Page 68 of My Demon Neighbor
"I will," I said, then ended the call.
"What happened?" Codie asked, telling me he hadn't caught the whole conversation.
"Arnick thinks he sensed a dark soul somewhere between his place and mine, so he was asking if I sensed anything."
"And you didn't... because of me."
"Notbecause of you," I corrected, turning to face him. "I didn't notice because I was busy protectingmymate. No one will blame me for that, all right?"
"But—"
I shook my head, pressing a kiss on his cheek. "Codie, I know things are different for humans, but among the supernatural, nothing gets more priority than a supe's mate, not even the whole fucking world. Got it?"
Codie looked a little stunned by my proclamation, but he nodded after a moment, a pleased glimmer in his eyes.
"You should go. I'll be fine."
I hesitated, then nodded. "Hella will stay with you."
Codie frowned. "You told your friend you'd take her as backup."
"I don't need backup."
"If you won't take Hella, call a friend," he said, and I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off before I could get a word out. "Or I'm going with you."
Yeah, that would never happen.
"I'll call a friend," I promised him, and he crossed his arms, giving me a look that said I should call themnow.
Sighing, I looked through my contacts before stopping at Xin's name. They were the closest, and they'd most likely be free.
They answered almost instantly, their voice warm as they said, "Hey, Pythor. What's up?"
"Need backup. Possible dark soul sighting," I said, and Codie rolled his eyes, probably at my impeccable small-talk skills.
"Be there in two." The call ended with a beep, and I pulled my phone away from my ear, giving Codie a smile.
"There. They'll be here in a bit."
"I'm guessing it's one person since you made a single call. So they're enby?"
"Yep. Xin's pangender. They prefer they/them pronouns because they find the others too limiting."
Codie nodded, then jumped as Xin appeared beside me. Shit, I should've asked them to arrive outside the door.
Xin wasn't a small person. They were the same height as me, but the long black braid they piled up on their head in a bun added a few extra inches to their height. Their angular pale brown eyes were sharp but softened as they slid from me to Codie.
"You must be... wait, you didn't tell us his name," they said, turning to me.
"Codie, this is Xin. Xin, this is Codie, my mate."
Codie got to his feet, and Xin gave him a hug, startling him as he shot me a wide-eyed look.
I mouthed, "Sorry," as he shook his head and returned Xin's hug. When they stepped back, they patted his cheek.
"You're cute. I never thought this grump would find such a cute mate."
"Hey!"
