His lips flattened. “No, I followed your scent.”
“Oh.” A fresh wave of unease rushed through my gut. If Az had my scent, then…
“Lucifer caught it, too, and he knows it’s yours, Mia.” He tightened his grip on my shoulders. “We have to get you out of here now. He won’t be far behind me.”
“That’s not ideal,” I said as lightly as I could. When I’d made the ridiculously hasty decision to spy on them, I hadn’t known this whole scent thing could be an issue. “How long will he remember my scent? A few hours?” I paused. “Don’t tell me it’ll be days.”
He closed his eyes. “Until Lucifer leaves Manhattan and stops looking for you. It’s been weeks since I saw you, Mia, and I still know your scent. It would take years for me to ever forget it. And his senses are far stronger than mine. Now that he knows you, you’re forever imprinted in his mind.”
My stomach bottomed out. “Right. That’s great.”
“Come on.” Az wrapped his arm around my shoulder and steered me out the door. A sudden sharpzingwent through my gut, a sensation I hadn’t felt since the last time I’d seen him. It brought a strange sense ofdeja vualong with it, reminding me of something I couldn’t quite grasp.
Did he feel it, too?
I started to ask him, but then stopped when he rushed me into the quiet streets. Dread pounded against my skull as we darted through the shadows lining the buildings. I swallowed hard as my boots splashed into grimy puddles from the recent summer rain, fighting the urge to glance behind me. Had Lucifer seen us? Was he just behind the next corner?
What would he do to Az if his King caught him trying to save me?
Fisting my hands, I let out a yelp of surprise when Az dragged me back into the alley behind his club. I stumbled back when he released his grip on my shoulders, shaking my head. “Why are we here? Isn’t this the last place we should be?”
He pointed at the dumpster. “Get inside.”
My mouth dropped open. “What?!”
“Get inside dumpster, Mia. Now.” The heaviness in his voice told me he wasn’t joking.
“You can’t be serious.” I took a step away from him. “I’m not climbing into a New York City dumpster. Theremustbe a better place I can hide.” One that didn’t reek of rotting fish and cat vomit.
He growled and stalked toward me. “If you don’t climb inside that dumpster, Mia, then I’ll throw you in there myself.”
“Um.” I wet my lips, my eyes darting around the alley for an escape hatch. “I think I prefer my church option, personally.”
He threw up his hands and darted toward me faster than the blink of an eye. With a grunt, he hauled me into his arms and leapt up on top of the dumpster, where we landed with a metallic thump. Before I could throw myself out of his arms, he’d yanked open the left side of the dumpster.
The world yawned wide. Darkness swallowed me as I tumbled toward the piles of trash. I landed in a heap, arms and legs akimbo. My face pressed against a particularly gelatinous takeout bag.
Anger churned in my veins as laughter drifted down toward me. Asmodeus hovered at the edge of the opening, peering down at me with that stupid dimpled smile of his. “This is the best I’ve ever seen you.”
“Fuck off.”
“Come on.” He knelt and held out a hand toward me. “We got the scent off you now. Time to go before Lucifer gets back.”
“I ought to pull you in here with me,” I spat back as I grabbed his hand.
He arched a brow. “You’re welcome to try.”
Growling, I gave a little tug. But he was like a massive boulder. Impossible to budge. It didn’t even look like he had to make an effort to stop himself from falling in. Ugh. So freaking annoying.
Az yanked hard and pulled me back into his arms. The takeout bag was still stuck to my skin like a limp jellyfish clinging on for dear life. And then the world fell out from beneath me once more as my fake demon ex-boyfriend took the skies.
* * *
This time, we headed straight to his penthouse on the top floor of a very fancy Hell’s Kitchen building. He landed on his balcony, threw open the doors, and deposited me on a single stool away from anything else. Probably because I still had trash all over me.
“Can I take a shower now?” I asked through gritted teeth, still angry he’d thrown me in with the goo I’d tried so hard to avoid.
“Absolutely not. We need to keep your scent hidden for as long as possible.” Frowning, he paced the length of his penthouse. “And we need to find a way to make you invisible to Lucifer. Permanently.”
