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Home? More like a palace.
I’d done research on the other nagas. There weren’t many left in the world and most of them were filthy rich, old money. Our ancestors had been treated as deities in the past in South and Southeast Asia and been given offerings for centuries. And while the dough balls, sweets, and milk were long digested, the fancy pitchers and bowls they were brought in—sometimes made of solid gold, if royalty came to pray—and all the jewels and lengths of colored silk added up over time.
However, the curse had ruined my grandfather, and subsequently, my father and I too. They had enough to live decent middle-class lives, don’t get me wrong, but no matter how hard I worked, I’d never rebuild the wealth we’d lost. I’d never have a palatial estate to roam, or grand fountains in which to soak my scales.
I’d never be able to shower my mate with gifts or build her a den worthy of royalty. And now I didn’t even have my human’s help with the construction. There was only so much I could do without opposable thumbs.
I’m helping clean up her place.
True, but he also planned to leave after. Our naga would agree with me. As if he’d even let that out. He’d been suppressing it for years.
Me? You’re the one who keeps taking over completely.
Said the one who insisted on staying human all the time and not letting me out.
Too annoyed to continue conversing, I shoved the human part of myself as far back as possible. When he was finally silent, I slithered out of the woods to have another soak in the pond. I wanted to be perfectly clean before I brought my mate to the den.
Even if she wasn’t thoroughly impressed, hopefully she’d know I cared enough to offer her forever. And maybe she’d forgive me when my stupid human took over and broke her heart.
Chapter 15
Sybil
Istretchedmyarmsup over my head before bending from side to side to relieve the soreness from decluttering all day.
Well…it wasn’tjustthe decluttering. Some of the soreness was from all the bedroom gymnastics Zayn and I had indulged in last night. I smiled at the memory.
It was hard not to remember every time I looked at the kitchen counter, or into my bedroom. I couldn’t believe my childhood bed was able to handle that much movement and pressure.
Zayn had joked this morning about christening every room in the house to truly make it ours, even though he wasn’t moving in or anything. I might take him up on the offer. It sounded fun.
There was this unspoken understanding between us that this was a temporary arrangement unless we somehow broke the curse, but I now questioned whether that really had to be the case. Why not just have him stay here? We got along great, and when his snake wanted out, he could just roam around outside.
Even with the curse, things could work out. He would be better off here than back at the condo. And so would everyone else, if his snake truly was out of control.
I shook my head. I was getting wayyyy ahead of myself. We hadn’t even gone on a proper date yet. He was here to help me out, and in return, I’d try to help him. That’s it. This wasn’t a relationship, no matter how toe-curlingly wonderful last night had been.
At least I knew now I didn’t have to worry about Zayn’s snake disappearing into the wilderness forever. He’d slithered off into the woods for a while but was currently bathing in the pond out front. He lifted his snout up over the water and turned to the cottage as if checking in on me every so often.
I was cleaning up the kitchen pantry, having packed up all the stuff from the old display cabinet, the one I used to love as a kid. I was keeping a few of my favorite things, like the silver pan flute with the detailed engravings that glowed with happy magic. That was one of the rules I’d set: I was only keeping the things that gave me happy memories or that I found beautiful.
Then there were a few pieces I didn’t want to keep, but would be dangerous to sell or throw away, lest they ended up in the wrong hands. I couldn’t just dump everything into donation boxes like other people did. I’d try to get them into the hands of collectors first and for anything left I’d call in professionals. With the number of magical artifacts in the world growing every day, some companies were set up to help neutralize and contain those that might be dangerous.
Decluttering food was much easier. Great Granny Syl had dried food and stale cookies hidden in the back of her cupboards that were older than me. They all went into the giant trash bag in the middle of the kitchen floor.
My phone buzzed, and I picked it up off the counter to check the screen. Unknown number. Again. I’d been getting unknown calls all day, which was the reason I’d put my phone on vibrate to begin with. I was hesitant to pick up unless it was a number I recognized, and it wasn’t just because of the sales calls.
The unknown number calls had started yesterday, shortly after the attack on the ward I’d put on my home. Meanwhile I’d also stopped getting messages from Nigel, so I deeply suspected it was him. My phone let out another short buzz and a message flashed on my screen. Curious, I read it, and my blood froze.
I know your little secret, witch. Agree to my terms or I’ll report you to the EA. They’ll lock you up forever.
No. He couldn’t know. I glanced over at the old cat tree I kept at the cottage. Salt and Pepper lounged in one of the baskets, Pepper’s tail dangling lazily over the edge. The last time I’d cast the youth spell on them was two years ago in the woods behind the cottage. Nigel couldn’t possibly have known about it.
I’d planned on coming back to the cottage on my own next weekend, without Zayn, so I could wait with the ratties in the meadow out back for the owl to go on a hunt. I hadn’t thought of that when I’d invited Zayn back during dinner yesterday, I thought guiltily. I hadn’t been thinking of Salt and Pepper at all.
A knocking at my window had me yelping and scrambling away, only to realize it was just Zayn. He was still a serpent, and he lifted his head up to peer in the window.
I tossed my phone into my purse which still sat on the counter where I’d left it yesterday. There was nothing I could do about Nigel now. I’d worry about him when I got back to the city.
