Page 50 of Demon's Heart
It was probably that he hadn’t known about magic and all this crap until a few hours ago, yet it was all normal to Harper.Ollie would probably feel like he was missing a lot until he figured out all the rules in this weird new world.
He forced his face to relax until it wasn’t all scrunched up with worry. “Come on, show me your protection spell and the sleeping potion. I want to see some magic.”
Harper’s face lit up. “Yeah, okay. But I should warn you, potions are pretty awesome. Are you sure you’re ready for me to blow your mind?”
Ollie returned his smile. “Couldn’t be more ready. Go on, amaze me.”
Harper looked like Ollie had made his day. At least magic wasn’t all bad.
Harper saidhe had the day off on Monday and stayed home with Ollie. It was a little suspect since Harper had work every other Monday—maybe he was pulling a sickie—but Ollie didn’t pry. He was grateful for the company.
By Monday night, Ollie felt more like his old self. Everything wasn’t terrible. Magic with Harper was fascinating, and Dante didn’t even message Ollie until the evening when they were due to meet online. It was like the week before in so many ways.
As they playedWorld’s End,Dante didn’t ask prying questions or say anything about the beach. He didn’t mention meeting up in person. By all appearances, Dante wasn’t letting what happened change their friendship.
It took Ollie most of the day to realize it, but he couldn’t feel any of Dante’s emotions through the bond. He asked Harper if physical distance affected the emotional connection, but Harper said it didn’t. He and Ash often communicated through theirshared emotions and detected shifts in each other no matter how close or far apart they were.
Ollie hadn’t attempted closing his mind, so not feeling anything had to be Dante blocking the connection. If he was respecting Ollie’s privacy, maybe Ollie didn’t have to worry so much about the invasive nature of the bond or Dante stalking him and taking over his life.
On Tuesday, Ollie had a late start at work. It was his day to see clients in the afternoon and evenings, and he always liked arriving at the salon when it was in full swing.
“Hey, Ellie,” he called as he passed the front counter where she was ringing someone up.
“Hey. You’ve had a few last-minute bookings today.”
He turned around and joined her behind the counter, peering at the schedule over her shoulder. It was going to be a busy day. Thank goodness. Having too many gaps between clients was annoying, and full days meant more tips.
Ollie left Ellie to rebook her client in peace and slipped into the back room, saying hi to everyone as he went. He put his lunch away and noticed the dryer was done, so he unloaded it and rolled towels until he had a nice, neat pile.
On his way back out, Ollie dropped the towels off by the sinks.
“Thanks.” Marie, the salon assistant, smiled appreciatively as she swapped out some of the empty shampoo bottles. “I was going to get to those in a minute.”
“No problem.” Ollie checked his station and glanced toward the front to see if his client was early.
She was, as usual, which suited him fine. He headed over. “Hi, Manuela, come on over with me.” As she stood, he asked, “Can I get you a drink?”
“An herbal tea would really hit the spot.”
Ollie showed her to his chair. “You got it.” He found Marieand let her know, then returned to his station. “Are we after our usual freshen-up today?”
“Always, I’m very predictable.” Manuela smiled.
“Hey, if you’re still feeling it, why mess with a good thing?”
“Exactly.”
Ollie ran his hands through her long hair and examined the ends, confirming exactly how much he’d be taking off before getting Manuela ready and bringing her over to the sinks.
They chatted about her kids’ swimming lessons and other summer activities as Ollie rinsed her hair. He pumped shampoo into his palm. Manuela’s long brown hair swirled in the running water. Ollie tangled his hands in her hair, massaging her scalp as he lathered the shampoo.
Suddenly, the sight of hair wrapped around Ollie’s fingers sent a jolt up his arm. Ollie’s scalp prickled and burned, phantom hands pulling at his hair. The smell of blood and seawater drowned out the floral shampoo and Ollie’s throat clogged.
His chest tightened and his lungs burned. Hands closed around his throat. Sweat broke out on the back of his neck, his pulse thundering in his ears.No.
“Ollie?” A soft hand rested on his shoulder.
He jolted, Ellie’s concerned face filling his vision. Shit. He let go of Manuela’s hair, not knowing how long he’d stood there frozen. “S-sorry,” he muttered.
