I flushed. “I don’t know if I’d say that.”
“And you don’t know if he feels the same.” She tightened the braid, spinning the strands together. “Az is difficult to read, so I understand how you might be confused.”
“It’s more complicated than that.” I sighed.
“Because you’re in a fake relationship?” She arched a brow when I shot her an anxious glance. Chuckling, she shook her head. “You forget. The most important thing to Az is loyalty. Every single person who works for him is in his circle of trust. He tells us everything, including what’s been going on with you.”
I should have known. Of course he wouldn’t have kept any of it to himself. These dancers were part of his family, same as his Legion. But if they knew about our fake relationship, then surely they knew about…
About me.
I pressed my lips together. “He’s really told you everything?”
“Most of it, I’m guessing.”
I closed my eyes. As understanding as he’d been about my past, I hated the idea he’d discussed it with anyone other than me. Those were my skeletons. Not his. My shadows. My nightmares.
“I wish he hadn’t done that,” I whispered.
Priyanka’s hands slowed. “Why is that, Mia?”
“Because some of that…it wasn’t his to share.”
“You mean your past.” Her fingers got to work once again. She was almost finished with the braid now. Just in time to end this awkward conversation. “He didn’t tell us about that. We got an anonymous letter the other day, slid beneath the door while the club was shut. One of the girls found it, took it to the Legion. Az was so mad it looked like he would burn the whole place down.”
“Wait, what?” All the blood rushed from my face, pooling in my gut like a stubborn rock.
“He wouldn’t hear a word against you, Mia. Said that if anyone had a problem with you and your past, they could get the hell out.”
My eyes flipped open, and our gazes caught in the mirror. “Az said that?”
She gave me a solemn nod. “He certainly did. And so we all stayed, Mia. If you say you didn’t do it, that’s enough for us.”
I was literally speechless. Not just because of Az’s reaction to that letter but because oftheirs. These people barely knew me. I shouldn’t fit in, even if it sometimes felt like I did. They were demons, fae, werewolves, and vamps. I was a scrawny little human with bad memories, an empty bank account, and a pigeon I’d named Hendrix.
Tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t stop them this time. My own damn family hadn’t believed me, but these supernaturals did. For the past two years, all I’d wanted was an escape from accusing stares and hastily-made assumptions. And somehow, I had found it. In the most unexpected place imaginable.
In a week, I would have to leave it all behind. It wasn’t like I could actually stay in this life…could I? Would Az even want me if I decided I’d like to stay? We’d made a deal. Soon, that deal would be done.
I would have to say goodbye to this place and these people.
Unless…unless I was wrong about how Az felt about me. He’d defended me, viciously so. Maybe I was wrong to think last night hadn’t been real.
After all was said and done, maybe I actually could find happiness here.
But first, I had to save Serena.
28
Just before we were set to go on stage, I ducked into a doorframe and watched the other girls go. Priyanka gave me a nod and a thumbs up before disappearing into the club. The thumping bass pounded against my feet. This was it. The moment I’d been waiting for all day. My heart thundered so hard in my chest, I could feel the aftershocks in my neck.
With a deep breath, I pushed out the back door and turned my feet west. The warehouse was only two avenues over, near the piers. My footsteps echoed through the quiet streets, and the closer I grew to the river, the fewer pedestrians I passed.
Az was in the sky, watching me. The rest of the demons were waiting inside the warehouse. They were with me every step of the way, even if I couldn’t see them. As long as I remembered I wasn’t alone, I could do this.
For Serena.
I stopped on the street corner and gazed across the avenue at the nondescript warehouse that squatted on the next block. Banks of windows were blacked out, and rust splashed across the metal rolling doors. Tipping back my head, I took note of the roof, just in case. It was four stories high and flat on the top. A good place for Az to land.
