To say things had been strained since the affinity test would be an understatement. Not things between Dylan and me, though. We’d been getting along fine, and Dylan hadn’t once pressured me to talk about the test after that night. Dylan was one of the few people in my life who was not stressing me out.
My mother—the traitor—had become Dylan’s biggest fan, despite her feelings about warlocks. At least once a day, I could count on a call from her asking me why I hadn’t snatched Dylan up the second we passed our affinity test. Today had been the worst call yet because she’d been in a panic about my future children with Dylan. I needed to give her Isadora’s number so they could talk about marriage and grandchildren. Until my mother’s call, worrying about how Dylan would feel if our children were born sex demons, I hadn’t even thought about having children. Now, I had to admit that I kind of liked the idea of having Dylan’s baby someday. Not soon, of course.
My mother wasn’t the only one causing me stress. My father wanted me to stay with him, and I couldn’t figure out why. Near as I could tell, he felt guilty about allowing me to be pressured into the affinity test, even though I’d assured him I wasn’t upset now that it was over.
Trevor was still acting crazy when it came to Mel, which meant they were both talking incessantly about the other.
Marcos was still trying to convince me to continue working at SpellBinders. Since the demon who’d attacked me still hadn’t been caught, I was afraid to go into any room alone. While the police refused to go into any details about what they’d found when they searched his home, they had suggested I watch my back and run like hell if I saw him.
With all of these things going on, it was no surprise I was distracted at work tonight. If it weren’t a crazy busy night, I’d ask Marcos to let me leave early, but I already knew what his answer would be.
“What’s wrong with you tonight, Al?” Marcos demanded when I was done with my last client. Despite how understanding he’d been the night of my attack at SpellBinders, he was back to his old asshole self.
“I’m just feeling a little off,” I admitted.
“Well, you had better get it together fast. I don’t need my clients complaining about moody sex demons,” he said with a huff. “You’re supposed to be seductive for the customers.”
“Sorry,” I muttered, because it did no good to argue with Marcos. I could point out that I was doing him a favor by giving him three weeks notice when I’d really wanted to quit right after my attack, but Marcos wasn’t the type to appreciate that sort of thing.
“I’m surprised you’re here without the warlock shadowing you,” Marcos added, looking around as if Dylan might be hiding somewhere in the shadows.
“He had some errands to run tonight,” I explained.
“Is he picking you up after work?” Marcos asked. “If you need a ride, I can always drive you home.”
When Marcos’ hand settled on my arm, I had to fight the urge to jerk away. I hated being touched by him. There was just something slimy about Marcos that made my skin crawl.
“Trevor came with me tonight, so he’ll take me home,” I assured Marcos as I casually moved out of his grasp. It surprised me that Marcos hadn’t noticed Trevor. That was probably because Trevor had been brooding in a dark corner most of the evening. “I’d better get to my next client,” I said quickly to get away from Marcos.
“Sure,” Marcos said. “Just let me know if you ever need a ride home. I could even drive you in to work so you don’t have to inconvenience the warlocks. There’s no reason I can’t assign a security guard to shadow you all night.”
It was tempting to take him up on the offer of a security guard. Trevor and Dylan couldn’t really follow me around while I worked, but SpellBinders’ security could. The only reason I hesitated was the knowledge that Marcos could easily change his mind and pull the guard mid-shift. Besides, I wouldn’t be working here much longer. “Thanks. I’ll talk to Dylan when I get home and see what he thinks,” I said with a fake smile as I hurried off to my next client, knowing there was no way I’d ever trust Marcos to keep me safe.