Page 34 of Demon's Desire

She nodded back and went to slip on her shoes. “I’ll come with you and grab her a few things too.”

“Sounds good.” He waited for her, and the two of them left. They wouldn’t be long. The CVS was a four-minute walk away. But it was a bit of quality time.

Torie sighed as she leaned against the wall. “So… She likes him?”

I smiled weakly and rolled my eyes. “She’s liked him for four years.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Damn. One of them needs to make a move then.”

I blinked and stared at her. “Wait, you mean he–”

“Yeah.” Torie shrugged. “He’s liked her for a few years, but she was dating that jackass, so he never said anything. Now he just doesn’t want to take advantage of her being new to the city and all.”

I laughed. “Good to know. Then you and I will play wingman some other night, sometime when I’m not bleeding.”

While the two of them were gone, Torie helped me wash the blood out of my hair. Since my hair was so light, the blood left a stain. Because my hand had been sitting right at the very back of my head, it was all gathered in one spot, and it really did look like I’d hit my head on something, but the internet said that it would come out in a couple of days. In the meantime, I could fix up my hair to hide it so I didn’t get strange looks.

A few minutes later, Mica and Kelly returned, and Mica rebandaged my hand with cotton pads and gauze bandages. He showed Kelly how to change it in case the cut hadn’t scabbed over by tomorrow, but he promised that my wounds weren’t deep enough that I’d need stitches or anything serious. In the meantime, he just said to be gentle with it.

Mica and Torie both stuck around and helped us clean up the mess from the living room. The strangest thing was that nothing had moved an inch. None of our vases or books or trinkets were knocked over, despite the intensity of the earthquake. I was just grateful we’d gotten lucky.

“All right,” Torie said when we had cleaned everything up. “Do you guys want us to stay another night?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I want you guys to sleep in your own beds. You just got your apartment back. Enjoy it.”

“Really?” Mica raised an eyebrow. “Because we’ll stay if–”

“I’m fine.” I gave them both a half-smile. “We did the ritual thing. Either it worked, or we’re all gullible as hell. I want you guys to go enjoy your apartment again.”

“If you say so.” Mica sighed and gave me a hug, kissing the side of my head. “Call us if you need anything.”

“Of course.” I nodded as Torie came over to hug me. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too!” she said brightly as she shook me side to side. “Call me tomorrow, okay?”

“I will.” I pulled away and watched them as they both grabbed their stuff and headed for the door. “Bye!”

Kelly locked the door behind them as I sat down on the couch and took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves now that things were quiet. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’m ready to sleep for a week.” I chuckled, standing back up.

“I don’t blame you.” She smiled. “Want me to order some food?”

“I’m not really hungry, but order something for yourself,” I said. “I’m gonna run downstairs and check on Helen. That earthquake was rough.”

“You stay here,” Kelly said, patting my shoulder. “I’ll go check. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded, and she opened the door and went downstairs. I went to my room and started changing for bed. I would have let Torie and Mica move in if it were necessary, but I’ll be honest, I was excited to get to sleep in my own bed again. I’d only used it once since buying it and moving it.

I stripped down to just my panties and pulled on a loose t-shirt. I was not in the mood to wear something cute to bed. I just wanted to be comfortable tonight. When I was done, I headed for the bathroom to brush my teeth when the front door opened and Kelly came back in.

“How was Helen?” I asked as I stepped into the bathroom.

“Um…” Kelly followed me and leaned against the door frame. “It… So, I asked her if she was okay and how was her apartment, but…she had no idea what I was talking about.”

“Really?” I blinked. “So she slept through it or something?”

“No.” Kelly shook her head. “I asked her that. She said she’s been awake all evening. She said there was no earthquake… How is that possible?”