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“They’re waiting for us,” I breathed.
The way he was looking at me… Hell, I could have drowned within the depths of those eyes.
Just as I was about to take the words back, just as I was about to pull Alek upstairs and lead him to the bedroom, Wrath opened the front door.
“Are you going to keep us waiting all night long?” The slightest amount of annoyance laced his words.
Alek groaned, and I could see the words he didn’t say aloud lingering in his expression. Yes, he would say. We will absolutely keep you waiting.
But I took whatever willpower that remained in my body and straightened myself, pulling Alek with me as we left the house and headed for Night Raven.
Natalie was getting initiated tonight.
I remembered how Night Raven felt the first time I walked through that door. I was terrified, still living under Theia’s confines and half-expecting her to burst into the place and find me there, dancing the night away with Natalie.
We had been so naïve then. So hidden.
Now, with dozens of bodies brushing between the bar and the dance floor as we tried to make our way to the basement door, I could see.
I saw that they were not just humans trying to get into the infamous Night Raven, but demons, too. In fact, most of the visitors at this establishment were demons, drinking and dancing in the place they felt most safe.
And they weren’t the evil, blood-sucking monsters we had been taught to believe. These demons were unique and protective and loyal; they would kill anyone who touched one of their own.
They were my family. They were the ones who would protect me, no matter the cost. No matter what lengths they needed to go to.
Okay, I still didn’t trust Kylar or Blade after they tried to drown me, but everyone else seemed to grow on me.
Alek’s hand fell to my lower back as we approached the door to the basement. “You’re tense,” he whispered.
I shrugged. “It’s hard not to be. There are a lot of memories in this place.”
The air of Night Raven thickened as I took the steps one by one, moving from the dance party of the first floor to the dark, sultry demon dungeon of the basement.
It wasn’t the real annual blood bonding. This was a one-night addition, an exception made by Wrath to initiate Natalie as a Night Raven before anything dangerous could happen as we continued our journey to close the veil.
This was all for Natalie’s protection.
If I hadn’t already liked Wrath before, if I hadn’t already seen the goodness that lingered in those eyes in much the same way a goodness lingered in Alek’s, I would have been fully convinced now.
It was Wrath’s idea to do the bonding, and even though I urged Natalie to think this through before she made her final decision to join the Night Ravens, part of my soul was at rest knowing that she would have the same protection I did.
That she would be part of the same family.
I expected a few demons to show up, perhaps Zac and Salem and only a few more, but the entire basement was packed with demons, some familiar, some not.
“Don’t worry,” Alek whispered in my ear. “I’ve got you, remember?”
I did my best to swallow down my nerves. Natalie had already elbowed her way over to the bar where Salem was busy pouring her a shot. Wrath stood behind her protectively, nodding and shaking hands as demons approached him, no doubt still congratulating him on his ascension to the king of demons.
Alek nodded at a few demons, too, but the presence of his body did not leave mine as we made our way to the back of the room.
Zac’s tall figure stuck out above the others, the smile radiating on his face drawing me to him like a beacon. “Glad to see you two are still alive,” he announced as we approached. “I wasn’t sure you would make it one more day with all the chaos that’s been storming around us.”
“Waiting for my demise?” Alek joked from behind me as he shook Zac’s hand.
“Always. Here, take a seat.”
We slid into the booth, much like the last time there was a blood bonding, as Zac took a seat opposite us.
