“So, that’s a thing that just happened,” I whispered.
I could hear the smile in Az’s voice when he replied. “The fae like to show off.”
“I don’t blame them.”
“The building is an illusion. Some of this might be, too. Remember that, Mia. Everything you’re about to see cannot be trusted. You never know what’s real and what’s fake when it comes to the fae.”
I turned to glance up at him. “Can you do anything like this?”
His face hardened. “No. If I could, we wouldn’t be here right now. Come. Take my hand. Don’t let go of it.”
I slid my fingers into his warm hand and smiled as he tugged me through the arched gate. The scent of sweet blossoms filled my head, and a strange dizzy lightness swirled through my limbs. A lopsided smile spread across my face, and all the tension I’d felt before vanished like mist. Suddenly, I couldn’t remember why we were in such a terrible hurry.
“This is nice,” I said happily, squeezing his hand. “We should do this more often.”
He cut his sharp gaze my way. “That didn’t take very long.”
I cocked my head. “What didn’t?”
“Their magic. It’s effecting you already.” He frowned, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the confusion on his face. Big, brave, terrible demon. He looked so confused. It was cute. “That normally doesn’t happen.”
“I guess I’m a big ol’ weirdo,” I said with a shrug. “Immune to werewolves, but not to fae!”
He shot me a strange glance as we drifted further into the fae’s strange woodland escape amidst all the stone and steel. And then he took a sniff. Asniff. Asmodeus actually sniffed me. “Impossible.”
I cocked my head. “What’s impossible?”
“Nothing,” he muttered, tightening his grip on my hand. “You’re one of the most human humans I’ve ever met. You couldn’t be anything else.”
My jaw dropped as I followed him through a particularly prickly bush. How much further would we have to walk through these woods? “You’re not saying you think I’m a…what? Werewolf?”
He shook his head and tugged me close as a tall, curvy woman stepped out from behind a vine-drenched door. Her long curly hair hung to her waist, coils of tightly wound pink. A silky blue dress hugged her frame and matched the sparkling color of her eyes. She gave me a once-over and then frowned at Az.
“Az, you know I have nothing against you personally, but I thought we told you we don’t like demons here. The fae get antsy.” Her voice was husky and deep, and the sound of it sent a new storm of shivers across my skin.
“The fae are always antsy,” he replied, his tone warmer than I’d expected, especially after the way she’d spoken to him.
She grinned. “Don’t I know it? Even so, you know how things are. Lucifer’s in town, and everyone is on edge.”
“This won’t take long,” he said quietly, turning to me. “This is Mia.”
Her eyes widened. “Ah, Mia. The one he wants.”
“Unfortunately.”
“And you brought her here?” She leaned forward and gave a little sniff. “You’ve covered her in garbage. Which means you’ve come here for a favor. You want to hide her with a scent glamor. I should have known. The rumors are true. You’re in love with this girl.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Heart hammering, I glanced up at Az. But his outline wavered like a desert at the hottest time of day. That damn magic. It was making it difficult to think. And apparently, it made me imagine things.
Because this fae clearly couldn’t have said that Asmodeus, the Prince of Hell, was falling in love with me.
He could barely stand me most of the time.
Right?
“You know the problem with rumors, don’t you, River?” he asked in a dangerous voice. “They get twisted and torn. Shred into a million pieces until there’s nothing left but a hint of the truth.”
“So, you don’t love her.”
