But I’d snapped my new eyes open and sat up, and all I could think about was Noble. And my head didn’t ache when I reached for memories of his beautiful face and laugh and personality, though it did when I tried to remember too much of everything that had surrounded it. I’d put myself on the floor with a migraine for a few hours by trying to remember things like where he lived and where he worked, but I’d written the memories down when they surfaced. I blew out a long breath. The door seemed familiar. From inside, a laugh carried out, and it sounded good—made my heart ache.
Tears trickled out of my eyes, and I sighed. “You’re too fucking emotional,” I snapped, to the tune of more amusement in my head. “I don’t cry like this. Quit being a fucking pansy.”
Sure,surecame a sweet reply, then from my mouth, “I’m a Satanist. We’re humanists. I feel for you.”
“Stop that,” I said and slapped a hand to my lips, growling. “You’re too teary and too handsome. Noble should be the only pretty one in our relationship.”
Sage was smug in my head.
I sighed.
Do it today or I’ll come back without you. Do you want me to be the one to kiss his booboos better?
Growling, I raised my hand. Pushy fucking kid who wasn’t even afraid of a goddamn demon. “He’ll think we’re on the far side of Mars. You know that, right? His story was all over the news. He’s the former boyfriend of a serial killer with a confirmed death count in the hundreds—who survived. He’s a legend to all those ghouls who fawn over the murderers. He’s probably had a ton of people try to talk to him already.”
My hand knocked on the door without my permission, and I poked at Sage in my head but couldn’t force him to do much of anything—that was the agreement we’d made. I’d been too desperate to get back to Noble to make him my puppet. But that was okay. Me trying to completely control a body hadn’t worked out so well last time. Bad as Abe started out, I was pretty sure I’d made him worse by keeping him locked away from the world so much.
The laughter from inside stopped and there was nothing. No footsteps approached the door. No cheerful “just a minute.” I knocked again, this time on my own.
The door opened, and for a moment I was disoriented. The man standing there was familiar. Taller than me with dark curly hair, he glared down his regal nose, but his expression softened after a moment and he smiled a bit.
“Can I help you?” he asked in a light British accent that gave me a jolt, though I thought maybe it shouldn’t have.
“I need to see Noble. My name is Sage Genoa. Please give him this. He’ll understand. I think.” I took a strip of black cloth out of my pocket and passed it to him. He frowned down at it with suspicion. “Tell him I made a better choice this time and he won’t need it.”
Journey lifted his eyebrows in my direction, his name all at once slamming into my mind with a painful twinge. Jealousy ate at me as he shut the door in my face, and it was my turn to be amused as Sage joined in my minor hatred of the other man.
“You don’t even know Noble,” I whispered.
Sage gave the equivalent of a mental shrug, and I got the impression he’d already started thinking about Noble as his, since I hadn’t been trying to keep him out of my thoughts the same way I had Abe. We were… merging a bit, and it was uncomfortable for me but not awful.
“You don’t have to indulge these people,” Journey said loudly as the door was yanked open. My heart almost stopped. Noble stepped out into the hallway. I backed up as he yanked the door closed. I had to look up to meet his eye. He was as beautiful as I remembered. There was a black patch over his right eye that made my heart twist.
Noble held up the blindfold and let it unfurl. “What’s your name?” he ground out. “Your real name.” His face crumpled.
He stared but didn’t move as I covered his remaining eye with one hand. “No peeking. You know it’s Tyler.”
Noble sobbed but nodded. He wrapped his arms around his middle. “I feel shredded. I thought Tyler went crazy. Must have hated me or something.”
“Don’t think about this face. This voice isn’t the same, I know, but it’s me. I’m sorry I was so selfish. I wanted you. You were a good man. You smell delicious. You’re beautiful.” Noble snorted and grabbed my wrist but didn’t shove me off. “You made me happy. I’m a demon, though. Abraham Walker was a walking terror unlike anyone else I’d ever inhabited. I thought I could control him and failed. I don’t do good things, or I never would have asked you out, knowing what I lived with while using him as a host.”
“Did you kill Mr. Enoch?” he whispered, and I let out a long breath.
“I set Abe loose on him. I’m not good, but I love you.”
Noble yanked my hand down, and his mouth was in a thin, tense line. He studied me carefully.
I forced myself to smile. My eyes burned, and I tried again to blame Sage’s inferior emotions.
Noble sucked in a deep breath. “It’s kind of the same,” he said, tracing a finger around my mouth. “Something is similar about your… your expressions.” He pursed his lips. “This man is a thirst trap,” he said with a grin. “Is he dangerous?” Noble shuddered and withdrew his hand. I would have let him touch me forever.
“No, but he is gay, which is a bonus. You wouldn’t believe how many people I looked at before I found him. I didn’t want to create issues with my host. I told him….” Blowing out a long breath, I stepped forward. Noble matched my motion backward, colliding hard with the closed door. My stomach dropped. “I told him that if you agree, we’d share you. I know I shouldn’t have done that without your permission, but… I wanted to see you again. This man was lonely. Bored. A bit antisocial. Not dangerous. To get back here, I had to make a more equitable deal with him than the one I made with Abe. Sage isn’t stupid.” I hung my head, feeling mentally exhausted. I’d hoped for a warmer welcome, although not having Noble slam the door in my face was probably more than I deserved.
“Explain,” Noble demanded.
“Tomorrow you get Sage, an IT tech from Scranton, Pennsylvania. The next day, me. We switch off every other day. It was the best I could negotiate him down to. He barely even smelled like sulfur, so it took me forever to find him. He’s more chaotic than true evil—”
Noble rushed me, and I was stunned when he was able to tip my chin up to brush his lips against mine. I shivered at the differences between this kiss and our last one and leaned against him as he sucked carefully on my top, then bottom lip, as if testing me out. I smiled against his mouth.
