Demon Night

today. Today, I’m just going to sit back there and do nothing but look at how nice and clean everything is.”
    “Okay.” She waited until he’d gone again, then met Ethan’s steady gaze. “It was easier.”
    “You think faster now, Miss Charlie. Things that gave you trouble still will, but you’re quicker all around.”
    She nodded, pressing her lips together. “I still can’t spell.”
    Ethan studied her, smiling slightly. “Are you figuring to cry or to laugh?”
    “Maybe both. This is a really, really good thing. Better than getting a hit in on Jake now and then.”
    “You say that after you’ve known him a bit longer.”
    Her laugh finally escaped, and she touched his hand, squeezed his fingers lightly. “I know I’m not supposed to do this unless we’re alone, Ethan, but I can’t help myself.”
    He held on when she’d have kept it brief and pulled away. “We ain’t surrounded by demons right now, so the distraction’s all right.”
    “But doesn’t it—” What had he called it? “Fuzz you up?”
    “It ain’t one touch that fuzzes me, Charlie. It’s the buildup I get rid of; if I go too long or take in too much, then a touch like this would hit me so powerfully that I’d be hard pressed not to throw you on your back.” He grinned when her breath caught. “I ain’t there yet. And I have to get rid of it more often now, but I sure ain’t complaining. I’ll just drift a little longer tomorrow.”
    She knew he hadn’t gone to Caelum that day. And with no one to tell him if trouble came, she didn’t think he’d have sealed himself in another room while she was sleeping.
    She searched his face, looking for any sign of the fuzziness—but he appeared as alert and focused as usual. “How are you going to drift if you don’t leave me alone?”
    “Well, Jake will be coming up most days, heading back during the evenings. So I suppose I could lock myself behind the spell while he’s here. But the past two mornings I’ve been drifting while I’ve been in bed with you, and it’s been just fine.”
    Her mouth fell open. “When I’ve been in my daysleep?” At his nod, she shook her head. “I don’t understand. If this fuzzes you up faster”—she moved her fingers against his—“then how can you drift with me there?”
    “It don’t make a lick of sense,” Ethan agreed. “But that’s how it is. I can’t seem to settle without you there, without knowing you’re all right.”
    “Oh.” That familiar emotion swelled in her chest, her throat, trying to push itself out. But she only said, “Sorry.”
    “Miss Charlie,” he said, chuckling softly.
    Her laugh was equally low. “Okay, I’m not.” It was impossible to be. She held his gaze, desire sparking through her. Not from bloodlust—just Ethan. “I get a break in a couple of hours.”
    His focus shifted to her mouth. “And no one yet knows we’re here, so I figure this is the one night we can sit on that swing for a spell.”
    “You should have sat with me the first night you came to my rescue,” she said, grinning. “I was feeling really grateful.”
    He seemed transfixed by her teeth for a breathless moment; then he closed his eyes and said, “By the time your break comes around, Miss Charlie, I’m certain I can think of a few other reasons you ought to be thanking me.”
    She broke into laughter, certain she’d never looked forward to fifteen minutes more in her life. And certain that even if she was just sitting with Ethan, it would pass much too quickly. Always before, it had been such a struggle to fill that time, and she’d relied so heavily on her calls to Jane…
    Her smile faded slowly, and she sighed. “It doesn’t seem right that I’m laughing when Jane’s missing. Like I should be crying all the time, even though it wouldn’t help anything.”
    Ethan traced her jaw with his thumb, lifting her chin. His expression was as tender as his touch. “I know it, Miss Charlie. And if you do feel like crying, you go on ahead. My shoulder cleans up real easy.” His hand rose to push her hair behind her ear. “And with luck, we’ll hear about her soon.”

    Luck didn’t accompany Charlie over the next week, and Jane’s absence continued to wail its note in the background, only completely fading when she was holding Ethan close.
    Their days and nights had fallen into an easy rhythm. Charlie awoke to the soft murmur of Ethan’s voice, his touch, his blood. Each night, a little earlier—and