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Chapter 14
The Lunar League’s headquarters was a thirty-minute walk from Willa’s place. I spent the entirety of that time trying not to think about what Willa had asked. If I trusted Mrak. Why I didn’t trust him if not. Why asserting control over my body, a vessel both Mrak and I were currently using to exist, meant so much when it was someone I loved and trusted with whom I was sharing this body.
By the time the demon hunters’ headquarters came into view, I’d landed on my decision. I stopped and ducked into an alleyway, leaning against the cool brick. It was hot and humid today, and the smell of the city’s trash, sewers, and smog was particularly pungent. I tried not let it rile my stomach up again.
Inhaling deeply, I pulled out the paper with Leif’s sword design on it—and the ward currently holding Mrak at bay. I would tell Mrak everything. And then we’d decide together how to proceed. This may have been my body, and I absolutely had a right to it and every decision involving it. But Mrak’s life was on the line, too.
Without ceremony, I ripped page in two down the middle, severing the ward, and placed the two torn halves back into the pocket of my jeans. Within seconds, I felt Mrak’s presence coalesce around me, feeling more solid and like actual arms than ever before.
“What happened?”He growled protectively in my ear.“One moment, you were sleeping and then I was gone. Barred from our own bedroom. Are you hurt?”His monstrous arms held me tightly. I wondered how worried for me he’d be once he’d learned what I’d planned to do next.
“Some vampires paid me a visit,” I answered, my voice barely louder than a whisper. I wasn’t familiar with this area of the city and didn’t know how often some of the Lunar League’s demon hunters might roam the nearby areas. “More survivors from Lazarus’s community. It appears we didn’t do as thorough a job destroying their coven as we’d thought.”
Mrak’s lips pressed against my neck and then my own lips. I kissed him hard, wishing I could wrap my arms around him and hold him close. Instead, I winced as he pressed against my collarbone.“Are you hurt?”
“Nothing bad,” I said, but before I could add anything else, I felt a claw over the wound on my upper chest. A warm sensation followed. Seconds later, it felt as though I hadn’t been cut there at all. “Thank you, Mrak.”
“Aisling.”He kissed me again.“I was so worried. Where are we?”
I bit my lips and steeled myself for this conversation. “Willa learned Leif is part of the Lunar League. I was on my way to abuse that information when—”
Mrak’s presence disappeared from me the same time someone asked, “What about me?”
I jumped and turned toward the mouth of the alleyway, where Leif now stood.Son of a bitch.Talk about timing.
Leif’s tattoo—Mrak was gone because of the ward.
“Not really the best time,” I called to Leif.
Leif strode toward me, one hand reaching for his gun. I lifted my hands up to show I meant no harm—at least not yet.
“What are you doing here?” Leif sounded shocked, but his eyes betrayed him as his gaze darted in the direction of the Lunar League’s headquarters.
“It appears I’m not the only one with secrets,” I said.
Leif took his hand off of his weapon but didn’t slow down his stride until he was only a few feet away from me. “I was coming back here to file an official report of the situation.”
“Why file it now?” I asked. “You’ve known about all of this for days.”
Leif exhaled heavily, a frustrated sigh. “Because I’ve been trying to help you, Aisling. The thing inside you can be removed.”
“The entity inside me is the only one saving me around here.” And when Mrak hadn’t been around because of wards, I’d had the magic he’d given me. “I don’t need your help.”
“Then why the hell are you here?” Leif asked, looking incredulous. “Make up your damn mind, Aisling.”
“Oh, it’s made up.” I needed answers. And then the threat of Leif could be removed. Mrak would kill him anyway as soon as he could manifest entirely. Once Mrak was on this world, no ward Leif could possibly make would protect him. Mrak had killed for me. I could do this for him.
And yet… Leif bore the look of a ragged hero. A cop. A demon hunter. He was just trying to help. Leif just didn’t understand that the kind of help I needed was exactly what Leif was trying to prevent.
Leif paused for a moment, a hard glint shining in his eyes. “Your workshop is burnt to the ground.”
“Yeah, you won’t be getting that commission,” I replied.
Leif pointed to where the design was half-sticking out of my pocket. “If you destroy those instructions, if you help him enter this world, it all ends.”
“Mrak isn’t evil.”
“The rest of his plane is,” Leif argued. “I’ve seen it in dreams, asleep and waking visions alike. I’m a Seer, Aisling. I know what’s on the other side. What’s coming.”
