“What did you do after that?” Daniel asked, his tone gentle.
He must have realized that it was a traumatic thing to see someone die, even if that someone used dark magic, cheated, and overall seemed to be a terrible person. I was glad I didn’t have to explain the way I felt to him.
I released a slow breath. “By the time he turned to attack Beth, I had time to gather my thoughts and my magic and…” I motioned to the trash can. “I unleashed Karma on him.”
“Karma?” He lifted a brow.
I nodded. “That’s who, or what, I am now, Daniel. That’s why I suddenly have powers. I’m Karma.”
His brows drew together, and he was quiet for a long minute before he said, “Okay.”
“Just okay?” I asked, studying him carefully.
I kind of expected him to be shocked. Or ask a lot of questions. His quiet acceptance of something I was still struggling to accept felt weird.
“Well,” he gave a small smile. “You kind of accepted the whole bear shifter thing pretty easily.”
I couldn’t help but return his smile. “Well, I’ve always kind of liked bears. And, somehow, the whole thing fits you. It feels like I can’t like you without…” I realized what I was saying but caught myself. “I can’t accept Daniel without accepting you’re a bear. So, I did.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, looking pleased. “So, you unleashed… karma on the guy.”
“Yup,” I gestured to the trash can. We both leaned forward and looked down at the brown tear-drop shaped creature. Its claws scraped against the bottom of the trash can as though it was trying to dig itself out, but there was no chance he was going to get through the metal. Every so often he’d stop as though he needed to catch his breath and his tiny nose and whiskers would twitch. The little rat would be almost cute if I didn’t know it was Cliff. “And that’s what he turned into.”
Daniel whistled through his teeth. “Well, at least he’s not the hulking beast anymore. I can’t tell you how many slaughtered animals I’ve come across in the last few days, how many families I’ve had to reassure. I wanted this thing caught as much as anyone. And then there’s the fact that Beth is safe, too. That all of you are safe.”
“Yeah, it’s the best ending we could have hoped for,” I muttered.
“What about the witch’s body?” He asked.
“I think the police decided to tell everyone that a mountain lion came out of nowhere and killed her. I don’t know if anyone will buy it but that’s the story we’re going with and would explain all the random animal deaths around town.”
He shook his head. “Good. Although the sheriff must have grown a liking to you, because he knows about all this supernatural stuff, but he doesn’t usually like to be involved in it.” He grimaced at the garbage can. “And I can take care of that.”
“Oh, I’m relieved. I hoped you’d be able to. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do if you didn’t know what to do with him.” I laid my head back on his couch and sighed.
“Hey, um, so I got a call from the sheriff,” Daniel said carefully.
“Oh? Tonight?” Lifting my head, I tried to be casual.
“No, earlier. He said that your local PD called here to check up on you. Apparently, your ex is missing, along with his new lady friend.”
I tried to act surprised. “Oh, no. Do they have any idea what’s going on?”
It felt weird to hide the truth from Daniel, but he was still working with the police. If I told him what I’d done, he’d either have to get me in trouble or lie for me. And I didn’t know how all of that would go. Were there specific punishments for the supernatural? Judges and juries? I’d have to ask the ladies. But for now, I didn’t want to put him in a difficult position. Especially since I planned to address the issue anyway.
After a second of Daniel studying me, he continued, “They’re not sure what’s going on. They wanted to talk to me to see if I thought you’d have anything to do with it.” He shook his head. “I told them it wasn’t possible.”
I was careful not to directly lie, and even though this was the perfect opportunity to fess up, I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. “That’s crazy. Do you think they’ll want to talk to me?”
Daniel nodded. “If they don’t find your ex, I’d say so.”
The mood in the cabin had darkened with the mention of my toad ex. I stretched and stood. “Well, I should be going, I suppose.”
“Yeah, of course,” he said, sounding uncertain.
I went to the door, opened it, and forced myself to walk out onto the porch. It felt like every instinct inside of me was screaming to stay longer, to just enjoy my time with Daniel for a few more minutes. But another part of me knew that might lead down the wrong road, and I wasn’t ready for that yet.
“Before you go, I wanted to ask…”
I turned, feeling nervous. “Yes?”
“Would you like to go to dinner sometime?” Daniel leaned against the door jamb, looking the most awkward I’ve ever seen him, like he didn’t quite know what to do with himself. “Or maybe I could cook for you?”
I wanted to scream yes, but I had to tie up some things with my ex first. “I think we could maybe set something up. Call me.”
There. Now it was a little up in the air still and didn’t feel so final.
25
Emma
I was whistling, actually whistling when I got out of my car back home. Was it weird to think of my parents’ old house as more of a home than the one I’d lived in with Rick and Travis? Sure, I’d grown up here, but
