All The Wrong Signs

When Blaze left again, he didn’t reappear until late the next morning. I had wanted to question him about Collin, but I just couldn’t find the words. Did I want to know if he had killed him? Did I even care?

For the second morning in a row, Blaze made me breakfast. Today he had toasted me bagels and was putting the cream cheese on the top as I walked in. I eyed him suspiciously, wondering how he suddenly knew what I liked.

“Can you read my mind?”

“Your face is an open book,” he said, looking up at me. “You are horrible about hiding your emotions.”

It was true, and I knew it. Sitting down, I watched as he poured me a cup of coffee. “Where did you go last night?”

Blaze moved around the bar to sit beside me as he spoke. “I was following your ex-husband around, trying to see if anyone else was following him.”

“And were they?”

“After he left your house, he drove around for hours in a circle. I don’t think it was his idea to come here. Someone sent him. To do what I’m not sure. Probably spy.”

“But who?”

“That I don’t know, little witch. Whoever sent him knew he failed. They kept their distance.”

“Failed at what?” I asked.’

Blaze looked down at me. “He won’t be back, Riley.”

I opened my mouth, but then shut it. “I’m going to go to Lakyn’s shop after I work on an assignment I picked up. Should I mention her grandmother?”

The change of subject seemed to lighten Blaze’s mood. “No. Just tell her you needed out of the house. She may not tell you anything, but…”

My phone ringing interrupted us. “Hold on, it’s my sister.”

Before I even got the word hello out of my mouth, Hollie was talking. “Why is Collin calling me, telling me you have some tattooed biker guy at your house?”

My eyes instantly went to Blaze. “I’m sure I have no idea what you are talking about.” I lied.

Ok, I mean it wasn’t a complete lie. Blaze had only morphed to look like a tattooed biker guy.

“You aren’t in any kind of trouble, are you?”

I frowned, “so you are listening to Collin now? Blaze turned toward me, listening to my conversation.

“No, I just…” She sighed. “Damn it Riley, I am worried about you. He said you’ve lost a lot of weight and that you keep yourself locked up in your house. I get the divorce was hard but…”

“But what?”

Hollie took a breath. “If you need help, all you have to do is call me. You know I would drop everything and be on the first flight out.”

I frowned. “I’m telling you I am ok. I don’t know why he thought he needed to call you. What he thought he would get out of it, but I’m fine. I promise you Hollie. I am ok.” I looked up at Blaze, “in fact, I’m better than I’ve been in a long time.”

“Why don’t you fly down here?” She asked. “You need to get away for a bit.”

“I can’t.” I said, knowing that if I was with her, Blaze would keep his distance. “I’ve taken on a lot of projects at work to get my finances back to where they need to be. Buying a house isn’t cheap, you know.”

“Riley,” Hollie said, sounding like our mother when she scolded me as a child.

“I promise you I’m ok. I just need time to figure out me. I lost myself in that marriage, and you know it. I love you, but you have to give me the time to grow into my own person. I went from being your twin to Collin’s wife. I’ve never just been Riley.”

Hollie let out a long sigh that let me know that didn’t approve, but she understood. “I love you Riley.”

“I love you too. Sisters for life, right?”

“Sisters for life,” she said.

Hanging up with her, I felt bad lying to her. I wanted to tell her all about Blaze, but I knew she would only think I had lost my mind. Hell, sometimes I wondered if I had lost my mind.

When I stood up from the counter, Blaze grabbed my waist, pulling me to him. “You do isolate yourself, little witch.”

“I don’t trust people.”

I’d never really admitted that to anyone. People hurt you. They lied to you. They used you. The only person I really trusted was my sister. I didn’t put Blaze and Petra in the person category. They were demons. Yet I trusted them more than I did my own mother.

Brushing my hair back behind my ears, Blaze leaned down kissing me. “Go see your friend. I will be here. I have a few books I need to look through. If you need me, don’t hesitate to call me.”

“You’ll be there before I even have the chance to call you.”

