“You witches are behind it.”
“All my grandmother did was open a book!”
“And all hell broke loose. Literally. All the demons in hell will be set loose if we don’t close the portal,” Damon said.
Two hours later, Zoe was still trying to recover from Damon’s dramatic declaration. Okay, she was also still trying to recover from being plastered against his body. She would have been fine if he’d just taken off his shirt and she’d merely looked at him and confidently enjoyed the view.
Instead he’d pulled her so close that she’d just about lost it. The memory still left her shaken.
And yes, a better woman would focus all her attention on saving the world instead of harboring secret dark fantasies about a hot vampire. A better witch for sure would have overcome it without blinking an eye.
Zoe had to confess that she did get a kick out of watching the TV classic
With the demise of the cable demon, there was no TV to distract Zoe. She felt guilty even thinking about that. She should be concentrating on the Book of Darkness. She needed to call on her inner librarian, not her inner slut.
Not that she’d ever realized she might have an inner slut until Damon came into her life.
She just couldn’t concentrate with him around. And he showed no signs of going away anytime soon.
Refusing to allow her gaze to wander over to where Damon sat in a nearby chair, she kept her eyes on her laptop screen and the grisly illustrations of demons. It was not a pretty picture. She got totally wrapped up in the history, which was why she was so stunned when she looked up and saw the front door swing open and two strange men in suits standing there, pointing at her. “There she is!”
“Demons!” she yelled. “Kill them!”
Zoe stood and glared at the pair of strangers. She had a bad feeling about them. Sure, they were wearing suits, but that didn’t mean anything. The last demon to darken their doorstep a short while ago had been wearing a cable guy uniform as a disguise. Why wasn’t Damon doing something with that dagger of his?
“They’re not demons,” Damon whispered in her ear.
“Then why did they come in without being invited and then point at me and say ‘There she is’?”
Damon turned to face the two men. “Care to answer that, gentlemen?”
“The door was already slightly open when we arrived. I knocked and the door opened even wider. We were so relieved to have found Zoe. We weren’t sure we had the correct address. You scared us by threatening to kill us.”
“I wasn’t talking about you. I thought I saw a cockroach.” In her opinion, just walking in on her qualified these two guys as cockroaches. “Besides, you scared me by barging in without permission. Who are you?” she demanded angrily.
“I’m sorry, I should have made the introductions sooner,” the taller of the two men said. “My name is Bob Weaver and this is Tim Simpson. We are followers of Dr. Martin Powers.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Gram said as she joined them.
“You’re the one who is going to be sorry,” Tim said, speaking for the first time.
“Don’t you threaten my grandmother,” Zoe said.
“Damn right,” Damon agreed. “That’s my job.”
“We’re not here to cause trouble,” Bob said.
“Where have I heard that before?” Damon mocked.
“This is all her fault.” Bob pointed to Zoe’s grandmother.
“I hear ya,” Damon said.
“You seem like a reasonable man,” Bob told Damon, who just smiled and nodded.
“I don’t know if you are aware of the fact that Irma Adams is a very disturbed person,” Bob said.
“I am aware,” Damon said. He put his arm around Zoe’s shoulders, presumably to prevent her from hitting someone. He also put an arm around Gram’s shoulders, no doubt for the same reason. “What’s your beef with her?”
“She came to one of the motivational seminars Dr. Powers was giving back in Boston.”
“He’s not a real doctor,” Gram inserted. “He got his PhD in rhetoric from an online school. He claims that if you use the tools in the Powers Tool Box, you are guaranteed to find happiness. Of course, those tools don’t come cheap.”
“Dr. Powers has the ability to transform lives,” Bob said reverently.
“Yeah, transform them from bad to worse,” Gram said. “Unlike other motivational speakers, Powers claims that he is the only one who has the secret to living a perfect life. If you don’t buy into his shtick, you will be doomed forever.”
Bob shook his head. “That is an extreme exaggeration and a misrepresentation.”
Zoe had done some online research about Dr. Powers since Gram’s run-in, and it seemed to her that Gram was right.
“Irma created a terrible scene when she stood at the microphone intended to be used to ask relevant questions of Dr. Powers and instead shouted insults at the doctor’s followers. It resulted in a huge melee,” Bob said.
“Is a melee worse than a stampede?” Gram asked.
“They’re about equal,” Zoe said.
“And you’re here because?” Damon prompted Bob.
“Dr. Powers has indicated that he will forgive Irma providing she goes online to his website and apologizes for her comments.”
“When pigs fly.” Gram paused, perhaps realizing that she could make that happen. “No way. Not going to happen,” she said.
“You insulted Dr. Powers,” Bob said, making it sound as bad as breaking one of the Ten Commandments.
“He insulted my intelligence by claiming he could make your life better just by giving him money,” Gram retorted.
“It’s not just money,” Bob said. “It’s his entire Entryway to Enlightenment program in the Powers Tool Box.”
“It’s a Fast Track to Bankruptcy program,” Gram said. “You’re talking about thousands of dollars.”
Bob’s expression was condescending as he looked at them all. “No one is forced to enroll.”
“Sure they are,” Gram said. “It’s called emotional blackmail.”
“Nonsense. Everyone has a choice.”
“Right,” Gram scoffed. “Be miserable or pay me and be happy.”
“You are simplifying it in an inaccurate manner.” Bob’s irritation was starting to show.
Gram waved his words away. “You have no right to come here and bother me. How did you find me anyway?”
“We have our means,” Bob said. “And our orders.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zoe said, not liking the sound of that at all.
“If you don’t cooperate, then we are taking legal action against Irma,” Bob said.
“If you don’t leave our living room right now, then I’ll be the one taking action,” Gram warned.
Zoe took hold of her grandmother’s hand before she could do any witchcraft. “Now, Gram…”
