Page 8

EIGHT

damien

W hat the fuck.

I shut my eyes, trying to process everything. The woman I’d come here to find—it couldn’t be Willow’s sister . Not after everything we’d already gone through. And yet… I’d taken one look at her and felt the power radiating off of her, and I knew.

Dammit. I needed more time.

To get to know Willow, to get to experience all the things I’d never imagined I would ever get to do. It was so simple, and yet…

My hands raked through my hair as I paced in the back alley, trying to make sense of everything.

Why had I headed here in the first place? I’d felt like something had pulled me here, and once she’d found me, I thought maybe that something was Willow.

But… Luna ? Her sister?

I hadn’t been able to detect it in cat form—thanks to my senses being cloudy, but it was clear as day now.

Growing up in the demon realm, I’d always heard about what it was like when you found the one. But I’d never imagined I’d actually experience it for myself, to find my?—

“Shit.”

Pain tugged at the tether between me and Zain, and I knew I could only ignore his call for so long. But to go back to the demon realm, to reveal everything I knew to him… how could I ever do that?

Willow would never forgive me.

And any chance I had with her… It would be over before it started.

She needed some time with her sister. And I needed space to think.

And… A trip to the demon realm.

To see my brother.

I groaned. Today was not going at all like I’d wanted it to.

For starters, I hadn’t even made sure Willow had gotten food. And then I’d ran out of there without even explaining to her why .

Brushing aside those strange instincts, I made my way down the alley, trying to ignore the tug in my blood as long as I could.

Gritting my teeth, I cursed out. “You just don’t know when to stop, do you?”

Looking around to make sure no one was watching me, I stepped into the shadows—transporting myself back home for the first time in months.

“Brother. You’ve returned.” Zain, the crown prince of the demon realm, was perched atop his throne. My brother. He looked so much like me—down to his dark hair and tall stature—but we couldn’t have been more different. Especially in our temperaments.

We’d grown up as half-brothers, but sometimes I still felt like a stranger looking at him. He wore a coat of black, adorned with gold and all the finest trimmings befitting a prince, whereas I stood in my human clothes—a t-shirt, leather jacket, and jeans.

Standing in front of him, I crossed my arms over my chest. “You summoned me?”

Our blood tied us together in ways I couldn’t even begin to explain.

“Where have you been? We were worried.”

Sure, they were.

“You could say I’ve been a little… tied up.” In a cage. By humans.

But I wouldn’t expand on where I’d been, or how exactly I’d ended up stuck in my other form. If he wanted those memories, he could pry them from my head himself.

His eyes flashed with amusement. “Ah, yes. I trust you had an… enjoyable time?”

If only you knew the half of it. I raised an eyebrow. “Sure. You could say that.”

“It’s good to see you, you know,” Zain said. “It’s not the same here without you.”

“You’re the one who sent me out into the human world to do your bidding. If you wanted to see me, there were easier ways.”

Chuckling, my brother settled back into his chair—three steps up on the dais, perched in front of me. Reminding me exactly where I factored in this equation of ours.

Below him.

Never mind how powerful I was, how much control I had over the darkness—power I’d inherited from my father. The shadows were like a second nature to me, the way I could manipulate and create from nothing.

I was the bastard child, and not the chosen one to rule.

Not that I wanted it, anyway. This place hadn’t felt like home in a long time.

If I was being honest, I preferred the animal shelter I’d been living at for the past month to my brother’s palace in the demon realm.

And I liked Willow’s home a thousand times more than both of them.

“And? Was your mission successful? Or have you been enjoying yourself a little too much?”

“I need more time,” I grit out, not answering him. I needed that time with Willow.

Zain’s eyes narrowed. “Damien. Did you find her?”

I couldn’t lie to him—but I didn’t want this to be the end of my time in Pleasant Grove, either. Instead, I simply nodded.

The worst part was that I had found her. And he knew it.

Damn demon magic. I hated that I’d ever had to connect myself to him in that way.

“So, what’s the problem?”

There was no easy way around it. “I can’t do it.” Deliver her to this place like some sort of prized trophy—it felt more like bringing a lamb to the slaughter. An innocent, adorable little lamb.

“It’s your sworn duty.”To him.

I scoffed. “I liked you better when you weren’t an insufferable crown prince.”

“Ah, brother. That’s where you’re wrong—because I’ve always been the insufferable crown prince.”

“Nice to see you, too.” I rolled my eyes

He stood up, walking down the steps, and slapping a hand against my shoulder. All pretenses gone, there was the brother I had grown up with. When we were both still young, and things hadn’t been so… tense.

But that was what a few hundred years did to you. You grew apart. Or you were forced to serve your younger brother for eternity.

You know— semantics .

“One month.”

I blinked. “What?” It was eerie how that was the same time frame I’d given Willow this morning. Narrowing my eyes, I stared at my brother.

“Whatever you’re doing that’s distracting you… You can have one more month. And then I expect you to bring her here, to me, and return to my side.”

“But—”

Zain tilted his head to the side. “Does some part of that not work for you, brother?”

I ground my teeth together in an effort to not speak back to him. “Fine.”

His sharp canine teeth peeked out of his smile this time as he settled back into the chair.

“Don’t get distracted this time, Damien. I’ll be waiting.” There was a strange look in his eye as I turned away, giving him only the wave of my hand as a goodbye, before I created another portal—back to the human world.

Back to my little witch.

* * *

I let the shadows cloak around me, hiding me from view as I watched her flit around the shop Willow and her sister owned. This time, I could fully take in the front of their shop. The sign above the door read The Witches’ Brew and featured an intricately carved cauldron of bubbling coffee.

One of them had taped little bats to the inside of the windows, with the entire storefront fully decked out in Halloween decor. Fake cobwebs, little orange lights that lined the door frame, and even the sandwich board out front read ‘ stop by for a brew!’

It was clear they didn’t need the advertising. Downtown Pleasant Grove was small and bustling, and it felt like half of the town must have popped inside since we’d first arrived this morning.

Letting my darkness dissipate, I opened the door, shoving my hands in my pockets as I stood, watching them talk behind the counter.

“Olivia, I have your pumpkin scone and Witch’s Cold Brew!” Willow called out as she handed a small paper bag and a cup of coffee to a customer at the counter with a smile. Tucking a brown lock of hair behind her ear, she turned to the next person in line.

She hadn’t noticed me yet, and I liked that I could study her like this. Unabashedly, without worrying about what anyone else thought.

There was a pull to her I couldn’t explain, a kind of magnetism that drew me in.

I rubbed a hand over my face. This was crazy. There was no way.

Even from here, her sweet scent wafted into my nostrils, and it was all I could do to resist burying my face in her hair and inhaling it.

I wanted her. With every fiber of my being.

But I didn’t deserve her. How could I ever deserve someone as perfect, as untouched by hatred and destruction?

She was mine, and I knew that down to the depths of my soul—whatever part of it still existed—but she didn’t need me.

Fuck.

Willow’s gaze connected with mine, and I could feel my face softening as she walked over to me, the irritation clear on her face.

I had to fix this. I had to make her understand I hadn’t wanted to go. Even if I couldn’t tell her the truth yet. No matter how badly I wanted to.

“I’m sorry.”