Blaze smiled. “I will always come for you.”

While my heart leaped at his word, my brain had put the brakes on. Always. It was a very long time. Time that he couldn’t commit to and I knew it.

I had to accept it.

He frowned down at me, but before he could say anything, I stood up straight. “I’m going to change, then I’ll go visit Lakyn. If I need you, I will call you.”

While I wanted to let him pull me into his arms and comfort me, I knew I had to start putting on a braver face. If I wanted to help him, I had to be strong. I had to be strong enough to let him go when the time came to it.

I made it to Lakyn’s shop just a few minutes after she had opened. Walking in, I couldn’t help but laugh at her as she picked her head up from the counter, looking like she had just rolled out of bed.

“Late night?”

Lakyn’s face lit up. “Oh, my god. I am so glad to see you. I have sooo much to catch you up on.”

“You slept with him, didn’t you?”

Laughing, Lakyn nodded. “Yes, and OMG.”

Her laugh was contagious. “I told you. See, you could have been getting the good dick, but no, you were worried about something as stupid as his age.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever Ms. I had a demon following me around.”

My smile instantly fell from my face. I tried to cover, but Lakyn picked up on it. “I didn’t mean…shit Riley, I’m sorry.”

Shrugging, I tried my best to look like her words hadn’t bothered me. “It’s ok. No harm, no foul. Speaking of demons, that jerk ex of mine showed up at my house last night.”

Lakyn looked shocked, but then looked down guiltily. “I don’t know how he knew I knew you. He came by the shop asking me about you. I didn’t tell him anything, but he was acting weird.” She looked up at me. “There was something off about him. I wanted to call you last night, but I didn’t want to freak you out. I watched him when he left, and he headed the opposite way from your house, like he was leaving town. I thought it could wait until today.”

My mouth fell open. Why wouldn’t she have told me something that important? She knew how I felt about him. “You should have warned me,” I said flatly.

“He asked me about the man you had living with you.” She made a face. “I didn’t want to tell him you lived alone if he didn’t already know, but I told him you didn’t have a man living with you. He was pretty damn adamant that you have some biker dude in your house.” She tilted her head, “if you do, you better fess up now cause I want to hear all about that.”

I rolled my eyes. “I do not have a biker guy living in my house. He told my sister that too. I think he hit his head or maybe his baby momma is poisoning him.”

Lakyn laughed, “maybe he can see ghost we can’t. Or maybe he is seeing your demon.”

“I do not have a demon.”

Lakyn arched her brow. “My grandma keeps asking me about you. She said you had a dark shadow over you, but I don’t see it. I think the woman is losing her marbles sometimes.”

“A dark shadow? What does that mean?”

“Demon. Spirit? Something negative.” She reached out grabbing her coffee. “I had to tell her I went and personally used sage and warded your house before she would leave me alone.”

“Why is she so worried?” I asked, feeling my stomach sink a little.

“It’s just who she is. How she was raised,” Lakyn said. “She’s been in contact with her cousins overseas and I think they are filling her head up with some garbage.”

“I thought they didn’t get along? She said she didn’t talk to them.”

Lakyn shrugged. “they usually don’t. I think she reached out about your demon problem and now they act like they are besties.” Lakyn rolled her eyes. “Personally, they give me the creeps.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her she had no business telling anyone about my demon problem, but I knew I needed to remain calm and not throw up any red flags.

Even though Lakyn may have no clue what is really going on but I had a feeling her grandmother did. There would be no way they could prove it was Blaze, but the timing would seem pretty suspicious to anyone who knew the circumstances.

Lakyn had changed the subject, talking about a shipment she had received last night that had been damaged. I barely heard anything she said. I was too busy trying to decide if she was as innocent as she appeared.

She had told her grandmother about my so-called demon problem. Then she didn’t bother to call and tell me that Collin had showed up at her shop asking questions about me. Things weren’t adding up. I didn’t want to think that the only friend I had in this small town would betray me, but now I was wondering if something more than fate brought us together.