Page 4

Okay, maybe that was a tad dramatic. Incubus demons were notoriously difficult to kill.

But the truck did drag me across the asphalt and shredded the skin from my hip to my knee.

I healed relatively quickly—thank Hades for that—though I still bore the jagged scar running the length of my thigh.

I dusted myself off, and with a much deeper respect for crosswalk signals, limped into the city to work on my ability to read emotions.

That was how I found Jasper, a seven-year-old wolf pup, radiating fear so thick it nearly drowned out everything else.

I followed the feeling into an alleyway, where I found him hunched against a crumbling brick wall, standing over a pile of his shredded clothing, his small frame tense and shaking, his hackles raised, his teeth bared.

Lost. Alone. Fresh from his first shift. The fear seeping off him was the kind that made everything look like a threat.

So, I did the only thing that made sense.

I sat down beside him and started to talk.

I told him about myself, about the Shadow Realm, about the Samhain summoning, when I would be meeting my fated mate in just eight years’ time (or so I’d thought back then).

I told him how I had spent the day getting hit by multiple vehicles, and how after I helped him, I was going to meet some of my friends because one of them was going to see how high he could fly with his shadow wings.

And when he finally calmed enough to shift back into his human form, he was just a scrawny kid with wild dark hair, sharp eyes, and full lips quirking into a grin.

I handed him my jacket and offered to take him home.

At seven years old, Jasper had been too young to be affected by the static-inducing magic that now clouded everything about his pack.

So, he’d been able to tell me everything.

About being part of the Hell’s Gate pack.

About what they guarded—a dragon. Though had I known at the time that he was ominously referred to as “Death on Dark Wings,” I probably would have just found the nearest pay phone instead of apparating us both directly into the center of the pack’s territory like an idiot.

And about why he had run away.

Apparently, his super overprotective stepmom had decided it was time to secure his future, which, in her mind, meant trying to set up a future match with his best friend, Billy.

“She told me Billy would be a good mate,” Jasper had grumbled, pulling my too-big jacket tighter around himself, like it could shield him from the awkward horror of forced matchmaking. “But Billy’s my best friend, and I don’t want to marry her.”

Even at ten years old, I had already known that my fated mate would be my everything. The idea that someone else could be pushed into that role? That had never even crossed my mind.

As my shadows cleared to reveal the shocked faces of Jasper’s pack mates, I offered them a friendly wave as I held their missing pup in my arms. And, for the second time that day, I had been about yea-close to becoming shadow-meat.

I think it was out of sheer surprise that I wasn’t immediately torn to shreds.

Though a silver-haired, red-eyed pup did manage a heartfelt gnaw at my ankles.

Fortunately, Jasper managed to blurt out the brief version of his rescue before any of the adult wolves attacked, and I was allowed to leave the pack with my limbs intact—under strict threat of death should I ever utter a word about their whereabouts.

A decade later, Jasper and I bumped into each other by chance. While he was now fully under the influence of whatever magic protected their pack, we became best friends, meeting a few times a year, and always the day after Samhain.

“—going on with Billy.”

“You know I didn’t understand a single word of that, right?”

Jasper shrugged, completely unbothered. “I know. But I had to get that off my chest to someone.” He stretched back in his seat, his broad shoulders rolling with the kind of ease that came from knowing he could take out half the bar without breaking a sweat.

“We’re a day earlier than usual. Everything okay with you? ”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I swirled what was left of my drink. “I’ve just decided to spend this year focusing on me.”

Jasper arched a brow. “You? Self-care?”

I smirked. “Even demons need a little personal growth every once in a while.”

“Uh-huh,” he said, clearly unconvinced.

I waved a hand. “Did you get the stuff I asked for?”

Living in the Shadow Realm had its perks.

No rent, no taxes, no bills. It also meant I didn’t have a bank account, a credit score, or literally any means of financially supporting myself outside of my occasional visits to the mortal world.

Which was why it was very handy to have an alpha best friend who was more than willing to help a financially challenged demon in need.

