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“Please stop,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

He hesitated, brows furrowing. “But—”

“I just want to get my life back on track, Rowan,” I cut in, my voice brittle. “I don’t want to dredge up the past.”

Rowan bit his lip like he was physically holding back whatever else he wanted to say. The silence between us thickened, stretching into something awkward, but he didn’t seem in any hurry to leave.

I looked toward Devlin, catching his eye across the bar. At first glance, he seemed completely absorbed in his conversation with Brooke, his hand resting thoughtfully against his chin. But his lips were pressed too tight, his jaw clenched just a little too hard. And every time Brooke looked away, his gaze immediately flicked back to me.

Rowan cleared his throat, breaking the silence. “I never got a chance to apologize,” he said, his voice lower now. “You know, for... going crazy that summer and—” He coughed, his tusks flashing briefly as he averted his gaze. “Stalking you. Breaking into your house.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, catching his braid. “I don’t know what came over me. But... I’m sorry.”

I exhaled, my fingers toying with the stem of my glass. “It wasn’t your fault,” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. “I didn’t realize my succubus side had... matured.”

“That would explain it,” Rowan said, a wave of relief washing over his face. “I’ve been plagued with guilt for years over what I did—because it was like, Iknewit was wrong, but I couldn’t stop myself. One second, I thought you were cute, and the next, it was a full-blown obsession from the moment you arrived for your vacation.” He let out a shaky breath. “Honestly, at one point, I even wondered if I’d been possessed.”

Guilt curled in my stomach. This wasmyfault.

If I hadn’t been so single-mindedly focused on the Samhain summoning, I would have seen the signs—would have realized what was happening before it got so out of hand. Instead, I’d been so consumed by the idea of summoning my mate that I hadn’t even noticed what I was doing to Rowan.

Maybe... my obsession with my mate was unhealthy?

I mean, it wasallI’d been thinking about for almost a decade. But maybe... maybe I needed to take a break from it. A year was a long time to spend obsessing over the next summoning.

If I could find someone like Devlin to take my mind off it in the meantime...

Why not Devlin?

The thought slid into my mind so naturally that it made my stomach flip.

He was single. Looking to date. He’d already shown me more real-life dick than anyone else—not that he meant to—and the next scene he was supposed to reenact for me was Kieran jerking off.

Heat rushed to my face at the mere thought. But just as quickly, another voice slithered through my mind, dark and sharp.

No one wants to be with a witch who murdered her parents.

Devlin deserved someone good.

Someone like Brooke—kind, easy going, and effortlessly normal. Someone who wouldn’t make him second-guess whether one wrong move would mean his brakes mysteriously failed on his next drive home.

“Jenny?” Rowan’s voice pulled me abruptly from my thoughts.

“Sorry—what were you saying?”

“I asked if you’d been to see the Cadmuses yet,” he repeated. “They were really close with your parents, weren’t they?”

I nodded, though my throat had suddenly gone tight.

Rowan hesitated.. “Ms. Cadmus’s health is failing. My mom stopped by the other day and... well, she doesn’t think she has much time left.”

Tears pricked at my eyes before I could stop them.

“Dementia,” he added gently. “It came on fast. Not long after you... er,left.”

“She was already ill that summer,” I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Not ill enough to stop her from chasing me off your porch,” he muttered, his lips twitching with the ghost of a guilty grin.

I let out a weak, breathy laugh, wiping at my eyes with my sleeve. Yet another reason to put a freeze on my Samhain summoning obsession.