Page 77 of The Devil and His Ghost

The towel on the ground shifted as the thick black snake reappeared and grew. The serpent turned demon now stared at Dante with human green eyes and a bland expression. Coldin crossed his tattooed arms. “That’s because none of you could handle me if I joined.”

The taunt was almost like a declaration of war for the three sex demons in the room, all of whom narrowed their eyes on the Letum demon but kept their mouths shut. Whether they liked it or not, Coldin was probably right. I could only imagine what got off Hell’s most dangerous assassin when it came to sex and kinks.

“Do you think you could pretend to be normal for an orgy if we did something like that?” I asked him.

“Why are you suddenly so interested in a big after party and group sex?” Perseus asked me, his lips tightening in suspicion.

Questions were good. Conversation was good. Both kept my mind going in one direction, stopping me from looking back. Yet that question posed by my golden-haired friend was the wrong question. With it, the very feeble hold I’d managed to get on my emotions and thoughts slipped. That fracture in the dam holding it all back exploded inside of me, and my carefree facade went with it.

Thoughts of Kendyll flooded my head until I suffocated from the loss of her.

It had been seven months since I woke up to an empty bed and apartment. Well, not entirely empty. She’d left behind everything we’d bought together, as well as Nightly the bat. I’d lost count of how many times I’d started to throw the stupid plushie away only to hesitate at the last second and return him to his place in my closet where I’d boxed up the rest of her things.

She’d left without a goddamn word.

Sort of.

The memory of her messy handwriting on a short yet clear note still burned at my insides like I was a vat of kerosene and a match had been dropped right down my throat.

“Does anyone have any more H or weed? Hell, even a cigarette. I’ll take whatever,” I grumbled and flopped back on the bed to stare at the ceiling.

Silence filled the room. I wasn’t sure how many seconds passed before the air shifted with the tell-tale signs of a demon shadow-walking. When the feeling subsided, Perseus’s face appeared above me where I lay. I realized he’d probably waved the rest of the guys off until it was just the two of us left in the room.

Wordlessly, he produced and lit a joint before sticking it between my lips. I took a deep inhale, knowing the human rolled herb wouldn’t be nearly enough to take my now spiraling mind away from thoughts of the woman who haunted me. But it would have to do for now.

Perseus watched me as I grabbed the joint and blew a cloud of smoke up into his face. He breathed it in before flopping down next to me on the bed.

“You still aren’t over her?” Perseus asked quietly.

I had to swallow the thickness coating my throat before I could answer. “No.”

“So then why not go after her? I know you can’t just go to a person like Incubi who have tasted someone’s sexual essence, but you could still find her through her TV show’s shooting schedule. Find where she’ll be and go to that place or—”

“No,” I cut him off. I took another long drag. I needed this stuff to fucking kick in already. “I can’t.”

“Why? If you’re so messed up about it that you’re constantly drowning yourself in either drugs, sex, goading the other guys into fighting with you, or all three, then you should find her.”

It sounded so simple, but it wasn’t. Because when I closed my eyes, I still saw her note. When I breathed in, I still tasted her fear in the air. When I sat still long enough, I felt the hollow place in my chest that I’d carved out to make a place for her.

She’d left, and she’d taken my fucking heart with her.

Chapter 27

Kendyll

(Present Day)

MY EYES WERE CLOSED, AND my chin was lifted as I leaned back and soaked in the nighttime autumn breeze. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been up here, but judging by the bright full moon and thousands of twinkling stars, it had been hours. Despite all that time, I hadn’t entirely calmed down. There was still a voice in the back of my head that whispered its questions and concerns.

Who was that ghost I’d encountered earlier?

What did they want?

Why had it carried such an evil energy with its target set on me?

Why couldn’t Xander sense or see the apparition?

I blew out a puff of frustrated and unsettled air and dropped my head into my hands.