Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

" M om?"

I wake up to the sun shining in my windows and my daughter poking me. "Huh? What… What time is it?"

"It's like ten o'clock," Bella says.

"Crap!" I groan, sliding out of the bed. "So much for being on time for school."

"What do you mean?"

"Huh? What day is it?"

"It's Saturday."

"Oh, thank goodness." I sit on the edge of the bed, trying to order my thoughts. Damon is gone. Dash is at the vet's office. I pick up my phone and see a text from Dr. Voorhees.

Your pup is doing fine! it says, along with a pic of the vet and a smiling Dash licking her face.

I sigh and send up thanks to the universe.

"What is it?" Bella asks, petting Mr. Darcy.

"It's the vet. Dash is fine."

"Yay! When can she come home?"

I text the vet back and wait for her to reply. "I don't know yet. Are you hungry?"

"Starving!" she says. "But…"

"But what?"

"But what about Damon?"

My heart sinks in my chest. "Oh. Yeah. What about him?"

"Where is he?"

"I don't know, honey."

"Are you going to get him back?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" She huffs and crosses her arms across her chest.

"I mean, I don't know how to get him back, and I'm not sure I want him back anyway." I regret it as soon as I say it.

"What?"

"Sorry, honey. I just mean… Look, I don't know how he was trapped here to begin with. Neither do you, and you're the one who trapped him. Neither does Beverly, and she's the most powerful witch around. So, I had no way of knowing that smashing the cookie jar would, like, banish him or whatever. I don't know what I did, and I don't know how to get him back."

"But you do want him back, right?" she asks, her eyes big.

"I mean…I don't know."

"But I thought…" Her eyes well up and tears start to fall. I pull her to me and we sit on the bed together.

"What did you think?"

"I don't know. I just thought that…maybe…you know…we could be a family again…like when Dad was here."

"You miss your dad, don't you?" I ask stupidly. Of course she does. I'm just not sure what to say right now.

"Only all the time," she says. "Remember how he used to make pancakes on Sundays?"

"Yeah. And family game nights?"

"And how we all wore matching pajamas on Christmas?"

"Even Dash and Mr. Darcy?"

We both laugh at that. Dash is great about wearing costumes, but Mr. Darcy hates them. I wonder where those clothes are. Though, I doubt any of us fit in them anymore. I do put up a tree and stuff for Christmas for Bella, but I don't go nearly as all out as Mark and I would together. Maybe I should change that this year.

"But you know that Damon could never replace your dad, right?" I ask her.

"I know. But I hadn't seen you so happy in a long time. Since Dad died. I thought… I just thought he'd be a good stepdad."

"Yeah? He did help me get you to school on time every day."

"And he told me bedtime stories."

"And he made great Italian food."

"And he was really funny."

"And a good kisser."

"What?" Bella says, wrinkling her nose. "You kissed him? Eww!"

"I know, right?" I say, laughing. "I can't believe I kissed a demon."

"And you liked it!"

We both fall over, squealing with laughter, and I realize that Damon deserves to be here. He should be a part of this. He is the reason for this. I…I think I love him.

"Okay," I say, sitting up. "I'll go see Beverly. See what we can do."

"Yes!"

"What day is it?" I ask again, opening my calendar. I see that it is Mark's parents' weekend with Bella. I'm actually shocked that they haven't called me, wondering where we are. I shoot Mark's mom a text, letting her know that we are on our way, just running late.

"Okay, go pack an overnight bag," I tell Bella. "You are going to see your grandparents."

"But I want to help you find Damon," she says.

"Sorry, honey. You can't come. You have to see your grandparents."

"I'm sure they will understand—"

"You can't tell them anything!" I say firmly. "You know they can't know anything about Mystic Cove."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Just tell them I'm sick or something."

"I don't need to give them more reasons to dislike me," I say. "Now, get a move on."

"Ugh. It's so not fair!" she says, stomping away.

Three hours later, I'm finally pulling into the parking lot at The Book Coven since Mark's parents live about an hour away. I have no idea what Beverly can do to get Damon back, but I have to start somewhere.

"How is Dash?" Beverly asks.

"She's fine," I say. "The vet said she can come home tomorrow."

"That's wonderful. And where is my little pupil?"

"With her paternal grandparents," I say. "She spends one weekend a month with them."

"That's kind of you."

"It was the least I could do, considering…"

Beverly sighs and rolls her eyes. "You did not kill their son."

