All The Wrong Signs
Breakfast Conversations

It had taken me longer that it should have to get ready, so I wasn’t that surprised to see Lakyn standing up, looking at one of my bookshelves when I made it back into the living room.

“Ready?” I asked, putting on a fake smile for her benefit.

Turning around, she nodded. “God yes. I’m starving.”

It had been on the tip of my tongue to beg Blaze to come with us, but at the same time, I respected the privacy. If he needed me to replace out more about Lakyn, I would do my best. I felt as if I owed him that.

Lakyn had driven to the house, so we took her car. The moment she pulled away from the curb, I instantly felt the loss of Blaze’s presence. I subconsciously rubbed my tattoo, reminding myself that he was always with me.

Looking over at me, Lakyn frowned. “You know we can go anytime and get that fixed or covered up, if it would make you feel better.”

I did my best to hide the shocked expression on my face. “What? No, I’m used to it now. I’d hate to mess it up even more.”

Lakyn nodded but said nothing else. I knew I needed to act indifferent about it, but I was more guarded now than I was before. If I let anything else happen to my mark, Petra and Blaze would both strangle me.

It didn’t take us long to get to the restaurant. Lakyn had been talking, mostly rambling about the store, so it hadn’t required me to really pay her much attention, but I knew inside I’d have to actually listen and respond appropriately.

Once we were seated, Lakyn made a face. “Oh, that reminds me. My grandma has your plants ready. I’ll go get them one night this week after work.”

I smiled, this time genuinely happy. “Oh awesome! Are you sure I don’t owe ya’ll anything?”

“Girl no,” Lakyn said. “That woman has more plants than she can shake a stick at. I wish she would try to charge one of my besties.”

“I feel bad. I don’t even know your last name,” I admitted.

Lakyn laughed. “I only know yours because of your debit card.” She made a face. “I’m not a fan of mine. Crabtree. Lakyn Amelia Crabtree.”

“It’s not that bad,” I said, laughing at the face she made at me.

“Yes, it is.” Lakyn said seriously. “I hate it. I mean, I guess it could have been worse.”

Our waitress came to take our order and neither of us was prepared. I ended up going safe, ordering strawberry French toast and an iced coffee.

Once she walked away, Lakyn leaned forward. “Are you sure you are ok? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

I nodded. “I know. It’s just been a rough ass week between Collin showing up at my house and the demon following me around.”

At my words, Lakyn started looking around. “He’s really gone? You haven’t seen or heard any more signs from him?”

Looking up at her, I shook my head. “When I made it back to the house, he was gone. It makes me wonder if maybe I’d imagined the entire thing up.”

Lakyn shook her head, once again looking around before she spoke. “Demons are real Riley. I don’t know a lot about them, but my grandmother has a pretty basic but accurate knowledge about them.”

“You told her?” I questioned.

Lakyn nodded, but didn’t speak again until our waitress sat down our drinks and disappeared to another table. “Yes, but not until you freak out. I was worried about you. When you ran out of my shop, you looked scared to death.”

“It all happened so fast I don’t really know what I was thinking.” I admitted.

Lakyn took a drink of her soda. “I was worried. Demon possession is a real thing, and I have no knowledge of what to do if that happens.”

Giving her a little smile, I held my hands up. “Well, as you can see, I’m fine. Overworked, stressed, anxiety ridden, but demon free.”

Nodding, Lakyn played with the straw in her cup. “I think anxiety is the new norm.”

Agreeing with her, I knew I needed to replace out more. “So, what did your grandmother tell you?”

Lakyn looked up at me and I had a feeling she really didn’t want to tell me. “She told me to reach out to you. To see if you were acting different. If the demon comes back, it’s important we replace out his name.”

Nodding, I sat back as our food was delivered. “Has she ever dealt with a demon or is her information all from books?”

Lakyn shrugged. “I mean no, not personally, but her family has. I always thought she was talking metaphorical. Like you know, your internal demons. She had books and old manuscripts that she gained a lot of her knowledge about dealing with demons from.” Looking up, Lakyn made eye contact with me. “Rule one is never trust them. They are liars by nature.”

