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“No.” Power rolls off him. Something I hadn’t noticed when I’d thought he was another human guiding a haunted house for some corporate suits. How wrong I’d been.
“I’ll sign whatever liability release or contract you need to clear you of whatever happens after I’m there.”
“Tempting, but no.”
I want to scream. “Then what can you do?”
“I can teleport you anywhere within the human world. You have ten seconds to choose.”
I hug Oggie closer. “No, I can’t—”
“Seven seconds.”
“Take me back to Leander and—”
“Five. Wasting time.”
Where to go when my friends aren’t here? My empty apartment with the past due notices taped to the door? There’s only one possibility. “Take me to my mom’s.” With any luck, she’ll be asleep, so I’ll have time to come up with a plausible story for my time away and not look as though my world just shattered along with Leander’s.
“Fine. Put down the demon cat.”
“No way will I leave him with you.” I hug Oggie closer, and he purrs. “He stays with me.”
“No, pet. He stays with the house or his portals. Those are the universe’s rules, not mine.”
I won’t ever see my Oggie again, won’t be able to pet his head between his little horns or hear him flap his wings. The same as I won’t be able to tell Leander that I love him. Or save Bess. Or figure out why Belaya lied. Or walk the labyrinth one last time. Tears come, first a hot trickle down my cheeks and then full sobs. Screw being the tough woman who can handle life-changing stuff without a single emotion.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Theo takes Oggie from my arms, drops him to the couch, and grabs my hand. One tear-stained blink we’re in the library and the next we stand in my mother’s living room. My stomach pitches and rolls, and I think I’ll be sick, despite the comforting scents of rosemary, sage, and home. Dim streetlights filter through the closed blinds.
The lamp next to the recliner clicks on, blinding me. Theo drops my hand and moves away, before stumbling as if he ran into an invisible wall, his graceful movements failing him for one satisfying moment.
“Meg?” My mother’s soft voice comes from behind the light. “Baby girl, are you all right?”
“Mom.” I sniff and wipe my face, struggling to pull myself together. She’s been through so much. How can I explain my suddenly appearing in her house with a stranger? Or the existence of magic without sending her into a panic? “This isn’t what you—” The lie withers on my tongue.
She shoots an accusing look at the dealing demon who brought me. “Start by explaining what you did to make my daughter cry, Theodopolis.”
My thoughts stutter. Mom knows Theo? How?
“Brigid, darling, how have you been?” Theo asks as if they’re old friends.
Mom jabs a thick candle at him like it’s a knife. “Don’t ‘darling’ me. I’ll send you back to your hell dimension. Permanently.”
Theo goes still, his palms outstretched. “A god’s candle. I didn’t know any existed in this realm.”
“Now you do.” Mom pushes me behind her. “Try to take it or my daughter from me and I’ll make banishment the least of your problems.”
“I swear I didn’t make her cry,” he says. “I even let her keep the bracelet with the sigils. I protected her. Tell her, Meg.”
Seeing Mom terrorize a demon has the truth pouring out of me. “He tricked me and my friends into signing matching contracts. I fell in love with Leander, but Theo yanked me out of his realm before we figured everything out, and now his world’s falling apart.” I swipe at my tears to keep them out of my mouth, my hair sticks to my lips, and still I keep talking. “He and everyone else could die. Theo won’t take me back to save them, and even if he did, I’m not sure I could. Plus, I had to leave my demon kitty at the haunted house with who knows what terrible things.” Hiccupping makes me stop my ramble.
“Thanks, pet.” Theo’s sarcasm has me flinching, but Mom flicks her candle in his direction, shutting him up.
She looks at me. “Your Leander is what, exactly?”
Telling my mother that I have a boyfriend? Hard enough. Telling her that I’m the fated mate to a man who considers himself a monster? I haven’t seen that topic covered in any how-to videos online. “He’s a king. And a minotaur.”
Mom gives me the same look she did when I was seven and asked her what the word fetish meant. “Uh huh.” That’s all she says for the longest. Finally, she tells Theo, “We’ll summon you if we need you.” She swipes her foot through the salt circle I hadn’t noticed on our cracked linoleum floor, and he disappears. “Baby girl, I think it’s time to tell you the truth about your father.”