Jasper nodded, slipping a hand into his jacket pocket. After a moment of rummaging, he pulled out two things: a familiar vial and an envelope.

I reached for the vial first, popping the cork. The potion inside glittered and swirled, shifting like liquid stardust. Without hesitation, I poured it into my glass, letting it mix with what was left of my bourbon. A burst of floral and citrus notes hit my nose before the magic settled.

Normally, Lochran and I would go to the Pennyroyal Coven annually to purchase this particular potion—a contraceptive mix that provided protection against both pregnancy and STIs for a full year.

But Lochran had been on a self-imposed sex-ban for a few years—his own silent protest over the fact that his mate hadn’t summoned him either—so he hadn’t needed a dose.

Which meant Jasper had been gracious enough to bring me my annual supply along with the main favor I had called in.

I tipped the contents of the glass back in one go, letting the brief ripple of magic pulse through my body before turning back to Jasper.

“Appreciate it,” I said, setting the empty glass down.

Jasper smirked. “Always happy to help a horny demon stay responsible.”

I rolled my eyes, but I didn’t argue. I was taking a break from being an incubus demon... but if my dating plan actually worked, I was still going to need the contraceptive potion.

Jasper leaned back, his grin bordering on suspiciously smug. “Anyway, I think you’re gonna like this.” He slid the envelope across the table a little too eagerly. “I think it’ll be perfect for you.”

I picked the envelope up, twirling it between my fingers, my pulse kicking up a notch as I traced the seam. I had never spent a night away from the Shadow Realm, always returning immediately after feeding.

But I needed a break.

A chance to find myself.

A place to meet someone who might actually date me.

I needed a vacation.

Tearing open the envelope, I pulled out a slightly smudged grayscale piece of printed paper.

A rustic log cabin dominated the image, surrounded by a scattering of trees, a massive lake sprawling behind it.

At first glance, it looked charmingly remote.

If it wasn’t for the creepy, photoshopped ghost. A gloomy, lopsided bedsheet with drooping, hollow eyes, hovered about in the foreground like it had already given up on the afterlife.

Slowly, I raised my gaze to Jasper, who was barely containing his excitement. He made an eager hand gesture, silently urging me to keep reading, and I lowered my eyes back to the page.

In bold, crooked letters, the words The World’s Most Haunted House! stared back at me.

I let my lips press into a thin line.

When I had asked Jasper to book me a vacation, I had envisioned a beach, a lively city... maybe a cozy inn.

I had only one stipulation—find me a place with a high concentration of supernatural beings, somewhere I wouldn’t have to explain or hide what I was.

What I hadn’t expected was a novelty haunted house as my new home for the next two weeks.

Jasper held up his hands, already on the defensive.

“Sorry, man! Options were limited. Do you have any idea how fast monster-friendly destinations fill up around Samhain? I only got this place because a member of my pack had been on the waitlist for years. Someone canceled last minute, and she—” Static filled my ears.

“—I definitely need to make it up to her.”

“The world’s most haunted house...” I muttered.

Jasper’s grin widened. “Afraid of ghosts?”

“No,” I snapped automatically.

Which was only partly true.

Ghosts, in general, were harmless. The average one was barely noticeable, even by a demon—a flicker of energy, a cool draft, maybe the odd door creak or misplaced object.

That kind, I could deal with.

The kind that could rearrange furniture and turn bedsheets into haunted puppets? Yeah... not so fond of those ones.

It’s a crappy photoshopped ghost made of a bedsheet, Devlin. The cabin is definitely not haunted. It’s just a gimmick, I told myself. Besides, you’re a demon. Maybe not the scary kind, but you’re still a demon, nonetheless.

Taking a deep breath, I refocused on the paper in my hands, reading through the reservation details.

––––––––

Name: Cassandra Calloway

Reservation date: October 30 th –November 13 th

Location: Bramble Cabin, Headless Hollow

A nameless entity resides in the cabin—a tortured soul, hell-bent on its solitary existence, determined to plague anyone who dares cross its threshold. We have yet to find someone brave enough to see their stay through to the end.

