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“I mean, she’s always going on about how we’re already sisters. I think I should inherit the house when she’s dead,” Eryn said as she looked on at the gorgeous home.
Light gleamed in the house, a cozy contrast to the drizzly night. Of course Tisiphone didn’t live in the cave. But she hadn’t realized the damn cave was two-sided and led right into Tisiphone’s backyard.
Before the hunters had taken out the wyverns, it would have been suicide to get close.
Tisiphone’s kitchen was even bigger than Vann’s. The fireplace was an architectural work of genius, natural stone and with a fire roaring inside. Oversized, plush sofas in a cozy seating area—did Tisiphone interact with humans without killing them? And those windows. Wow. Massive.
So very human. Was it her other sisters she entertained often, or did she have a social life?
Vann finished tightening his vest as he walked to stand next to her. One arm slid around her, and he placed a soft kiss against her temple. “We can build a place like this. Better. You know we have a castle, right? Just waiting on the finishing touches, but we could move in tomorrow.”
Eryn leaned into him. “If we survive, we have to pay off my student loans first.”
“Oo, yeah, sorry, but I’m not sure we’re that rich.”
Eryn turned in his arms and rose to her toes. “We have a castle. A castle.” She tapped a hungry kiss, and laughed out loud. “I’ve never even had the long-lost dream of wanting to live in a castle, but I do now.”
He braced his hand over her low back and smiled as he kissed her.
Swirls of happy, cozy warmth coated her skin and lifted her lips into a mirroring smile. She kissed him again and nuzzled before drawing away.
“You’re not going to die.” Lana came around the back of the SUV and secured a massive axe to her back. “She can’t take the rest of your soul now.”
In running shoes and leggings she could sprint in, Eryn otherwise looked casual… including the sleeveless top she’d been instructed to wear. “She’s not going to just give me back my soul.”
Shit. In a few hours, she might be an angel of death. Hunting other people’s parents. Made orphans of more kids out for a family hike.
She turned in Vann’s arms and leaned into him. A whisper would have been stronger than her words. “My parents died right over that hill.”
Hands wrapped around her middle, he offered his quiet steadiness. “I’m so sorry.”
No premises, false or optimistic. No bathing her in sympathy. No calling her out on her previous lie. She nodded, no more tears to cry. “You already knew that, didn’t you?” she asked softly.
Temple against hers, arms around her, he breathed, more steadying than any words of grief.
An everyday event for them, the team was armed to the teeth with steel. Well, maybe steel. Ryan’s sword was blacker than the darkest night. True black, entirely light-resistant.
Each had their own style, Lana in her “tactical leggings” and military combat boots. Archer in black military fatigues. The vampire’s leather pants, tall boots with throwing knives strapped on, Adair could wear the outfit to a club as easily as battle.
The fight of Eryn’s life, but they did this sort of thing every day. “You guys have saved the world, right? Like, for real? The end was that close, and none of the rest of us even suspected?”
“Several times,” Quinn said brightly.
Finished tying her wavy hair back in a messy ponytail, Lana tested the weight of her axe. Smirking and ready to kick ass. “You focus on doing that soul-sucking thing to get your soul back, and we’ll take care of the rest.”
No big deal.
These people lived this. Just another day for them.
In a matter of days, Eryn was no longer the only part-demon in her known universe.
An actual, one hundred percent, five-hundred-year-old vampire had flown across the world to save her life. Well, to save his friend from heartbreak. One side of his lips curled up as he caught her staring.
It was a good thing Blayk arrived after Lexi had left to stay with the werewolves, or her vampire-obsessed sister might have looked for an excuse to stay. Bennett was hot. Adair was sexy. The burly Scot was one heavy blink away from an orgasm.
“I still wish you’d get out of town while we finish this.” Bennett looked back and forth between Vann and Eryn.
Vann tapped a quiet kiss on her temple. “We can’t do this without her.”