Penny & Her Heru Ch 5

Rent-A-Witch: Whynot Coven

5 - All A Guy Could Ask For

I ate a few chips before I rang the enchanted bell, for no reason but I didn’t want him to think I would always jump to do his bidding. As the magic of the bell fell over us the dining room noises became muted.

"Have you tried this bell before? You know it works with Others?" Heru bit into one of his sandwiches. I wasn't sure if he was worried about the shifters and minotaur listening or if he wanted me to be comfortable.

"Yeah. I've been on both sides. We can sort of hear them, but they can't hear anything we say." I laid my napkin on my lap. "I know shifters, witches, and FBI-level listening devices can't hear a thing. I don't know about the minotaur. Are they known for exceptional hearing?"

"Depends on who you ask." Heru cut his eyes towards the minotaur across the room. "Pretty sure they do, but it doesn't matter. Cyrus is one of my closest friends. He’s probably the only one that was already here when word got out, I found my mate and was heading this way.”

I studied Cyrus' reflection in one of the windows. He was scrolling on his phone while eating his own platter of food. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact we were talking about him.

"Did y’all have dinner plans?"

Heru’s tail stroked my ankle. "No. He eats here whenever a certain waitress is working."

I nodded because there was nothing to say to that.

We sat in silence as we ate. It was a weird mix of awkward and comfortable. I wanted to ask him everything, but I didn't feel the need to before I finished my sandwich. Honestly, it gave me time to get my thoughts together. Normally my thoughts were in perfect order – goals, life plans, everything all figured out. The fact I was sitting across from a gargoyle I met roughly an hour before who thought we would be spending the rest of our lives together based on a feeling he had was throwing me for a loop.

My mind raced with all kinds of questions as I ate. How did gargoyles court their mates? Did he expect me to stay in Whynot tonight? Was there a lake nearby? Did he snore? How the hell did he sleep with those horns and wings? Did he turn into a statue when he slept? Worst of all did he expect me to move to Whynot?

Heru broke the silence first. "So, what do you do?"

At least he started with something simple.

“I am getting my witch merchant license. I’m at my last apprenticeship in Salem right now.”

“Massachusetts?”

He said it casually enough, but the way the veins on his forearms stood out let me know he didn’t like the thought of my apprenticeship being several states away.

“That’s the one.” I wiped my fingers on my napkin when I realized I’d finished the sandwich. “Before you ask, I have a couple more weeks there before I can take the final test. Then I plan to go back to Savannah to do consulting.”

“Georgia?” The tomatoes in his sandwich popped out and landed on the table when he squeezed it a little too hard.

"Did you not want your tomatoes?" I flicked my gaze down to the slices before looking up at him through my lashes knowing full well, he didn't do it on purpose.

The corner of his mouth twitched as he speared them with a claw and placed them on his platter, next to the squashed sandwich. It was obvious he was trying to come to grips with the fact my plans didn't involve moving to Whynot. I toyed with dragging out his agony but decided to put him out of his misery.

"Since we don't know each other yet I'm not going to pick on you." I pushed my plate to the side and leaned forward again. "I have to be in Salem to finish the apprenticeship. I’ve been working on this for years and I'm not going to give it up when I’m this close to getting the license. I don't have to move back to Savannah afterward, but I do need to live near water. I'm a water witch and I get all out of sorts if I am not near some kind of moving water. My magic skill is identifying enchanted objects. The lady I bought the bell from is one of my mentors. Eventually, I’ll charm things for others, but right now I mostly identify things that people inherit or buy at an auction. You should also know I don’t do heights or flying. So don’t try to pick me up and fly to your silo of death."

Heru pushed his platter to the side, the rest of his food forgotten as he leaned forward hanging on every word.

"My sister and I are close, she’s pretty much my best friend. Her moving to Whynot to work in the Pink House is a tick in the pro column for getting me to move here as well. I love my parents and want to visit them a couple of times a year. I turn into a full-on harpy when I PMS. I was engaged once but things didn’t work out." I didn't need Bea's skill of reading auras to know Heru was not happy with the fact I was engaged to someone before him. "If you are put off that I was with someone before you need to tell me now. I had no idea I had a fated mate. You’d think all the spells I did as a kid would have warned me, but you’d be wrong."

We stared into each other's eyes as he processed what I said. I was half afraid he’d decide I wasn't his Soul Spark after all and just walk away, but when he finally spoke, he washed every fear away.

"Do I like the thought of someone else touching you? Taking care of you? Sharing your secrets? No." His tail which had been resting lightly on my calf while we ate was suddenly a tight band around my ankle. "It must have hurt when he left you, but I am glad he did. If you were married, I would never have approached you. I’d spend the rest of my life knowing the woman meant for me, the one I was born to love was with another male. It would be a study in patience every day for the rest of my life not to kill him."

His eyes went from dark brown to blood red orbs as he talked. I refused to think why his demon eyes were not scaring the bejesus out of me.

"I am my uncle's heir, one day I’ll be the Clan Chief of Grabbio. I’ve worked and lived for the clan my entire life, now I’ll live for you. If you need to be in Salem, I’ll be there as well. A river runs through clan lands and past my house. I have no siblings, but several cousins I call brothers. Several shops in Whynot would hire you the moment you inquired about a job. It wouldn’t be because of our relationship either. They would hire you for your skill and the fact you have the license. If you give me a chance, I will show you the life you could have here, a life with me." He wrapped one massive, clawed hand around mine and pulled it to his chest. "I vow to protect you, love you, and give you the life you have wished for."

