All The Wrong Signs

Riley’s POV

The entire ride to Lakyn’s shop, I couldn’t get the blonde headed man out of my mind. What the hell was in that drink that April had given me?

I had never in my life hallucinated anything. I guess it could have been worse. At least I had hallucinated a hot man and not some serial killer.

“You want to come see my place?” Lakyn asked. “My buzz is gone and I’m ready to get back on that level.”

I knew without a doubt that I should tell her no. Tell her I’m tired and call it a night. Only I wasn’t ready to be alone. My hallucination had shaken me up.

His stare had been so intense and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was waiting for me. He had expected me to address him.

When Lakyn had told me she lived above her shop, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I should have expected it to be eclectic like her. The living room walls were painted purple, and she had tapestries hung on her walls. Her house smelled just as good as her shop did.

Shutting her door, Lakyn flipped a switch and a soft glow lit the room from the fairy lights she had hung around the room. “Ooh, I forgot to tell you. My Grams is propagating some plants for you. She said give her a week or two.”

“Tell her thank you,” I said, sitting down on her plush couch.

Lakyn disappeared into her kitchen, coming back juggling two glasses, limeade, Malibu, and a container of fruit. “I hope you’re ready for round two.”

I looked around the room, half expecting to see the blonde headed stranger again. When I didn’t see him, I nodded. “Yes, bring it.”

Turning on some music, Lakyn begun making our drinks. “Tonight’s been fun. We will have to make this like a weekly thing.”

I laughed, “not weekly. I don’t know if I can handle it. I was already seeing shit earlier.”

Handing me my glass, Lakyn laughed. “That just means we need to build your tolerance back up.” Plopping down beside me, she giggled as her drink sloshed over her fingers. I couldn’t help but laugh at her as she licked her fingers.

“Something tells me I’m going to regret this in the morning.”

Many hours and drinks later, Lakyn insisted on walking with me home. We were both so drunk we could barely walk straight. I had almost killed myself going down the stairs.

Laughing, I walked out into the night air, having to hold on to the building’s wall for a moment to steady myself. This was a bad idea. Lakyn didn’t have a care in the world as she started walking and singing.

“Shh,” I scolded her. “If the cops see us, they will give us a ticket for sure.”

Lakyn only laughed harder. “You worry too much, Riley. It’s not like I’m driving. If we see headlights, we can jump in the bushes.”

Snorting at her, I was about to tell her how public intoxication was a thing, but I froze. The blonde headed stranger was back. He stood ahead of us, his head tilted.

Yep. He was definitely an alcohol fueled delusion.

Lakyn stumbled, drawing my attention. “Oh, man. I think I’m going to puke.” I watched as she ran into the closest bushes heaving.

Turing my head, I saw my hallucination walking toward me. Why couldn’t he be real? He was tall and hot as hell. I’d definitely do him.

The thought made me laugh. Or maybe it was the alcohol. Whatever it was, I continued laughing until he stood toe to toe with me. His eyes were glued to mine as he looked down, tilting his head.

“Fuck,” Lakyn said, stumbling toward us. “Forget everything I said. I aint drinking again ever.”

I snorted, “yeah ok.” Throwing an arm around her, we started walking again. My hot ass hallucination moved out of our way, watching amused as we began walking.

How we made it to my doorway, I’d never know. I tried to get Lakyn to come inside, but she swore she would be ok. After I made her promise to text or call me when she made it home, I walked inside, shutting the door behind me.

After playing with the locks, I walked down the hall, pulling clothes off as I went. I was burning up. Collapsing on my bed, I closed my eyes, wanting to sleep, but it seemed that the whole room was spinning. I had to force myself to stay awake until I got the text saying Lakyn was home.

Blaze’s POV

As much as I didn’t want to, I walked behind my little witch’s friend to make sure she made it home safely. Lucky for her I was feeling generous, because I had to stop her from falling asleep in a bush twice.

The girl was so drunk she didn’t even question the fact that she was getting shoved around by an invisible person. I half ass wanted to make myself visible to her so she would get scared and run her ass home, but I could already see her tripping and my luck injuring herself in the process.

I didn’t have time to babysit. I had my own agenda that I needed to get done before I was summoned back underground.

Once the drunken girl was safely inside of her home, I retraced my steps back to Riley’s house.

Riley. It was an odd name for a sorceress. Then again, I was beginning to think her no such thing.

Entering her house, I relocked her door behind me, standing still as two dogs came running up to me, growling lowly. I may be invisible to humans, but animals could still sense me.

“Where is your owner?” I questioned, walking past them with them quickly turning to follow behind me. One, letting out a couple of barks.

She wasn’t hard to find. You just had to follow the trail of clothes. Her bedroom lamp was on, but she wasn’t in the bed. Hearing noise, I walked to her bathroom perching against the doorframe as I watched the little witch puke her heart out wearing nothing but her panties and bra.

Too much alcohol.

Her skin was hot and sweaty, but her face was pale. I watched, a little amused, as she tried to hold her hair back and hold herself steady with one hand as she puked.

I stood still as long as I could, but after the third time of her losing her balance and almost knocking herself out, I gave. Walking forward, I grabbed her hair, holding it back as she emptied the poisoned liquor into the toilet.

If she noticed me, she didn’t let it show. Tears ran down her eyes as she sat up on her knees, flushing the toilet before she laid down on the bathroom floor, pressing her face against the cold tile.

“Oh no,” I said, grabbing a towel from a shelf and wetting it. Placing the cold rag on her head, I leaned down, picking her up and taking her into her bedroom.

As I laid her down, Riley’s eyes found mine. “I can’t do this anymore.”

I had no idea what she was talking about. Pulling the covers around her, I shook my head. “No more liquor for you, my little witch.”

Riley laughed, “I’m dying.”

A smile appeared on my face for the first time since I had been held captive. “Dramatic little thing, aren’t you,” I whispered as she closed her eyes.

I had been wary of her intentions at first, but not anymore. No one in their right mind would summon me then get shit faced drunk leaving me to my own devices. She screamed innocent.

Riley opened her eyes again, this time reaching her hand out toward me. I didn’t move, waiting to see what she was up to. I was just outside of her reach. A small frown appeared on her face before her eyes closed.

She pulled her hand back, resting it on the bed beside her. I looked down at my sigil tattooed on her hand. It wasn’t big, but it didn’t have to be. Her small tattoo bound me to her just as my sigil carved into the stone floor bound me to my prison.

Never in all of my years had anyone ever put my sigil on their body. They knew better. This little fool was in for a big surprise once she sobered up and realized I wasn’t going anywhere.

Sitting back, I watched her sleep, wondering how hard it would be to convince her she needed to keep me around. My hopes was that she didn’t flat out demand me to leave. If my theory was true, she didn’t even know that she had summoned me, so she wouldn’t know how to send me away. I’d have to watch myself around her.

I had reached her too easily. She was broken in some form or fashion. This could work to my advantage or kill any hopes I had. She was unpredictable.

To her, I would be no more than a figment of her imagination. Even if I flat out told her I was a demon, she would question her sanity.

This could be amusing.

For me, at least.