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“I’d hoped to fix things first.”

“You almost died.”

“Almost.”

Eryn closed her eyes tightly. “Was she there?” she asked, and fluttered her eyes carefully open to see his expression.

Shock should have fueled his response, but Vann gritted his teeth. “The woman from the fundraiser.” The realization rushed over him like fire.

“Did she do this to you?”

“We went to take out her wyverns, then find her. She didn’t show, but a few dozen of her minions waited until the wyverns had taken us down a peg, then they went straight for me.”

Eryn stilled, chin stiff, but she held his look. “Minions?”

“A few dozen women with wings.”

Eryn’s chest rose and fell tightly. Her brow furrowed.

He held her look. “No more secrets. Not yours and not mine. Neither of us can afford it.”

The white noise of the team’s chatter was louder than the ocean and warmer than the fire. Eryn glanced over them, and back at him. “You’re right. You almost died because I wasn’t honest with you. She is dangerous.”

“Who is she?”

Eryn’s eyes reddened. Secrets she’d held so closely. Had shared with so few. “Who are you?”

“I’m a demon hunter.” Vann drew all his energy to take a full, deep breath and shift to face Eryn fully.

“A… you’re a what?”

“Monster hunter. Slayer. Demon hunter. Whatever you want to call it. My team, too. Well, mostly.” He reached toward his water on the coffee table, but every nerve in his abdomen screamed, his muscles weak, and it wasn’t happening.

Eryn took the glass and handed it to him.

Heavy as a brick, but he was so thirsty, he downed the glass in a long, gulping chug.

She took the glass back and set it on the table.

He filled his lungs with air and melted back into the sofa. “A few millennia ago, there was an event that ripped a bunch of tears in the veil that separates our world from the realm of demons. Of monsters, as, well, fuck, not like, biblical demons, but the creatures and stories that inspire myths and legends.”

“Oh,” she said, tilting a look as she seemed to try to understand, to file it into her understanding of normal. Which, he was realizing, was broader than most humans. She knew of at least one demon.

“So, anyway, a demon and a human gave birth to the first hunter. Our ancestor. We’re half demon.”

“Oh.” She huffed a laugh as she watched him like he was telling a ridiculous bedtime story, and she couldn’t believe that she believed him.

“Your turn.”

Where had they been when Eryn watched her parents die? When she’d made a deal with the devil?

She avoided eye contact with the many curious sets of eyes at the dining table and dished up two plates. Mostly cookies and her favorite chips. A little of everything for Vann, but she couldn’t imagine that he’d have the stomach for spicy food.

Vann ate a careful bite. Eyes closing, he chewed slowly, like each bite was exhausting.

Half demon. Half. Fucking. Demon. Her security expert neighbor was born to fight the bitch who destroyed her family and her future.

Eryn bit her lips together. A weepy sob threatened. Nope. Those waterworks had flooded enough. Not now. Not now.