7. Ethan

Chapter 7

Ethan

Ethan

I can’t stop laughing.

“Apparently, one of the freshmen students added actual frog eyes to the cauldron instead of chia seeds. And well…” Florence sticks out their tongue. “Ribbit. Ribbit. Thousands of frogs pour out of the cauldron and infiltrate the classroom, then the hallway.”

“I wish I could have been?—”

My chair spins and Florence gasps beside me.

“You,” I whisper. “You’re real.”

The blue demon stares back at me with wide eyes. “E—Ethan,” they say my name with a broken voice as they reach for my cheek. Just as they connect, I’m back in my bedroom in my grandmother’s house sans Florence.

“No!” I yell, my heart broken for someone I don’t even know. “I’m so fucking close!” I press a hand to my cheek, savoring the brief moment of a rough hand against me. “So fucking close.” Dramatically, I sit on my bed and flop back. “So, so, so , close,” I whisper. “I won’t give up, you know!” I never give up once I sink my teeth into a problem and the demon is one of the biggest problems I haven’t been able to solve. That and the arranged marriage.

I force myself back to my feet as Squid runs into the room and jumps onto the night stand chittering away.

“Fuck. My grandmother is already coming back?”

Squid nods, his bushy tail swishing behind him. I dash to my grandmother’s bedroom and to the back of her closet to shed her clothes. I’m back in mine and in my bed before the front door rattles. If only Florence were here too.

“Go watch for Florence. If you see them, tell them to come around back and when they come in, tell them to act like they have an upset tummy. I’m gonna tell my grandmother Florry got sick and dashed off to one of the other bathrooms.”

Squid nods and scurries from my room out the window as I scramble to get under the covers just as the clip of my grandmother’s heels sounds through my room.

“My sweet sweet grandbaby,” Cordia says as she slides into my bedroom. She rips off my blanket and the sudden temperature change makes me shiver in my pajamas. “I knew you were awake that last time I visited you. You failed the test.”

“What are you talking about?” I rub at my eyes as if I’m just now waking up. “What test?”

“The one to see if you’d betray me and try to escape.” She grabs my wrists and pulls me out of bed. Her blue eyes shine with malice and the sharp line of her red lips makes her seem up to no good. My grandmother may be close to seventy, but you wouldn’t know she was past forty unless you knew her birthday. Her bracelets jangle as she yanks me through the door.

“What are you talking about? I’ve only just woken up recently. Why would I?—”

“Where’s Florence?” Grandmother practically growls.

“They had a stomachache and didn’t want to stink up my bedroom.” I wave towards another bathroom. “They’ll be back momentarily.” Hopefully Squid gets to them in time.

“Bullshit. If I go in there?—”

“Cordia? You’re back so soon?” Florence says behind us. “I went—” They thumb behind them and rub their stomach. “I don’t know what I ate, but it didn’t agree with me this time.” Somehow, they had time to change back into their own clothes before coming to find us. I let out a breath.

My grandmother looks from me to Florence. Her eyes softening and she lets me go. “Oh. Sorry. I was sure?—”

“Ethan isn’t strong enough to do anything right now. He can barely keep his head up.” Florence pulls one of my arms around them and I act like it’s taking everything in me to stay upright.

The performance must convince my grandmother because she takes my other side and we all shuffle to my bedroom.

Once I’m settled back in my bed, my grandmother takes the seat Florence occupied earlier. “My poor sweet Ethan. You don’t deserve this.” She turns to Florence. “Neither do you, dear.”

“You can end this,” I say with as much hope as I can muster. “You can?—”

“No. It’s set. The two of you will marry, my foolishness will be amended, and the Speller line will continue.” She pats my hand and turns to Florence. “You can spend the night in a guest room with your upset stomach if you’d like. I’ll watch over him tonight.”

Florence’s eyes go wide. “No. No. I’m good now. I think I just needed to get rid of whatever was bothering me. I can keep watch.”

“I’ll do it.”

I scratch the back of my neck. The thought of being watched while I attempt to sleep creeps me out. “I’m awake now. I don’t need a watcher anymore.”

“I insist. What if it’s false hope?” Grandmother says.

“Fine, then I want Florence. Stay with me, Florry.” I pat the mattress. “There’s plenty of room, like always.”

Grandmother’s eyes light up. “Yes. That’s perfect.”

It’s not, but it’s better than me staying alone with my grandmother creepy watching me while I attempt not to squirm under her gaze.

My grandmother pushes up from her chair and Florence slides into bed next to me. We cuddle close.

“I’ll leave the two of you, then.” She turns off the light and shuts the door behind her.

“Holy fuck,” Florence breathes out. “Just holy fuck.”

“Tell me everything,” I whisper, just in case my grandmother can hear us.

Florence nods and we face each other.

“It was a lot. I’m not sure how to explain it all.”

“Try. Take your time. I need to know everything that happened between the time I disappeared and the time you got back.”

“I’ll do my best.” Florence sighs and flops to their back. “So many demons showed up. Apparently, our bartender alerted a bunch of people that you were there. Even the king of the crossroads demons showed up.”

“How does he know who I am?”

Florence snorts. “That demon from your dreams is the one that touched you, right? He’s a crossroads demon and he’s been talking about you to everyone he knows. I swear he broke my heart. The moment he realized you were gone, he screamed.”

“No,” I whisper, again pressing my hand to where he touched me.

“His name is Warwick. Wick or Wicky for short.”

“Wick.” The name feels right on my tongue like I’ve said it a thousand times. “If he knows who I am, who we are, why hasn’t he?—”

“He’s blocked, same as us. But his memories are intact. Now I’m sure Cordia put a memory lock on you about the demon. He knows way too much for the two of you not to know each other. And you’ve been dreaming about him. That has to mean something.”

“And you don’t know him?”

Florence laughs and smacks a hand to their mouth. We both watch the door and listen for grandmother’s heels, but nothing comes.

“Apparently, he knew about me, but said you never told me about him or your plan. Just in case it didn’t pan out, you didn’t want to disappoint me.”

Sounds like me. I squeeze their hand. “What was the plan?” I ask, even though I have the feeling I know.

“You wanted to trade your magic to get out of the marriage.”

“Sounds like something I’d do. But why didn’t we?”

“Had to wait until you were eighteen. According to Wick, you showed up for the first time when you were twelve.”

“Twelve?” I search my brain for any memory and all I can come up with is being angry about having to marry Florence or anyone.

“Yes, twelve. And apparently, neither of you planned on falling in love. Cordia caught wind of the plan and the second you turned eighteen, she pulled you through a portal before you could follow through. I think that’s when she put the memory lock on you. It’s been six years and you keep talking about the demon and patches of memory not being there.”

“Makes sense,” I whisper. “And sounds like I had a solid plan.”

“It really is a solid plan. If you didn’t have magic…”

“There’d be no reason to get married.” I sigh. “But your father would marry you off to someone else. Did Wick happen to say how I solved that part?”

“No,” Florence whispers. “I wish I knew how to solve that part.” They squeeze my hand again. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll?—”

“You shouldn’t be forced to marry anyone. I won’t be free from Cordia until we’re both free from her. You’re not getting married.”

“But you have to. Or otherwise bound. I don’t want the magic to rip you apart. I love you too much. You’re my platonic soul mate and I won’t lose you because of that bitch.”

“Don’t worry about me.” I grin. “I have a new plan.”

“Why do I have a feeling it’s ridiculous?” Florence asks.

“Because you know me.” I lean over and kiss their nose. “Trust me.”

“Always do. Always will.”

We cuddle close again. I don’t want to get their hopes up, but I’ve got the best plan.