Taking a bite of my food, I nodded, trying to take in everything she had said. “So demons have possessed your grandmother’s family?”

Looking uncomfortable, Lakyn shifted in her seat. “No, not possessed. Her father’s family has been obsessed with trying to control them.” She looked up, “grandma says that with their name, you have complete control of them. But demons are tricky and they don’t give up their names easily.”

“We found that out, didn’t we?” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

Nodding, Lakyn took a bite of her food. “Enough about that. Gran already has a crazy cousin who is obsessed with them. He claims that one day everyone will know the Wumbert name.”

I dropped my fork. “What?”

Lakyn laughed. “It’s nothing. He’s crazy. Gran doesn’t even talk to his side of her family much anymore. They believe in off grid living.”

“Your grandmother is a Wumbert?” I asked.

Lakyn nodded. “Technically. When her grandmother moved them to America, she had the family names changed. But Gran still keeps in contact with some of her family overseas.They are all weird as fuck. “

“Where is she from?” I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. Was it possible that Lakyn was related to Kyler?

“Wales.” Lakyn sat her fork down. “I’ve been once when I was small. It was beautiful there. Nothing like what you see here. That place always seemed so magical to me. It’s no wonder I wanted to connect with nature.”

Wales. It made perfect sense. Blaze thought he heard the ocean, but wasn’t sure. His prison was rock. I would almost bet he was buried somewhere close to the coast. But where?

Taking another bite of my food, it crossed my mind how ironic was it that the first person I met was somehow linked to Blaze. Was it only a coincidence? Fate? Or was something more sinister coming into play?

It made me wonder if I could trust Lakyn. She had never seen Blaze, but she had told her grandmother about me. What if she told her family? What if they figured out Blaze was gone and somehow traced him back to me?

Could Blaze protect me from them? He had two masters. What if they called him back? Wouldn’t his loyalties have to go to the Wumberts first.

They don’t know his name, I reminded myself. I suddenly felt sick when the weight of knowing his name hit me. If anyone knew that I and I alone knew his name, it could put me at risk. I had to keep Blaze a secret. No one was safe. I would have never thought that Lakyn would have ties back to the Wumberts.

“Have you ever been overseas?”

I nodded, trying to pull myself back together and not act weird. “Collin and I honeymooned in the Bahamas.”

“Ohh I love the ocean,” Lakyn said. “At least you got that out of him.”

I nodded. “Our marriage wasn’t always bad.” I shook my head. “He changed a lot the last couple of years. It’s funny, I didn’t even notice it until he left me. I just thought that’s what happened in marriages.”

Lakyn looked at me, frowning. “I wish we would have met sooner.”

“It wouldn’t have helped,” I admitted. “My sister Hollie had been trying to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen to her.”

“Do the two of you look alike?” Lakyn asked.

I shrugged. “Kinda. I mean, you can for sure tell we are sisters, but I’m much more slender than she is. She’s got the curves. We looked a lot more alike when we were younger.”

“You could have the curves too if you would eat.”

I spend my mouth to tell her she was starting to sound like Blaze, but shut it. Lakyn instantly thought I was taking what she had said wrong. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just saying you barely eat. Your face…”

When she paused, I nodded. “Depression sucks.” Stabbing my French toast with my fork, I leaned back. I was ready to go. I needed to talk to Blaze. He would never believe the information that I had found out, and I couldn’t wait to tell him.

A frown appeared on my face when I realized he was getting closer to leaving me. I didn’t want him to leave. I’d even take the bad attitude Blaze over not having him at all.

“Let’s go out tonight. April is off.”

I quickly shook my head. “I’ve got some projects I need to finish. I’m telling you I have been slacking.”

“Come on, one night. It’s just one night Riley.”

One night. One night that I would be away from Blaze. I couldn’t agree to that. Not knowing he would soon be out of my life forever.

The thought scared me. I had thought Collin leaving me had hurt, but Blaze hit differently and he was nothing to me.

He was nothing.

No, that wasn’t true. He was my demon, and I didn’t want to let him go.