Free Black Magic Woman by Christine Warren

know.”
    Daphanie laughed again, helplessly. “Yeah, that’s the thing that was weird. In the dream, I wasn’t myself. I swear I was someone else entirely.”
    Corinne paused, looking surprised and confused. “Who?”
    “I haven’t the foggiest idea.” And she meant that literally. “Lord, you must think I’m insane. First you show up and find a strange man answering Niecie’s door instead of me, then I stumble out of the bedroom, probably looking like I just escaped from my mad attacker. I’m surprised you haven’t given up on the police and called an ambulance to take me straight to Bellevue.”
    “I still haven’t ruled it out.”
    Daphanie caught her glaring at Asher’s back again and sighed. “Let’s clear this up again. Frankly, I haven’t got the energy today to try to convince a bunch of strangers of my sanity. It’s going to be hard enough with you.”
    “I must discourage you from going anywhere today.” Asher stepped into the sitting area, a steaming mug in his hand and a politely implacable expression on his face. “After the events of last night, it would be wisest to remain at home and out of sight, to give the situation time to defuse itself.”
    “What situation? And who the hell asked you anything?” Corinne snapped, visibly bristling.
    “Corinne, take it easy. It’s okay. Asher means well—”
    “Maybe I’d believe that if one of you explained what he means to begin with.”
    Asher lifted the mug to his lips and eyed Daphanie over the rim. “Would you care to do the honors? I believe I’d enjoy hearing your take on the … situation.”
    Daphanie cast him a dark look—a lot like those Corinne had been sporting all morning—before she turned back to her friend and drew a fortifying breath. “I left the reception early last night.”
    “Your sister’s wedding reception?” Corinne looked nonplussed. “Why?”
    Daphanie leaned forward and buried her face in her hands, scrubbing for a moment before she answered. “That’s, like, a really long story.”
    “I’ll let you know when I need a bathroom break.”
    Corinne’s expression offered no quarter. Daphanie glanced at Asher, but all he did was lean one hip against the end of the sectional and sip his tea. She was on her own.
    “I’ve been trying to take the whole Others thing in stride, but I guess it shook me up more than I wanted to admit,” she explained. Saying that felt like admitting to some great sin, simultaneously a relief and a wrench of shame. “Danice told me that you all found out about it before Reggie even got married. That was at least a year ago, but I had all this sprung on me this week. Whatever promise the Others made Niecie make about keeping them a secret, she damned well took it seriously. And she usually tells me everything. But about this, not a word. It left me feeling totally out of the loop. I came here expecting to hear wedding details and cute new-couple stories, and instead I hear that the world as I know it wasn’t really the way I knew it at all.”
    “Honey, that’s how we all felt at first,” Corinne said, laying her hand over Daphanie’s and squeezing sympathetically. “You should get Reggie to tell you the story about when we first figured out Dmitri was a vampire and decided it was up to us to save her from his evil clutches. She still won’t let us live that down.”
    “But that’s the thing.” Daphanie knew she wasn’t explaining this well, but she struggled to find the words to convey the complex mix of emotions that had swirled through her over the last few days—confusion, disbelief, fear, excitement, betrayal, curiosity. “You all found out together, and you had someone there to explain things to you. You had Reggie and Dmitri, and then Missy and Graham. And now Danice and Mac. But Niecie told me in all the crazy lead-up to the wedding, and now she’s gone on her honeymoon, so she can’t be here to show me the ropes.”
    “Well, I’m probably not the best