I blink. “Excuse me?”
He glances around my shop with bored disdain, like he’s rating it one star on Yelp. “This is… quaint.” His gaze lands on the mistletoe pile. “And deeply pathetic.”
“Those are sentient,” I snap.
He lifts a brow. “Then they should be ashamed.”
My jaw drops. “Okay, listen—whoever you are—this was an accident, and you need to—”
“How do youaccidentallysummon a demon?” he interrupts, stepping fully out of the circle as it fizzles into glittering ash. “You either have catastrophic impulse control or you’re stupid.”
My blood pressure skyrockets, and I'm suddenly seeing red. “I’mnotstupid,” I hiss, “and thatwasn’ta summoning. It was a simple ward. Emphasis on simple. It’s not my fault the universe hates me.”
His mouth curves in a slow, dark smile. “I don’t think the universe hates you, Piper Bellamy.”
My entire body freezes. Heknowsmy name. “How the fuck—”
“I knew the moment your magic touched me.”
He says it like it’s obvious. Like this is normal. Like he isn’t standing there looking like temptation incarnate.
His eyes sweep over me—my thick thighs still braced in a defensive stance, my sweater stretched across my chest, my wild curls floating with residual static, my lips parted in shock. Something flickers in his expression. A spark? Interest, maybe.Heat.
He masks it with annoyance. “You’re… verynoisy,” he mutters.
“I’m noisy?” I choke out. “You literally just crawled out of a magical inferno like you’re auditioning for a metal album cover.”
He steps closer, then another. He is VERY big. And very shirtless. And very…everything. “Who are you?” I demand, trying not to look directly at the abs that are practically sculpted invitations to sin. “And why did you come through my circle?”
He tilts his head, eyes gleaming with wicked amusement. “I’m Slade Athalar.” He lets the name hang in the air like thunder. “Demon,” he adds, unhelpfully.
“No shit.”
“And I didn’tcome through your circle.” His smile sharpens. “Youpulledme.”
“I did not—”
“Oh, you did.” He steps even closer, his heat rolling off him despite the cold draft swirling around us. “You reached for power—and found me.”
“That is NOT what happened!”
He grins. “I felt your magic all over me.”
“Can younotsay it like that?”
His gaze drops to my lips, and I watch, stuck frozen in place as he bites his bottom lip. “I can say it any way I like.”
My stomach swoops.No. Absolutely not.BadPiper.Bad hormones.
He extends a hand, like he expects me to take it. I don’t. “Put your hand away,” I say flatly.
Slade looks offended. No—shocked. Like no one has ever said no to him in the history of time.
“You summoned me,” he says slowly, “and now you’rerefusingme?”
I cross my arms. “My bad. I didn’t realizedemons came with customer service expectations.”
His nostrils flare. The lights flicker. Somewhere behind me, the mistletoe lets out a weak squeak.
