Page 20 of Trick Me (Immortal Vices and Virtues: All Hallows’ Eve)

Yet, somehow, the words land on me like a stone. Can someone say they care and still vanish over and over? Still lie? Still carve out entire lives without you in them?

Ash’s face flashes behind my eyes.

The way he looked at me.

The way he said he wouldn’t let me out of his sight.

But he did. He’s gone.

Just like everyone leaves.

Mrs. Lindqvist stands, movements graceful and decisive. The power radiating off her isn’t magical, but it’s powerful all the same.

“I don’t actually care what his excuses are,” she says, smoothing her jacket like she’s brushing off the past. “This is the last time I’ll be here. I just wanted him to know that despite all his lies, all his betrayals, all his pathetic attempts at hiding assets, I’m going to have an amazing life.”

She glances around the room. Her gaze is steady, sharp as a blade.

“I’m going to spend your money, Erik, on things that would make you furious. I’m going to fuck men half your age on the yacht you loved more than me. I’m going to live, gloriously and vindictively, while you”—her voice drops into something cold and final—“are just dead.”

Even I can’t help it.

I grin.

Erik’s ghost is vibrating, jaw clenched, hands fisting like he could do something about it.

He can’t.

She’s won.

And honestly? Good for her .

He vanishes like the wind, just like that.

Mrs. Lindqvist drops a small transparent bag of gold coins in my lap with enough wealth to pay for my rental for a year. “A tip just for you to buy yourself something nice, dear.”

“Thank you so much.”

Then she’s gone, closing the door behind her, and I’m staring at the generous tip, deciding that Sera and I are going to take a holiday.

I stroll out of the meeting room, needing air. Or water. Or possibly something stronger. At my desk, I drop the coins into my bag, then go in search of Sera.

She’s leaning against the reception desk with a grin that sets off every internal alarm.

“What’re you up to?” I ask, eyeing her with suspicion.

“Me? Nothing. Innocent as a lamb. Pure as snow. Trustworthy as?—”

“Sera.”

She sighs, still smirking. “The boss wants to see you. Aurora Room.”

My stomach drops.

The Aurora Room is our most exclusive consultation space, reserved for special clients or cases involving multiple spirits. Not where you get summoned for casual chats. Definitely not where you want to be called unexpectedly.

“What did I do?” I ask, heart thudding .

“Nothing. Just go.” She winks. “Trust me.”

I don’t trust her when she’s sly. I trust that grin even less. But I go, because my boss has been known to fire people for breathing too loud.

The door to the Aurora Room is shut. I knock. Wait. Then ease it open.

And freeze.

Ash is there.

Not my boss.

Ash.

He’s standing by the window, city skyline behind him, sunlight catching the line of his jaw. He’s showered, dressed, looking clean and whole and devastatingly handsome.

Like he didn’t disappear into the woods. Like he didn’t leave me.

My heart tries to climb into my throat. But I think of Mrs. Lindqvist, of diamond-hard women with knives for smiles, and I straighten my spine.

“Oh,” I say, casually. “It’s you.”

He grins.

And damn it, my knees betray me.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he admits. In three strides, he’s in front of me. Close enough that I can smell his pine, smoke, and musk scent. Familiar. Dangerous.

“I told you last night,” he murmurs, voice low, “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“And yet,” I reply, “you left me. ”

His smile falters. His jaw ticks.

“I woke up in wolf form. Deep in the woods. No memory of shifting. He’d taken over completely—wouldn’t give me back control. Took hours to wrestle it away. He was… happy. Felt he was home.” His hand lifts, presses against his chest. “Didn’t think I needed to be in charge anymore.”

Something inside me pulls tight.

That tether. The invisible thread I’d felt with his wolf.

“I’m sorry,” he says, quieter now. “I didn’t mean to leave you. You have to know that.”

“So… your wolf kidnapped you?” I ask.

A small laugh huffs from him. “Pretty much.” He glances down at his chest like he’s having a word with himself. “I’m in charge. We find her first. Then you can run all you want.”

I try to keep a straight face. I fail. I giggle. Actually giggle. “So you didn’t abandon me?”

He shakes his head, stepping even closer. His hands lift to my face, palms warm, thumbs gentle. I lean into the touch without meaning to.

“I’d never do such a thing,” he admits. “I couldn’t. We’re…” He hesitates, trying to find the right words. “Tied. Changed. You were part of me. I was part of you. Whatever we were before, it’s not what we are now.”

“Romantic,” I whisper. “For a trained killer. ”

“I’m a man of many talents.” His thumbs brush over my cheeks. “And, apparently, terrible timing.”

“You think?”

“I remembered that you mentioned where you worked. Got back, told the pack I had a mate to collect?—”

My eyebrows lift. “You told your pack?”

