Accidentally Married To A Demon - Mila Young Page 0,24

with a low rumbling growl emanating from the creature.

In a quick motion, I ran my fingers through his fur.

"No... no need to be alarmed," I whispered. I didn't even know if Dracul could understand English, but my voice calmed him, and he stopped growling, although his body was still tense, eyeing the shopkeeper.

I'd heard of cats being sensitive to magic, but not dogs. Or maybe there was no magic at all, and I'd imagined it.

"Would you like some tea?" Bram asked, clicking his tongue to summon Dracul back to him as he placed a couple of Styrofoam mugs and a thermos on his table.

I took in a deep, shuddering breath and ran my fingers through my hair before tearing my gaze away from the fruit vendor.

"I'd love some."

Chapter 8

It was good to get a start on things. But first, I wanted some food and I couldn’t stop staring at the cheese wheels that seemed to be multiplying on the table. I grabbed one of the heavy suckers and brought it over to the kitchen counter. With a knife, I pierced it in the middle and cut myself a wedge as if it were a wedding cake. For all I knew, I could be butchering this and committing the worst cardinal rule ever of how to slice this wheel of cheese. But I didn’t care. Instead of peeled off the hard casing on the outside and headed outside into the backyard, taking a bite. It melted on my tongue, coming with a slightly tangy and strong aged taste. I took another bite. It was good.

I stood in the backyard of the house, staring at the dried up land. No sign of Rog.

I needed to keep telling myself that. My visit to the village was not as productive as I’d hoped it would be. I wasn't sure if there was magic being used in the town, or if it was just my own head playing tricks on me.

Saying that I didn't have a green thumb was something of an understatement, but I did know a thing or two about tilling soil. I'd done it often while growing up.

Soil aeration, they'd called it. Turning the dirt over, getting it moving so that it would be more receptive to fertilization.

Chewing on more cheese, I glanced around for the garden tools, when a white blur came rushing around the corner.

A goat that must have escaped from Bram.

"How did you get in here? " I asked.

The thing rushed up to me with speed, showing no sign of slowing down. A small thread of panic raced through me. I backed away, but I wasn’t fast enough. The goat charged into me, headbutting me in my hip, making a grunting sound.

Out of pure shock, I flinched away, dropping the wedge of cheese.

The animal scrambled to pick it up fast, chewing on it, staring at me which I could only describe as anger. I wouldn’t lie when I said, he scared me a bit. Thank goodness it had no horns.

Rog’s words came to mind about how he fed the cheese and bread to the goats, and well, this guy saw me as a threat to his treats.

"Well, you might need to share the cheese. It’s quite tasty."

He unleashed a bleating sound, protesting no doubt.

I rolled my eyes and head to the small shed where I tracked down some tools.

It would be a lot of work to get this soil working. I would probably have to hire some people, but we were going to have to start somewhere, and I was due some cardio anyway. All I could think about how much a vineyard like this in working order might sell for. Enough to set me up with a small apartment in New York I owned and maybe left over money.

Fifteen minutes in, I could feel the muscle memory kicking back in. Still, it was hard work breaking the baked, dusty earth up, probably for the first time in forever, cutting up the dead roots and moving back along.

Slow work, but the exercise, it was worth it. My mind wasn't going back to the demon with the devilish kiss, for the most part anyway. I was breathing hard and sweating for another reason entirely, all the while being watched by a goat. My calluses were gone, which meant that I would probably be getting some blisters through the gloves I was wearing.

But it would be worth it.

I heard heavy footsteps coming in from behind me, from the house, finally coming