Page 19

NINETEEN

willow

A ll Hallows’ Eve. My favorite night of the year was here.

The air was filled with children laughing, candy wrappers tearing, and the smell of sugar in the air. Damien was at my side, his hand curled around mine, hardly an inch left between us.

It was the perfect Halloween night, the moon high in the sky, shining down on us.

The entire town was abuzz with life, and for once, everything felt right. The loneliness that had plagued me just over a month ago was gone, and it all had to do with the demon who had chosen me.

My heart was full. Lighter.

It was too soon, wasn’t it? A month was hardly enough time to get to know someone. Let alone to fall in love with them. And yet… I had.

I loved him.

Dammit, I’d fallen in love with my demon, all else be damned.

And I knew in my heart—I wanted him to stay. I didn’t want this to end.

“Why?” I stopped, staring at the ground. “Why are you still here?” I’d avoided this conversation for too long. But I needed to hear it now. Needed to say the things I’d avoided out of fear of him leaving.

Because I wanted him to stay .

“You know why.” He narrowed his eyes. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel this too. This thing between us.”

“But…” I couldn’t say that, because I did feel it. The golden thread, tied between us, that tether that was always pulling me to him. Like the fates had intertwined our lives together.

“Say it,” he murmured. “It’s the reason we can communicate with each other’s minds. Why just being in your presence calms me. How everything always feels so right. There’s a word for it between your people, too.”

But there was a part of me that was scared to utter the words. Because if I did, that would make it real .

And if it was real, and he still chose to leave…

Then I’d be opening myself up for heartbreak. Because everyone always left me. Everyone but Luna. And even she’d chosen to move out instead of staying with me in our parents’ old house.

But that string of fate… Soulmates.

We couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible . Right? I hadn’t even believed in soulmates when we first met. The idea that there was someone out there meant for me felt like a truth that I couldn’t deny, no matter how hard I tried. Not anymore.

There was a rightness when we were together, a peace I felt anytime I was in his arms.

Soulmates . It clicked in place. And I knew it was true. That this was real .

That I couldn’t deny it anymore.

“You’re…” I stared up at him in shock. “How is that possible? Demons don’t have souls.”

How could we be destined for each other? Of all the people the fates could have chosen for me… Why was it the demon who stood in front of me now?

How could it have been anyone else?

Damien frowned. “Where’d you get the idea that we don’t have souls?”

“W-what?” I stuttered. “That’s what they taught us growing up. Why you make deals to take our souls?—”

He huffed out a response. “Whoever’s been teaching you about demons needs to get their facts straight, little witch.” My demon smoothed down my hair. “Your education has been thoroughly lacking.”

Though he was right. The witches’ deep hatred of demonkind had given me multiple pauses throughout our relationship.

Our relationship. Gods. We’d ignored the word, hadn’t given it a term, but that’s what we’d been doing all along, hadn’t we?

I’d been falling in love with him, and I had hardly given him a label besides roommate or friend .

“Don’t change the subject, Damien,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. I wanted to be giddy over this realization—the idea that we were fated for each other—but all I could see was doubts and fears. “This still doesn’t make any sense.”

Besides, he was leaving. It wasn’t like this changed anything. I was mortal, and he would live hundreds more years. He had to go back to the demon realm. To the brother he served.

“You’re—why not?”

“Do you really think anyone is going to believe it?”

“You’re my mate, Willow.” He cupped my cheeks. “The fates—they made you for me. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Just what we think.”

“But I’m nothing special. And you’re…” I gestured at him. “You.”

“Willow. Look at you.” He cleared his throat. “I… I’m the one who’s not worthy of you.” He got down on his knees, dressed in his silly costume, holding both of my hands in his. “I’ve been in awe of you every single day since I first saw you. Your kindness, generosity… The way everyone loves you, because how could they not?” Damien shook his head. “You deserve better than me. But I want you, anyway. When I picture you with someone else, I want to tear them limb from limb. The thought of someone else touching you… No.”

“Damien…” My heart stuttered in my chest. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. No one had ever made me feel so cared for—worshiped.

Even if this thing between us was the reason, if he only cared for me because we were mates, I still had him.

And I’d never felt so loved before.

Even if he hadn’t said the words.

I hadn’t either, after all.

