Free Devious Magic by Camilla Chafer Page B

She sat on the arm of the chair as she pulled on her boots.
“I have a couple of errands to run too.” Étoile looked from me to Kitty, wrinkling her nose in thought.
“Anything I can do for you?” Kitty offered.
“No, but thanks anyway.” She stared at me and I found myself pulling back.
“It can’t wait though. I need to pick up a few things before I make my trip on Monday. We’ll all have to go together.”
“What trip?” I asked. It was the first I’d heard of it.
“Just a quick visit to the city. Nothing important,” she replied breezily.
“I’ll be okay in the house by myself. I can call Evan if anything happens.”
Étoile contemplated that for a moment. “I’d rather not risk it. You’re under our protection, missy. Let’s go.”
    We piled into Kitty’s car and she drove us into town. I followed them around like a naughty puppy while they went about their business before we separated, with Kitty shooting off to the post office. It was only when we passed the pharmacy that I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.
    Evan and I hadn’t used any protection the previous night. Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! I didn’t know what to think about that. We’d never gotten so carried away to the point of not using anything before and it made my stomach lurch. I was twenty-five and, although that made me reasonably old enough to be a mother, it wasn’t anything I’d ever thought about. Could a witch and a daemon even procreate together? I guessed so because we’d always used protection before.
    “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” said Étoile, glancing over her handwritten list. “What’s up?”
    “Nothing.” I shook my head. It wasn’t something I could discuss with her, not until I’d spoken to Evan, anyway. Come to think of it, I wasn’t sure how I felt about having a conversation like this with him either. This ventured into serious with a capital “S” category and there were a whole lot of other things in that category that needed to be broached too.
    “Oh, shoot,” muttered Étoile, looking in her bag. “I forget to pick up my dry cleaning and they have my favourite coat and my black pantsuit. Crap. We’re going to have run back to pick it up.”
    “Ugh,” I groaned, looking all the way down the street then back to Darla’s, less than twenty yards away. Coffee sounded way better than traipsing after Étoile. I jabbed a finger at the diner. “I’m going to wait in there. I can see Kristin at the counter.”
    Étoile looked around for Kitty again, sweeping the street, probably weighing up the chances of anything awful happening to me. There weren’t a lot of people around now that lunch hour had passed but still enough for any kind of attack to be unlikely. “Fine, but go straight in and don’t...”
    I raised my eyebrows. “I am going to talk to people.”
    “Fine. Text Kitty and have her pick us up outside. I’ll be back in ten minutes.” She looked at me and I stared back. “Go in,” she urged, flapping her hands at me like a mother with a hesitant child.
    “Fine.” I stomped away and pushed the diner door open, blankly smiling at whomever was in front of me. Kristin waved and turned back to the woman she was talking to. They looked so deep in conversation that I didn’t like to interrupt. I wasn’t sure how long I could take being babysat. I hoped the Brotherhood would go home soon and leave me alone so I could get back to leading my normal life. Normal. Hah.
    I ordered a coffee to go and sat on the stool at the window, looking onto the street. Pulling out my phone, I tapped a message to Kitty, telling her where to meet me, then, as I slipped it back into my bag, I saw Kitty’s car barrelling down Main. I grabbed my coffee, popped a plastic lid on it, picked up my bag and jogged outside, reaching the sidewalk just as the car screeched to a stop in front of me. The window unwound and I leaned down to look in.
“Get in,” shouted Kitty, reaching over to pop the