“Oh no,” she says, voice going gleefully feral. “No, no, no. Don’t you dare try to downplay this. The entire Bellamy line just hiccuped. Spill.”
I swallow. Slade is staring at me like he can hear every word. He probably can. “I—uh—may have attempted a ward.”
“A ward?” Rhea cackles so loud I pull the phone away. “A WARD? In DECEMBER? Youabsolute MORON. Piper,honey, sweet baby witch, the curse is at its PEAK.”
“I KNOW!” I screech back.
Slade snickers. I flip him off.
“What exactly happened?” Rhea demands, equally delighted.
“There was a circle,” I mumble. “And… candles. And basically… well… my magic was being rude.”
“And then?” She prompts.
“And then something came through.”
Silence. Then—“OH MY GOD YOU SUMMONED A DEMON.”
She is shrieking with joy. Actual fuckinghystericaljoy.
“It was an accident!”
“There is NO SUCH THING as accidental demon summoning,” she cackles. “Piper, what the FUCK were you thinking?”
“IWASN’T—”
“You never do,” she interrupts. “Which demon is it? I swear to god if it’s the Imp King I’m going to piss myself laughing—”
“A higher demon,” Slade calls from across the room, bored.
Rhea gasps so loud it whistles through the phone. “Oh. My. GOD. A HIGHER DEMON? Piper, you’re DONE. You’re DEAD!" She squeals dramatically, then pauses like something just clicked in her head. “OR… You’re MATED.”
“I AM NOT—!!!”
I almost throw my phone. Slade smiles, slow and wicked, all while Rhea continues screaming in my ear. “Send me a photo RIGHT NOW. If he looks like a decaying corpse I’m breaking the curse myself. No cousin of mine is mating with a demon that isn’t hot.”
I squeak. Slade leans against the wall like a magazine centerfold. “Is he hot?” Rhea demands.
“No,” I lie.
Slade raises an eyebrow.
“You’relying,” Rhea says practically cackling all over again. “You only sound like that when you’re lying or orgasming. You remember that time when I walked in on you and—”
“RHEA,” I bark.
Slade visibly perks up at the word orgasm. Andddd… I contemplate walking into traffic. “I’ve got to go,” I say, mortified. “Work. Life. Panic. Goodbye.”
“NO—SEND PICTURES—”
I hang up. Slade’s smirk is catastrophic. “No,” I warn him.
“You have aninterestingfamily,” he says, clearly amused.
“No.”Is that seriously the only word I know?
“She’s not wrong about the bond.”
