.” I give Hunter a nod, asking him to shadow out to the back of the pasture and round everyone up, gently herding them to run back to the barn. I take both Mystery and Sundance together, leading them from the pasture to the barn, and Nik and Ethan each get one of the donkeys.
“Sorry to cut your pasture time short, guys,” I tell them. “I’ll give you extra hay to make up for it.” Unclipping the lead rope from Mystery’s halter as soon as he’s in the barn, he walks himself right into his stall. Sundance pulls me toward the stacked bales of hay and I have to pull him away to get him into his stall.
Both horses spook when something moves across the roof, sounding like ice sliding down the shingles. Sundance nearly crushes me against the side of his stall, and I dodge out of the way at the last second. I might have magical powers and can kill demons with a single stab of an enchanted dagger, but leave it to horses to remind me how fragile and human I actually am.