Tempting Darkness [17+] ✔

Chapter 24

       He raised both eyebrows at my tone and held his hands up in surrender. "Sheesh, sorry." He drawled sarcastically and stepped away. "I'll just leave you alone then."

       I felt bad when he turned and walked back into the house. I didn't mean to be such a bitch, especially to him, but I didn't need him snooping around the Yarrow. And it's not like I could tell him they were going to keep us, and the house, safe from red-eyed freaks who wanted to eat them and force me to wake up demon greedy guy. He would send me to the loony bin.

       "Hey, Larkin?" Raffie's questioning voice pipped up from the same spot her brother had fled a few minutes later.

       "What's up, kid? I'm a little busy right now." I only had half of the front facing flowerbeds planted. I needed to get the whole side and back of the house done too.

       "I really want to go to town square today. Can you take me?"

       "Ask your brother, I have to get this done."

       I looked over when she stomped her foot, huffed dramatically and crossed her little arms over her chest. "He says he has to go into work in a little bit and I want to goooo!" I raised my eyebrow as she stomped her foot again.

       "You know I do not do temper tantrums, Rafael."

       "Then take me to the square."

       "First of all," I started pointedly while wiping the dirt from my hands on my pants. "That is so not how you ask." Her little angry face fell away as I stood to my feet and tossed the tiny shovel into the ground. "And secondly, it's Saturday. Why is Adriel going into work?"

       Raf shrugged and started playing oh-so-innocently with the hem of her skirt. Sneaky, manipulative little child. God, I loved that kid. "I don't know, he didn't say. But will you pretty, please take me to town square?" She blinked those big, blue, doe eyes up at me as I walked over, like she wasn't just a little turd barely five seconds before.

       I sighed and glared down at the soil stuck underneath my nails. Ugh, that was going to take a lot of scrubbing to get out. "I really need to finish planting—"

       "Please, Larkin? You've been doing that all morning, and I want to go have some fun!"

       "What possible fun is there in town square?" I groaned and rolled my eyes skyward. My last big experience in the square was nowhere near 'fun'. Unless you called being chased by four freaks with red eyes 'fun'.

       "There's shops, and toys, and ice cream! And pigeons!"

       "Pigeons carry diseases."

       "They're cute!"

       "You're not touching one."

       For a minute I thought she was going to stomp her foot again and start screaming, but she just clasped her hands in front of her face and pouted at me. "Please, please, please Larkin? I haven't done anything fun in, like, two weeks. And I'm tired of being stuck in the house."

       "You go to school." At this point I was just having fun messing with the kid.

       "That's not the same, and you know it! School sucks, let's go buy stuff and ice cream!"

       Sugar, sugar, sugar. That's all the kid cares about.

       I looked wearily back at the flowerbeds. I really didn't want to leave until I was finished Yarrow-fying the manor, but I had been going out at all week. A break for an hour or two wouldn't hurt anyone.