Zagan’s pierced brow nearly rose into his black hairline. Before he could answer, the camera moved, and Iyla’s face filled the screen with Zagan. The two were in his bed, and from the way Iyla held the sheets up to her chin, I’d say I called right after the two had been busy.
“Hi,” she said hesitantly. “Is—Is everything okay?”
I shook my head. “No. I need your advice.”
Iyla and Zagan shared a look. Zagan pulled the phone back and said, “Be there in a sec.”
Before I could tell them that wasn’t necessary, they ended the call. True to their word, the two appeared within a plume of shadows near my bedroom door. They’d thankfully thrown some clothes on, and with one last look at Serenity, I stood from my chair beside the bed and joined them in the doorway.
“You didn’t have to come,” I mumbled under my breath.
“No, no,” Zagan replied softly with a fleeting glance in Serenity’s direction. He shifted farther out into the hallway andlowered his voice as his smirk widened. “I wanted to watch this show.” He passed a finger between me and Iyla.
I glared at him and reluctantly looked down at Iyla, who stared at me with hesitant apprehension. I squared my shoulders and decided to rip off this band aid. “I know I’ve never been overly friendly toward you.”
Zagan scoffed and rolled his eyes.
Iyla merely smiled softly. “That’s true. But I get why you’ve been grumpy around me. You didn’t trust me, and I don’t blame you for that. Zagan told me what Incubi deal with when bound to the wrong people. You didn’t know me or the reality behind how Zagan and I ended up bonded, and that meant being skeptical of me. You were worried about your friend. No one can blame you for that.”
My eyes had to be bugging out of my head right now, but I couldn’t help it. I’d been an asshole to her, constantly looking down on her, not giving her any room to share the same space as me, ignoring her, and yet … she wasn’t angry. She wasn’t the evil seductress who wanted to harm my friend that I’d built her up to be.
I shook my head. “Okay. I was wrong about you.” I paused and added, “I’m sorry.”
“No apology necessary. You helped me, remember? I wouldn’t have been able to get Zagan back without you.” She straightened and crossed her arms. “Now I’m sure you didn’t want to chat just to apologize. You said you needed my advice?”
I nodded and looked back into the bedroom where Serenity still slept. “She … she’s struggling. I’m sure you’ve noticed and witnessed some of that since you guys have become friends. I need to know what I can do for her. I need to know how to help her get through what she’s struggling with. You told Perseus that he didn’t need to do anything. He just needed to be there for Harper. But, that’s not really enough, is it?”
Iyla joined me in the doorway and peered into the room at Serenity. Sadness filled her eyes. “People underestimate how much it means to have someone on your side. Life is a challenge, and personally, I don’t think we’re meant to face that battle alone. So, yes. Even though it sounds like no big deal, being there for her in whatever way she needs is all you have to do.”
I leaned my head back against the doorframe, stress heavy on my shoulders. “I want to be there. I want to give her what she needs. But I’ve fucked up so much. I’m a demon, for Hell’s sake. What good is someone like me for her?”
Zagan drew closer, a small smile tugging at his pierced lips. “I was once told that while yes, I’m a demon, I’m first and foremostZagan.” He placed his tattooed hand on my shoulder. “So now I’m telling you the same thing. You’reDante. That’s who Serenity has always seen, and that’s who she needs right now.”
My gaze bounced between the human girl and her demon lover as their words of comfort, support, and advice danced around my skull. I worried that my presence with its dark history and damage would only serve to make Serenty’s life harder. But I wanted to try. I wanted to try being that support for her. I wanted to be that strength she could take up when she needed a hand. I wanted to behers.
Iyla said all I had to do was be there for Serenity. So I’d make sure I never left again.
Chapter 33
Dante
I FORGED A DOCTOR’S NOTE to get Serenity out of work. Her dad, who also happened to be her boss, texted to ask if she was okay after getting emailed the note, but that one message was all he sent. Some fucking concerned parent he was. His lack of care for his only daughter served to piss me off, but not as much as Bradley’s constant texts about being sorry for hurting her, asking for her to talk to him, requesting that she tell him where she was while sick, and all his other bullshit. But that fury coursing through me was fine. Being angry at her dad and that fucker was better than feeling suffocated while watching my human yearn for death.
With the issue of her work taken care of, which would allow her to recuperate in peace, I looked for something else that I could do for her while waiting on her to wake up. That was when I decided it was finally time to pay back what was due to her abuser. The boiling venom for myself and everyone else who’d hurt her redirected itself to an outward target.
I stepped through shadows, and even though I didn’t know where Bradley was right now, I knew where he lived. That was as good a place to start as any. I appeared in his apartment, and as luck would have it, he was there.
The bastard sat on his couch, watching some shitty action movie while throwing back a glass of vodka. He unsteadily refilled the cup to drink more.
The sight of him had air rushing in and out of me hard. Within the hidden world of shadows, I stormed across the room and slapped the drink out of his hand. The glass didn’t even have time to hit the wall and shatter before I grabbed the worthless sack of shit by the throat. A deep roar rattled my chest as I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder like a weightless rag.
He landed with an agonized croak, his pale face shuttering in pain. I was sure he was confused and alarmed over the unseen force throwing him around his living room. No amount of drunkenness could explain it, but I didn’t care. I wanted him to fucking pay for everything he’d done to her. I wanted him to suffer for ever thinking he could put his hands on her.
“I warned you not to touch her,” I growled, even though he couldn’t hear me from within my shadows.
He was unmoving where he twitched and whimpered on his back, the wind having been knocked out of him. I stood over him and relished in the sight. I glanced at both of his hands, picturing them around Serenity’s throat. I pictured these filthy hands hitting her hard enough to bruise or draw blood.
These hands would never fucking touch her again.
