I have two texts: one from Harrison and one from Laney—from last night. I forgot she wanted to hang out, and I feel bad right away. Luckily, she had texted to tell me Josh surprised her after work so she couldn’t come over anyway. I open the text from my brother next, he asked if I’m at work, and text him back.
Me: No, I wasn’t feeling well so stayed home.
Harrison: Damn, I was hoping you were there.
Me: Why? You don’t have a pet.
Harrison: I stupidly agreed to pick up a client’s medication for his dog. The guy’s an asshole, but if I can get him to sign with us, I’ll get a huge bonus.
Me: Oh, well, I hope it helps! Katy is working at the front desk today. She knows who you are.
Harrison: Thanks. Feel better, sis.
Me: I’m working on it.
I make a face as I send that last text since I hate lying. And I always feel like lying about being sick sets me up to jinx myself and then I’ll really get sick.
“Hey.” I look up from my phone and see Ethan come into the kitchen. His hair is damp and he’s wearing dark gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt, making me feel a fluttering in my stomach. “You didn’t eat without me, did you?”
“We were just about to,” Julia tells him and sets two glasses of ice water on the table. “Sam! Lunch is ready!”
“Do I smell better?” Ethan asks, taking a seat next to me.
“Hmmm. I need a closer inspection.” I rest a hand on his thigh and lean in, closing my eyes and inhaling. He smells fucking amazing, like cedarwood and soap. “Yeah. You pass the test.”
“If you two want to head out after lunch, I’ll thumb through the books a bit more,” Julia offers.
“I can help,” I tell her.
“I don’t mind. It’s what I do,” she insists. “Sam and Ethan fight, I research and read. I’m not good with hand-to-hand combat. Plus, I’m kind of klutzy and have really bad asthma. Trust me when I say I’m better at researching what to kill and how to kill it.”
“Oh, well, that makes sense.” I take a bite of my sandwich.
“My soup is a little cold,” Ethan starts, sliding the bowl over. “Do you think you could heat it up for me?”
Sam huffs and I smile, holding out my hands. “Probably not, but I’ll try.”
“Whoa,” I say, slowing to a stop as I look at weapons laid out on a table in Ethan’s basement. We’re heading to the barn soon so I can teach the lesson, as well as check out the woods for any demonic signs. “That’s a lot of knives.”
“Better to be safe than sorry, right?” Ethan picks up a silver-tipped wooden stake, considers it for a second, and then puts it back down. “A good old-fashioned mauling can kill a Pricolici, which means any of these will do. The demon, however, that son of a bitch could be a little trickier.” He looks up from the weapons to me. “Do you get any feelings about picking one over another?”
“I’m sorry, I’m hung up on how casually you said a good old-fashioned mauling.”
He flashes that cheeky grin and holds up a small battle axe. “You don’t see too many maulings anymore. Those were the good old days for sure.”
I laugh and start forward, eyeing what looks like a solid gold blade.
“Stop!” Ethan almost drops the axe in his haste to come over.
“What?” I freeze, thinking I accidentally triggered a booby trap or something.
“There are warding sigils drawn on the floor under the rug. Hang on.” He sets the axe down and lifts up the rug, looking at the different occult-like symbols spray-painted on the cement. “Right here.” He moves his hand in a circular motion. “Don’t step here.”
“What will happen if I do step there?”
“Render you powerless. It’s a warding against…against witches.”
“Why do you have to ward off witches?” I ask. “Do witches typically steal weapons or something?”
“We have to cover all our bases by rules of the Order. Anything giving you a good vibe?” he asks quickly.
“Umm…this one.” I go around the witch-warding and pick up the golden blade. It’s much heavier than I expected, and there’s something that looks like dried skin stuck to the tip of it.
“Good choice.” Ethan takes it from me, carefully wraps it up in a length of thick leather, and adds it to a bag of weapons. We head out, going first to my house so I can take care of my animals and change into barn clothes.
Ethan parks on the street in front of my house and we go in through the front door. I stick the key into the lock and get a creeped out feeling. I turn and look out over my shoulder.
“Everything okay?” Ethan steps closer.