"No, by fun, I meanfun. Mutts like me don't much go for lapping up souredmeritlike full-blooded demons do. I'd rather lap at our girl's sweet candy cunt again than anything else," I add.
That makes the mercenary's attention intensify on me. He's got the same look on his face I've seen on countless competitors in Amadeus's arena—that look like he's going to rip me limb from limb and enjoy the spray of my blood as he does.
"You want to fucking repeat that for me?" he growls. "Ourgirl?Again?"
"We get it, you're protective of her, too. Welcome to the club," Ian huffs. Then he frowns. "What is a hotshot like you doing here, anyway? Are you matched to Heidi or something?"
Like the sky god's trying to be funny, thunder rolls overhead at the exact second Asher's jaw clenches as if that question bugs him in some way.
"I'm just her bodyguard. Frost hired me."
"What a softie he is, forgiving you so quickly for hunting them all over the damn place after they escaped Everbound," Ian scoffs.
"Like I said, you've missed a lot. Everett's about as soft as broken glass these days."
"Pretty useless bodyguard you must be, letting our girl get hit by a bus like that," I point out, wondering if I should try my luck at ripping his head off for allowing Heidi to get injured.
"I was hiredafterthat," Douglas mutters, his glare cutting back to Ian. "I know you're Everett's longtime friend and all, but you're unstable right now. Go dry up for a few months and take your pet demon with you, because neither of you will be going anywhere near?—"
The door clicks open behind him as the most precious voice I've ever fucking heard starts to ask, "Asher? Who's out…"
Heidi trails off as the door opens all the way, her breath catching harshly at the sight of us.
Infernal hells below,I'm so fucking happy to see her. I scan her face, committing her eyes to memory now that a blindfold's not in the way.
What a smokeshow.
Not to mention, the scent of her sweetmeritis already making my mouth water.
"There you are," I grin at her. "Only took me eight fucking months. Sorry to keep you waiting, Candy."
22
HEIDI
Oh my gods.
Ian is alive.
Wait, Ian is alive? How?
This must be a hallucination from how exhausted I still am. Or I'm having a mental breakdown. Or…
Or maybe he'salive, gazing at me with soulful blue eyes like he also can't believe I'm right in front of him.
Asher scowls at the stranger and tells him my name isn't Candy, to which the stranger snarks something my already-overwhelmed brain doesn't catch. Jessica is saying something behind me, too, but I don't hear it. All I can do is stare at Ian with moisture welling in my eyes.
He's grown up. He's taller and handsomer than I ever imagined.
And he's not in a coffin.
The last time I saw Ian, he was in a coffin after one of his mothers stabbed him through the heart with an oak stake. She didn't mean to—it was his “ill will” curse getting to her. The one that compelled everyone around him, except me, to try to hurt or kill him all the time.
I wasn't supposed to go to his private funeral. It's the one thing I ever rebelled and snuck out to do. Everett was there with the Frost quintet already, who would have been livid if they found me outside their house where anyone could see me. My inner animal was terrified of being discovered, so I climbed a tree in the Boones’ private family cemetery and quietly cried my heart out during the graveside funeral service.
It was all kept very hush-hush, since the Boone family, like the Frosts, were big on appearances and didn't want anyone knowing they accidentally killed their only son. Still, the Boones were grieving so heavily that I could barely breathe through it.
I didn't know how to wake up and function during the days and weeks after his funeral. I couldn't figure out how to go on in a world without my brother's best friend in it—without him sneaking into the attic to chat with me and bring me new books to read together.