"I know," I say. "I know that now. But I don't know their feelings on the matter. I haven't actually spoken to them outside of arrangements for them to see Bella in literally years."

"Well, hopefully their tune has changed," Beverly says.

"I hope so, but I'm not going to ask. Anyway, can you summon a demon?"

"Oh, no," Beverly says, waving me off. "I'm not opening that door."

"Come on," I say. "Please! We need to get Damon back. You are the only person powerful enough to do that type of thing."

"For starters, anyone can summon a demon with the right mixture of ingredients—incantations, sacrifices, whatever. However, doing so is at your peril! Demons can't be trusted. They are very powerful beings with their own motivations and desires. You know that better than anyone."

"Exactly," I say. "And you know Damon. You sent me on a date with him."

"I won't mind my only failure at matchmaking being because I set a sweet young woman up with a friggin' demon."

"Oh, yes, you will," I say. "Wouldn't you rather be able to tell people that you were even successful in setting up a blind date for a demon?"

Beverly purses her lips and crosses her arms, but I can see her mind working. Nothing works better on witches than appealing to their pride.

"Come on. Do it for me. Do it for Bella. She misses him. She's mad at me for making him disappear from our lives."

"I don't even know if it will work. I mean, you could have killed him for all I know."

Her words feel like a slap in the face, and I can see she regrets saying it.

"I'm sorry," she says. "I didn't mean it like that."

"No," I say, holding up my hand. "What I did was impulsive and wrong. And you are right. I don't think I killed him, but maybe I did banish him from me, from the world. I don't know. But that is why I need you to try. I need you to save him. I need you to save me. I can't be responsible for killing another man I love."

"Did you say…love?"

I nod my head. I mean, I don't know if I'm really in love with him yet, but I'm well on my way. It's the only word that explains the depth of my feelings at this moment.

"Oh, Tamzin," Beverly says, her eyes tearing up. "I never thought I'd hear those words from you again."

"So…will you do it?"

"I don't know—"

The door swings open suddenly, and a swarm of flies, thick and black as smoke, fills the room. Beverly and I scream and try to bat them away, but it's like swimming through sludge. The buzzing fills my ears and when I open my mouth to scream, I can feel the flies on my tongue. I cough and spit to get them out. The flies part like the Red Sea as a large, monstrous beast lumbers into the bookstore.

"Tamzin Jones," the beast roars, more flies spewing from his mouth. Is this the Dark Lord? Has he come for me?

"On the other hand—" Beverly says. She then says something in a language I don't understand.

The beast steps forward, his arm sweeping toward me. I'm able to duck and run down one of the aisles of books, but I can't leave Beverly. I gag as the stench of the creature catches up with me.

"Beverly!" I cry out as I run back toward her. But I stop and gasp as I see Damon rise up out of the ground.

"Tamzin!" he says when he sees me. He reaches his arms out toward me.

"Look out!" I shout, pointing behind him.

"What?" he turns just as the beast grips Damon in his enormous hand.

"Beelzebub?" Damon says.

So, not the Dark Lord, but bad enough.

"I think he's trying to possess me," I shout up to Damon.

"Oh, not today, dude," Damon says. Damon then shifts into his own beastly shape, the monster of fire and smoke. He breaks out of Beelzebub's hand and pulls out a flaming sword. He slashes it toward Beelzebub. Beelzebub uses his bare arms to defend himself. Damon utters something in demon speak. The woman from the house appears, and she is holding chains, but what they are made out of, I cannot tell. They don't look like any material I've ever seen before. Together, Damon and the woman zigzag around Beelzebub, wrapping him in the chains. Damon then pulls on the chains and Beelzebub crashes to the ground.

"Go back to your master!" Damon says. Beelzebub lets out a screaming roar as the ground opens up, swallowing Beelzebub whole. When the ground closes back up, you'd never know that a hole to Hell had just been there.

For a moment, everyone is quiet. In relief or shock, or both, I'm not sure. Finally, Damon turns to me.

"Tamzin!"

I run to his open, waiting arms. "I'm so sorry!" I say, burying my face in his neck.

"Don't be," he says. "I should have told you the danger you were in. I just thought I could protect you."

"You did," I say. "You saved me from that monster."

Damon shakes his head and looks at me. "The Dark Lord will never stop coming for you. Not until his curse is fulfilled?"

"What…what are you saying?" I ask nervously, taking a step back.

"I think I have to fulfill my orders," he says sadly.

"You mean…" I can hardly say it.

"I have to possess and torture you, Tamzin."