“True.” She grinned. “Still, I’m surprised you’re hooking up with a straight guy. Figured you’d use those demon good looks to get your hooks into some other romantic before you shatter his heart.”
I flushed at her words and looked down at the ground. That hadn’t taken long.
“Oh, I see.” Through the obvious enjoyment in her voice, I was fairly certain a hint of genuine warning was in her words. “Not that werewolves are known to be suckers for love, but be warned, wolf—this demon likes to make you fall, then rip you to shreds. It’s his specialty.”
“That’s not why we’re together, Cate.”
“Not sure I caught that, demon. What did you say? And this time, don’t call me Cate. You’re not family, remember?”
I glanced up at her and tried to glare. Though not really similar, the family resemblance was enough that I couldn’t help but see Finn standing in front of me. My glare faded.
We stared at each other. Shane and the fairy were exchanging verbal spars, but I didn’t try to make sense of their noise.
The vines tightened a bit further. I suppressed my inclination to try to burst through them again or set them on fire. She couldn’t kill me, even if I’d wanted her to. We both knew it. If she needed to make me suffer for what I’d done to her brother, I didn’t see how she hadn’t earned that right.
Maybe she could read it in my expression. Apparently, that was what she’d been waiting on. After we continued to stare at each other for several more moments, I felt the vines loosen and fall away.
I repositioned my feet, regaining my balance, then waited.
“Brett!”
I looked up at Shane, still suspended above me.
“Get me down.”
I returned my gaze to Caitlin. A cocked eyebrow was her only response.
“Come on, Caitlin. Shane didn’t do anything.”
Her face darkened. “Shane, is it?” She looked up at him. “He’s good-looking, if you go for that kind of thing. White. Well, kinda.” She brought her accusing stare back to me. “The Hispanic too much for you?”
“You know better.”
She actually looked the tiniest bit ashamed. It hadn’t been the Hispanic part, but the extreme closeness of her family and the ease with which they had accepted me as part of them, sans Caitlin, of course, that had helped quicken my freak-out.
“Let him go, Caitlin. Please.”
“Tell him.”
“Like this? Really?” I gaped at her, unable to keep a sound of pleading out of my voice. The anger that had always been in her eyes every time she looked at me had been nothing compared to the hate that poured through them now. “What good will it do?”
“Tell him.”
I looked up at Shane, and though I hadn’t done it to him, I couldn’t suppress a flood of shame as I spoke the words out loud. “I dated Caitlin’s brother. We were in love. Stuff got… It was too much for me. Just too much. I ran.”
“You dated a warlock? Really?”
Caitlin glared up at him. “That’s what you’re gonna go with? When it’s a witch who’s got you suspended in the air?”
“Technically, that would be a fairy.” Shane leered down at her, then muttered under his breath. “Not that that’s much better.”
“I told him, Caitlin. I’ll tell him a million times, if that makes it better. I’ll tell every person we meet on the street, okay?”
“Fine.” She motioned toward the fairy. “Let him down.”
The fairy glanced at her but didn’t make any move to lower Shane. “In case you’ve forgotten, you’re not in control of me.”
“Let him down,Pewlet.”
