Page 25 of Cursed Sight
“What does she think Junior screwed up?” Serena asked Ryan.
“She thinks because of Junior, you wouldn’t want to officiate our wedding.”
Serena nodded. “Ah… Now I understand. Tell her not to worry. I’m not going to punish you for his ignorance.”
“Thanks, Serena.”
“Anytime, have a great day.”
Serena ended the call and dropped her phone on the end of her bed. With clean clothes in hand, she headed for the bathroom. Her mind flitted from Brandy and Ryan to Junior to Ethan to Ethan’s visions and finally back to Ethan.
Things between them were changing. She had ignored her attraction for various reasons, but once she had connected his importance to her life, it made it harder to ignore. Sometimes believing in fate made life more complicated rather than easier.
Facing the water, she raised her chin and let the droplets pelt her in the face. Clearly, she needed something stronger to snap her back to reality. Never had she questioned the goddess’s plan—not until Ethan anyway.
Even when she had been with Ryan, she was aware he did not fit the puzzle that was her life. The strange ping of jealousy she had felt at meeting Brandy had more to do with the fact that he had met his mate before Serena. She was thoroughly overjoyed for the couple, but in that one singular moment she could have stabbed Brandy in the eye.
Serena stood in her shower as steam billowed around her while she questioned herself, coming to terms with Ethan being her soul mate. She had him at her fingertips and yet found herself fighting the invisible thread pulling them together.
***
Serena smiled. “I’m so glad we were able to help. Have a great night!”
Her customer waved, clutching her purchase tightly in her other hand. The bell chimed, and she found herself alone for the first time since after her shower that morning.
Once she had realized the circular path of her thoughts, she set out to be as productive—and distracted—as humanly possible. Serena even left her phone on the bed where she’d tossed it before her shower.
Looking around the shop, she noticed a few things out of place and set out to right them. She could have locked the doors immediately after the last customer, but she refused to give herself any extra time to return to her previous thoughts.
When the bell dinged with another customer, she turned on her heels to greet them. Her hello died on her tongue at an attractive man standing just inside the door. His gaze flitted around the room as his stench punched her straight in the gut.
A hundred things flew through her mind. The first and most important she wanted to know was how the tubar had been able to step inside her protected shop. Before she vocalized the question or kill the creature, the door opened, startling them both.
“Hey—” Whatever Ethan intended to say became stuck in his throat. His eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared. “Tubar,” he hissed.
“Witch,” the tubar snapped as he dropped his facade.
Serena’s eyes rounded in horror. Ethan had no defensive powers he could use. He was a sitting duck without mastering his telekinesis.
A snakelike sound filled the air, and Ethan gagged. “Oh, dude, you need a mint. I didn’t realize you could smell worse.”
“And you smell divine,” the tubar replied, cocking his head to the side.
Having heard enough of their banter, Serena raised the tubar off the ground. It turned its head, and its red glowing eyes flashed in her direction. Its skin moved in waves, the faces of its victims forming under the surface.
“I’m not sure how you got in here, but you’re not leaving,” Serena said, stirring the air. With a flick of her finger, she pinned him in place inside a mini tornado and sent him against the glass. She walked toward the screaming demon, keeping her focus on the danger.
Using the flame from a burning candle, she siphoned fire and slammed it into him. Fire engulfed the demon and flashed brightly until only a few flecks of ash remained on the shop’s floor.
“Damn it…” she muttered, her hands on her hips.
Ethan hurried to her side and cupped her shoulders. “What are you talking about? Are you okay? What the hell was that thing doing in here? I thought you set up protection wards.”
Serena raised a brow and stared incredulously. When he ran out of questions, she asked, “You done?”
Ethan’s scent, a mix of him and his cologne, filled her nose. It soothed the part of her that had been a mess trying not to think of him.
Stepping from Ethan, she ignored the black ash and focused on the spider web crack in the glass.“Renovo!”
