Page 43 of Infernal Secrets

“You are dressed.”

“I am not going downstairs in these.” She motioned to her shorts, drawing my gaze to her legs again.

“I’m not seeing anything wrong with what you’re wearing.”

She stepped back and gestured at the door.

I held my hands up and backed away.

Though I hated leaving, I knew I’d helped distract her from her grief. I didn’t want to upset her again by pushing her on something as unimportant as clothing. If she didn’t feel comfortable around the guys while wearing shorts, it wasn’t a big deal.

“I’ll save you a sausage.” I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as I left her bedroom, listening to her muttered curses about Cyn invading her kitchen.

10

AUTOPILOT

RAE

I’m working on autopilot. That’s the only plausible excuse for why I didn’t freak out when I woke up staring at Zeke’s face. I even kept talking to him instead of kicking him out of my bed.

I hadn’t had a man in my house—let alone in my bed—since I moved in.

After using my inheritance to buy the townhouse, I made a point of not bringing men home since I didn’t plan on moving while Grandma lived in Greensboro. I didn’t need a partner knowing my address if the breakup was messy. I dealt with enough without needing to look over my shoulder for human threats, too.

After Zeke left, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and checked my voicemail. I’d left my phone on silent because I didn’t want to be bothered after last night.

I’d missed Patricia’s call informing me it’d be another two weeks before the funeral. I assumed she’d rush through it all. Two weeks gave me more time to prepare myself, even if it wouldn’t make things easier. Nothing would.

I headed for the bathroom, pausing when my screen lit up with a text from Maya. Shane wanted me to come in to work today on my day off.

The bastard was only calling me in because of what happened in his office.

My employment contract granted bereavement leave, but I needed to save those days for Grandma’s funeral. I also didn’t want to play twenty questions with Shane when my emotions were all over the place. I might get myself fired—or snap his neck.

Routine was better than sitting alone with my thoughts, so I fired back a text telling Maya I could come in mid-morning. It’d give me time to get ready and deal with the situation downstairs. I needed to get my head straight. My mind kept replaying the last twenty-four hours on a loop I couldn’t stop.

Shane’s harassment.

The weird book.

Demons.

Grandma.

The warm shower loosened my muscles and relaxed my mind, but the hollowness inside me remained.

Despite the proof waiting beneath my feet, I couldn’t bring myself to believe the years of psychological torment hadn’t all been in my head. It made no sense that demons who appeared out of thin air couldn’t leave the same way.

I couldn’t exactly return to the bookstore and request a do-over. As weird as the previous encounter had been, I doubted the poor lady working there had anticipated what happened last night. If I showed up and started babbling about demons, she’d call mall security.

I dried off, pulled on faux leather leggings and an oversized dress shirt, and applied a touch of foundation and eyeshadow to mask the dark circles from crying and poor sleep.

I made my way downstairs to find breakfast items covering the counter.

Cyn washed dishes while Zeke and Ash talked at the counter. Ezra sat on the sofa studying the summoning book in his hands.

I placed my phone and purse on the coffee table.