The line went dead.
I lowered the phone, the hollow hum of disconnection ringing in my ears, and briefly considered driving the nine hours back to the coven purely to commit arson.
Breathing in through my nose, I dialed again.
It rang. And rang.
Just as I was about to give up, the call connected.
“It’s just,” I blurted, rushing the words out before she could hang up on me again, “I kinda accidentally stumbled across my fated mate, and I’d really love for you to meet him.”
A long silence followed. I half wondered if Creep was as stunned as I’d been. Then there was the soft rustle of fabric—and the line went dead.
I slipped my phone back into the front pouch of my overalls, rubbed at my stinging forehead, and silently prayed to Hecate that curiosity would outweigh spite. With a doubtful sigh, Iturned toward Blaise, who was still watching me with a look of mild disbelief.
“I, um... I don’t know if you’re aware,” I said, gesturing vaguely at the empty space behind me, “but Briar Coven witches all have a, er, sentient house.”
Blaise tilted his head, causing a lock of golden hair to slip out of place. My fingers twitched at my side, itching to see if it was as soft as it looked.
“I think one of the older demons mentioned something about magic houses when I was younger,” he said slowly.
“Not just magic—sentient,” I said. “They have minds of their own. They’re meant to be... well... the house equivalent of a fated mate. A kind of shared magic that belongs to both of us. Anyway. A few months ago, one of those dormant houses decided I was her witch.”
Which, I realized, was maybe a sign that a fated mate would be arriving shortly in my life, summoning or not.Stupid, Caitlyn.
“Okay,” he said carefully.
“And let’s just say, I think it chose wrong,” I added, grimacing. “It’s been a rough few months. My house doesn’t really like me.”
“Okay. So, you have a house back in the coven that doesn’t like you. What has that got to do with—”
The cracking sound of wood splintering echoed across the clearing.
Blaise spun instantly, arms flaring out as shadows surged from him, instinctively placing himself between me and the sound. Any other time, I would have found it unbearably romantic, the way his body moved to shield mine without hesitation.
But the crackle of static magic in the air, the bite of it along my skin causing my hair to stand on end, meant only one thing.
Creep had decided to join us.
And suddenly, I wished I’d coaxed Creep here a day or two later. The thought of spending a couple of nights in my emergency tent, getting to know my newly discovered mate, felt far too appealing right now.
Blaise’s brows lifted, his attention snapping past me. I followed his gaze and my brows furrowed.
A pitch-black spiral had opened in the center of the clearing, its edges crackling with flashes of red static.
I knew for a fact the houses could materialize in a split second. Creep wasdeliberatelydrawing this out, and I couldn’t decide whether she was trying to impress her newly acquired incubus... or if this was a display of dominance.
I watched as the darkness churned. It wasn’t like Blaise’s shadows, which now curled softly around us—careful and restrained and never quite touching me.
The sound of splintering wood tore through the clearing again, growing so loud it set my teeth on edge. And just as I thought my ears might actually implode—
Bang.
The house erupted from the black mass.
Its towers burst outward first, stretching impossibly, like the neck of some wrong, half-remembered creature, before snapping upward into place. The walls followed, unfolding rather than forming, the windows bending without shattering, catching the last of the sunset and flaring orange-gold as they locked into position.
And then it was done.
