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“I’ll be okay,” I said. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

The door opened, and Ren straightened. His arm slid around me, and he pulled me back, shocking the hell out of me. He was touching me again.

“Who the fuck are you?” the demon at the door said, head up, scenting the air.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Ren got there first. “We’re here to see Rune.”

“He’s busy, and you’d be wise to get the fuck off his territory. He’s not a fan of shifters.”

I shook myself out of my stupor and pulled out of Ren’s hold. “Chaos organized this meeting with Rune. He’s expecting us.”

“Name?” the demon snapped.

Ren said our names, and the demon pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, put it to his ear, then barked out a few words I didn’t really understand before he shoved it back in his pocket. “Let’s go.”

He strode back inside, and we followed.

A shudder instantly rolled through me as we walked across the threshold. This place was worse than I thought. The old linoleum was stained and cracked, everything was cold and stark, and the smell was indescribable. Like hospital, but mixed with a whole lot of other things that turned my stomach. As we passed doors, I could feel the emotional echoes of the people who’d lived here. I shuddered again, and when the press of the spirits trapped here pushed harder, causing icy tendrils to slide over my shoulders and down my back, my hand shot out and I grabbed Ren’s.

His fingers flexed around mine, and his gaze sliced down to me.

“I’m sorry,” I said and quickly pulled my hand away.

“This way,” the demon said, rounding a corner and heading toward an ancient-looking elevator.

Ren said nothing as he took my hand again, holding it firmly. My heart raced, and I couldn’t look at him. How many times had I imagined doing this? Holding his hand like this. But in my wildest dreams we’d been walking on the beach or down the street, not through an asylum filled with demons and tortured souls.

The demon hit the up arrow. “Top floor,” he said. “Don’t wander around. We won’t be responsible for what happens if you go somewhere you shouldn’t.”

“No worries there,” I said as the doors slid open and Ren led me inside.

He hit the button for the top floor, and the doors slid closed again. “You doing okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, I’m just feeling a lot here, and it kind of freaks me out.” I loosened my hand around his, attempting to let his hand go. “I’m okay now.”

He looked up at the numbers ticking over as we climbed higher but kept his fingers firmly around mine, not letting me go. The elevator bounced to a stop. “I’ve got you, Jaz, okay?” The doors slid open.

I didn’t know what to say. I was feeling seriously breathless and a little dizzy from everything I was feeling, from Ren holding my hand, from the spirits here and the emotional echoes bombarding me from the past. “Thanks,” I said. It was all I could get out.

We stepped into a small foyer. There was only one door we could go through, so we walked up to it, and I knocked.

The sound of heavy footfalls echoed through the door, and I had to stop myself from taking several steps back the closer they got. Ren moved so he was standing mostly in front of me, his grip on my hand tightening.

Finally, the door swung open, and if I hadn’t already been bracing for some kind of impact, I would’ve jerked back and fallen on my ass.

A demon filled the door, towering over me. I looked up into his otherworldly eyes, a color between yellow and green. Power oozed from him, heavy and thick, and made my belly tremble.

“Jasmine,” he said, his voice resonating through me.

“Uh…um, yes, that’s me.” I needed to pull it together. This guy was a pal of Lucifer’s for fuck’s sake. Showing weakness to a male like this was a really bad idea.

He stepped back, opening his door wider, his pale, terrifying gaze sliding over me. “Come in, lovely.” His gaze slid to Ren. “You can wait out here, fox.”

“Where my female goes, I go,” Ren bit out. His female?

My gaze shot to Ren. He was pissed.

“Yours, is she?” Rune said.