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His hands were trembling. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Positive.” I smiled up at him and hoped it wasn’t as shaky as it felt. “I should get going—”

“Please, not yet. After that…I ah…can you just stay for a little longer?”

I wanted to run away, but what he was feeling after such intense emotions wasn’t unusual.

“I ah…went out again earlier, tracked the feral for a few hours. He’s claimed a large territory while he’s been out there, and he moves fast.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m still working out his patrol route, but I should be able to corner him soon.”

“You did?” Now I felt even more of an asshole. “Thank you. Really. You shouldn’t even be doing it. Agatheena had no right to ask—”

“Don’t need to keep thanking me, Jaz.”

“Right.”

“You have any luck today?” he asked, fidgeting, seeming unable to keep still. Not surprising after that session.

I was far from okay, but I had to show him I was because that’s what he needed. “No, actually. Nothing. My next move is paying the demon leader a visit at that creepy old asylum he lives in.”

“What?”

“He has a library I need access to.” These were the demons who could pass as human, who didn’t eat humans and who followed the rules.

“No. No fucking way. That place is too dangerous,” he said.

“I wasn’t asking for your permission, Ren.”

He was still shaking, and he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I know. But that place, it’s dangerous.”

“I’m aware. I was hoping Chaos could organize something for me.” Chaos was a Knight of Hell and demon hunter. He’d brokered the conditions the demons in the city lived under, and he was an ex and good friend of Willow. But since I was trying to keep Wills out of this so she wouldn’t worry while her hands were full with Violet, I couldn’t ask her to call Chaos for me.

“Do you have Chaos’s number?” he asked, like he was reading my mind.

“Well, no, and I don’t want to worry Willow right now—”

“And Warrick hates the knight, which means the other hounds aren’t fans of the guy either. Not sure Rome would like you calling him.”

I frowned. “It has nothing to do with Rome.”

“I take it he’ll be going with you? You’ll need someone at your back. That asylum is a seriously fucked-up place.”

“You don’t need to worry about it. I have it covered.”

“Right.” His jaw tightened. “Your voice is wrecked from spelling. Let me get you a drink before you go?”

I just wanted to get the hell out of there. He wasn’t the only one shaken by our session. The residual from his emotions was still working its way out of me, and I was struggling not to cry. Though, if I was honest, it was more than that. This whole thing was taking a toll on me, one that was getting harder by the day. “I have somewhere to be—”

“The clubhouse? Rome waiting for you?” he asked, doing more of that jaw clenching, and he pulled his hands from his pockets and crossed his arms, his forearms bulging.

I ignored his question, for reasons unknown. No, that was a lie. My reaction to seeing Bree here with him tonight had been extreme. She already thought I wanted Ren, I didn’t want him thinking it as well.

The out-of-control kisses we’d just shared weren’t helping my cause, but I couldn’t handle the humiliation. I was already feeling too raw. So I didn’t correct him. I let him believe whatever he wanted without confirming or denying it. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, then walked out.

And didn’t even jump, much, when I heard him growl viciously behind me before he closed the door.

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Chapter 14