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“I don’t know.” He shifted his weight. “It wasn’t my bidding.”

A rush of intuition burned in my throat, clenching my heartbeat, freezing my lungs. The blood flushed to my head and his words echoed, branding my mind with molten strength.

“I didn’t ask if it was.” Impulse drove my feet backwards, away from the window—away from him. Ryder followed my slow but determined steps until I was backed against a wall. He stood so close his breath warmed my hairline. The heat gave way to a hellish fever, yet every one of my hairs stood on end. I hadn’t even considered what he said as an option. But now…did he just admit he could command something like that?

Maybe he had seen me through the slit in the door and wanted to quiet my suspicions. If anything though, this raised them tenfold and left me with the impression he conjured demons—which definitely came with a pretty gnarly warning label.

Trying to keep my breaths even, I tore my gaze from the gold flecks in his eyes, glancing up at the domed ceiling, but it too felt like it was caving in—just like the rest of my life had.

“I have to go to work.” I was surprised to find any words, especially ones that seemed logical enough. Enough to get me out of there, at least. Even if it wasn’t my scheduled shift. Even if I had no idea what time it was.

“Now?” Ryder inched back, reluctant to give too much distance, as if I might flee. “It’s almost seven PM.”

“Yeah. I…uh…” Think, think, think. “I’m training the new employee how to close.”

Ryder read my movements like tea leaves, analyzing each blink, swallow, and shoulder fidget. If I caved to my body’s impulses and grimaced, what would that reveal?

I didn’t want to lie, but I needed to be real with myself: he played with the dark side, he’d figured out my school schedule—I’d be damned to give out my home address.

“Won’t your parents be home soon anyway and want to know why some strange girl is sitting in their living room?” I was trying way too hard to be conversational. Don’t lay it on so heavy, River. “Your brother already seems a bit…unimpressed.”

“He’s always like that.” Ryder broke his stare and went back to the window, the last light glistening on his hardened gaze. At this angle it cast a glassy film over his eyes, as if this was all just a front and he was about to be real and break down—or maybe that’s what I was hoping for. He sniffed, and in a moment the look shattered, disappearing with the rest of his emotions.

“Well, I know my dad would be pissed,” I continued, forcing my voice light. “I should actually touch base with him. Have you seen my phone?” Not because I was freaking out or anything.

He pointed to the mantel.

“Thanks.” I delivered the same lie to my dad. Next in line, Javi…Shit. Javi. He’d waited for me at the lighthouse after class. How would I even begin to explain I’d ghosted him because I’d been chased off campus by a sharky-mouthed, blood-spewing demon?

And worse, that I’d fled with a guy wearing combat boots who didn’t even consider me—I gulped—fully human?

Hey! I typed. Sorry I bailed. Got called into work. New girl no showed. Def owe you a trip to watermelon ice cream.

Three dots indicating he was typing flashed, then disappeared. Flashed, then disappeared. I waited another minute. Nothing. And then, No worries. WITH A PERIOD.

That was it. He hated me. Our friendship was ruined.

I pinched the upper bridge of my nose. At least this proved the theory Ryder used to explain everyone else’s ignorance. No one saw the teratorn—but us. I rolled my eyes at the convenience of that.

Javi’s response stung, but I’d find a way to make it up to him. Ice cream and comic books to start. After I decompressed and hid from any potential demonic accomplices.

“We should get going then.” Ryder broke my attention from my screen. “We don’t want you to be late.” Oh, I sensed some skepticism.

“Right.” I slipped on my Vans and followed him outside.

A full moon rose into a burnt tangerine sky. Pine needles, golden under its fading light, crunched beneath my shoes. The mud had dried. No sign of rain clouds. The heavy air clung to my skin, hot and sticky from the burst in humidity. I tried not to think about the last time I was outdoors, which had to have been almost eight hours ago, hardly functioning on any level, just so, so done, caked in ash and demon blood.

A fierce wave of lightheadedness rushed through me, and I battled against the sudden wobble in my legs—and in a harmonic spin with the Earth’s rotation my body hurtled into the wall of the truck bed.

Squeaky-clean. No teratorn guts. Not even a chip in the paint.

“Cleaned it while you were sleeping,” Ryder answered my unspoken question. Damn, he was getting good at reading me. I straightened my features. “Water, a dash of vinegar, and lemon essential oil. My little secret.”

I snorted. “How organic of you. How’d you do this, though?” I waved at the smooth glass of the windshield.

“That’d be me.” The declaration rumbled like the voice of God, then I noticed the oil-stained jeans sticking out from under the fender.

Ryder jumped. Actually jumped. He hadn’t even been this spooked over a demon. “Leif, you scared the shit out of me.”