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I snatch it off the vanity, grateful for literally any interruption that isn't another revelation about my sex life. Then I look at the screen.

And every bit of relief evaporates.

MOM.

Of fucking course she’s calling right now. Because apparently the universe has decided I haven't suffered enough this morning.

Clarissa peers over my arm.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

My phone keeps ringing. I stare at my mother's name. The magical sparks return. Clarissa slowly backs away.

“Maybe you should answer that.”

I glare at her.

“Maybe you should go clean something.”

She flies out of the room.

Coward.

I take one deep breath.

Then another.

My phone continues to ring in my hand. Damian's bite throbs beneath my hair. Red and gold magic dances over my fingertips.

And my mother is calling.

What could possibly go wrong?

Chapter 16

Damian

Mine.

The word moves through the darkness before I’m fully awake.

Not spoken.

Known.

I’m caught in that strange space between sleep and consciousness where the mind hasn’t quite remembered the rules yet. Where there’s no reason to lie to myself.

No fear.

No fucking denial.

Just me.

And my Devil.

For years, I’ve treated that darker part of myself like an enemy I have to contain.