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“I’m very sorry for your loss,” Clasping her hands together, Eva tried to communicate sincerity. “I’m genuinely—”
“Oh, fuck off,” Scotty snapped. “I’m glad Draven is hunting every one of you down and taking you apart slowly. I hope—”
“Scotland!” Logan grabbed her by the arm and yanked her aside. “Let’s see if we can find Mace or Blade. They’re probably looking to start a volleyball game.” He pointed to the remaining three women. “Be. Nice.”
As Logan and a sulky Scotty walked away, Raika gestured to a seat across from her. “I’d apologize for Scotty, but we all loved Noah, Draven, and Shanea. And frankly, I think we’re all pretty wary of Aegi.”
“And we’re pretty wary of you.” Eva took a seat. “So maybe we can start over?”
Dawn nodded. “I don’t know what you’ve heard about us, but we’re all pretty normal. I mean, we’re not psychos or anything.”
Dawn seemed okay. She’d gotten Kynan’s black hair and denim-blue eyes, and she was free with her smiles. She had interesting tats on her wrists, ankles, and neck, though. They were similar enough to the one around Eva’s navel that she couldn’t let it go.
“Can I ask about your tattoos? Do they repel demons?”
“Nah. They’re restraining glyphs.” Dawn skimmed her fingertips across the linked symbols around her wrist. “They keep my inner Soulshredder contained.”
Ice-cold terror dropped into the pit of Eva’s stomach. Soulshredders could see scars, both mental and physical, and they used their Satan-given talents to open old wounds. Long-lost cousins of nightmare demons, Soulshredders haunted their victims for years, terrorizing them, hurting them, and driving them insane.
And Dawn had one of those inside her.
Amber glanced at Eva and then back at her sketchbook. “You scared her, Dawn.”
Recalling what Logan had said about Amber being an empath, Eva took a deep breath and forced herself to settle down. And made a mental note to temper her emotions in front of his sister.
“Dawn probably shouldn’t have said we’re regular people and then dropped her Soulshredder DNA thing on you.” Raika took a sip of her margarita and then licked salt from her lips. “Look, we’re all either immortal or have some sort of demon in us. But we just want to live like everyone else. No one wants to harm anyone, and most of us are dedicated to protecting the world from evil. That’s The Aegis’s goal too, right? So, let’s just chill and get back to gossiping.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Amber said, raising her glass but not actually drinking. Instead, she went back to sketching in her notebook.
“Oh, my God,” Raika said, gesturing with her Solo cup at a red-haired woman who resembled Scotty so much they must be sisters. “Aleka’s doing it. She’s actually flirting with Sabre!”
“I told you.” Dawn continued to play with her tattoo. It was just so strange that part of Eva’s was almost a perfect match and yet had the opposite effect with demons. “She broke up with that asshole she was dating, and all she can talk about is Sabre. She’s had a crush on him for years.”
“Excuse me,” Eva said, tats forgotten. “Aleka is Scotty’s older sister, right? And who is Sabre?”
“Yes, Aleka and Scotty are sisters.” Raika poured from the pitcher into a clean cup. “Their parents are Ares and Cara. Sabre is Eidolon and Tayla’s son. You probably know who they are.”
Eva absolutely knew who they were. She took the cup and downed half of it to calm nerves that were probably broadcasting a lot of information to Amber. “So, he’s related to Blade, Mace, Rade, and Crux? He’s a sex demon?”
Dawn nodded. “They’re his cousins. You can see why this is so amusing. He’d be crazy to lay a hand on Ares’ daughter.”
“Hilarious, right?” Raika’s glossy hair billowed softly around her shoulders now. But the breeze had died down, and no one else’s hair stirred. Whowasthis chick? At this point, Eva wouldn’t be surprised if her father was Hades. “Aleka’d better not let her dad see her batting her eyes at Sabre.”
“Oh, damn,” Dawn muttered, and everyone looked at the dark-haired, athletic guy walking along the shore with a tall, busty blonde in a thong bikini.“I keep hoping he’ll dump her skanky ass.”
Amber uttered a soft curse and scribbled harder.
Raika leaned toward Eva and said in a conspiratorial voice, “That’s Talon. Sometimes we call him Stewie to annoy him. He’s also a Seminus demon, and we hate his bitch of a girlfriend. She’s a fallen angel. Real piece of shit.” She jerked her chin toward Amber. “And Amber there has been in love with him since she was born.”
Amber shot Raika a dirty look. “I’m not in love with him. And it doesn’t matter because he treats me like his little sister.”
“Then maybe,” Raika said, “you should put on a slinky black minidress sometime.”
That earned Raika another glare. “A slinky black dress would look pretty silly at a beach party.”
Dawn squeezed a lime wedge into her cup. “You know what wouldn’t look silly at a beach party? A bikini. Show him you’re more than Logan’s little sister.”
Amber gave Dawn the finger and then shot the fallen angel a scorching glare before diving back into her notebook. What was she doing, anyway?
