Hazel smiled gently at him before saying, “You really shouldn’t ask people things like that, dear. Some people might find that offensive.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was rude to ask.”
“It’s okay, little witch, I wasn’t offended. Truth be told, we usually all drop our glamor in these meetings, but I didn’t want to scare you.”
“I’m not a witch.”
Az merely lifted one eyebrow and bit into the cake without comment.
“And why would seeing you scare me?” Declan glanced over at Hazel and then back at Az. “I’m pretty sure I’m past that at this point.”
“Are you now?” Az asked.
“Azar. Don’t.” I growled. I knew what he was planning, and I wasn’t going to let him scare Declan.
Declan looked between me and Az and said, “Don’t what?”
“Azar is a demon.”
“A… a demon?” Declan squeaked. “Like from hell?”
Az shrugged. “I suppose hell is as good a name for it as any. But not in the way humans think of it. I’m from another dimension.”
Declan took a deep breath, and I didn’t miss the fact that he was gripping the table with both hands. “So you don’t really look like this?”
“Most of the time I do. It’s just easier to keep my glamor on around town. I own the bookstore across the way, and unfortunately, many humans shop in my store. They wouldn’t react well to seeing their local bookseller with horns on, wings out.”
“Those humans are what keep your store operating in the black, Az,” I said, reminding him. Az and I have had many conversations about the usefulness of humans.
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
“Hold on. You have wings?” Declan asked.
“I do. Would you like to see?”
I rolled my eyes. Az was nothing if not a show-off. With good reason. He was stunning without his glamor, and he knew it. Terrifying, yes, but also stunning.
“Yes, please,” Declan said. “And the horns as well.”
Az shot me a self-satisfied grin and then dropped his glamor. In the blink of an eye, his face appeared a little sharper, his ears more pointed, and his skin had taken on a slight grayish tone, but he still looked mostly like Az, just with two shiny black horns curling back over the top of his head. I suspected that none of us had ever actually seen what Azar looked like in his true form.
He gave Declan a minute to take him in before taking a step back to give himself room and let his massive black wings unfurl. He normally kept them tucked in tight when he was inside because of their size.
Declan gasped and reached up to cover his mouth in surprise. He didn’t look frightened at all. Instead, he looked amazed.
“Wow, that’s unbelievable. You actually have wings. Can you fly with them?” He rolled his eyes. “Stupid question. Of courseyou can. Why else would you have wings except to fly? What do they feel like? They look like leather.”
The idea of Declan fawning all over Azar while he felt his soft wings made me irrationally angry for reasons I didn’t want to examine right then.
“You can feel Azar’s wings later,” I growled. “We have other things to deal with right now.”
His face fell, and then I felt like an ass. He was learning that everything he thought he knew to be true about the world wasn’t accurate—that magic existed, and many of the creatures he’d believed were pure fantasy were in fact real—so of course he was excited.
“You’re right, of course. Right now, we need to save my grandfather.”
“Save me from what?” a familiar voice asked from behind us.
We turned to see Elwood standing in the doorway of the meeting room. With my shifter hearing, it was rare for anyone to sneak up on me, but I’d been so distracted by Declan that I hadn’t even heard Elwood come in. Something that could not happen again.
