Page 41 of Petty Deadly Gorgeous

“Is it?” He laughed, noticing me looking around. “Looking for your buddy?”

“He’s my partner.”

“He’s a pedo.” Ollin’s face lost all joy. “Maddie used a glamor spell. She said he looked like the man who hit on one of her friends.”

Ignoring the spell part, I focused on what I felt was more important as I felt the blood drain from my face. “He what?”

Ollin leaned in and folded his hands on the table. “Listen, Dom, I like you. I’m not sure what it is, but I think you might be one of us. The dark ones. We let the light in, but we live in the darkness.”

I copied his gesture and leaned in. “Is everyone in this town a… a… deviant?”

He shrugged and his lips frowned. “What is a deviant?” He tilted his head. “Society says we have to do and act the way they want to be accepted.” He pointed his finger down on the table, stressing his next words. “But here? In Castle Hollow? We take care of our own in our society.” Ollin lifted a finger in acknowledgement of the rougarou couple and scooted out of the booth. “Good chat.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Thanks.”

Ollin walked over to them and Maddie came through the kitchen doors to the front counter and then Sean came walking down the hall, whistling.

“What took you so long?” I looked up at him and felt my skin crawl, being in his presence.

“I hit the head, man. Sometimes things take time.” He reached for his water. “You ready to go?”

I nodded and threw some bills on the table as a tip, then went up to pay. This time I watched Sean’s actions. He gave Maddie a lecherous smile and stroked her hand when he gave her the money. “Thank you.” He took his change from her. “For everything.”

Her face paled, and she nodded with a wane smile. “You’re welcome.”

He walked over to the door, and I held out a twenty for her. “Oh, no need. Grandpa said yours was on the house.”

“Tell Ollin thank you.” After a quick nod, I put my money away and then looked at her again. “Sweetheart? How old are you?”

“I’m nineteen.” She whispered and looked over at Sean’s back with disgust.

I scratched my head and nodded at her. What could I say to make things better? Right now? Nothing. I needed to do some digging. Sure, I may have accidentally choked a few girls to death. But they were legal. If Sean’s playing with underage ones, I need proof.

Chapter Thirteen

Anna

Jon finished cleaning up the yard, and I took my time cleaning the room I put Dom in. In between cleaning, we had three couples check-in. They called themselves “ghost hunters”. The thought of them traipsing around in the woods had me cackling while I vacuumed.

If they could find the supernatural, it would be here in Castle Hollow. But being around Jon didn’t set their little machines off. What happened to people just trusting instinct or, hell, believing what they wanted?

Everyone wants proof of everything these days, well that’s not true. The people who come here for tarot readings trust what I tell them. Some come back for more. Others want potions to help. But my favorite are the ones who wanted to learn.

Once I finished with the vacuum, I put it away and grabbed the fresh linens for the room, along with new toiletries and towels. I stuck with the family’s theme of plain white for them all because sometimes bleach needed to be used and no one likes dull colors.

I behaved badly earlier with Dom. I shouldn’t have walked away. It’s not like me to behave that way either. And I’m not sure which craved his attention more. My heart or my pussy. But here I was pining over a man I just met.

“Anna?” Jon’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“Yes, darling?” I spun to face him and opened my arms for a hug.

He walked into my arms and wrapped himself around me. “He’ll be back.”

“How can you be so sure?” I looked up into his eyes.

Jon smiled and caressed the side of my face with his fingers. “Because he can be himself with us.”

“True.” I broke free of our hold and took his hand to lead him out of the room.

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