Return to Hoodoo by Reggi Dupree

Author:Reggi Dupree
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reggi Dupree

Chapter

Twenty-One

I stood in the library, which, other than my bedroom, I’d designated as my happy place in Azure House. Well, at least until I left.

But then what...?

Ash’s confirmation regarding his inhumanity made it easier to toss him in front of a bus. Unless he dumped me in front of it first. Should I give him the time he asked for? I don’t know. A lot could happen in two days. But if my death was something Ash wanted, I’d already be pushing up daisies.

Damn, why did life—and death—have to be so complicated?

I wandered across the room, inexplicably drawn to the trio of stained-glass windows, stopping at the center panel. The intricate and impressive leaded glass portrayed the expulsion of Lucifer and his crew from heaven. It was vibrant, colorful, and like the rest of the house, unblemished by age.

A soft knock at the door interrupted my inspection. “Come in,” I said, hoping and dreading that Ash would walk through the doors.

Kyle popped a Swedish Fish in his mouth as he strolled in as if the gleaming mahogany floors were a catwalk.

Watching the wonder on his dark, expressive face made me smile. I tried to see the two-story room through his eyes. The walls of books, the spiral metal staircase with its gleaming brass railings leading to the upper landing, not to mention the pristine furnishings.

Yeah, I totally got where Kyle was coming from.

“Wow... This is beyond magnificent. What kind of magic kept people from breaking in?” He meandered across the thick rug, pausing briefly to check out the pattern, then focused on the bookshelf.

Kyle looked from a book to me and back again before carefully slipping a leather-bound tome with gold lettering along the spine from the shelf, flipping it open. He gasped. “Woman, this is a first edition,” he said, voice filled with something like reverence.

I was impressed but not surprised by his discovery.

The respectful wonder in his eyes made me smile and forget my troubles. The man was all about learning and the written word. But there was something else about my friend that I’d yet to unravel. He was a man who seemed to love having it both ways. Kyle loved, almost worshipped everything old, and craved new and exciting. The way he cradled Great Expectations to his chest like a beloved infant, Kyle was having a moment with the past.

I leaned to the side, peering through the door, hoping to see his oversized suitcase. No such luck. Oddly enough, I wasn’t sure how that made me feel. Along with the pancakes, my tummy was a bubbling mixture of hope and fear. Hope that my friend remained as ride and die as he always had, and fear that should he stay and he be injured, or worse...

Pressure built behind my eyes. If Kyle so much as broke a fingernail, I’m not sure how I’d forgive myself.

“Did you come to say goodbye?” I finally asked.

“Yes.”

My eyes widened.

Kyle smirked, returned the book to the shelf, then looked back at me, his full lips tight and eyes filled with.

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