Chapter 19
Seren
I’m alone in Callum’s apartment when I wake up.
Last night almost seems like a dream.
A fever dream, maybe, like I’m still back in Faerie under the influence of those mushrooms.
After a few seconds, though, it all comes rushing back.
I groan out loud and roll over in Callum’s very large, very comfortable bed.
It’s covered in blankets and furs, with down-stuffed pillows, and burrowing so far into it I never have to come back out again sounds like a pretty good idea right now.
But I’m also a nosy girl at heart, and having a few minutes alone in his place is too big a temptation to pass up.
The floorboards are cold beneath my feet as I shimmy out of bed. So is the air, just this side of chilly as I tiptoe into the main part of the room.
I rub my hands together, partly for warmth, partly because there really must be something wrong with me to be this excited about the opportunity to do a little recon on my supposed demon mate.
That excitement, however, doesn’t last more than a minute or two.
There just… doesn’t seem to be much here.
A few personal items. Some spare clothes in the dresser. Mostly bare cupboards. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think the place was some kind of crash pad. Maybe like the demon version of a vacation rental.
Certainly not the place where a fully grown demon spends his life.
Oh yes, a little voice in the back of my mind pipes up to remind me. Because you’re absolutely in a place where you can judge how other people live.
That voice has a point.
It’s not like my childhood bedroom in my parents’ house is anything to brag about.
I haven’t exactly flown the nest, so I probably shouldn’t be judging Callum for—
A key clicks in the lock, the handle turns, and the hinges on the front door creak.
I freeze like a deer in the headlights.
But if Callum finds it strange for me to be standing frozen in the middle of his apartment, he doesn’t show it.
He doesn’t say anything at all.
No, for a few long seconds, he just looks at me. From my bare feet, up my legs to my shorts and tank top. Higher, to the flush on my cheeks and my rumpled hair.
There’s something inscrutable in his eyes. Not unfriendly, not annoyed, almost… warm.
Like he’s relieved to see me here.
Like maybe he expected I would have bolted the moment I woke up.
“Tea?”
“What?”
Instead of answering right away, he crosses to the small kitchen and turns on the stove, fills the kettle, and sets it on the burner.
“Tea,” he says again. “Would you like some?”
“I… uh… yeah, sure, I guess.”
Callum nods, and that’s that, apparently.
He goes to work preparing the tea, and I take the opportunity to grab some fresh clothes and duck into the bathroom to change.
The only problem is that once the door swings shut behind me, I’m alone with my thoughts again.
I’m alone with the echo of Callum’s deep voice and all the clamoring memories of the past twenty-four hours.
I can’t bear to remember what happened last night. The way I just word-vomited all over him. I said too much, was too vulnerable, put myself out there with someone in a way I haven’t done in a long, long time.
It makes my skin crawl.
Goddess, what was I thinking?
Instead of letting myself dwell on it, I do my best to shove all those thoughts aside and get ready for the day.
When I finally work up the nerve to creep back out into the main room, Callum is sitting at the small kitchen table with two cups of tea.
I can’t make myself join him.
I’m too jittery, too wired, too amped up and looking for any excuse to get out of here so I don’t have to deal with… any of it.
“So,” I begin. “About what happens next…”
The twitch of a smile at the corners of his lips. “Next, we have some tea.”
“Right,” I say, running a hand through my rumpled hair. “Right. Yeah. But after that, I mean. I don’t want to intrude on your hospitality, so if you could… If you can just give me a lift back to the Veil, then we should be all set. You don’t have to worry about—”
“Seren.”
His voice stops my rambling dead in its tracks.
He gestures to the seat across from him, and I slowly walk over and sit down.
This is… weird.
I mean, not just this.
All of it’s weird.
It’s weird I’m here in this realm, in the apartment of some demon dude who claims he’s my mate. It’s weird he found me and saved me yesterday. It’s weird I almost died. It’s weird I came back here with him and poured my stupid heart out to him last night and he didn’t immediately send me packing.
Probably the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me.
Probably way, way past weird and into surreal territory.
But as long as it’s already so weird, I suppose I can’t make it any weirder.
Callum slides the second mug toward me. I take it, sip, and almost moan out loud over how good the tea is. Sharp and herbal, with an unexpectedly light floral finish, brewed to the perfect temperature.
