Nina huffed dramatically. “Well, Hell has terrible judgment.”
Quietly, the younger brother admitted, “That’s actually fair.”
I barely heard any of them anymore. Because my brain caught up to one specific word.
Mate.
Slowly, I turned toward my demon.
“Wait.”
The noise from the street around us faded strangely into the background while silver fire continued burning through the lanterns overhead.
“…Mates?”
The reaction around me was immediate. Several demons turned away. One nearly choked on his drink. And beside me, my demon found the lanterns across the street absolutely fascinating.
Which was suspicious as hell.
The younger brother's gaze shifted between the two of us once before his expression dissolved into complete disbelief. “Oh my God.”
I frowned. “What.”
He pointed dramatically at my demon. “YOU DIDN’T TELL HER?”
“She was drunk when she summoned me.”
“That cannot keep being your defense.”
The younger brother looked seconds away from collapsing. “She accidentally courted you, bonded with you, followed you INTO HELL, and you still didn’t explain the mate bond?”
Everything inside me went cold as I turned back toward my demon again.
“The what bond?”
Nobody answered. Which told me enough already. Then very quietly, my demon said, “…You’re wearing my mark.” For one horrible second, my brain completely stopped functioning.
“I’m sorry WHAT.”
My eyes dropped straight to my wrist where faint silver markings glowed beneath my skin, curling in the exact same pattern as his, the exact same mark.
No.
No no no.
My head snapped up toward him. “You knew?”
The silence stretched long enough to make my chest ache before he finally answered in a low voice, “From the candles, yes.”
Something inside my chest cracked painfully at the admission. Around us, Hell continued moving in distant blurred noise, but it all felt far away compared to the horrible realization settling heavily in my stomach.
He knew from the beginning. About the candles. The hoodie. The strawberries. The reason he stayed. The reason he kept looking at me like that. One by one, every moment replayed itself in my head with a completely different meaning attached to it now.
“You knew,” I repeated softly.
My demon stepped toward me carefully. “Eva.”
“No.”
