Page 32
Story: Accidentally Vacationed with an Incubus (Briar Coven #2)
Devlin was silent on the walk back.
I wasn’t sure if it was because he’d just learned that Rowan hadn’t merely had a crush on me but had actually been stalking me, or if it was because Ms. Cadmus, stuck in a reality nine years past, had casually let slip that I’d been excited to meet my mate.
Neither topic was one I wanted to broach with him.
The way his shadows pulsed, ebbing and flowing in restless agitation, I knew without a doubt that bringing up Rowan would send him into a primal rage.
As for the subject of mates, neither of us had dared to talk about it out loud yet.
I supposed it would be easier for him. His mate was out there somewhere, wandering the world, waiting to bump into him. If their paths crossed— when their paths crossed, I reminded myself—it would be chance. Fate.
For me, it was a choice. A deliberate, active choice.
If I wanted to keep this—whatever this was—going, I would eventually have to choose between Devlin... and summoning my mate.
And the truth was... I didn’t want to summon my mate anymore.
I wanted Devlin.
Devlin was everything I had ever wanted in a mate.
My body responded to him in ways I had thought were fictional, made up for romance readers.
.. but with him, it was real. And I felt comfortable around him.
Safe. I could be myself, unfiltered, without fear that he would flinch at my past or balk at my quirks.
And he made me laugh. That was my favorite thing about him.
I was falling in love with him, and I owed it to him to tell him everything.
I took a breath, readying myself for the inevitable onslaught of verbal vomit. But just as I opened my mouth, my phone rang. The ancient iPhone, freshly charged that morning and miraculously holding its battery life despite being nearly a decade old, buzzed in my back pocket.
I pulled it out, my brows furrowing at the unfamiliar number that flashed across the screen. I hesitated. Then, with a glance at Devlin, I pressed the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Jennifer?” The voice on the other end was instantly familiar. “It’s Isobel Lobato.”
“Warden Lobato!” I blurted, equal parts happy and relieved, both to hear a friendly voice and to delay the impending awkward conversation with Devlin for just a little longer.
“I’m not your warden anymore, Jennifer. You can call me Isobel. Or Izzy, if you prefer."
I chuckled, warmth blooming in my chest. “Only if you call me Jen.”
“Of course,” she said. “Tell me, Jen, how have you been adjusting to civilian life?”
I glanced up at Devlin, who stood nearby, arms crossed, curiosity flickering across his face. He mouthed, “Do you want some privacy?”
I shook my head.
“Surprisingly well,” I admitted. “I’ve had a lot of support. I’ve reconnected with old friends... and made some new ones.”
“Glad to hear it.” There was a brief pause, filled with the faint rustling of papers in the background, before she continued, “Listen, I’m really busy tying up loose ends before I leave, so I can’t chat for long. But I’ll be in the area tomorrow—are you free for a catch-up?”
It felt like a lifetime ago that she and I had stood in front of that prison, when she had looked me in the eyes and told me, “You’re going to have to forgive yourself at some point, Jen.”
Back then, I had thought it was impossible, that she had been foolish to even suggest it.
But now? Now, I wasn’t sure when it had happened—whether it was meeting Devlin, Rowan and Brooke’s unwavering support, or the Cadmuses’ quiet forgiveness—but at some point, I had started to let myself live again. To stop punishing myself.
I was still a long way from forgiveness, but it no longer felt like an impossibility.
“Um, sure. Tomorrow evening would be great.”
“Wonderful. I’ll see you tomorrow, Jen.”
“See you tomorrow, Ward— Izzy ,” I corrected myself, smiling as I ended the call.
Devlin’s voice broke the silence. “Who was that?” he asked as I slipped the phone into my back pocket.
“The warden of the prison I was in,” I said.
“Ah, yes. The mysterious, unidentifiable magical creature who suppressed your magic,” he mused. Then, with a slow, assessing tilt of his head, he asked, “Speaking of which—has it come back yet?”
I blushed, suddenly remembering that the only flicker of magic I’d regained had been squandered on an orgasm.
I lifted my hand, flexing my fingers, trying to summon even the faintest trace of power.
Nothing.
Not a single drop of magic in me.
Then, a thought struck me. Devlin. He had lost his ability to return to the Shadow Realm. It was the whole reason we had struck our bargain in the first place—because he couldn’t go back. Had he even tried since then?
I chewed my bottom lip, debating whether to bring it up. What if I reminded him—what if I were the reason he suddenly poofed back to his own realm, free to roam as he pleased? Would he come back to me? Or would he chalk this up to a fun adventure—just another temporary indulgence before moving on?
He wants you, Jen , I reminded myself.
I let his words from last night play over in my mind. “I intend to stick to the promise I made to myself—to only do what I’m comfortable with, with someone I’m comfortable with. That’s you, Jen.”
