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Note to self: get a phone.
I begged my brain not to forget that as I left The Alchemic Stone and headed for The Mystic Cupcake. If I had a phone right now, I'd be able to call my aunts and warn them. Or call Lucy and tell her what I'd just learned. If ever I needed a friend, it was now.
I rounded the corner onto Bell Street and bumped into someone. Literally. I bounced off him and landed on my butt.
"Ow," I said, rubbing my now tenderized backside.
"Ava." I looked up to see Damon staring down at me.
"Damon," I breathed. "Wh-what are you doing here?" I tried to keep my voice from trembling.
"I've been waiting for you. I need to talk to you. Alone."
"Alone?" I gulped. The blood ran from my head. I could feel my heart pounding. I gripped the heriotza pendant tightly in my hand.
"What's that?" Damon asked.
"Nothing," I lied, and tucked the pendant back under my shirt. It began to sting, but not burn. Danger was approaching, but it wasn't here yet.
"Listen, Ava, I have to tell you something. I've been thinking about it ever since that day in the bakery... when you saved my life."
My heart skipped a beat. The Mystic Cupcake was just two doors down. If I could get inside, I'd be safe. Even though the bakery was closed, my aunts had told me they would be there today taking inventory.
"The first time I saw you... it wasn't what you think."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "The first time I met you I was going through your boat looking for..." I stopped and crossed my arms, uncertain how much I should admit.
"Your wand?" Damon asked. "I know."
I don't know why his words surprised me. I guess it wasn't his words, it was his admission. He'd known from day one that I was a witch.
He was standing so close I could smell honey on his breath. His sapphire eyes looked past me. Into me. Like he had X-ray vision. How could I still be attracted to a man who wanted me dead?
"You know?" I asked.
His face was inches from mine. The single kiss we'd shared came back to me. Dr. Dunne said he had no memory of that day, but I wondered if deep inside him somewhere he knew.
"I saw you come in that day on the ferry. I was sitting in my boat with—"
"David Buyers," I said. It all came back to me. The first day I arrived. Stepping off that pier and into the ocean. Making a fool out of myself. The two men in the boat laughing... then...
"I saw you arguing with him. The next day he turned up dead." I started backing away from him, but he refused to let me go.
"Ava, listen to me. Let me explain. You don't have to be afraid of me." Yet even as he said it, his grip on my hands tightened.
"I know you're a witch. I've known all along. That day... when I saw you dry yourself off... it shook me up. I'd never seen anything like it before."
"Even when you were dating Polly?" I asked.
"Polly?" he said, confused. "What about her?"
"I'm supposed to believe you were scared of me doing a simple drying spell but you weren't scared of all the stuff Polly can do? She knows fifty times more spells than me, for rose's sake! And not just the usual stuff," I said, thinking of the gems and crystals she dealt in.
Damon's eyes opened wide.
"You know about Polly?"
"Of course I know," I told him. "I may be a newbie but I'm not an idiot. Polly's a terrific witch."
"Did I hear my name?" a cheery voice suddenly asked behind me. I turned to see Polly walking with Slater. His face tightened when he saw Damon.
"What's up, cuz?" Slater asked.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Damon said through gritted teeth.
Whoa. What’s with the tension?
Polly looked from one man to the other, and I had the idea I knew where the tension was coming from. She was obviously still into Damon. Who could blame her? Though both he and Slater had dark hair and blue eyes, Damon had a little something extra. A little more... attitude? Danger? Whatever it was, it gave him the edge on Slater. I was sure Slater must have hated that.
I wondered how much Damon was still into Polly.
"I've gotta go," Damon said suddenly, giving me one last look. "We'll talk later." He took off without so much as a goodbye to anyone else.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Despite my attraction to him, I was pretty sure he was a killer.
"Thanks," I said. "You guys showed up just in time. What are you doing here?"
"Following you, of course," Polly said, coming up on my left. She locked elbows with me, steering me toward the bakery. Slater stepped up on my right.
"You ran out of Polly's store so fast we didn't have a chance to talk to you," he said. I could tell he was shaken up. I supposed Damon had a way of doing that.
"Look, what you and Anastasia said about Damon... His father was killed years ago. He's never gotten over it. But I never dreamed he'd try to hurt anyone. If I'd known..."
"It's not your fault," I told him.
"Polly, I'm sorry to ask you this, but... why did you and Damon break up?"
"I thought I could trust him. But after I told him I was a witch, he broke up with me. He just couldn't handle it." She smiled sadly for a minute.
"I thought you weren't supposed to tell humans about witches?"
"You're not," Polly said. "But I got special permission from the Witches Council when I told them I was in love with—"
She paused, realizing what she was about to say. Slater's cheeks were burning.
"None of that matters now anyway," Polly continued quickly. “Because I've got the best boyfriend ever." She reached around my back and squeezed Slater's elbow. He didn't look like he was buying it.
"The point is," said Slater, "that from now on, we've got your back. I don't care if Damon is my cousin. We're not going to let him kill you or anyone else. Even if it means we have to kill him first."
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