“How are you feeling this morning?”
I shrug, ready to brush the question off and assure him I’m fine. But the arch of his eyebrow and the flat look he gives me make me reconsider.
“Honestly?” I say instead. “Kind of trash, but compared to dying by fungus inhalation, I’d say I’m doing alright.”
He nods solemnly, and that’s weird, too.
It’s weird that he cares.
I mean, maybe not. Maybe considering someone your mate means you have to care about them, but… I don’t think I like that either.
I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to worry about me.
“But I’ll be fine. Soleil really knows what she’s doing with those potions of hers.”
Callum grimaces. “What she gave you seemed… unpleasant.”
The memory of it coats my tongue, and I grimace, too. “Yeah, she’s not really one for wasting time making her potions palatable.”
It’s never been in her nature to soften sharp edges. For better or worse, my sister is practical and straight to the point, no fluff or sugar.
“I’m glad I could get you to her in time.”
Callum’s voice is softer now, tinged with worry and regret and a dozen other things that make me want to squirm uncomfortably in my chair.
I sip my tea and fight back the urge to shrug it off with some disparaging comment.
He did save my life, after all. It would be a real asshole move to minimize it.
“You made sure I could stay in the hunt another day, at least.” I try for a joke and earn myself another one of those not-quite-smiles.
What would it be like to see him smile for real?
Can he even smile for real? This grumpy, surly, obstinate demon?
“I suppose I did,” Callum allows. “And speaking of the hunt, I still think we should work together.”
“Really? After what you saw yesterday? I’d think you’d rather pass on partnering up with such a disaster.”
“You’ll have to let me be the judge of that.”
Goddess, it’s attractive. The way his eyes turn all warm and liquid when he says something nice to me. Like molten rubies, brilliant and rare.
“And what would I get out of this partnership?”
I shouldn’t be entertaining this.
Partnering up with Callum is only going to complicate things. It’s only going to give him the impression I’m open to him being my… mate. That I want more. That we’re on the same page.
But when I close my eyes, I can still hear the thwack of the arrow as it embedded itself in the tree just a few inches from my skull. I can still smell the putrid stink of those spores and feel my lungs closing.
And that was just the first day of me really trying to find the heart.
Doesn’t exactly bode well for the rest of the hunt.
But half a fae queen’s bounty is still a damn good prize, and my odds of winning it are guaranteed to be better if I’m not in this alone.
Callum settles back into his seat and crosses his arms over his chest. “I have a few skills that may come in handy.”
The way the motion puts his thick biceps on full display is obscene, truly. And the words don’t help either.
Mind out of the gutter, Seren.
“Oh really? Such as?”
“I’ve worked for fortune seekers and bounty hunters for the better part of my adult life.”
“And you’re not? A fortune seeker or a bounty hunter?”
A cloud passes over his expression, something I can’t read before he hides it with a shrug.
“Easier to let others deal with the hassle. I’m just the hired muscle.”
I’ve got a feeling he’s a hell of a lot more than that, and that there’s plenty he’s not telling me. After last night and everything I told him, I almost want to press the issue, but let it be for now.
Asking for his secrets is another sure-fire way to imply there’s more going on here than there is.
Distance.
We need to keep some distance.
“So what?” I ask. “If we work together, we split the winnings fifty-fifty? Right down the middle?”
“I’m amenable to that plan if you are.”
I hum thoughtfully, still not entirely ready to agree, but tempted. So tempted.
And Callum seems to know it.
His eyes brighten, and he leans back in. “What will you do with your portion of the bounty, should we be the ones to win it?”
Good play. Sweetening the deal by making me remember why I got into this whole mess in the first place.
Maybe I don’t exactly owe him an answer, but it’s not like I’m going to use my winnings for any nefarious purpose.
“Easy,” I say. “I’m going to use it to finally have some goddessdamned stability in my life.
Funny thing about leaving the coven after spending your entire childhood there: it doesn’t exactly set you up for success in the real world.
The bounty will give me the chance to start over. Figure out where I go from here.”
He nods as if he understands exactly what I’m talking about, again with that keen stare that makes me feel seen in a way I’m deeply, deeply uncomfortable with.
I stand from my seat and cross to the small window at the front of the room, overlooking the street. I’m not sure what time it is, but it still seems early. Even at this hour, though, there are already plenty of demons out.