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“Don’t cry.” His thumb brushed across the pulse in her wrist, the motion causing the charms on her bracelet to jingle. The bracelet he’d purchased for her. Seeing her still wearing the gift made him stupid with happiness. As he nudged the charm of the Mortar and Pestle with his small finger, he took note of Loren watching him, those eyes still shining with the tears she was holding back. “We’ll talk about it another time, okay?” he said gently. “Besides, my head is killing me.” He glanced around the sitting room, tipping his head back far enough to see the empty kitchen. At some point these past few minutes, everyone had vacated the area, leaving him alone with Loren.
And then the doorbell rang. Piss-poor timing.
“Can someone get that?” Darien called, voice echoing faintly against the vaulted ceiling. Loren made to stand, but Darien held her wrist firm, trapping the bracelet between his skin and hers, the charms warm from their body heat. “Not you, baby. Someone else can get it.”
The doorbell rang again, triggered by whoever was at the gate.
“I’ll go,” Loren said, the words thick with reluctance. But she stopped pulling against his grip when the sound of footfall echoed from the second floor.
Max thudded down the stairs and strode over to the screens displaying the security camera feeds. “What’s this now?” he muttered. He slammed his finger onto the intercom button. “We’re not interested in buying any cookies or switching internet providers or subscribing to magazines unless they’re the kind with photographs of naked women. If you’re the same vacuum cleaner salesman as the last guy, kindly screw off. Thank you, and have a nice day.”
“I’m looking for Darien Cassel,” said a female voice.
Max looked over his shoulder, his eyes locking with Darien’s. Loren tensed beside him, likely jumping to the worst conclusion possible, as she so often did. Darien couldn’t exactly blame her, not after the awful thoughts that had assaulted his mind when he’d walked into the hospital room to find her hand in the grip of another man. He was a fool in love, but so was she.
“My name is Tamika Isley,” the woman continued. “He came to see me at Angelthene Optometry. If you would kindly let me in, I can explain why I’m here.”
Max was still staring at him. He mouthed, “You went to see an eye doctor?”
“It’s a long story,” Darien mouthed back.
“What about our address being top-secret?” Max hissed.
“I forgot to get Tanner to erase it,” he whispered.
“Rookie mistake.” Yeah, it was, but he’d had a lot of shit to keep up with these last few days.
“You can get angry with me when my head stops hurting.” Darien waved a prompting hand, the motion nauseating him. “Let her in.”
Max flicked the button that would open the gate.
A moment later, the faint sound of gravel crunching under tires reached his keen ears. Every sound was amplified by his headache, every light too bright, every touch—except Loren’s—unbearable. Darien wanted nothing more than to lock himself in a dark and soundless room with his girl and forget the world for an hour or a year. They had a lot of lost time to catch up on, and very little of it at their disposal. At least, that was what it felt like.
But then a car door opened, and heels struck the front steps. Max shot Darien one last disbelieving look before he swung open the front door of Hell’s Gate, and Tamika Isley walked into the house.
—
With Doctor Tamika Isley now perched on the smaller sofa in the sitting room, looking equal parts frightened and awed by the house known as Hell’s Gate, Loren realized there was a lot she’d missed during her time away from her family.
The others were here now too. All seven of the Devils, Doctor Atlas, Blue and Dominic, Sabrine and Logan. There wasn’t enough furniture in the room for everyone, so several people leaned against walls or sat on the carpet. Dallas was also here. Loren sensed tension between the witch and Max, the two throwing glances at each other from opposite sides of the crowded room.
Only a week had passed. How had she missed so much?
Tamika began by sitting up straighter, clearly unsettled by how many people were watching her—and who most of those people were. Her first words were for Darien, who was still lying down after Doctor Atlas had scolded him for trying to move, Loren sitting beside him.
“I’m going to be blunt,” Tamika began.
“Blunt is good,” Darien said. “I’m blunt. I like blunt people.” The hand that was wrapped around Loren’s fingers tightened slightly. She knew the squeeze was meant to comfort her. It made her wonder if he noticed her pulse was racing. “We’re all ears.”
“Well.” Tamika drew a deep breath. “Your appointment caught me off guard. I’ve never seen a hellseher schedule an eye exam before, so to be completely honest with you, I thought you were there because someone dared you, or maybe you were pulling a prank.”
Jack snickered. “That sounds like something I would do.”
Ivy shushed him.
Tamika went on, “But when the news started reporting the animal deaths and illnesses all over the city, and I started seeing frost on my car when I left for work in the mornings, I decided to do some digging. You said you’ve been seeing these creatures near the Crossroads?”
“Some of them,” Darien said.
