Well. Her nostrils flared. “We prefer Fae. Have you ever even met one of us?”
“No.” He studied her as he would a newly discovered creature. “But fairies are all…”
“Crazy,” she finished for him, rolling her eyes. “So we’ve heard. Time and time again.” Such a stupid rumor. “Let’s see. What other rumors are out there? I know. Vampires are pale and need human blood to survive. They turn humans into vamps on a whim. Oh, and the sun kills them.” None of that was true. Vampires loved the sun and were their own species. There was no turning of anybody. When a human mated a vampire, she remained human…but did gain immortality through a chromosomal change.
“Point made,” Logan said. “But still.”
“Still what? Demons? Oh yeah. They’re hell beasts.” She snorted. Maybe that was rather true. “We are not crazy.” No more than any other species, anyway.
“Right,” he muttered.
It was true that her people hadn’t exactly been visible enough to counter the rumor—which was exactly how they liked it. Now, because of him and his people, she had no choice but to be visible again. For a time. “You have no idea what you’re doing,” she muttered, scrunching her toes over the rough concrete. Those stupid shoes had left red marks across the top of her feet.
“What I’m doing?” His chin lowered, giving him a predatory look even though he was sitting and shackled. “Oh, baby. You don’t know what you’vedone.”
The saliva in her mouth dried up. Completely. Her knees weakened, so she forced a hard expression onto her face. Hopefully. “You haven’t left us much choice.”
Dark amusement filled his ancient eyes. “So I heard. You picking up that sword anytime soon?”
Her mouth tightened. Shouldn’t he look at least a little bit scared? “Don’t let my size fool you, demon,” she said.
“It’s your eyes that got me,” he rumbled. “Green and soft and sweet. Your power is there.” He shifted his weight very casually.
Her power was in her brain, and she knew it. “These are contacts. Don’t get used to them.”
Interest sizzled across his chiseled features. “What color are your eyes?”
One of them was the actual green he’d seemed to like. “None of your business. By the way, we dropped your wallet and phone back in the alley, so you can stop looking for them.” There wouldn’t be any way to trace him to the warehouse. She narrowed her gaze. “My research on you shows you can’t teleport. I figure that’s true, since you haven’t given it a try.” Many demons, not all, had the ability to teleport through dimensions to a different place on Earth.
“Not yet,” he said calmly. “I’m not even thirty yet, so there are centuries to develop the talent.”
Odd. Sure, all immortals appeared to be around his age, regardless of their time on Earth. They looked centuries younger than their real years, but this male? He looked older. Early thirties with that tough,I’ve seen shitexpression that wasn’t an expression. It also gave him theDon’t worry, baby, I can protect you from all evil if I wantsexy look that some males just seemed to have. The wounded ones who also looked like they could kiss. For hours.
She cleared her throat. “I need some information from you before we continue.”
“Sure,” he murmured. “Name is Logan Kyllwood, and I’ve been sent to retrieve you since you’re one of the three Keys. A fact you obviously know.”
She rolled her eyes. “The only reason you know I’m a Key is because we put the information out there to draw you in.”
“No shit,” he drawled. “Even so, you have a gift, and you need to be protected.”
Gift? “It’s a curse, demon,” she snapped. “And you’re in no position to protect anybody.” She knew the three female Keys were needed so their blood could be used in some stupid, ancient ritual that would do nothing but cause more problems for everybody.
One of his dark eyebrows rose. “Curse? How can you say that? You have the ability to rid the world of true evil with one little ritual.”
Ha. That’s what he thought. Idiot vampire-demon hybrids. Why didn’t he look a little more worried? The guy obviously wasn’t taking her seriously. “That ritual won’t even dent the evil in this world,” she said. “Regardless, it isn’t going to happen.”
“Sure, it is.” Logan tilted his head. “Why are the fairies declaring war on the demon nation?”
She blinked. “We’re not. You’re not here because of the demons. You’re here because of the Seven. Right now, your friends are only six strong, and we have to keep it that way until we take out a few more.” The Seven were a group of hybrids who thought they were tasked with protecting the earth from the most evil of Kurjans, the one currently confined in a prison dimension. But they were wrong. They’d messed with physics in a way that was catastrophic, and they had to be stopped. “You can’t be allowed to take part in your ritual and become one of the Seven.” The Seven couldn’t reach full force. It would be the complete package to doom.
“Mercy,” he said, almost gently. “Even if I disappear, somebody else will step up and take my place.”
They truly didn’t understand, did they? Nobody should mess with the laws of the universe without freaking understanding them. Was it because they were hybrids or males that they were so arrogant? Probably both. “Not exactly true, demon.” She shook her head. “There’s a reason only ten percent of the males who’ve undergone your ritual survived. Only certain bloodlines can even attempt it.”
He exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I figured.” He looked way too casual just leaning against the wall, iron bands around his wrists. “What’s the fairy nation’s problem with the Seven?”
That would take much too long to explain to him. “Let’s just say you’ve screwed things up for us, and now you have to disappear.”
