Ethan fastens two more buttons, leaving the top few undone. “You weren’t close to your aunt?”
“No,” I say with a shake of my head. My hair falls back over my shoulder and Ethan brings his hand to my face, tucking it back behind my ear. He runs his fingertips down my neck, and I want nothing more than to relent to him.
“You’re a witch, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know,” I tell him. “I mean, to my knowledge, no. But it would be pretty cool.”
“Cool?” he echoes incredulously.
“Heck yeah. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be able to do magic?”
“If only it were that easy,” he says ruefully. “How are you feeling? Physically, I mean.”
I actually have to think about it for a second. “The room isn’t spinning anymore, so, fine, considering. I’m glad you were ‘not stalking me’ in the woods and found me.”
Ethan smiles. “Me too. You were not who I expected to find.”
“Who were you expecting?”
His eyes search mine, and for a brief moment, I see longing reflected in his gaze. It’s a feeling I know well, the painful desperation to fit in—fully—somewhere. “I don’t know.” He inhales and flashes that damn smirk again. “Definitely not someone as hot as you.”
I let out a snort of laughter and shake my head. “Well, I’m three for three in looking ragged every time you see me.”
“True, and I still say you’re bang-able.”
I smile, a bit of heat rushing to my cheeks. It’s weird now to think back to our first encounter. I thought he was just some handsome stranger. “Thanks. The fact that I’m half-naked probably helps.”
“I tried not to look. You were really cold,” he adds. “I was a little worried you’d become hypothermic. Plus, that pond water smelled like ass.”
I pull my hair around to my face and smell it, grimacing. Ethan is right. I let my hair fall back against my chest. “I have so many questions,” I say as I look around the living room. Whoever decorated it is fan of the farmhouse shabby-chic trend. It looks like an Etsy shop vomited in here.
“That’s understandable. I have more questions for you as well.”
“I don’t think I’ll have the answers you’re hoping for,” I say and look into Ethan’s brown eyes, realizing he’s not at all the man I thought he was. There’s a darkness to him, and the danger emanating from him should scare me. But, dammit, all it does is draw me in, making me want more. He holds my gaze for a moment, and my heart thumps in my chest.
“What do I do now?” The chill is back and my fingers tremble slightly. “How long before they attack again?”
“I don’t know,” he tells me honestly. “Demons do tend to get pissed off when you start killing them, and now they know who you are. I don’t think it will be long before they try again.”
“So I’m basically going to wait around to be attacked.”
Ethan makes a face and shrugs. “Basically. Go back to your normal life but be careful. Demons like staying in the shadows, so avoid going places alone.”
“Like walking through the woods?” I ask, wrinkling my nose.
“Exactly like walking alone in the woods.”
I pull my arms around myself and watch light from the fire reflect off the tiger’s-eye gemstone in the hilt of my dagger. “What’s so special about this?” I reach forward and pick it up off the coffee table. “You said not anyone has something like this, but you can buy daggers online.”
“True, but daggers you buy online aren’t tied to the occult.” He takes the dagger from me and pulls it from the sheath. “This triple-moon symbol.” He taps it. “It’s the crest of a coven. I don’t know what this says. I think the language is called Theban. If your aunt gave you this dagger, she probably belonged to the coven.”
I’m sure she did, and I know without a doubt now that Aunt Estelle was a witch. I want to tell Ethan everything. He knows more about what’s going on than I do, yet I know I can’t let my guard down and trust him just yet.
“She might have.” I bend my legs up, tucking them under the blanket and take the dagger from Ethan, looking at the triple-moon before setting it back down. “I wish I had the chance to get to know her. She could have answered some questions, that’s for sure.”