A customer two booths away from us turned his head toward us and coughed to demonstrate his annoyance at my sudden outburst.
I brought my tone down—last thing I wanted was customers fleeing Joe’s Diner because of a possible poltergeist haunting the place, and Alfred firing me for spreading the story to begin with. “Why are you not freaking out like I am?”
“If I can take a guess,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind me, “it’s because she knows perfectly well what’s going on.”
Chapter Three
I spun around on my heel, coming face-to-face with one of the handsomest guys to ever walk this earth, hands-down. He had short, brown hair, a five o’clock shadow, and the most startling green eyes—they shone like emeralds.
I wanted to ask him who he was, but I was too stunned to move. Had he just come in? I hadn’t seen him here before, and a guy like that, I would definitely remember. But the entrance was on the other side, and he would have had to pass us by if he had entered through there, so how could he suddenly appear behind me?
And, lest I forget, how did that freaking milkshake glass float in the air?
“Alec.” Cass sighed while looking past me at the almost godlike specimen who had materialized in the middle of Joe’s Diner. “Why do you always have to make a spectacle out of everything?”
“Because you were going to spill the beans,” the mystery guy apparently named Alec answered. He walked past me, and I struggled to keep my mouth from dropping open. Did Cass know this guy? How? Had she met him at college?
Since she was a year older than me, Cass had transferred to college already. But she came home every weekend, and we hung out a lot. Community college wasn’t that far away. I called her practically every night, and it didn’t feel very different than from when we were still in high school, except that I couldn’t drop by and visit her on weekdays. But if community college had guys this hot, then I was looking forward to enrolling.
It was strange Cass never told me about this guy, though. In general, she didn’t say much about college, but I figured that was because she didn’t want me to feel left out.
“And I can’t let you do that,” the Alec-guy continued while he sat down on the seat I had occupied seconds ago, before I had jumped up in shock at the floating milkshake glass. He moved further into the booth, to the seat against the wall, and gestured for me to sit down next to him. “This is the first time I’ve ever had one who didn’t know, and I don’t want you to ruin the fun.”
“You can’t exactly keep her in the dark either,” Cass barked at him, talking me about me as if I wasn’t even there. “Who was it who pulled that little trick on her mother this morning—Christian? The lot of you practically scared her half to death.”
I held my hands signaling for her to slow down. “Okay, stop, stop. I’m not following.”
I looked from my best friend, who seemed more like a stranger to me with every passing second, to the actual stranger. “What’s going on?”
Alec patted the empty spot next to him. “I think you best sit down when you hear this, new girl.”
I peered at Cassie questioningly, but she shrugged and indicated I could sit down.
I didn’t trust this guy for one minute, especially not because of Cass’s reference to what had happened this morning with my mother. Was this guy involved? If so, how? Had they given my mother drugs or something? And how had my best friend gotten tangled up in this mess?
I sat down at the far end, as far away from Alec as possible. “Tell me what’s happening, Cass,” I pleaded with her.
“I tried to, and then this idiot here pulled that little trick with the milkshake. So, I’m taking it that they want to tell you themselves.” Cassie waved dismissively at Alec, obviously annoyed.
“And who is ‘they’?” I looked from Cassie to Alec.
“We are the welcoming committee.” Alec leaned back in his seat, looking as smug as a cat who’d just captured a mouse.
I turned to Cassie again, desperate for answers from her, but she stayed silent. Her sole reaction was glaring at Alec. If looks could kill, he’d be dead and buried by now.
Since my friend wouldn’t provide me with any answers, I had no choice but to shift my attention to him instead. “You levitated the milkshake?”
“Oh yes.” Alec chuckled. “That’s nothing really. I didn’t want to scare you too much, because I, unlike some of my friends,” he sneered, “am actually a pretty nice guy.”
Cassie snorted.
“Come on, Cass, even you have to admit I’m not as bad as Christian.”
“There’s no award for being less bad than a demon,” Cass shot at him.
“Demon?” My heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest. I had to be dreaming. None of this could be real. Demons? They existed only in horror movies and TV shows featuring two hot brothers hunting down supernatural creatures, right? Cass was probably joking.
Although, she didn’t sound like she was joking and I’d never once, not in the decade I’d known her, heard her talk about demons.
“Anyway.” Alec draped his arm over my seat, way too close for comfort. “I’m what you call a ‘warlock’. Ever heard of it? TV, movies? There are a lot of rumors about us, but none of them are true. Or well, most are, but not all of them.” He chuckled.
“A warlock? Like… a witch?” I frowned, staring at the stranger without comprehending what he was saying. “But witches aren’t real.”
“Warlocks are male
