Page 77 of Rituals & Rivalry

Sure, the cottage suggested I make something at home, but I didn’t realize she was this serious about it. Don’t I deserve a pizza now and then?

The delivery person speaks from the other side: “Hello? Are you okay?”

I let out a choked laugh. “Um—yeah. Haunted cottage.”

“What?”

I call out louder: “Haunted cottage!”

“Oh,” he says, as if he’s heard it all before. “Okay.”

I pull and pull, desperately trying to open the door—and my phone rings. Unknown number.

I answer it with a sigh. “Hello?”

“Hello?” I can hear his voice both through the phone and on the other side of the door—albeit muffled. He sounds as confused as I feel. “Sorry. I’m here to deliver a pizza, and… am I at the right house?”

I lean against the door and nod. “You are. Sorry. It’s just… she won’t let me open the door. The cottage, I mean. I know, I sound totally crazy⁠—”

“You don’t.” He chuckles, clearly on edge. “Everyone knows this place is haunted. I was shaking in my boots when I saw the address.”

“You’re very brave for taking the delivery.” I put on my sweetest voice, the one that can usually get men to bend over backward for me. There’s no saying if it will work when there’s a haunted cottage involved. “I promise I’d tip well, but…” I pull at one of the windows instead, but it won’t budge. “Can you, like, give me a moment? I have to call someone else.”

“Okay. Sure. But make it fast, I have other deliveries.” His voice drops to a mutter. “And this place gives me the creeps.”

I hang up the call. “He didn’t mean it,” I say to the cottage.

Probably best to stay on her good side.

I step into the kitchen, getting some distance from the door, and dial the only person who will know how to fix this.

Sterling answers after the first ring. “Hello?”

“The cottage locked me inside,” I say flatly. “Any suggestions?”

He groans. “I’ll be there in five.”

“Make it three. I’m waiting on a pizza delivery, and something tells me he⁠—”

I look out the door. Damn it. He’s already pulling out of the driveway. Gods. Why is this happening to me?

“Yup.” I laugh. “He’s gone.”

And he definitely took the pizza with him, because I didn’t have time to pay for it—or to tip him. Poor guy.

“Soon,” Sterling says, ending the call.

But it’s too late.

My pizza is gone.

And Sterling doesn’t arrive in five minutes. He shows up twenty minutes later, banging on the door. Before I can get there, it opens itself, the wind pushing it in so easily—opening only for him.

And he’s holding a pizza box.

“Oh, my gods.” I gasp. “My hero.”

Chapter 22