Easy money.
I accepted the cancellation, then clicked on the next victim in line on my waitlist—Cassandra Calloway, a wolf shifter who’d been waiting for two years. I sent the offer, and before I even closed the app, the wolf shifter had accepted.
BooDini might have its work cut out for it with this one.
And as much as I really did enjoy a fully booked vacation rental that practically no one stayed in because they were terrified of BooDini—or, rather, thetortured soul, hell-bent on its solitary existence, determined to plague anyone who dares cross its threshold, as I’d put in the description—the admin work was crazy with so many no-shows.
Add in running the shop while my parents were awayandtrying to launch a business of my own, and I was practically running on fumes. If Cassandra managed the full two weeks, that would be one less thing on my plate.
Because this time tomorrow, my parents would be home, the shop would no longer be my problem, and I’d be gone—finally free to focus on my real passion: magicked candy.
Everything was lined up. I’d found a minotaur shifter who owned her own farm and had agreed to rent me a field for the next four weeks. With a little luck—and alotof bribery—I mighthopefully convince my sentient house to materialize there too. Otherwise, I’d be spending a month camping.
All I needed was space and no distractions to work on my potions.
My Exploding Gum stillliterallyexploded—I kept a vial of hair-regrowth potion on hand whenever I worked on that one. My Wailing Whirls barely made me sniffle, let alone cry uncontrollably for a minute as they were supposed to, and my Shuffle Truffles were way too potent—one nibble had me dancing the Macarena for a full day instead of the planned five minutes. Not exactly ideal, trying to ring up a customer while doing hip gyrations.
The bell above the door tinkled and a gust of cold wind whipped through the shop.
Reluctantly, I set my pen down, which I realized too late I’d been tapping against my chin with the nib up, and closed my notebook.
“Hey, Caitlyn!” Ashley called as they stepped inside. “You still open?”
“Hey, Ash. Sure are. Need anything specific?”
Ashley wandered down the aisle, plucking items from the shelves without so much as a glance, their grin widening as they dropped the bundle onto the counter.
“Just need a few last-minute fixes before the summoning tonight. You doing it this year?”
Did Iwantto do the summoning?
Sure! What witch—aside from my friend Lex—didn’twant to do the summoning? I mean, Gods bless that first head of coven who struck a deal with a clan of sex demons all those centuries ago that meant not only did a Briar Coven witch not have to wander the world searching for their fated mate like everyone else, but I could simply summon him in the comfort of my own living room.
But was I ready?
Not remotely.
“Not this year,” I told Ashley, unable to keep the deflation from my tone.
Another year without my sex-demon fated mate. All because I needed to concentrate on these damn magicked candies, establish my business, makelotsof money, and have a perfect life to summon him into. None of which, unfortunately, could be attained if I summoned my mate and decided to spend the rest of my days in bed with him.
Which I probably would, because if it was a choice between sex demon and taxes, I knew which one I’d rather do all day long.
Ashley offered me a small smile. They might have been five years younger than my twenty-seven, but when it came to having their life together, they were miles ahead of me.
Their gaze flicked to my notebook. “Y’know, the thing about fate is... if it’s meant to happen, it will. Maybe your mate is what’s missing from getting those recipes just right?”
I snorted. “I don’t think a good round in the sheets is what’s going to stop me from singeing off my eyebrows every time I try to make Exploding Gum.”
Ashley shrugged. “Youdidcome up with the idea to write your recipes in enchanted ink after a weekend trip to the city,” they said, raising a knowing brow.
Most of the time, I was too busy juggling the shop, my candy experiments, and endless ScareBnB admin to give sex much thought. But when that succubus itch started burning under my skin, I’d take a weekend off and head into the city to scratch it.
It was never amazing.
Just...meh.
Still, I had to admit, mediocre sex or not, those weekends usually didwondersfor my creativity. The last one, over two months ago, had sparked the idea to spell my ink using ethicallysourced dragon scale. When I stirred the same powdered scale into my morning hot cocoa, it activated the enchantment, making my recipes legible only to me.
