Page 15 of Knot for Me
“Is this some sort of voodoo magic?” His blue and green eyes widen, like he’s afraid of what I might do.
“What?” I ask with a snort. He’s so unlike Lucas it’s easy to enjoy being around him.
He studies the bag. “I’ve heard girls get into weird magic stuff when they’re young. You know, light as a feather stiff as a board?”
Lifting an eyebrow, I shake my head. “First of all, movies from twenty years ago are hardly reliable sources for what girls do at sleepovers.” I open the baggie, pull out a bundle and the matches, then toss the bag onto the bed. “Second of all, I don’t even know how to do voodoo.” Striking a match, I hold it to the sage until it starts to smoke.
Heading straight for the closet, I ignore Cory who follows close on my heels, clearly intrigued by mymagic.I smoke the entire closet three times then side-eye Cory. His eyebrows are drawn down, and he watches the white smoke curl up from the sage.
Pulling a serious face, I clear my throat. “I have ex-er-cised the demons,” I say, leaning back slightly and making my voice sound a little masculine.
“That’s not funny,” he says, fighting off a smile.
“Please, I’m hilarious. Besides, now that my voodoo magic is done, you guys will never sleep with another woman again. I find that comical.”
His mouth drops open. “You didn’t.”
I shrug. “Maybe, maybe not. Who knows what I learned when I was a little girl.” I bat my eyelashes at him. “Guess you’ll have to find out the hard way.”
“I can’t tell if you’re serious or not.”
Waving the now extinguished sage in his direction, I cackle when he takes a startled step back. “That’s the beauty of magic; it’s all an illusion.”
“You’re so weird.”
I drop my smile. “Listen, if you don’t know how to have fun, just say that.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Whatever,” I say, shoving past him and putting my sage away. I’ve been called strange or weird or stubborn my entire life, and it’s never been a compliment. I’ve always been an outsider because I want things that no good omega should want.
“Hey, what just happened?” Cory asks, coming to stand next to me at the bed. “Are you okay?”
“I really want to be alone right now,” I say, avoiding eye contact.
Cory hesitates but eventually gets the not so subtle hint and leaves. He shuts the door behind him with a soft click. I release a heavy sigh and drop face first onto the bed, screaming into a pillow.
* * *
A little while later, my stomach grumbles. I’ve been moping around long enough. I shove off the bed and pull my long hair back into a ponytail. The longer I wait to eat, the more likely it is for me to attack someone. Omegas don’t do well without food—then again, does anyone? Hanger is a real affliction and people don’t talk about it enough.If you or someone you know suffers from hanger…
I crack open my door, glancing down the short hallway to see if anyone is around. The skylight above the stairs lets in a little moonlight, but the second floor is otherwise quiet. Surely they’re not sleeping, it’s only ten. Still, I don’t hear any sounds. Maybe they go to bed early? Either way, a quiet house is good for me. I don’t want to be disturbed on my way to go eat. I eye the second set of stairs which lead to the third floor. That level wasn’t part of the tour, but I’ll explore later. I tiptoe to the other stairs and walk on the edges as I make my way down, trying to avoid any creaks. On the very last step, the wood lets out a loud groan, and I cringe, glancing at the landing behind me.
No one comes rushing out of their rooms. Sighing in relief, I turn and look around. The hallway light is on. I don’t bother trying to fumble around for a light switch before leaving the safety of the stairs.
“What are you doing?”
I scream, jumping off the last step and swinging a fist at Lucas who rounds the corner of the marble-floored foyer. He dodges my punch and takes a few steps back.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, settle down.”
“What are you doing sneaking around?” I demand.
He gives me a funny look. “This is my house. I’m not sneaking around.” His gaze narrows. “Maybe I should ask you why you’re sneaking around.”
“I’m notsneaking,” I say, crossing my arms. “I was hungry, and I didn’t want to wake anyone.”
He gives me a look that tells me he doesn’t believe me. “Uh-huh. No one goes to bed around here until after midnight, valuable information for future sneaks.”
