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He full-on smiled this time. “Cruel little shit, aren’t you?”
It only shrugged one shoulder, uncaring. “Do not forget the chain.” Then it retreated, and Larkin’s striking eyes were once more locked on him.
He skated a hand down her braid. “Your demon would totally waterboard me if it could, wouldn’t it?”
“Often,” she admitted with a sigh.
“It’s sadistic in an almost clinical way, right? It’s not that the entity is evilly bloodthirsty. It simply likes to put people through pain and terrify them to see how they handle it.”
“Pretty much, yeah. But it would have no fun playing with masochists. It wouldn’t get any satisfaction from giving pain to those who crave it. It wants to experiment on those who don’t; to push them to their limits and watch them break.”
“Makes sense.”
Her brow furrowed. “It does?”
“Yeah. Where’s the enjoyment in torturing someone who’ll welcome it?” He loosely fisted the end of her braid. “Can I watch next time your demon puts someone through the ringer like that? I’d like to see it at work.”
Her eyes all but delved into his. “You’re not even kidding, are you?”
“I don’t know why you’d feel that I should be.”
She sighed again. “Of course you don’t.”
“Larkin!” Piper called out, waving her over to where the nightmare and the rest of the women stood.
Larkin let her arms slip away from him. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
“I’ll go grab us both a drink while I wait.”
“All right. A mojito will do nicely. Try not to cause havoc while I’m gone.”
He grimaced. “Yeah, I promise nothing.”
She rolled her eyes and then disappeared.
Teague made his way toward the makeshift bar, whistling along to the upbeat tune that played over the speakers. Skirting the end of the table, he came to a stop as he almost bumped into a tall, dark, well-built male who was fairly cloaked in pure power.
The president of the Black Saints shot him a lopsided grin. “Teague,” he greeted. “Nice brand. I noticed you’re cozy with Knox Thorne’s sentinel. Bit risky, isn’t it? I mean, you wouldn’t want him to learn that . . . ” He trailed off, a glitter of mischief in his eyes.
Teague didn’t tense, confident that the male wouldn’t finish his sentence. “How you doing, Viper? Or should I call you . . . ?” He trailed off, reminding the guy that he wasn’t the only one privy to secrets that weren’t his.
Viper’s mouth curved a little more. “I haven’t seen you or your boys at my club in a while.”
“We’ve been sort of preoccupied lately.”
The president’s gaze sharpened. “Anything you need help with?” The MC club had a loose alliance with Teague’s clan—one they’d formed shortly after the fallen angels made an appearance on Earth. It was an unlikely alliance, in truth, but it made sense in a way that no one outside the club or clan would understand due to the secrets they kept.
“Nah, we’re handling it.”
“If that changes, be sure to let me know.”
“Will do.” Teague gave him a curt nod and then crossed to the makeshift bar, where he ordered a beer for himself and a mojito for Larkin. As he grabbed both drinks and turned to seek her out, Levi materialized at his side, an odd look on his face. Teague frowned at the reaper. “What?”
Levi cocked his head. “You smiled,” he replied, sounding both impressed and baffled.
Teague’s frown deepened. “What?”
“You smiled at Larkin’s demon.”
“Why wouldn’t I? That creature is a hoot.”
After a long moment of staring at him, Levi let out a heavy exhale. “All right. Fine. I’ll back off.”
“Huh?”
“You might not know this, but Larkin’s demon has scared off many guys she’s dated. I think it simply meant to test them, but it’s equally possible that the entity was bored and decided to fuck with them just for something to do.”
Teague gave a slow nod. “It’s hard to fight that kind of temptation, to be fair.”
Levi snickered. “Yeah, I guess you can relate to the fulfillment it gets from messing with people,” he mused. “It no doubt tried to scare you off, but it didn’t succeed. You’re still here. And you smiled at it, talked to it, touched it, and even let it nuzzle you. I personally wouldn’t want that callous entity anywhere near my throat.” He paused. “If you can accept Larkin’s demon so fully, I’ll just as fully accept you.”
Twisting his mouth, Teague shrugged. “All right.”
The reaper eyed him for long seconds. “You don’t care either way, do you?”
“No, not really.”
Smiling, Levi clapped him on the back. “You’ll do, Teague. You’ll do.”
Later on, Ciaran teleported most of their group back to Larkin’s apartment. It was only the Primes, Khloë, and Keenan who he took elsewhere, teleporting them to their prospective homes.
With a nice buzz going on, Teague slumped onto the sofa and watched as Larkin hugged Levi, Tanner, and their drunken mates before ushering them out of her apartment.
