A beat later, Tobias is there, his thick arms wrapping around me, squeezing me to his chest.
“Breathe,” he says into my ear, rubbing a hand over my back.
I try, but a choked sob comes out instead. I hate how ridiculous I must look right now; I don’t normally cry in front of people, and I definitely don’t want this asshole to think I’m weak. But everything I’ve learned over the last few weeks, coupled with what happened in the alley, is too much to keep bottled inside.
Another sob racks my chest, and tears fall down my cheeks.
“Breathe, Joseline,” Tobias rumbles in my ear again. He squeezes me closer yet, the contact helping to ground me.
I suck in a deep breath and blow it out slowly.
I almost died.
Inhale.
A huge, disgusting beast almost killed me.
Exhale.
Tobias saved me with fucking magic swords.
“Joseline.” Tobias’ voice is sterner this time, and I manage to pry my eyes open. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
Safe.
The word slices through my panic, sinking throughme and soothing the worst of my nerves. Just like in the club, Tobias protected me in the alley. Once again, he proved that he meant what he said.
He’s a demon of his word, if such a thing exists.
Finally, I get my breathing under control, but Tobias doesn’t let me go. He lets me stand there in his arms, my body perfectly molded to his, for a long moment. Until I’m ready to move.
But when I step away, I instantly miss the contact.
“What was that thing?” I ask, trying to distract myself from the desire to be back in his arms. “And why did you say it was hunting you?”
Whipping out his phone, he fires off a text message I can’t read—probably to warn his band members.
“A hellbeast,” he finally answers as he tucks his phone away. “Lowly, horrible creatures straight from the bowels of Hell. They’re generally too stupid to act on their own; our guess is that a stronger demon is sending them.”
“Yourguess?” I blanch, staring up into his golden eyes. “What do you mean you guess? You don’t know why they’re after you?”
He shakes his head. “No, we don’t. Not really. We aren’t supposed to be on Earth, but there’s no reason for anyone to be hunting us. At least, not to the extent these fuckers have been. Whatever they want, whatever they’re after, it’s clear they won’t stop until they get it.”
“But why? What could they possibly want with you?” An icy chill creeps back up my spine, but I shove the fear down. I refuse to have another panic attack with this demon standing here.
This time, he hesitates, and my stomach drops.
“We have our theories,” he explains slowly. “One of them is the half-demon child your friend is carrying. Not much is known about half-demons, but they’re rumored to be powerful.”
Niki.The baby.
Nausea turns my stomach.
“Like I said, that’s just a theory,” Tobias rushes to reassure me. “Ennubi are rare and unique demons; it could be that someone is only after us. There’s a chance they don’t even know about the baby.”
“A chance?” I manage to find my voice, but my thoughts are still racing too quickly for me to keep up.
He nods once. “We haven’t told anyone, but Sebastian has been poking around in the cities we visit, looking for answers. Maybe someone somewhere said something. Earthly gossip doesn’t travel nearly as fast as gossip in Hell.”
