That last part slipped out before my brain caught up to my mouth, but it was true.
A disbelieving sort of wonder stole over his features. “You think I’m beautiful.”
The idea I might be the first person to accept him, daemon and all, threatened to break my black heart.
Resting my hand on his cheek, I confirmed it. “Inside and out.”
“Hallmark…” Clay tipped back his head and implored the sky, “…I’ve got a movie idea for you.”
A moth-sized snicker escaped from his pocket. “They don’t do Halloween specials.”
We really had to work on her eavesdropping on adult conversations.
Hmm.
A soundproof pocket spelled into Clay’s wardrobe would do the trick.
“Rude.” I glowered at the pair of them. “I might be a witch, but I’m also a woman.”
Asa turned his lips into my palm. “My witchy woman.”
The oxygen evaporated from my lungs as if they were soda cans crushed flat with a stomp.
“You two are mushier than oatmeal.” Clay curled his lip. “The bland kind that comes in packets.”
Air rushed in, allowing me to think clearly, and I stepped back from Asa. “That’s just plain mean, Clay.”
Clothes piled in my arms, I turned away while Asa shucked his pants, which he draped over my shoulder.
On my best behavior, for Clay’s sake, I counted back from one hundred under my breath.
When I turned around, Asa was gone, and Clay was cleaning off a spot for the clothes he took from me.
“Ace will be back soon.” Clay slung an arm around me. “He’s got this.”
“I know.” I leaned my head against him. “I just worry.”
“He’s got a daemon under his skin and his mother’s cleverness to boot.” Clay smiled. “He’ll be fine.”
Everyone always said that, and everything was always fine.
Until it wasn’t.