Chapter 12

Twelve

H ollis

When the hot gossip in Birchdale involves a wish demon breaking protocol and switching human’s essences, all the witches within three counties come out of the woodwork to watch the show.

The show is me.

In addition to meeting Magda at the harvest festival on Halloween night, I’m surrounded by about twelve women, all staring at me like I’m under a microscope.

“Is it difficult to talk with someone else’s mouth?” asks one witch who’s examining my teeth like she’s buying a horse.

“At first, yes,” I answer warily.

“Do her clothes feel uncomfortable?” asks another.

“Quite. Especially her shoes.”

Another queries, “What’s the most uncomfortable? Is it carrying around someone else’s entrails?”

Oh god. “No, actually. The worst part is being talked down to by everyone except the poor girl’s mother.”

All the witches exchange looks, and I would like to be done with this interview.

It’s been two hours since I got off the phone with Maple, and all I can think about is worrying if she’s okay. If she’s on her way. If we’re going to get out of this mess with our essences…souls?…still intact. At the same time, I worry that once we switch back, we’ll lose this intimate connection we have. As weird and fucked up as this day has been, I like her. More than like her. I need to keep her in my life. But I don’t know if she feels the same way.

Finally, I hear my voice in the crowd.

“Hollis, are you here?”

The tall, dark-haired figure of my body towers over the group of witches sniffing my aura and scraping off tiny samples of my skin cells.

“Maple!”

Suddenly, I forget all the people around us staring and asking questions, poking and prodding. For the moment, all I want is to get to Maple.

Is it weird that when I look at her, even though she’s in my skinsuit, all I see is her. Maple’s true self is there in her eyes, the smile, and the way she carries herself. My arms itch to hold her.

And then, I’ve got her. The much bigger frame collapses against me, but I’ve got her. “Hollis,” she sobs.

“It’s still me. I’m still me, and you’re still you. We’re going to get through this, baby. I’ll stick with you until we figure everything out.”

Although I wish things were different, she feels good in my arms. I don’t notice the difference anymore. My body and soul don’t recognize the strangeness of the situation because I know I’ve got her, I’m holding her, and I’m never letting her go.

I hear the witches around us discussing with Magda what we should do, and there are varying opinions.

“In the old days, we used to have to deflower a virgin in the circle to summon a demon.”

“Not a virgin!” Maple and I both shout, muffled in our embrace. I laugh, and we pull each other in tighter.

“Is that a problem, mother?” I hear another witch say.

Magda scoffs. “The Accord of 1859 left out all language pertaining to virgins, and it was signed and acknowledged by the overseers of each group that governs witch covens, demon legions, vampire nests, gargoyle clans, and all various and sundry families and collections imbued of the magical realm on earth. So, none of that nonsense.”

I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear the thing about vampires and gargoyles and keep on clutching Maple to me.

I’ve absorbed enough supernatural insanity for today. Whatever they all decide to do is fine.

Maple whispers into my shoulder something I can’t quite hear in all the commotion, so I reluctantly pull away from the embrace. “What’s that you said?”

She looks down at me with sad eyes. “I’m so sorry, but I had a super-horny dream when I fell asleep today, and I have to tell you something. I?—”

Relief floods through me because I already know what she’s going to say. I smile and press my finger to her lips. “I was there. I remember. And I don’t want you to feel bad about it. I was afraid to tell you and ashamed to admit that it was…that you were…fun.”

Maple is adorable when she blushes, even when using my blood and cheeks to turn pink.

“I am fun, aren’t I?”

I roll up on the balls of these feet to press a kiss to the top of her nose. “Endlessly.”

She smiles. “I think I need more hugging.”

“Not a problem.”

We squeeze each other tighter. And while there’s comfort in it, there’s something else happening now, too. My body warms against her, noticing how well we fit together. The admission of our shared sex dream seems to have lifted away a layer of awkwardness and tension between us.

I don’t know if it’s her body or my brain chemistry, but I want to touch her everywhere. I want to kiss her and taste her. I almost forget about the urgent matters at hand until Magda goes on.

“Listen, kids, I haven’t been able to track down any wish demon registered anywhere in Massachusetts, let alone in Birchdale. But whoever granted your wish will likely be at the festival again tonight. These demons can never avoid returning to the scene of their crimes…they love to see how their bargains come back to bite the humans in the ass.”

“We didn’t make a bargain with anyone. We bought beer, made a wish, and then all hell broke loose,” I remind her.

My hands roam over Maple’s tense shoulder blades, and I absorb the delicious noise she hums into my skin.

Magda taps her chin and thinks. “Hmm. There must have been something said or agreed upon. Wish demons don’t just grant your wish and disappear. I’ll have to bring this up with the council.”

“What council?” Maple asks.

“Never mind. For now, we must try to summon the demon with your shared energy.”

“How do we do that?” I ask.

Magda, to my surprise, blushes. “Well, since the virgin deflowering thing has gone the way of the dodo bird, we have to make a circle, and you have to have sex.”

“Uh. Ew, not in public,” Maple cries, gripping my waist as she recoils.

Lifting her shoulder casually, Magda waves us off. “With you two, a little foreplay should be enough. You’re so thirsty for each other; it should work fine.”

I look up into Maple’s eyes as she mouths the word “foreplay?” with a horrified expression.

“I’m game if you are,” I murmur. “I’ll try anything.”

“I guess that means you have to kiss me,” she says, biting her lip.

“We already did in the dream, so this should be easy,” I say, shrugging.

So why can’t I do it? Why can’t I just sweep in and kiss her like I want to?

“Maple, I have to tell you something.”

What I’m about to say might ruin any chances of summoning a demon with our shared sexual energy, or whatever these nutty witches want us to do—but I have to tell her the truth.