A Little Wicked (The Bewitching Hour Book #4)(10)

“Unlike all you can do?”

Derek pushed open the door. “You’d be surprised what tricks I have up my sleeve.” He stepped into the night. It had been a warm day, but a chill had set in under the cover of darkness. And because it was getting close to a new moon, there was almost no illumination except for the lights in the windows. He remembered there being lights along the driveway the last time he was here. Considering it was damn unlikely that all the lights had burned out at the same time, they must’ve purposely not been turned on. One more ominous sign.

He was still in his work clothes which consisted of a suit with a shoulder holster under the jacket. He didn’t want to go in unarmed, so he had to keep his jacket on, which would have him stand out even more.

Sam was in some leggings that fit her like a second skin. He liked to think that he was pretty single-minded when it came to work, but he couldn’t stop his eyes from traveling to her ass whenever she walked in front of him. He wasn’t all that proud of it, but considering she was by far the sexiest thing he’d ever laid eyes on, he couldn’t say he regretted it either. Fighting his attraction to Sam was just his new state of being now.

But not all the time, because after this was over, they were going back to his place together. They hadn’t talked about it. It was just known. A fact. They would go home together and then he could indulge his attraction as much as he wanted. In as many positions as he wanted.

If that thought didn’t make life worth living, he didn’t know what did.

She wore combat boots and a black loose shirt with a shiny silver skull on the front. No one who knew him would think she was his type, but in the short time they’d been together, he’d come to realize that Sam was the perfect type for him. The only type.

Now all they had to do was survive her family and they could actually enjoy their time together.

He didn’t like that she led the way in, but this was her home ground, literally, so he stayed back.

She pushed the door open and he followed her inside. The loud music enveloped them immediately and Sam glanced around.

“Looking for something?” he said loud enough for her to hear.

“Garrett,” she said. “He normally greets people at the door.”

A few people were in the entryway, but no one who gave them more than two seconds thought: A couple who was about sixty seconds and one layer of clothing away from penetration. An obviously inebriated group of girls who were giggling loudly and leaning on each other so they wouldn’t fall.

Derek knew alcohol and pot didn’t affect witches, so he had to wonder what exactly they’d gotten their hands on....

Sam took his hand in hers and led him down the hallway and into the big ballroom. It was hot and humid, but the hundred or so people there didn’t seem to care. Sam kept to the border of the room until they found a reasonably secluded spot to stop and look out at the crowd. Derek didn’t recognize anyone, but that wasn’t surprising considering how few witches he knew. Though he would pay money to see Bastian get inebriated....

“I don’t see Mom.” Sam kept looking out over the floor. Then she saw something that must’ve freaked her out because her eyes widened and she slid closer to Derek.

“What did you see?”

She pointed to a pretty woman on the dance floor who seemed to be in her early twenties. Though ages were almost impossible to guess in witches. “That’s Susan Collins. Tommy’s sister,” she said.

Darkness or not, he was going to bet that Susan wouldn’t be happy to see the woman who’d shot her brother. “But everything looks okay so far?”

Sam gave the room one more look. “Yeah. No symbols on the wall. No visible bombs. It doesn’t mean everything is okay, but I don’t know what we can do here.”

Derek nodded as he pulled her to the closest door and they ended up in the hallway. The music was still loud but not as nauseating.

“What are you doing?” asked Sam.

“We can’t see much in there, especially when there are possibly drunk witches who could want you dead. Maybe it’s best to stick to the outside.”

He intertwined his fingers with hers and she squeezed his hand. Did this count as a date? He was going to figure no....

“Samantha!” said the voice he’d kind of been hoping they wouldn’t hear. He turned around and Sam’s hand fell from his as they saw Abigail at the other end of the hall. “I didn’t think you were going to make it.” She moved toward them and Derek suddenly understood what Sam had been talking about.

But they were wrong. Abigail wasn’t infected like Sam had been. Sam had barely been able to walk straight, but Abigail approached them as though she were gliding along the floor. He couldn’t put his finger on what exactly wasn’t right, but it was also distinctly off. She wore a long black dress with sleeves that reached her wrists, but the plunging neckline and slit that went all the way up to her hip kept it from being anywhere close to decent.

Derek instinctively moved between Sam and her mother. “We were just stopping by.” He looked for any negative reaction from Abigail. Sam’s mother hadn’t been his biggest fan, but he’d always gotten the feeling she liked him more than Claudia did. But he wasn’t about to take his chances right now.

“You should stay. Things are just starting to heat up.” She winked at Derek, which made him a whole other level of uncomfortable. She took another step toward them and Derek backed up until his back pushed against Sam’s front. Except he should’ve known that Sam wasn’t the type to hide behind him; she stepped out to his side while Abigail considered them.