Maybe, I thought.Maybe he feels it too? Maybe we don’t have to go through with this. Maybe we could just go back to our apartment and—
And what?
Forget about our mates? Forget that I’d taken advantage of him?
The fantasy collapsed in on itself just as quickly as it had formed.
“Why would Devlin not want to meet his mate?” Blaise asked.
Sasha shrugged. “Beats me. Thought it was all he ever wanted.” She stepped past us, already melting into shadow. “Guess I should go make myself presentable.” Sardonically, she added, “Just in case tonight’s the night.”
Her footsteps faded, and a second later, she was swallowed by the dark.
An uncomfortable silence stretched between us. Then Blaise’s gaze shifted to me, his brows drawing together, his teeth worrying at his bottom lip like he might have been having the same thoughts as me. My words caught in my throat. I froze, wondering if I’d read that look right.
But then his attention flicked past me. “Look,” he said softly. “It’s Lochran.”
And just like that, my hope died for the hundredth time.
Time to act normal, I told myself.And to stop misinterpreting every look he gives you.
Chest deflating, I let my shadows consume me, pulling me toward Lochran. My arms solidified over his shoulders. A second later, I had to swallow the groan that threatened to escape me as Blaise’s arm settled on top of mine, the heat of his skin searing into me.
“Evening,” I murmured down to Lochran, desperate for my voice to mask the thrumming of my heart at Blaise’s touch. I cast a glance at Blaise, but he wore only his usual easy grin as he poked Lochran in the ribs.
Lochran winced, his chipped canine flashing. His inky-black hair was cropped tight at the sides, a habit born of necessity to disguise the way it stuck out around the scar on his temple—the result of an ill-advised attempt in his youth to summon his shadow wings and see just how high he could fly in a storm. It hadn’t gone well.
Lochran’s violet eyes flicked between us with dry amusement.
“I heard about Devlin,” Blaise said, his golden eyes flashing.
“If we’re not summoned this Samhain,” I added, “we should go and find him. See if he’s okay.”
Gods knew I’d need the excuse to stay busy if Blaise was summoned and I wasn’t.
Lochran gave a grunt of agreement, a flicker of something unreadable passing through his eyes. “I think he needs some time to sort his shit out.”
Weallneeded to sort our shit out.
I was in love with my best friend. Said best friend seemed blissfully unaware. Devlin—so devastated by the thought of being rejected for the ninth year running—had decided to flee the summoning entirely. And Lochran, a sex demon, had been on a self-imposed celibacy streak for years now.
Yeah. We’re all doing great.
We finally peeled ourselves off Lochran, and I schooled my expression against the lingering tingle of Blaise’s touch. Thankfully, Lochran seemed too deep in his own thoughts to notice. He let out a heavy sigh as the town hall came into view.
Built of simple stone, its tall white walls stark against the dark, the worn bell tower rose into the gloom like a sentinel. A mirror of it existed in the mortal world, at the heart of the Briar Coven.
I wondered how many of our kind—those who’d been summoned and could never return to our realm—had stood in the mortal town hall and remembered waiting here. Thinking of the mates they hadn’t met yet. The lives they hadn’t known they were about to lose.
The heavy wooden doors swung open, spilling warm light across the cracked stone steps and catching on my boots. The town hall was one of the few places in the Shadow Realm that held any real color, drawn from the nervous excitement of the demons gathering over the centuries.
Garlands of herbs twisted down from the rafters, their scents floral and earthy. A statue of Hecate loomed at the far end of the hall, half cloaked in shadow, half bathed in light. At the center of it all sat a long table bowed beneath the weight of food. Not that any of us needed to eat—but tradition was tradition.
Lochran headed for his usual seat, Devlin’s spot eerily empty beside him.
I took my seat as Blaise dropped into the spot beside me. A moment later, shadows pooled at his other side as Sasha materialized into her chair, boots propped on the table, arms folded behind her head.
“Remind me again why I didn’t skip this year?” she said.
