“How are you and Rachel doing?” Elias asked, his tone a little too casual. He stared at me with an intensity that made me glance away.
“Fine,” I said with a bored shrug. “Not a whole lot to report. We’re getting along. We do our own thing most of the time.”
“The mating bond hasn’t been too much of an issue?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
It had been a hell of a problem. I couldn’t be in the same room with her for more than a few minutes without having to resist the urge to grab her and have my way with her. Every time I caught a whiff of her scent, I wanted to throw caution to the wind. I had always cared about her, but the mating bond had made that even more acute, and I had to restrain myself every time I saw her. I wanted to taste her, to feel her mouth on mine, to have her entirely.
“Nah, it’s been fine,” I said with a shrug. “We figured it out. Really, it’s just like we’re roommates at this point.” Except I had never wanted a roommate the way I wanted Rachel. Living under the same roof as her was torture sometimes.
I did my best to keep my expression neutral as Elias studied me as if trying to find holes in the story. After a minute, he turned to look back at the notes on his desk.
“That’s good,” he said. “I was worried it would be awkward, so I’m glad you two are working it out.”
“Working it out” was one way of describing it. Holding back with all my strength felt more apt, though.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” I promised.
***
We followed the ravine, a low creek running along next to us as we searched for signs of the demons. We had caught wind of some activity in the area, and we had come to lay a trap for them. So far, though, we hadn’t seen much indication of any of them.
Just as I was thinking it, Drake, walking alongside me, froze. He held up his hand, his head swiveling. His nostrils flared as his eyes darted all over, his shoulders tensing. His eyes narrowed, and he let out a low, rumbling growl.
“They’re nearby.”
Then a malicious cackling filled the air, more voices than there should have been, and a swarm of demons emerged overhead on the lip of the ravine and before us. When I turned back around, I saw more of them closing in from behind.
“Shit,” I snarled. “It was a trap.”
The demons swarmed down the ravine toward us and raced forward to meet us, closing in and surrounding the small group. They surrounded us, lunging forward. I darted out with the blade, slicing into the first imp and causing it to stagger backward. The second one lunged, biting into my hand and forcing me to drop the blade.
I snarled, shaking the imp off even as my hand throbbed painfully. We were outnumbered, and they were far more organized than we had anticipated.
I glanced around, searching for a way out. There wasn’t one, not if we didn’t tear all these creatures to shreds.
Well, if that was what we had to do, that’s what we’d do. These things weren’t getting the better of us.
I let out the battle cry, and everyone got into formation behind me as we prepared to fight.
Chapter 11 - Rachel
Something was wrong.
I realized it the same way I might know that I had burned myself, an innate certainty that filled my entire body, setting me on edge as I tried to figure out what was happening. It was something bad, I could tell that. It was something dangerous, but I wasn’t in danger, so where was that certainty coming from?
It hit me with the speed of a train. I was sensing it through the mating bond. I wasn’t the one in danger—Sam was.
I checked the clock. He should have been home by now. Picking up my phone, I dialed his number. My foot tapped anxiously as the phone rang. And rang. And rang.
“Hey, this is Sam. Leave a message.”
“Fuck.” I hung up.
I tried his phone again later to get the same result. The minutes seemed to drag on. I tried to sit still, but as that sense of danger continued, I couldn’t. I paced back and forth, biting my nails as my mind raced, running through a hundred scenarios that ended with Elias knocking on the door and telling me that Sam had died. Even as I told myself repeatedly that I would sense something through the bond if he was dead, that didn’t stop the crippling fear jolting through me.
All this time, I had told myself I didn’t care about him anymore. I told myself that it didn’t matter. Now, sitting in this house, unsure what happened and having to wait for someone to tell me something, I had to face the fact that I had been lying to myself. I still cared about Sam.
You can worry about that once he gets home, a voice told me.
