Ink & Dagger (Sins of Eden #1)

27. Chapter XXVII

Chapter XXVII

Emily

“ G oing somewhere?” Ghost hissed as I entered my room.

I startled with a laugh. How he knew just when I needed him, I’d never know, but as always he was one step ahead and right on time. He watched me intently as I crossed the room to grab my phone. Fuck. As usual, I’d forgotten to charge it.

“Hey, Ghost. I’m gonna head to the shop for a bit. I need you to stay with Charlie. Don’t let anyone see you, but keep an eye out for her. She’s going to Agathas’ later for another meeting and I don’t feel good about it,” I told him.

“She has Cerys to watch over her. I’m your Familiar, not hers, remember?” He said moodily, slithering up my bedpost and onto my bed to get closer to me.

He loved Charlie, but he hated the coven house just as much as I did. He’d told me on multiple occasions that the energy in there tasted wrong. While I didn’t have the kind of senses he did, I couldn’t disagree with him. Something was off in that house.

“I know that, but if something happens, Cerys can’t find me. You can. I need you to stick with her for the time being. If anything is going on that I should know about, come get me immediately. Something about these meetings doesn’t feel right and I need to know that she’s safe. Will you please do this for me?”

“Promise to stay out of trouble and not do anything stupid while I’m away?” He asked skeptically.

“Me? Stupid?” I asked with a sly grin before booping his snout.

The annoyed little hiss he let out made me laugh. If I were anyone else, I would have been bitten by now.

“Okay, alright. I promise I’ll stay out of trouble while you’re away,” I lied, crossing my fingers behind my back.

I had no intention of keeping such an absurd promise, but if he knew the truth then he wouldn’t let me go alone. I needed him with Charlie tonight. My gut was telling me something was wrong and after everything I’d been through, I knew to trust it.

After pocketing my phone, I lifted Jax’s jacket from the back of my desk chair and pulled it on before turning back to face Ghost.

“He’s good for you, you know? The Demon. I still won’t hesitate to squeeze the life out of him if he hurts you, but you’ve smiled more since he came into your life.”

“Aww, Ghost. You’re a big softy, has anyone ever told you that?” I teased.

“Am not. And if you ever tell anyone, then I’ll leave dead mice in your bed for the rest of my miserable life,” he threatened, before slithering off the bed and out the door.

“You wouldn’t dare,” I shouted back, chasing after him.

Damn pest. His scales rippled before he went invisible and I walked back into my room alone. Blowing out a weary breath, I closed my eyes and unclasped the necklace around my throat. What I was about to do - well, Charlie didn’t need to know if things went south. I placed the pendant on my dresser for safekeeping before heading down the stairs and out to the carport.

Pulling the cover off of Carrie, my blood red Kawasaki, I threw my leg over the bike and ran my hand along her smooth body before firing her up. It had been too long since I last took my baby for a ride, but something about being on the back of my bike made me feel invincible. I was going to need that kind of energy tonight to accomplish my task.

I sat for a moment as I thought about following Charlie instead. I was really starting to get agitated that she wasn’t opening up to me, but I was glad I’d at least asked Ghost to watch over her.

Familiars could apparate to their own Witch from anywhere in the world using their Witch’s magical signature to locate them and, similar to the necklaces I’d created for Charlie and I, could sense when their Witch was in trouble.

Having him sneak into the coven house wasn’t the best plan, but aside from finding a way to crash the meeting myself, it was the only thing I could come up with on such short notice. Then again, hopefully things would go well for both of us tonight and all of this worry would be completely unnecessary.

My long hair whipped around my face as I sped down the streets of the quiet town. Arriving at my studio in record time, I pulled my bike around to the back parking lot beside my leaf covered hearse and sighed. Autumn was surely upon us.

It had been mere weeks since Jaxon turned my world upside down, but even now, the thought of losing him fucking hurt. My throat tightened and I was instantly hit with memories of the night Erik had almost killed me as I unlocked the front door and walked into the lobby of my shop.