“Okay, it is a likely scenario that one came through when you summoned it. But where?” Larissa furrowed her brows and motioned around the compound. “Not here. We would have sensed it. I thought for sure it was gone. Maybe I didn’t stop it from coming through, just pushed it elsewhere.”
“It must have found another way through,” Janie said. “Has anyone checked the portal on the Common?”
Larissa nodded. “Roman has had that area watched in particular.”
A shiver crawled up Janie’s skin, and she shuddered. She’d been dragged through that twisted vortex into a demon hellscape. She lowered her head and pressed her hands to her temples. “What a nightmare. This can’t be happening again. If anything happens to any of the sentries…” She gulped. “I couldn’t bear it.” In a lower voice, she added, “Especially Arto.”
“They’ll be okay,” Larissa assured her. “He’ll be okay.”
Janie sighed before meeting Larissa’s supportive gaze. “We kissed right before he went out.”
Her friend’s eyes widened like twin moons over the harbor. “Whoa. You and Arto? Finally!” Her mouth spread into a grin beaming with speculation. “Does that mean?”
“No.” Janie scoffed with a wave. “It was just a kiss.”
That was not “just” anything.
“Nothing has changed,” she added quickly.
Then why did it feel like she’d pushed boulders aside in her chest, leaving her exposed?
“Nothing?” Larissa’s brows arched.
“Nothing,” Janie affirmed. “We’re still just friends.”
Pshaw. Were they? How could they just be friends with the way her body still tingled?
Blast it all, she didn’t know what to do or what happened now. What she needed to focus on was on him surviving the night rather than worrying about whether they had a tomorrow.
ARTO
It took all Arto’s willpower to leave Janie at the compound and head for the sky. The moon was almost full, partially obscured with wispy clouds, and light snow fell onto his wings. As he soared, he couldn’t get the image of how Janie looked when he’d had to say goodbye. Her eyes still appeared dazed by their kiss—their first kiss—and her perfect lips were puffy. He hadn’t meant to kiss her so hard, but they’d come together near frantic, desperate to steal that moment before he had to leave.
If he could have stayed, he would have slowed things down. Sweet starlight, if he could have been with her now, he’d kiss every delectable millimeter of her body, sear her with his touch. What she did to him. He couldn’t explain it, he doubted he’d ever be able to. Nobody rocked him to the core the way she did. After only one kiss, he burned for her even more.
When he’d forced himself to walk away, he inhaled her scent, and it fortified him for what he had to do. Because leaving his mate after he’d tasted her lips for the first time was as easy as flying with concrete wings. But now that a demon had been detected in Boston near her apartment, he had to do whatever he could to fix this mess that he played a significant role in. Yet, leaving her wasn’t without risk. The likelihood that a demon could ever breach the compound was minuscule, but they had detected dark magic attempting to come through in the library, so it wasn’t completely unreasonable.
Arto flew toward Boston Common, his wings heavy. He’d been the one to report detecting a demon. While he’d taken Janie to the compound, Roman had come to check out the situation outside her house with some sentries. He’d confirmed the findings and reallocated their resources to tackle this new development.
While some sentries searched in an increasingly wider circle from Janie’s apartment, Manny stood patrol in stone form on the rooftop of the compound where he could watch for any incoming danger.
Arto passed other sentries mounted on watch on other buildings. Once he saw the Common below, amid the city buildings and snow-kissed trees, he began his descent. It was easy to spot Roman, Talia, and Diego as they patrolled the grounds in human form since they stood much larger than average-sized humans. Since demons had slipped into Boston through a portal here five months ago, this was the first place to start their search.
Once Arto landed, he stepped up to Roman. “Any discoveries, Commander?”
Roman sneered as he stared at the spot where the portal had once been opened to the demon realm. He kept his gaze fixed on it as if he couldn’t stand to look at Arto. No, that was just Arto’s guilt interpreting the actions. More likely, Roman was intent on figuring out what was going on.
The shame of Arto’s actions continued to weigh on him like a heavy cloak, but he couldn’t let it interfere in his duties. He could all but feel the stares from Talia and Diego questioning why he could’ve been so careless to let this happen, but in their lower-ranking status, they wouldn’t dare to dress him down. Roman, however, had every right to do so. After the initial tongue-lashing at the compound, he’d appeared to calm down and focus on the mission rather than continue to tear into Arto. Perhaps he had Larissa to thank for that. She had the calming effect and reasoning of a true mate. Or perhaps Roman realized that unleashing more anger wouldn’t help them find the demon and focused on doing something more productive to hunt it down.
“The portal still appears to be sealed.” He turned and met Arto’s gaze without judgment. “So, it must have found another way in.” He gestured with an open fist. “Unless, of course, we’re interpreting the situation completely wrong.”
“How so?” Arto questioned.
“We can’t be sure one recently came through, although it seems likely considering what happened in the library. It could have come through elsewhere.”
Arto’s muscles tensed, and he swallowed. He glanced around. “Where should we cover?”
“Diego will continue to patrol here in the Common. Talia will join others in searching for signs of dark magic in the city.”