How long will you last?

Small Print: There is a minimum one-week booking policy. Cancelations can be made up to 48 hours prior to stay. Refunds will not be issued to anyone who leaves the house on account of being scared.

Enjoy your stay!

––––––––

“Look, it’s perfect ,” he said, drumming his fingers on the table. “You said you wanted to start dating, and Headless Hollow is one of the few tourist towns in the U.S. that is exclusively for magical beings.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And the part where you booked me a vacation with a vengeful spirit as a roomie?”

Jasper shrugged. “It just felt like fate when I asked Cassie if she knew any paranormal-only vacation destinations.” He leaned forward, eyes glinting. “And literally minutes before, she was offered the reservation for Bramble Cabin due to a cancellation.”

Fate .

Except it wasn’t Fate pulling the strings. Fate was supposed to be my mate summoning me—not me being booked into a haunted house that would probably scare the living shit out of me.

I exhaled sharply, dragging my gaze to the neon-lit clock behind the bar. A few minutes left until midnight.

I wondered if Lochran was sitting in his usual spot in the clan’s town hall, praying that this would be the year his mate finally summoned him. Maybe I’d check in on him in a few days. See if he wanted to join me in the totally-not-haunted cabin.

I turned back to Jasper and gave him a wry smirk. “Thanks, pup.”

Jasper’s grin softened into something serious. “You know you can ask me for a favor anytime, Shadowman. I owe you more than a two-week vacation.”

There it was. The wolf shifter loyalty.

It was practically woven into their DNA—an unshakable sense of obligation to their pack, their mate, or someone who they believed had saved their life.

And Jasper? He had decided long ago that he owed me his.

His packmates had been tracking him the night I found him, following his scent into town.

They would have found him eventually. I had just sped up the process—summoning my shadows, apparating him straight back to his pack before they could get to him first. But to Jasper, that still meant I saved him.

And in his eyes, a vacation wasn’t even close to repaying that debt.

I exhaled a chuckle. “Tell you what,” I said, leaning back. “If I survive two weeks in this haunted cabin, we’ll call it even. But if I get there and find all the pictures facing backward and the furniture floating, I want a new favor."

Jasper’s grin widened, flashing a hint of sharp canines. “Deal.”

Then, without warning, he stood and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. Because, apparently, being an alpha meant testing exactly how many ribs you could break before someone complained.

“This is for you too,” Jasper said, pressing another envelope, thicker than the first, into my hands.

Curious, I tore open the seal, only to shake my head at the sight of a wad of cash stuffed inside. There had to be at least a few hundred dollars in there. And for a demon who usually only carried enough change to buy a drink at a bar, that was a lot of money.

“Jasper, I can’t accept this,” I said, already trying to hand it back.

Jasper shrugged, utterly unbothered. “How are you gonna take someone on a date if you don’t have any money?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

He had a point.

Shit. If I hadn’t even considered the basic logistics of paying for a date, I was really not going to have much luck with this whole dating experiment.

I exhaled and tucked the envelope into my jacket. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t worry about it, dude.” Jasper smirked. “But if you meet someone nice, I want in on a double date.”

I huffed a laugh, shaking my head. “You don’t even have a mate. Not unless your stepmom finally convinced you to marry Billy, that is.”

The moment Jasper opened his mouth, buzzing filled my ears. “—date Billy,” he finished with an easy grin. “Anyway, I’m off, man. Good luck.” With that, he offered me a too-hard slap on the back, flashing one last mischievous grin before turning on his heel and heading out of the bar.

I let out a slow breath, my eyes flicking to the neon-lit clock one last time as the second hand closed in on midnight.

I held my breath.

Three .

The shadows at my feet stirred, pooling around me.

Two .

The world tilted as I locked onto Bramble Cabin in my mind’s eye.

One .

Darkness swallowed me whole.