Free Moonlight Calls (Demon's Call Series Book 1) by Kaye Draper

comments as he bagged up my items.
    Ailis snatched
my bags off the counter as he gave me the total and stood there, arms crossed
and toe tapping.  She was the picture of tall, svelt, bitchiness.  The poor
clerk glanced her way and stopped his credit card spiel mid-sentence.  No, I
would not like to save twenty percent by opening up a charge account today.  It
wouldn’t be worth the bloodshed.
    Not impressed
with my roommate, I gave the cashier a friendly smile and followed her out at a
sedate stroll.  “You don’t own me,” I said, flatly.
    She gave me a
once-over and kept walking, snapping a pair of dark sunglasses on as we left
the mall and headed for the car.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she
said calmly.  “That idiot was the slowest clerk I’ve ever seen.”
    I rolled my
eyes.  “I thought he was nice.”
    She snorted. 
“If bland is your thing.”
    I stopped and
crossed my arms.  “This has to stop,” I said, irritated. “You watch my every
move, you grill me every time I talk to a friend, or run to the grocery store,
and now you’re acting like a jealous boyfriend.”
    She sighed and
headed to the car again.  “I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
    I followed. 
“And keep tabs on me for Master.”
    “You don’t
understand your position,” she said, tossing my bags into the back of my little
car.
    “There is no position,” I said, determined not to discuss anything supernatural.  “There’s nothing
anyone could possibly gain from me.  I don’t have supernatural powers.  I’m
just a human.  End of story.”
    Ailis didn’t
look the least bit convinced, but she kept her voice calm.  She took a deep
breath and gave me a wry look.  “I’m sorry.  You’re right that I’m being…
annoying.”  She waved a hand dismissively.  “You don’t realize how hard it is
to be around you.  Just by being under my protection, well… part of me thinks
that I do own you.” 
    I scowled. 
“Well you don’t.”
    She nodded.  “I
don’t.”  Crossing her arms over her chest, she regarded me like a difficult
child.  “But you do need to be more careful.  No matter how you deny it, I can
feel the power in you.  You can’t use it yet.  But someday you will.  And there
are a lot of people out there who would like it if you were under their control
when that time comes.  Like you?   I wondered.
    I slipped into
the car and buckled my seatbelt without comment.
    *****
    I spent the
workday in a daze, going through my duties like a drone, on tired autopilot.  I
really needed to finish my pre-requisites and start nursing school so I could
get out of this rut. Then there was my messed up home life.  I had so many
questions about Ailis’ intentions.  If, if  I chose to believe what she
said about me being some sort of developing magic user, then could I really
believe that she was here with me simply for my own good?  I knew that she had
been sent here initially to check me out for her master.  That alone was enough
to make me want to kick her to the curb.  Whenever we got even remotely close
to having this discussion, she would always end it by saying that there were
things that she just couldn’t tell me.  Well, screw that.   And to top it
all off, it was hard to even have  a conversation without one of us
getting all hot and bothered.  I didn’t even what to contemplate that whole
issue.
    I had been going
over it all throughout my shift, and my head was starting to ache.  I got
glimpses of the world outside from the patients’ rooms as I went about my day,
and the urge to escape was growing exponentially.  The weatherman had predicted
rain, but as I stripped soiled bedding from a patient’s bed, the sun made a
glorious appearance just outside the little window.  I really wanted to get out
of the hospital and spend some time in that sunshine, letting it burn away all
of my worries and confusion.
    I was given the
opportunity around lunchtime.