“Elders too. They’re thrilled. Already planning the ceremony.”

“Ceremony?”

“A Beta was picking out decorations. I didn’t agree to that part.”

My jaw drops. “Ash.”

He shrugs, smiling like I’m the only thing worth looking at in the entire city. “I told them to calm down. First, I came to get you. But there’s no rush.”

“We barely know each other, though.”

“Exactly,” he says and steps back just enough to keep his hands cradling my face. “Which is why I’m taking you on a proper date tonight. After work. Dinner. Conversation. All the boring, beautiful things people do when they’re not breaking curses and running for their lives.”

I blink at him. “You want to go slow?”

“I want to do this right. We deserve that, don’t you think? A chance to fall in love without magical interference.”

My heart makes an odd, fluttery lurch in my chest. It feels like it’s not just mine anymore. Like something in me recognizes something in him.

Then he’s kissing me.

It’s not like last night.

Not rushed. Not frantic. Not painted in fire and fear and hunger.

This kiss is warmth. It’s steady hands and steady hearts. The way his lips move slowly against mine, like we have time. Like we’re choosing this.

His hands tangle in my hair, pulling me closer, and I melt into him, completely and absolutely, until I feel that strange tether in my chest pulse, like it’s content now. Like it’s where I belong.

“I fell for you hard last night,” he murmurs against my lips. “Half a day, and I missed you like a limb.”

I smirk. “That’s very codependent of you.”

“We literally merged parts of our souls. I think codependency is implied.”

He kisses me again, deeper this time, and I’m just sinking into the taste of him when giggling from outside the room breaks the moment.

I freeze.

So does he.

I turn slowly toward the door. Narrow my eyes. Then march across the room and fling it open.

Sera and three other colleagues all stumble backward, clearly guilty.

“Seriously?” I snap .

Sera straightens and tosses her hair. “We wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“You wanted gossip.”

“That too,” she says brightly. “Also, I might have already ordered celebratory pastries.”

I giggle, my cheeks already burning up.

Ash chuckles behind me, clearly enjoying this far too much.

“I hate all of you,” I mutter.

“You love us,” Sera says. “Almost as much as you love mysterious wolf boys with soulful eyes and a tragic backstory.”

Ash leans in and whispers, “She’s not wrong.”

I nudge him in the ribs. He doesn’t budge.

“You’re all fired,” I tell them.

“You don’t have that power,” Sera adds.

“I’ll find it.”

And despite the utter chaos of my life, my coworkers, the fact that I may have accidentally soul-bound myself to a werewolf in the woods, I can’t stop smiling that he’s returned for me.

Because maybe, just maybe, this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Ash steps behind me, arm sliding around my waist with casual possessiveness. “Nothing to hide. I’m hers if she’ll have me.”

“Let me think about it,” I tease, but he’s already tickling me, finding that spot just under my ribs that makes me squeal. “Okay, okay! Yes, I’ll have you!”

“Good.” He draws me against him, speaking into my ear loud enough for everyone to hear. “Because I have a lot to make up for. Leaving you in the woods, even accidentally, requires significant groveling.”

“I do like songs.”

“Then I’ll commission a symphony.”

Sera makes a gagging sound.

“We’re not having this conversation in front of my office.”

“Then let’s have it at dinner.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “I’ll wait for you after work.”

“Sounds perfect.”

He kisses me again quickly, then heads for the front doors. Just before he disappears, he turns back with that smile that has my stomach somersaulting.

And then he’s gone. Leaving me with a hallway full of grinning coworkers.

“So,” Sera says, sidling up with zero shame. “He called you ‘mate’!”

“Shut up.”

“You’re going to move to the woods for him.”

“I’m not—maybe. Probably. Eventually. I don’t know.”

As everyone filters away, still buzzing about the office drama turned epic love story, Sera hugs me, whispering, “I’m so happy for you. You deserve the best.” Then, with her grin, she heads to her desk, where a manager is waiting.

I drift back into the Aurora Room and edge closer to the window, staring out over the city.

The sun is setting, casting molten gold across the glass.

In a few hours, Ash will come pick me up for our first real date.

Tomorrow, we’ll start unraveling what it means to be this… whatever we are. Soul-bound. Power-twisted. Dangerous. Unprecedented.

But for tonight, I’m just a girl who met a boy at a cursed party, traded magic and memories, and accidentally fell in love somewhere along the way.

The ghost of his wolf hums inside me.

My own power curls around it, cool and warm twined together.

For the first time in my life, I feel whole. Not because someone filled the missing pieces, but because I chose to share all of mine with someone just as broken and incomplete as I was.

It’s a perfect beginning to an imperfect story.

But then again, the best stories always are.