“Oh, thank the stars.” I hold him tight, tucking my chin on his shoulder.
“Hey,” he says through a laugh. I’ve been an anxious wreck for hours, and this boy has the audacity to laugh. Why am I fated mates withthisguy out of everyone?
But when I stand up straight, he gets on his tippy toes to kiss me, and I forget everyone else exists. “How are you?” he asks.
“I’m fine. How are you feeling? Any hunger? Do you need to feed? We can go to your room. Or do it right here.” As I roll up my coat sleeve, he shakes his head, then leads me to the living room.
“Ah, glad to see you’re home in one piece!” Anika says.
“Koopa Troopa over here wouldn’t stop pacing a hole through the carpet,” Lisbeth remarks.
Loxley frowns at her, but I simply laugh. Loxley’s aunt is a hoot, and now that I’m sort of living here, we get along great.
“But are you sure you’re okay?” I ask.
“Yes,” he replies.
“I’ll put on some tea,” Anika says.
“I’ll help. Give you and your familiar some private time since he missed you so much when you were at work.” Lisbeth gives awink, and I let out another laugh. Loxley, meanwhile, seems low-key mortified.
“What’s wrong?” I ask once we get to the living room and sit down on the couch. “Do you want to feed?”
“No. Nothungryhungry,” he says, his code for when he needs to sap magic from me.
“Then what is it?”
Loxley moves his hands around, like he’s weighing what he needs to say. I know exactly what he needs, so I whip out my phone and point to it. When he procures his own phone, he proceeds to text rapidly. “No rush,” I say.
He smiles at me, and it reminds me of sunshine after a hurricane; it’s calmness and peace after a lifetime of insecurity and loneliness.
When he hands me his phone, I read the words out loud. “You’re not my familiar. You’re my boyfriend. My best friend. But don’t think I’m kidnapping you or keeping you as a pet. If you want out, I can find someone else to feed off of.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Wait…do you not want me around?”
“N-n-no!” He shakes his head, then puts his hand over mine. “But you…don’t n-n-need…” He gulps, then closes his eyes.
As he centers himself, I squeeze his hand. “Think of the words, and take all the time you need, Lox. I’m not going anywhere, baby.”
When he opens his eyes, he’s visibly calmer. “You…are no familiar. Or pet. Or prisoner. This curse…”
“This curse is horrible. But it happens to be a convenient excuse for me to sleep with you every night. So I’m making the most of a shitty situation.” We both bust out laughing, and I take the moment to rub his cheek. He leans into my touch, and all feels right. Now’s as good a time as any to tell him how deep my feelings are. We’ve been so busy trying to get used to life withthis curse, so now I want to lay out the terms of our relationship. “Loxley, baby, I’m happy to be your familiar.”
He gazes at me in concern. Before he can argue, I continue, “Let me be specific: I’m not a pet. Or a prisoner. And you don’t make me feel that way.” Rubbing my thumb on his face, I quietly say, “I’m here because I want to help you. Because I love you.”
Loxley gasps. “Really?”
“Yeah. You said it first, by the way.”
“I did?”
“Yes!”
We both crack up in joy, and I lean forward and hold him. “It was the night you rescued me. When I thought Sally was going to kill me, all I could think of was losing you. The fact that I can’t get enough of you. The way I want to be around you at all times. And that’s so much more than a familiar. That’s a fated mate.”
When I pull back, I gaze at him, smiling, eyes twinkling behind his glasses. “Really?” he whispers.
I nod. “So, consider me your familiarandyour fated mate. But I’m warning you, I can be a cranky turtle. And you won’t be able to take me to a public beach. And I won’t let you win at video games. And I’ll want you to kiss me before you sleep every night.”
