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I feel like I’m walking into a trap, but I can’t figure out how to get out of this conversation. “He said you were a—” I’m extremely conscious of the fact that at least a dozen people are listening to our conversation, and I don’t really want to have to glamour the whole bar. “Lust demon,” I mouth, barely audible.
“A what now?”
“You heard me, Ryder,” I say with a scowl.
“So, that’s it. I’m just a sexy demon running around having my way with everyone?” He grins, but there’s an edge to his tone, as if I’ve somehow offended him.
I sigh. So much for everyone not overhearing us. “Can we get back on topic?”
“Only if you say please.”
“You know what?” I stand up, tipping my chair over behind me. “I don’t need this shit. I’ve been through a lot in the last year and I’m not playing games with some arrogant asshole. Xander told me you would help, but clearly he was wrong.”
I stride off through the crowd, not looking behind me. I should have known better than to think a demon could help me, but I hadn’t wanted to offend Xander and Rowan since they offered up the connection. My instincts told me to watch out, and I should have trusted them. This guy may not have horns and claws like the last one, but the facts remain: never trust a demon.
When I finally get out of the throng of people, I turn left and head down the beach, walking along the water. I’d come to this place to escape problems, but only found more trouble. I really am cursed. Tears sting my eyes as the waves wash over my toes. I squeeze and loosen my fists to release the emotions flooding me.
My thoughts drift back to the first week I’d come here. It was about a month after I’d been abducted by the horned demon. I was an emotional wreck: I couldn’t stay in Raven’s Roost with all those memories, but I missed Rowan like crazy. Nightmares and flashbacks haunted me every time I slept. I’d begun to wonder if coming here had been a mistake. But if not here, and not Raven’s Roost, where did I belong?
Then I met Luciana through a roommate match service. We didn’t know a thing about each other. The night after we moved in together, she found me on the sofa, curled in fetal position, bawling. She’d helped me up, wiped my tears, and made me margarita cupcakes. Afterward, she’d listened to my story, not just about the demon, but my abusive ex before that.
“Ven,” she said, her gray eyes hooked on mine. “You’ve got to be the strongest person I know. I admire the hell out of you for moving down here. Darkness comes for us all, at one point or another. But it can’t claim you without your permission.”
After that day, I’d pushed back the darkness, slowly but surely, each day. I don’t know where I’d be if it hadn’t been for Luciana and the words she’d spoken to me that night. And now, Luciana is the one in trouble. I can’t let her down. I won’t. Two things become crystal clear as I walk down the beach.
One, my friend still needs help.
And two, I’m going to have to solve this one on my own.
