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“That’s because he’s a demon, and he’s after you—”
“And right now, that’s your biggest asset.” Becka lights the candles. “Lily’s an enterprising woman. She’ll find a way to bring Levi into our trap. Once a guy leaves a print of his hand on your ass, he’s going to do anything to get back to that ass—”
Brooks’s eyebrows shootwayup, and I glare at Becka. I do not need more possessive male bullshit in my life right now.
Becka indicates that I should climb into bed. I peel off my jeans and T-shirt, leaving on only my bra and panties, and try to ignore Jackson and Brooks as their eyes sear my near-naked flesh. I climb under the duvet and pull the covers up to my chin.
While Becka finishes laying down the candles, Jackson checks the livestream on his phone for the millionth time.
“He’s eaten,” he says to Brooks.
“May I see?” I tentatively ask.
Jackson and Brooks exchange a look.
I roll my eyes at them. “I’m not an innocent teenager anymore. I brought down monsters you could only dream of. I can handle it.”
“It’s not that, Lily. It’s just…” Jackson’s face screws up. “It’s awful seeing him like this.”
I snatch the phone from his hand. Jackson has set up a camera high in the beams of the cabin, probably because there’s less chance of Orion smashing it. At first, I don’t see anything except for a room filled with broken furniture and a smear of blood along the wall. My heart stutters before I remember the rabbit Brooks threw in there before we shut the door.
Then Orion appears in the frame. At least, what was once Orion. He stalks on all fours, his body a horrific, mangled hybrid of wolf and man. Blood is caked to his chin, and for a moment, he looks up at the camera, and the light falls across his face and his eyes. They’re not Orion’s eyes any longer. They’re cruel and gold and full ofhunger.
I shudder. Jackson reaches for his phone, but then I notice something.
I tap Orion’s face on the screen. “With all the windows boarded up, he should be entirely in shadow. Where’s this light coming from?”
Jackson frowns as he peers at where I’m pointing. “Shit. It’s coming from above. There must’ve been a small skylight or something that we missed.”
“If it’s high up, Orion shouldn’t be able to reach it. Right?”
Jackson nods, but he grabs back his phone and collapses into the chair, his hands trembling as he peers at the tiny screen.
I tug the covers up. I don’t know how I’m going to sleep when my mind is racing a mile a minute and we have to fight a demon and Brooks and Jackson are both staring at me.
“This is hopeless,” I say after ten minutes. “I’m wide awake.”
“Here.” Becka takes out a dropper and drops something into my eyes. “This will help. But don’t drive any heavy machinery.”
A moment later, I’m being dragged into sleep, heading toward the darkness where Levi is lurking, when…
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
I peel one eye open. Brooks and Jackson move like the wind—Jackson dives into the bathroom, his silver-tipped stake gripped in his hand. And Brooks slides in behind the suite’s double doors, his own stake poised and ready. Becka crawls behind the TV cabinet and mouths “answer it” to me.
But I can’t answer the door. My limbs are like liquid honey. I’m melting into the bed, and with every moment, sleep is threatening to pull me under.
“Who’s there?” I manage to call out.
“It’s Freddie, Mrs. Dean. I just wanted to see if you and your husband and your new friend wanted a cheese platter, compliments of the owners. Here at the Bridgemont, we treat our honeymooners like the royalty they are.”
I flick my gaze to Brooks. “What do we do?” I mouth.
He slides his stake down the legs of his trousers and steps out from behind the door. “We get rid of him, quick.”
“And hand me that cheese platter,” Becka pipes up from behind the TV. “I’m starving.”
I swear under my breath as Brooks turns the handle and opens the door. “Hey, Freddie, thanks for the cheese platter, but we—”