I exhaled slowly. My voice was quiet as I asked, “Have you been able to return to your own realm?”
His face blanched, shadows flickering at his fingertips before he stuffed his hands into his pockets.
He took a few measured steps, his silence stretching.
“Um,” he said finally, his voice a little too casual, “I haven’t really thought about it.
And to be honest with you, I’m quite happy to stay here for the time being.
” Then, after a beat, he added, “That is... if you’re still happy to have me? ”
I should’ve told him to go back. I should’ve told him that I was falling for him, and that it would be better for both of us if we stopped now before it was too late. That it would break me if he found his fated mate and had to leave me behind. But I couldn’t find the words.
And so, I made my choice. To let my heart inevitably break in the future, just so it could heal in the here and now.
“You can stay for as long as you want, Devlin.” I sucked in a breath, readying myself to finally talk about Rowan’s stalking and the whole messy mate situation when, for the second time today, I was spared.
Just as the house came into view, so did Brooke.
She was sitting on the love swing, rocking it violently as she chattered animatedly to BooDini, who sat beside her, its tiny sheet hands clamped onto the chains for dear life as if fully expecting to be flung from its seat at any moment.
The second she spotted us, Brooke’s head snapped up.
She leaped gracefully from the swing, leaving a visibly relieved BooDini behind as she beamed and strode toward us, meeting us halfway up the lane.
“Jenny!” she squealed, throwing her arms around me in a hug.
“And Devie!” Before Devlin could react, she had already latched onto him, her arms looping around his shoulders.
I watched as his entire body stiffened. His face blanched, his bourbon eyes narrowing as she pulled away. He was assessing, waiting to see if his incubus touch would take effect—if Brooke would suddenly go weak-kneed with lust.
A mix of fear and jealousy curled tight in my chest, bracing for the worst. But nothing happened.
Which was... odd.
I knew for a fact that Brooke preferred the company of men. She was single. She had already proposed marriage to Devlin, for crying out loud.
And yet, his touch hadn’t affected her at all.
I flicked my gaze to Devlin, watching him carefully. The relief in his expression was obvious.
“I was so glad you called,” Brooke said, grasping my hands, her fingers cool against my skin. “I had to come over a little earlier than expected—my dad is making me go to some stupid dinner party tonight,” she added, wrinkling her nose, “so I can’t stay for long.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” I said. “Devlin and I were at the Cadmuses’ house.”
“That’s okay! BooDini was keeping me company while I waited.” I cast a glance at BooDini, who was still clinging to the swing chain, its entire form tense, as if waiting for the momentum to finally die down. “And I was filling it in on my latest woes,” Brooke finished, grinning.
“Do you want to come back to the cabin and fill me in?” I asked.
Brooke shook her head, her cascading waves of hair billowing around her. “Perhaps some other time.” Then, just as casually, she added, “What I really wanted to ask was if you’d had a chance to look over the police file Rowan dropped off the other night?”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. Rowan was the one taunting me with the police files?
“I’ll kill that orc.” Devlin’s voice was a low, lethal growl as his shadows writhed violently around him.
“Why would you do that, Devie?” she asked, her brows lifting in genuine confusion, as if there wasn’t a demon seething beside her, seconds away from raining down Hell’s wrath. Her gaze drifted back to me. “Listen, Jen, I know Rowan was acting a bit, um... stalkerish that last summer.”
A bit?
“But he was really, really sorry about it. And he’s worked so hard trying to prove that you had nothing to do with your parents’ deaths all those years ago.”
“So, his way of apologizing for stalking me,” I said, my voice flat, “was to spend the next nine years obsessing over me, researching the worst night of my life, then sneaking up to my house in the dead of night to post police files through my door?”
Brooke let out a nervous giggle. “Well, when you put it like that, it does seem a little strange.”
A little strange?
Rowan was supposed to be my friend. The stalking, I could forgive—he had been under the prolonged influence of my succubus touch, after all.
But this?
Spending years obsessing over me? Digging up my parents’ police reports? Sneaking onto my property, leaving reminders of that night like a twisted offering?
Yeah. That was super fucking strange.
Brooke’s phone buzzed, breaking the tension.
She rolled her eyes, huffing in frustration.
“My dad is literally going to kill me if I don’t go back now.
” She looked back at me, expression softening.
“Look, Jenny, I don’t want to push you into doing something you’re uncomfortable with.
And if you really don’t want to look at the files and just move on with your life, I totally get it.
I’ll talk to Rowan and tell him to stop. ”
My jaw tensed.
“But I’ve seen the files. And things just don’t add up.” Another buzz. Another eye roll. She reached out, squeezing my arm, her grip a warm reminder of the friendship we once had. “Just know you’ll always be my friend, Jenny.”
Table of Contents
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- Page 32 (Reading here)
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