The tension in Caim’s jaw flickered. “If you know the truth about my Legion, then you’ll understand far too well why I’m here. If I were you, I’d take heed.”
Take heed?My lips flickered. If we weren’t neck deep in the middle of an increasingly tense—and probably dangerous—situation, I might have laughed. It was like we’d gone back in time. Just a little reminder that Caim was a hell of a lot older than he looked.
The three fae chuckled at the same time, almost in unison. Those identical smiles, the matching eyes. It was one of the creepiest fucking things I’d ever seen in my life. When the eerie laughter died, the leader spoke again. “You’re the one who needs to take heed, Caim Stone. Did you think we didn’t expect you to come visit us? The cure isn’t here. And the second you left your loft for our court, our spies alerted us.”
Caim stiffened, grabbed my arm, and pushed me behind him. My heart hammering, I peered over his shoulder at the trio of fae. They looked far too smug for comfort.
“We’ve had someone keeping an eye on our old court for weeks, keeping track of who comes and goes.” The leader’s smile widened. “So, when we got a report that you’d stopped by withher...” His sharp eyes cut my way. “We knew you’d come hunting for the cure.”
“Caim,” I whispered to his tense back. “Maybe it’s best if we leave.”
Because if they’d known we were coming, they’d have a plan. I glanced up at the sunlit sky. Where the hell was Stolas?
When I placed my hands against Caim’s back, I could feel his body thrumming with barely-contained anger. He was like a volcano on the brink of a world-shattering eruption. One more wrong word by these fae, and I knew he’d unleash hell on them. He might be one of the good guys, but he wasn’t a golden retriever. He could be a dragon when he wanted to be.
“Give me the cure now,” Caim said in a low growl that sounded far more animalistic than human. “And I won’t return with my Legion to rip this place to shreds.”
“Unfortunately for you, you won’t get that opportunity,” a voice called out from the street behind us.
I whirled on my feet just as a powerful hand grabbed my wrist and snatched me away from Caim. I tried to cling onto his shirt, but the material slid between my fingers, like I was falling off the edge of a cliff and my grip had failed me.
It was Andrea, her long hair billowing around her shoulders, her eyes a deep red that matched her tapered pants and slinky shirt. It looked like she was ready to go out to a winter party. Not attack humans in the middle of Manhattan’s streets.
“Let go of me,” I hissed, spitting the words into her face. But she just ignored me, her eyes focused on Caim instead.
He stood at the top of the steps with a look of utter rage flickering across his face. His hands were fisted by his sides, and his eyes glowed a deep orange, a color I’d never seen in them before. A low growl rumbled in his throat, a sound that set my teeth on edge.
Andrea smiled. “Looks like the demon has taken control. Say goodbye to your boyfriend, Eva Martin. Because the guy you thought you knew is gone.”
24
Eva
My jaw dropped as I stared at Caim, fear and shock rattling through me. Andrea had to be wrong. Caim wouldn’t lose control. Not after everything he’d told me about Hell and demonology. He’d fought so hard to become the man he was now. Nothing could make him give in to the darkness.
His eyes zeroed in on where Andrea was digging her fingernails into my skin. Rage thundered off his body like powerful beats of wings against the air. I swallowed hard.
“Caim,” I whispered.
His eyes flicked to my face and then back to the demon who held me. “Let go of her now.”
Andrea’s left hand remained tight around my wrist while the other reached around to palm my heart. “I don’t think so. You see, we need Eva’s body.”
The blood pumping through my veins could give immortal life to more demons. I could never let that happen. Narrowing my eyes, I reached up and wound my hand around hers, prying her fingers from my chest. Her immortal strength was unyielding. Her fingers didn’t even budge an inch.
“You don’t need me anymore,” I said quietly. “You have your own demon blood now. Just use that and let me go, okay? Before Caim does something we’ll all end up regretting.”
“I don’t care what Caim does.” She leaned down to whisper into my ear. “In fact, I welcome this new personality of his. The more of us, the merrier.”
“Yeah, I don’t think he plans on joining you,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “Have you taken a look at his face? I’m pretty sure he wants to rip you apart.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she hissed. “You’re coming with me. Well, at least, a part of you is.”
Her nails suddenly sharpened against my chest. Pain flared around my ribs. I cried out and struggled to get away, but she had a death grip on me. Tears sprung into my eyes. What the hell was she trying to do? Rip my actual heart out?
Maybe that made sense, in a weird, twisted, demony way. She thought I was immortal, like her, so maybe she thought my heart would survive without my body. She could just...hold onto it and use its blood? Ew.
“You do know I haven’t fully transitioned into a demon, right?” I twisted my head to shout the words into her soulless gaze. “If you take my heart out of my chest, it’ll die just like the rest of me will. Whatever you’re trying to do, it won’t work.”
