I grinned. I’d never played games like this before, but I was more than ready to start. I called out, “I’ll have you all know that I am the queen of sneakiness!”
A giggle erupted to my left. I headed in the direction of the laughter, quietly stepping around old headstones and angel-like statues. Out of the corner of my eye, a shadow crossed where I had just walked. Someone was following me.
I continued forward, but when I passed a tall cross-shaped headstone, I stepped behind it and hid. Liane walked right by me unaware of my presence. I reached out and touched her back. “You’re it!”
Liane screamed and jumped. “Oh, you little witch!”
When I ran away, she tried to follow me, but I lost her in the fog. I ducked behind a stone mausoleum, smiling big and trying hard not to laugh. Sliding with my back against the wall, I inched forward to peer around the corner. Liane’s shadow was on the other side, walking up and down the rows of headstones.
“I can hear your heavy breathing, William,” she called.
I was about to cross over behind a statue when arms wrapped around me and pulled me through the open iron doors of the mausoleum. Instinctively, I opened my mouth to scream, but a familiar hand closed over my mouth. Boaz’s partially shadowed face smiled at me in the dark.
“Are you having fun?” he whispered.
“Surprisingly, yes. How is she doing this?”
“Magic.”
“It’s incredible.”
“Not really, love. Look around, I mean really look, and you will see this is just a simple illusion.”
I reached out to touch a stone coffin lying inside the mausoleum. It felt solid. I pushed harder until the coffin dissipated along with the entire illusion. The lit candles returned, as did our table, which lay a short distance away. Not far on the lawn, William was hunched over in a ball; Liane was almost to him.
“Do you see it?” Boaz breathed near my neck, sending a wave of chills down my body.
“I do, but it doesn’t make what she did any less remarkable.”
“It’s simple magic, just a trick of the mind. You would be able to do so much more with your power.”
I sighed, not knowing how to respond. After a few seconds, I said, “I prefer to see the graveyard.”
“Then see it.”
I closed my eyes, counted to three, and opened them again. We were back in the cramped mausoleum, facing each other. I suddenly became very aware of Boaz’s hand on my waist, the slight pressure where his palms pressed. He looked down at my lips and then into my eyes. His own lips parted, and he stepped forward, closing the gap between us. His fingers caressed my cheek, and before I realized what I was doing, I pushed up on my tiptoes and pressed my mouth to his. His lips were soft as they moved against mine, slowly at first, but when my tongue touched his bottom lip, his grip tightened and he pulled my body against his eagerly.
“I’ve got you,” Liane’s voice echoed across the way. I heard scuffling, then a loud grunt as if someone had fallen over.
I pulled away from Boaz and looked down, too embarrassed and frightened to see his reaction. The illusion around us had permanently disappeared. Liane and William strolled back to the table.
“You can be such a baby,” Liane said.
William dropped into a chair. “I don’t like graveyards. They’re for the dead, not the living.”
“I think they’re beautiful,” Liane said. “I’ll just remember not to invite you next time I go.”
I returned to the table. Boaz walked behind me, his gaze somehow warming the bare skin on my back.
“Who would like to dare a demon next?” Liane asked, looking at each of us.
“I would,” I said, surprising them all.
“And what Demon would you be daring?” William asked.
I turned to Boaz. “You. Since the day I met you and Hunwald—” I glanced over at Hunwald, who was still sitting at the edge of the forest. “—I’ve always wanted to know who would win in a race. I dare you to race Hunwald around your property, three laps, following the line of trees over there.” I pointed in the distance.
Liane laughed. “I love supernatural races!”
Boaz gave a low whistle. When the wolf jogged over, he said, “What do you say, Hunwald? You think you can beat me in a race?”
Hunwald cocked his head.
Boaz stood up. “I accept your dare.”
Liane walked to the edge of the patio, where concrete met grass. “Here is the starting and finish line. You must each pass it three times. The first one to do so wins.” She frowned at Hunwald. “Does your dog understand?”
Hunwald growled.
“He’s a wolf, not a dog,” Boaz told her. “And yes, he understands perfectly.”
“This ought to be interesting,” William said from behind me.
Boaz and Hunwald both stepped up to the line. They looked at each other, and I swore I saw Hunwald smile.
“On your mark,” I said. “Get set, go!”