I gave her a thin, humorless smile. “That’s the one. You have no business here.”
Blue static crackled up her arm, and the house answered with a low, warning groan that vibrated through the walls.
“Actually,” she said coolly, “it’syouwho doesn’t belong here, blocking my route like this. Maybe you should go back to where you came from.” Her gaze flicked briefly to the house. “And take your creepy relocation project with you.”
“Becauseit’s not safe?” I pressed.
Her jaw tightened, teeth grinding together. “Because,” she snapped, “you have no business being here at all.”
“Who were you talking to?”
She rolled her eyes and waved her phone at me. “This thing is magic,” she said dryly. “You can talk to someone through it—” She sucked in a mockingly exaggerated breath. “—who isnowhere near you. It replaced shouting very loudly a while back.”
The corner of my mouth twitched despite myself.
“How about you take your phone call somewhere else,” I suggested.
She placed a delicate hand against the house, utterly at odds with the scowl on her face. Then, without a word, she walkedpast me, giving me a wide berth and a withering look as she went.
Just as she reached the corner of the house, I let my shadows surge forward, billowing into a solid wall in her path.
She squeaked softly in surprise and spun back toward me.
“Oh, andPriscilla,” I said mildly, taking a small, guilty pleasure in the flicker of shock that crossed her face when she realized I knewexactlywho she was. “We may not have met, and I usually prefer to make up my own mind about people”—I let the shadows curl a fraction closer—“but if you’ve gone this far out of your way to find Caitlyn, I’m inclined to believe the stories.” My voice dropped. “So, consider this a friendly warning from a stranger. I won’t allow anything to compromise the happiness of my mate. Please don’t give me a reason to show you how serious I am.”
Priscilla let out a sardonic laugh. “Well, you can tell Caitlyn that, as I’ve said before, I’m not remotely interested in stealing her subpar candy.”
There was no curdling of covetous emotion in the air. For a moment, I almost believed her. Maybe she didn’t want the recipes at all. Maybe this was just a way to torment Caitlyn—to make her doubt herself, to make her fear that someone was coming for her life’s work.
Priscilla held my gaze, her foot tapping impatiently against the ground.
After a beat, I let my shadows recede.
Without another word, she turned and stalked across the field, disappearing into the thick line of bushes at the far edge. Moments later, an engine growled to life, headlights spearing through the darkness before vanishing down the road.
Only when the sound of her car had completely faded did I head back inside.
Creep was waiting for me in the hallway, a distinctly homicidal air about her.
Oh yeah. I almost forgot that Caitlyn had mentioned Creep was Priscilla’s biggest fan.
I yawned. “It’s late, Creep. Can you save your anger for the morning?” Without waiting for an answer—not that she could give one—I strode past her and up the stairs.
The moment I stepped into the bedroom, Caitlyn’s honeysuckle scent hit me like a ton of bricks. My body reacted instantly, a yearning for her radiating from deep within. I clamped down on my abilities and took deep, steadying breaths. Gradually, the intensity ebbed, her scent fading to something manageable—mostly drowned out by her impressively loud snoring.
For the briefest moment, I could almost feel Ambrose beside me, as if he were standing here too, admiring Caitlyn—
Snap.
A sharp pain flared across my wrist as the elastic band snapped back into place, yanking me out of my wandering thoughts.
With a deep breath, I stripped down to my underwear and pulled on a fresh white T-shirt, silently thanking the Gods for the sheer size of the bed. Caitlyn, who was still diagonal, had left me just enough space to shimmy in beside her without any accidental skin contact.
And with that, I settled in for what I suspected would be a long, restless night.
Chapter 12. Caitlyn
I usually slept like a corpse, requiring a full sixteen alarms to rouse me from my death sleep. This morning, though, from the very first spark of wakefulness, my body was acutely aware that I wasn’t alone in the bed.
