The plan works. The moment I speak the spell—improvised in the moment since I don’t exactly have prior experience in escaping from custom-made prison planes—a glowing gateway opens beside us. Sassy yawns at us from the other side like she sees glowing portals appear in my ritual room all the time, and Baskara drops a book he was studying.
Ash and I walk through the portal together just as his dad calls everyone else into the room, and then there’s arms around us and tears and relieved laughter from all sides.
My parents are a little more reserved, but his hug me so tight it knocks the air out of me and thank me for getting their son out of there. My parents have the good graces to look ashamed.
And I look somewhat embarrassed myself when Baskara offers them his hand and says, “We will need to get along, for their sakes. They positively reek of each other.”
My mom looks like she’s about to faint while my dad gasps for what to say.
Kinaaz laughs. “Is that what took you so long?”
I do my best to compose myself and be professional about this. “How long was I gone?”
“About three hours,” Mom says a little too fast, seemingly grateful for the change of topic. I am, too, even though it was my idea.
“It didn’t feel that long,” I say.
Baskara winks at me. “Not surprising.”
Ash’s dads hug him again. “Please, come home any time you want,” Kinaaz says, “but we won’t be angry if you’d rather stay and ‘catch up’ with Lori for a few days.”
Ash doesn’t look as mortified as I feel in that moment, but then he was raised by a sex demon whereas my parents covered my eyes whenever a sex scene came on TV well into my teenage years.
Everyone excuses themselves shortly after that. My parents are the first out, and his leave after another round of hugs. We promise to visit once everything’s sunk in, and then Ash and I are alone. Even Sassy leaves us alone after a long, indulgent stretch.
“Welcome back. I…don’t know what else to say,” I add with a nervous laugh. “It must feel strange to be back here. Is there anything I can get you?”
A mischievous grin darkens Ash’s eyes. “Many things, but first…” He leans in to kiss me but then hesitates and steps away. “Unless you regret what happened? Now we’re back here…now the adrenaline’s worn off…”
I shake my head. “No regrets. Do you…”
“No.”
I close the small space between us. “Then I’ll never leave your side again, my mate.”
That low growl leaves his throat again, and I’m really glad we’re alone.
“It’s a promise,” Ash says.
We seal it with a kiss, and he asks to see the house. I start with the bedroom.
“By the way,” I ask as Ash eyes my bed, “what kind of demon are you? I forgot to ask.”
He chuckles. “I’m a wish demon, and it’s as simple as it sounds. I grant wishes. When I’m spiteful, I grant them exactly as they’re asked—we’re the reason the saying ‘be careful what you wish for’ exists. Your wish for a friend was so desperate that I heard it calling out to me, although, in hindsight, chances are the mating bond existed back then, too, and that’s why I heard you above all the other voices.”
“Do you have to grant every wish you come across?”
“No, just the ones I choose to fulfil. Otherwise, I’d never do anything else.” He kisses me again. “As your one and only mate, I’ll make sure all your wishes come true.”
I playfully hit his chest again. “Gods, I didn’t know you could be so cheesy.” I can work with that, though. I suppose, in a way, he was my imaginary friend back then since it was my loneliness that made him notice me. It’s possible that Ash is right, that the mating bond was involved even then, but I’ve a feeling we would have found each other much later if we hadn’t needed a friend so much at the time. For all I know, that’s what imaginary friends really are—powerful Veiled who pick up on someone’s need for company.
I stroke his chest where I smacked it. “What do I wish for right now?”
His smile turns mischievous, and his deep kiss and hand sliding between my legs tell me that he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
I did the impossible to find Ash in a place I shouldn’t have been able to enter. A witch and a wish demon, defying the odds together.
And now I’ve finally found him, I’ll never leave his side again.