Page 54 of Demons & Damnation

“All the affordable places, I see,” Ben said, chuckling.

Sam shrugged her shoulders. “I have high expectations and I want a good life. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing at all. If you know what you want, go get it. Life is too short to not do that.”

“What about your bucket list?”

Ben pursed his lips for a few seconds, thinking if there was anything he could say that wouldn’t make him look an idiot. All that remained on his bucket list was to settle down with a woman, live a human life, and finally end his days as he should have done two thousand years ago.

“I think we’ve crossed most of it off on our travels to be fair. The world is such a huge, picturesque place. I have a million memories to keep me happy every day. What else is on your bucket list? Apart from places to see, I mean.”

A heated blush swept over Sam’s face. She kept her eyes pinned straight ahead, watching the road in front of them. “Well, you know, the usual. Find a nice husband, have a gorgeous house, and fill it with mini me’s.”

Balthazar turned to look at her, his chocolate eyes filling with warmth and longing. “Really?”

Sam nodded, then dared to look at him, her cheeks still carrying a pink flush of heat. “I know it sounds silly and men don’t get it but that’s really all I want in life. A good, stable family and to see some luxurious places before I die. I’m quite easily pleased.”

Ben looked back at the road, all too aware their turning for the woods was fast approaching. “I think that actually sounds quite nice to be honest. Simple but fulfilling.” He nodded and smiled. “From a man’s point of view, I think that’s more than enough to be happy with.”

Sam’s tiny bud of hope blossomed a little, her mind already flowering with ideas of her being married to Ben and living together inside his mansion. Then it suddenly struck her that he might already have a girlfriend. No, she thought to herself. He currently wouldn’t be driving you to the woods if he did. Would he?

“I’m aware of your overprotective brother,” Ben said, a playful smirk tweaking up the corner of his mouth. “But are there any overprotective boyfriends I should be aware of?”

Sam shook her head, all the while smiling at how their trains of thought seemed to be aligning already. “No, I don’t. What about you? Any jealous girlfriends?”

“No,” he replied. “I’ve been single for a long time.”

Excitement started unfurling in Sam’s gut, endless possibilities running through her mind. Could she find herself with someone her own age after all? “It’s funny where life leads you, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, thinking back to all those years ago at school, I never would have guessed that we’d be here right now.”

“I’m a big believer in if it’s meant to be, it will be.”

Sam nodded. “I completely agree.”

Ben pulled into the car park for the woods, various other cars with kids and dogs getting ready to set out for their own adventures. He turned the car off, jumped out, and ran around to Sam’s side, offering his hand to help her out of the low sprung car.

As Sam put her hand in his, an electric shock passed between them, albeit a small one, but definitely there. Sam snatched her hand back and shook it, trying to dissipate the tingling feeling from her skin.

“Sorry,” Ben said, shaking his own hand. “Not sure what that was.”

Sam giggled. “It’s fine. It didn’t hurt, I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“This way,” Balthazar said, gesturing his arm towards a large green sign with an up facing arrow painted on it in white.

As the two meandered around the sandy trails, making mindless chit chat about anything and everything from movies and TV shows to interests in history and music tastes, Sam couldn’t ignore the feeling of belonging blooming inside her.

The more time she spent with Ben, the more comfortable and more at home she felt, almost as if she’d known him all her life and they’d never spent a day apart.

Nearing the centre of the woods, they had a choice of four different routes, or a fifth that wasn’t signposted but had been worn down to the ground by the looks of the narrow dusty path winding through the spindly tree trunks.

“Which way?” he asked.

Sam pointed at the narrow trail that had no sign. “The fun way of course,” she said, smiling. “I want to see if there’s anything down there worth going off trail for.”

Admiring her sense of adventure, Ben let her go first, following closely behind. As the path wound around trees and bushes, over fallen branches, and down a little hill, Sam began to wonder if they would end up lost.

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