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“Not really. I’m an only child and both of my parents are kind of estranged from their families. They both came from money, but neither set of grandparents approved of my parents’ marriage, so no one talks to anyone. It’s sad and stupid.”
The door at the far end of the gym opened, and loud voices filled the space as Carlos, Sig, and Benji filed in. Carlos waved, Benji nodded. Sig gave her his lamewhattupgesture.
They all headed toward the weapons room.
Eva checked the time. “I should probably go. I’ve got a lot of meetings tomorrow to prep for.”
“That’s no fun.” Logan pushed to his feet in a single, nimble motion and flipped a nearby basketball into his hands with his foot. “I don’t know if you noticed the insanity outside—”
“You mean the massive crowds, horses, and people with crossbows dressed in medieval costumes?”
“That.” Logan bounced the ball from hand to hand and squared up with the basket on the other side of the gym. “It’s Ommegang. Big yearly festival. You should check it out after work. And the Grand Platz and Mannekin Pis are not to be missed while you’re in Brussels.”
“Are you offering to show me around?” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she cringed. “Sorry, forgot about your evil ex-girlfriend.”
He hurled the ball, and she wasn’t surprised to see that, even at this distance, he made the shot. “You should still go. I can meet you in your room afterward. I’ll make sure I’m not followed. But you should get a new room on a different floor.”
She wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. “Meet me afterward…for…?”
“Just sleep, I promise,” he said, and she couldn’t decide if she was relieved or disappointed. “I’ll hang out in one of the chairs while you get some rest. I might be able to capture your nightmare demon.”
She swallowed tightly. What he was offering was incredible. To finally be free of that thing and no longer dread sleeping or need to take a pill to sleep at all…it would be a miracle.
“You…would do that?”
“It’s nothing I don’t do for a living.”
He looked like he was about to say something else when Carlos jogged up to them carrying a wicked-looking edged blade.
“Hey, man, I don’t suppose you can show me how this thing works?”
“Sure thing.” Logan turned to Eva. “See you later. Text me after the festival.”
He winked, and her belly fluttered all the way to the showers. Man, she hadn’t had it this bad for a guy in years.
If she had, she couldn’t remember, because Logan had just reduced every guy she’d ever been with to faceless wastes of time.
“You’re going to stay the night with Eva towatch her sleep?” Draven laughed—harder than necessary to make his point, in Logan’s opinion. “You expect me to buy that bullshit?”
Logan threw some money onto the pub table he’d been sharing with Shanea and Draven for the last two hours as he waited for Eva’s text. His comms had just lit up with her message and new room number.
“Just sleep.” Logan grabbed the bag his cousin Leilani had dropped off and scooted his chair back on the uneven floor planks of the historic Belgian building. “Shit’s too complicated for anything else.”
“Because she’s human?” Shanea’s two dozen bracelets jingled as she reached for her hard cider. “Or because she’s an Aegi?”
Draven drained his ale. “Human.” He signaled the server for another. “Logan got hardcore screwed over by a human back in our college days. I warned him not to tell her who he was. Humans can’t handle that kind of shit.”
No, they couldn’t. Even the ones who had a thing for vamps or werewolves drew the line at demons. As Logan found out.
Shan idly tapped on her glass with a long, black-lacquered nail. “So, don’t tell her.”
“I’m not sleeping with her unless I tell her, and I’m not telling her, so I’m not sleeping with her. Simple.”
“Why do you have to tell her?” Shanea asked. “I mean, you’re just having fun, right?”
Right. But not being entirely human seemed like one of those things that would make him an asshole if he didn’t disclose it upfront. Like, he could see himself posting toAITAHon a media site and asking if sleeping with someone without telling them he was part demon made him an asshole. And being told that,yep, you’re an asshole.
“Because she’ll find out who I am eventually, and she’ll freak the hell out. I learned that lesson the hard way.”
