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“I’ll be home soon,” I said, hanging up the phone after telling Sam I’d call him back. It was too much to deal with over the phone. I needed to get back to my pack, immediately, before anything else happened.
I turned to see Griffin standing in the doorway and jumped, startled by his silent entrance. “Jesus, Griffin! What the hell are you doing here? You scared the hell out of me.”
“Sorry, man. I was wondering if they heard anything about Morgan.” His eyes gave him away. He wasn’t so much concerned with the pack’s well-being as he was with the whereabouts of his friend.
Fool!Why was he clinging to this? He needed to let her go.
“Look, Grif, you need to stop worrying about Morgan. She isn’t your friend anymore, so let her go.”
He scoffed, his face contorted with displeasure. “It’s not that simple. What if you found out Sam had betrayed you? Would you so easily be able to pretend you’d never been friends? Never been close?”
“I get where you’re coming from. I do. But as your friend, I want you to listen to me. Morgan isn’t who she was before. Or maybe it’s who she’s always been but being with you made her suppress her evil side. I don’t know, but either way, the Morgan you knew is gone, and she’s not coming back. There’s nothing you can do, Grif, so let her go. Let go of your friendship or you’ll threaten to ruin the relationships with the friends you have now. And with Emily.”
He nodded, though I could see he was still contemplating my words. I wanted to shake my head, but what was the point? Until he was ready, he wouldn’t let their friendship go, and I couldn’t force it to happen sooner.
“You’re right, man,” he agreed, though it fell empty. He didn’t believe his words. “Let’s get back to the women.”
“And Rohan,” I added.
* * *
Emily
Icollected the fire from the hearth, using my magic to help pull it into the jar. Honestly, I figured the flame would die instantly when I corked the lid, but it burned just as bright as it had in the fireplace.
Quickly, I scurried away from the couple on the floor and back to the table. Rohan and Ember were talking with Amon about the demon realm.
“Is it always so red here?” Ember asked, looking around her—from the red sky that peered through the window, to the burgundy walls, the red carpet, and even red furniture. Sure, there were other colors mixed in, like black—which wasn’t even a color.
Amon answered, “Yes,” and then chuckled when he asked, “Would you believe me if I told you my favorite color was green?”
We talked for a bit, light chitchat, learning about the culture there. Demons could be surprisingly reserved and even decent. They weren’t at all evil like I’d assumed—except for the Dark Ones he mentioned. They were more selfish than they were evil. Giving in to temptations to fulfill their own desires.
“Excuse me, my Lord,” a servant spoke in a soft voice. “You’re needed in the other room.”
Amon excused himself from the table and left the room. The demons who’d remained silent throughout the entirety of the visit took that opportunity to make their move. They stood from the table and crept closer to Ember and me.
One slithered his arm around me, pulling me into his chest. “It’s about time we had a moment alone,” he said, brushing back my hair to kiss my neck. “I’ve been waiting all night to do this.”
I pushed him away, but my strength was nothing to his, and he didn’t waver. Thankfully, he pulled away on his own accord. “You don’t want this?” he asked, motioning along his body. “I promise you, I have more to offer than either of those human mates.”
“No!” I shouted.
Ember struggled behind me, and Rohan burst from his chair, walking over to the demon and grabbing him by the neck.
“I’d suggest you get your hands off of her before I rip them off,” he snarled, baring his teeth.
The demons laughed. “I’d like to see you try.”
A female demon came over, pulling Rohan away from us. Despite his attempts to leave, her grasp was too strong. Demons of any kind were more powerful and held strength beyond our measure.
They continued to grope us, touch us in ways that were beyond uncomfortable and refused to relent. On the one hand, I was glad that Cassian and Griffin weren’t there because their wolf side would go ballistic, and they might end up hurt. But damn, did I wish they were there to save me.
I tried using my magic like I had by the hearth, but it was pointless. My fire extinguished before it was tangible, and my water evaporated instantly. Were Ember’s powers just as useless? What was going on?
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Cassian shouted, returning with Griffin, who was equally pissed.
They stomped over, Griffin jerking the demon off me while Cassian pulled away the demon from Ember. Their teeth flashed, and their canines grew to inhuman lengths. It was enough to distract the female demon, giving Rohan a chance to shove her away.
