“Not at the expense of everyone around me.”
“I think you give yourself too little credit. Why don’t you find someone who can help you learn to control it?”
Samael’s face flashed in front of my eyes, and I closed them in a bid to make it disappear. It didn’t. When I opened my eyes, my sister was smirking at me.
“You were thinking abouthim, weren’t you?”
“Samael can’t be trusted.”
A couple of months ago Samael caught me in his tower, with one of his demons dead on the floor in front of me. He’d bonded me to him, and we’d made a deal. If I could find out who was murdering his demons— and kill them within two weeks– he’d let me free.
During that time, we’d gotten… close. Despite my hatred of Samael and everything he stood for, I hadn’t been able to help myself. We were drawn together like magnets, and at one point I’d been moments away from sleeping with him.
Then I saw the true Samael. The Samael who’d refused to release me from my bond over a technicality. After I’d saved his life, I might add.
Evie raised her eyebrow, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. “Have you seen him since…”
“I made the mistake of saving his stupid life? No. He’s been suspiciously absent from my life. But you know what hasn’t been absent? This stupid mark.” I held it up and the gold seemed to sparkle in the light. I ground my teeth. The mark on my arm proclaimed that I belonged to Samael. And each time I dropped my shields even a little, I could feel his masculine presence down the end of that bond.
“Have you thought about asking him for help?”
“He can’t help me with this. Besides, he’s a demon. What does he know about unseelie power?”
Just the word “unseelie” made me shiver. I didn’tfeelhalf unseelie. But I’d also been magically neutered for most of my life.
“Uh-huh.” Evie’s mouth twitched and I scowled at her.
“He’s dangerous. Besides, I have a new plan. I met a witch when I was investigating the demon murders. Her name is Selina. She was the one who was able to tell me my power wasn’t all witch. I’m going to see if she’d be willing to help me find someone who can perform a suppression spell. Otherwise, maybe she can train me to keep my control.”
In the meantime, I had to accept that I couldn’t be trusted around anyone who could piss me off. So basically the entire population of the world.
Evie grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Go to Gary and explain what’s happening with your power. Apologize. He’ll understand. And in the meantime, if you can’t trust yourself to buy things from him, let me know. I can go for you.”
I smiled. This was the least awkward conversation we’d had so far. Maybe there was hope for us yet.
“Okay,” I said. “But after what I did, there’s a pretty good chance he’ll just ban me from his store.”
“All you can do is try.”
“You’re right.” And now I itched to go talk to him.
Evie’s eyes gleamed. “Go apologize. I’ll wait here and order us another drink.”
Gary’s was just a couple minutes away, further down Main Street. “I won’t be long.” I got to my feet and scanned the bar. The werewolves were busy chatting up a group of light fae women. The goblins in the corner were speaking in hushed voices, and Mere was keeping an eye on the group of human mercenaries near the door. No one here would be likely to mess with my sister.
“I see what you’re doing,” Evie said mildly. “I can take care of myself.”
I grinned at her and strode out of the bar.
* * *
Danica
I squinted at my phone. Ten pm. Adult gnomes didn’t need much sleep, and Gary was known for keeping his store open until two am some nights. I turned right as I walked out of Meredith’s, heading down Main Street toward Gary’s small store.
High above me, I heard the rustling of wings. I surveyed the night sky. The sound had only lasted a split second, but I knew what I’d heard. I’d thought I was going crazy over the past few weeks but I wasn’t. Samael still had his people watching me.
I suppressed the urge to call him and give him a piece of my mind. The demon was leaving me alone for now. I had no desire to rouse his interest once more.