Something tugged at my heart urging me to say yes. That it could all be that simple. A simple three-letter word and this beast of a man would give me everything I ever wanted. I wanted to. I almost did. The only thing that stopped me was the fact it was all too much. It was like being thrown off a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean with only a life preserver to keep me afloat.

Heru made me wonder again if he could read my mind when he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear with his free hand. "Don't say anything right now, Little Dove. As you said earlier you had no idea I existed until this afternoon. Can you spend a few days here? Get to know me?"

I pulled in a deep breath and closed my eyes. He was perfect. Everything I wished for in a partner. Well, everything plus horns, wings, and a tail that refused to leave me alone.

"Fine. I'll ask Darla if I can stay at Pink House. Get to know you and see if there is a place for me …" I almost said to him, but saved it at the last second, "in Whynot."

"That's all I ask."

Heat flushed through me when he bit his bottom lip. It only lasted a second, I doubt he even realized he did it. Still, it was one of the hottest things I'd ever seen. His fangs (yes fangs) pressing into his plump bottom lip did things to me that were not in the least bit proper for a very public dinner.

To keep myself from doing something I might regret, I asked him the first thing that popped into my mind. "Do you like movies?"

His tail twitched against my calf at the same time the corner of his mouth tipped up. "I like some of them."

I pulled my foot away from his tail. "Care to elaborate?"

His wings shifted behind him for the first time since we sat down. In my head, it was because I pulled my foot away from him, not because he wanted to find a more comfortable position or anything. "If something blows up and the good guys beat the bad guys I'll watch it. If it wins an Oscar I probably won't."

Before I could ask his stance on rom-coms Cyrus piped in from across the dining room signaling the silence spell of the bell had expired. "Are we still on for the movies on Sunday? I already got tickets to the new Rock movie."

Without thinking about it I shifted my foot back towards the middle of the space under the table and his tail wrapped around it again.

"Dude, I have no idea." Heru shrugged his massive shoulders causing his wings to shift behind him. "Myra, are you busy on Sunday? Around three?"

If looks could kill Cyrus would have killed Heru with his glare.

A waitress popped up from behind a counter with a wide smile. "She’s getting napkins from the storage room. Do you want me to go ask her? Cause I'm sure she would be free. You know if a guy with massive horns were to ask."

It was clear from the way she wiggled her eyebrows at Cyrus, which horned guy she was talking about. It was also clear he wasn't ready to ask Myra out by the way he dropped cash on the table and disappeared out the front door without another word.

I rolled my lips to keep from laughing. Poor guy was just trying to crush on a girl in peace. Too bad he lived in a sanctuary town, no one would stay out of their business.

"Do you want dessert? There’s a little cookie place down the street." Heru brushed his hand against mine to get my attention.

My stomach was all for some cookies. My heart was all for more time with Heru. My mind needed to figure out where I would be spending the night.

"Are these cookies on the way to Pink House?" I rubbed the back of my finger along his wrist simply to touch him. "I really need to ask Darla if I can stay there, or I have to find a hotel."

"They are. Let me get the check and we can go." He waved down one of the waitresses who were whispering next to the drink station. Myra had returned with the napkins and was being filled in on the potential for a movie date on Sunday. I couldn't tell from across the room if she was excited by the possibility or not.

Before our waitress arrived with the check Darla and another woman breezed through the door. They made a beeline for me ignoring the hostess when she tried to greet them.

"There you are, dear. You can be tricky to find when you want to, can't you?" Darla touched her fingers to my shoulder and smiled. "I saw when your handsome young gargoyle discovered you after the wedding. Since he didn't immediately fly you off to his house like Venn, I thought you might like to stay with me while you are in Whynot. There are of course a couple of bed and breakfasts, but they are all full up with the graduation next week. And I didn't want you staying at one of those over in What or Because."

Everyone in the room made a spitting noise at the floor when she said the name of what I assume were other towns close by. At least I hope they were just sounds and a dozen people didn't just spit on the floor of a cafe serving food.

"Actually, I was coming to ask if I could stay with you."

Darla cut me off before I could say anything else. "Amazing. I can't wait to chat tonight when you get in. Not that I will be waiting up or anything, we could chat tomorrow morning. Either way. The house has all kinds of wards after the whole letter incident."

She leaned forward and whispered close to my ear the directions to get through the ward on the front gate, a separate one for the porch, and the sigil I needed to trace on the front doorknob to open it.

"Right. That’s settled." She clapped her hands as she straightened up. "You come whenever you’re ready. Your room is at the top of the stairs, the first door on the right. There is a boutique in town if you need to get some night things or clothes for tomorrow. Speaking of Salem, I took the liberty of calling to let them know you wouldn’t be there in the morning. Nora said you have a few weeks left of your final apprenticeship. I would love to talk to you about a place at Pink House. I'll have your sister for auras, another witch is coming next month for wards, but I hear you have a knack for charms. A charm master would be a feather in my cap, I'll make it worth your while to work for me. Though I doubt you will need a reason to stay in town."

She patted Heru on the shoulder to make sure we understood the reason she was referring to.

"I'll let you finish your dinner. I just wanted to make sure you knew how to get in the house before I went to bingo. We need to get there soon so Barbra Joe doesn't steal our table. That heifer cheats, but everyone is too afraid to call her on it."

Without waiting for a goodbye, a thank you, or any kind of confirmation I knew how to get to the Rent-A-Witch house she turned on her heel, hooked her arm through her friends, and disappeared out the door.

Heru's shoulders shook with silent laughter after the door closed behind them.

"Suppose I have a place to stay, and a job offer." I rolled my shoulders. This was almost too easy. Like the universe wanted me to move to Whynot and fall in love with a gargoyle who already promised to give me everything I could dream of.

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