* * *

After our little confession, we went to my cousin Cait’s Halloween Party. She’d decked out the entire house, from lights and a fake skeleton on her porch to cobwebs hanging in every corner.

She popped out wearing a pair of fishnet tights, a ruffled top and a corset tied over her skirt. The bandana she’d tied around her forehead and her chunky jewelry just added to the pirate vibes.

“Willow!” Cait grinned, her orange hair glinting in the light. “You made it!” She looked at my demon. “And you brought your man, too.”

“You look incredible,” I said, blushing at her comment. My man. It was true, but even then, it was still so new. “Thanks for inviting us.”

“Of course! The rest of the girls are all here.” Cait’s familiar, a Russian blue cat, jumped on her shoulder, nuzzling at her cheek. “Hey, Thunder.” She scratched underneath the cat’s chin before it jumped down, coming to stand in front of Damien.

The gray cat sat, staring up at my demon, letting out a small meow.

Damien raised an eyebrow before bending down, holding out his hand. Thunder sniffed at his hand before brushing against it, back and forth, beginning to purr.

My cousin’s eyes were wide. “He doesn’t do this with anyone but me.”

Damien rubbed the top of the cat’s head before standing back up, sliding back against my side. “What can I say?” His voice was rough. “Cats love me.”

Says the cat. I chuckled. Cait didn’t know how loaded that statement was.

“This is nice,” he murmured a few minutes later at my side, drinking a beer from a plastic cup. They’d gotten orange ones and doodled fake jack-o’-lantern faces on them. It made me smile seeing my demon holding something so silly.

“Sure,” I agreed. “Until the coven descends.”

“What?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you ready for the interrogation?”

Like clockwork, the other ten members of our coven appeared in front of us.

Rina. Wendy. The twins who ran the renovation and construction business, Tammy and Talley. Olive. Constance. Celeste. Iris. Sophie. Gretchen. All witches of different shapes and sizes, a sea of different hair colors between them. Lavender, light blue, even neon green. And yet one thing united all of us. Our coven. The only one missing was Luna.

Cait stood sheepishly in the back. Sorry, she mouthed.

I shrugged. It was what our coven did. We had each other’s backs, and they were going to make sure he had only the noblest of intentions.

As long as they didn’t know what happened behind closed doors, I was fine with that. I wanted to keep my sex life private, thank you very much.

I loved all of them, but these girls could gossip.

“We heard you brought your man,” Wendy offered, smiling as she sipped on her drink, her blonde hair bobbing with the motion. She’d worn a red costume with a hood, even carrying a broom along with her. “I’m Wendy,” she told Damien.

He looked her up and down before turning to me. “The Good Witch?” We’d watched Casper Meets Wendy the other night.

I laughed. “It’s a little on the nose, isn’t it?”

He wiggled his, and I could almost see the motion of him in cat form, his whiskers moving.

Rina, standing at Wendy’s side, just laughed. Her short brown bob somehow further complemented her tanned skin tone, as if she was striving to look as far from her namesake—Sabrina—as possible.

“Damien, this is my coven.” I gave a small sigh as I gestured to all of them, giving him each of their names as he shook hands and said hello.

I had to give him credit for not turning and running at the sheer sight of them. Eleven witches would have made anyone nervous, but he just took it all in stride.

The rest of them launched into their questions.

Maybe I’d made a mistake keeping them away from him so far. I didn’t think so, though. I was glad we’d had this month practically to ourselves. To get to know each other. For those feelings to grow naturally between us. Sure, we were soulmates —fated to be together before we’d even been born, but it was deeper than that.

And maybe I just enjoyed having him to myself.

“So, Damien, how long are you sticking around Pleasant Grove?” I heard Rina ask as I tuned back into the conversation. They’d all been rapid firing, and Damien had been answering all of their questions patiently.

He looked at me, an eyebrow raised. “I haven’t exactly decided yet.”

Maybe that was what triggered my fears. He was my soulmate, but he wouldn’t stay?

“I think that’s it for questions now.” I tugged at his arm, pulling him away from the group. I didn’t even apologize to my coven for leaving so abruptly.

“Can we talk?”

Damien nodded. Maybe he sensed the discontent I felt inside of me. The dread I felt at his eventual departure.

Maybe it was time we had that long overdue conversation. About what we were and my feelings . Luna was right. She always was.

I loved him, and he was leaving.

I loved him, and I hadn’t told him.