“You TOUCH that cat,” I warn, “and I will hex your dick.”
His eyebrow lifts. “You assume yours is the only magic affecting it.”
The air between us crackles — magic, heat, fury, tension — thick enough to choke on. I break first. “Fine,” I mutter. “One night. ONE. And you sleep on the couch.”
He leans in, brushing a curl from my cheek with a touch too soft for my sanity. “Sweetheart,” he murmurs, “I don’t sleep.” Then he steps past me and throws himself onto my couch like he owns it.
I stand there speechless. Newt jumps onto my shoulder like an angry fur scarf. And I realize… I have a demon in my living room, a curse reacting to him, and a bond Irefuseto acknowledge.
And exactly…zeroplan.
Chapter 4
Piper
Iwake up to the smell of cedar, smoke, and pure demonic arrogance.Fantastic.
My curls are a disaster, my face is flushed, and my magic is prickling under my skin like static begging to misbehave. I sit up slowly,scanning the living room. Slade is standing by the window. Just… standing there.
Back turned, shoulders broad enough to block out half the damn morning light, arms crossed as he stares outside at Snowglobe Hollow like the town owes him money. His black hair is messy, his muscles unfair, and his entire presence is screaming…I hate joy.
He glances over his shoulder. “You slept,” he says flatly.
“Yeah,” I mutter, pushing my curls back. “That’s what humans do.”
“In case you forgot… demonsdon’t.”
“I don’t care.”
He turns fully toward me—slow, predatory, gorgeous. “I wasn’t asking for permission for you to care.”
My stomach dips. I ignore it. “Okay, demon boy.” I grab my robe and tie it tight. “We need to set someactualfucking boundaries.”
“Boundaries,” he repeats dryly, crossing his arms, somehow making a plain black shirt and fitted jeans look sinful. “Between bonded souls? How cute.”
“Iwillthrow you out the window.”
He smirks. “I’d survive.”
“Don’t test me.”
Newt hops onto the back of the couch, fixing Slade with a homicidal glare. “Your familiar is deranged,” Slade mutters.
“He’s not my familiar,” I snap. “He’s my cat.”
“He attacked me,” Slade mutters in disdain.
“You existed!”
Slade’s lip twitches. I have to get out of this apartment before I combust. I grab my phone, scrolling through my Bellamy contacts until I reach the only person insane enough to understand this.
Rhea Bellamy—resident chaos witch, egotistical and successful CEO of House of Rheadora, a fashion empire that she's built from the groundup. It's inspiring,andslightly intimidating if I’m being honest. It helps she’s my older cousin by three years, Elle’s older sister—the lesser of the two evils—butshehappens to be away in Milan. But… on the other hand. Ellewouldset the moon on fire if it looked at her wrong.
I hit the call button anyway.
She picks up on the first ring. “PIPER LEIGH FUCKING BELLAMY,” she screeches before I say a word. “I felt that magical spike from THREE TOWNS OVER. What the hell did you do?”
I wince. “Good morning to you too.”
