Page 26 of Fighting My Demons

“Addie had a mate bond,” I tell Blaine.

“So, no magic?” I ask, pissed off. How dare they change the rules after I’ve already won?

“No. None of us can help using our gifts, and it was a stupid rule anyway because we will have no choice if she figures out what we are,” Latham explains.

“Tell me again why we have to hide it?” Blaine asks.

“Because we aren’t sure if she can be trusted, especially with this whole brother issue she has going on.”

“Have you found out anything about what she is hiding?” I ask, curious.

“Nothing, nothing at all. She is squeaky clean. Not one mark on her name, not even a parking fine.”

“What did Cyrus and Eli have to say about her?”

“Nothing much. They said she was a secretary at the front counter before she started working in tech, that she kept to herself, but I found it odd that not even Addie knew much about her. She said she had a boyfriend for a while but is unsure what happened there. Then Addie left for Soya, and when she came back, Bella never mentioned him again, and all she knows is her brother is the only constant in her life when he is out of prison. She is rather private even with those she considers her friends.”

“Maybe ask Jack about this boyfriend she had. He might know. As for the rest, we keep digging,” I tell them, stepping out of the shower.

I wrap a towel around my waist, walking into the bedroom we share. The room is so small, the bed goes from wall to wall, taking up one side of the room.

“So, the new rules?” I ask, sick of playing this game already.

“Simple. Whoever fucks her first wins,” Blaine says with a shrug.

“But you could just make her,” Latham growls at him.

“I am not a rapist,” he snarls at Latham, and Latham lifts his hands in surrender.

“What if she wants none of us?” I ask, and I can tell this is the first time they’ve actually thought about someone not wanting them besides Addie.

Though Latham did try, her bond with Cyrus and Eli was strong enough for her to resist his demon calling, not that I reckon Eli and Cyrus would have said no. Cyrus, Eli, and Latham were a thing for a while there.

“She may not want either of you, but she definitely wants me,” Blaine says confidently.

I roll my eyes at his cockiness, grabbing my suit jacket. We quickly get ready for work before Latham grabs his keys. Knocking on Bella’s door, we wait, but when we get no answer, Latham mists into her apartment before returning to us.

“She isn’t there,” he says. “Did you do something to upset her?”

I shake my head, though she has been acting strange this morning with her short answers.

“Well, she must be at work. Come on. We need to head in, anyway,” Latham says, pissed off she would leave without us.

“Meet you there,” Blaine says before misting.

“That fucker,” I hear Latham call just before I mist out, too, trying to beat Blaine.

As soon as I appear in Cyrus' office, I open the door, stepping into the foyer. They still aren’t at work yet. My phone rings, and I retrieve it from my pocket, answering it.

“When you two get home, I am going to beat you bloody,” Latham snaps when Blaine's voice also echoes through the phone.

I look at the screen, seeing he’s merged calls.

“What sort of beating? The sexual kind? I don’t mind a bit of blood?” Blaine taunts him, and Latham hangs up.

I shake my head, stepping into the elevator. When it reaches our floor, I see the other elevator open beside me, and Blaine steps out. We both start walking quickly to our office, and I shove him as he goes to grip the handle, only for the door to open and for Bella to step out. Blaine goes flying into the bin and knocks the water cooler over, the water spilling all over him.

“You left early,” I tell her, drawing her attention away from a soaked Blaine that is throwing every curse word in the dictionary at me under his breath.