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“Eat,” I ordered, “or I will shove that meatloaf down your throat.”

“Ugh, just fucking kill me.” She flung the tray aside, splattering the wall with gravy, and began to pace like a caged panther, her mane of hair sailing out behind her.

“Fine. That’s the last food you get. Ever.” I continued to watch her, my fascination getting the better of my anger.

Who was this demon and how come I’d never heard of her?

I was still watching her when Brad rang the buzzer to be let downstairs, yanking me out of my trance.

After I unlocked the blast door, his heavy footsteps clomped down the stairs into the basement.

He halted in the doorway, his face two years wearier than I’d last seen it.

We regarded each other, unsmiling.

“You look like shit,” he said. “As usual.”

“Ditto. How much weight you gain since I last saw you?” I asked. “You getting fat on me?”

“It’s all muscle.”

“Bullshit.”

We stared each other down for another moment, then broke into a grin at the same time and collided in a great backslapping bear hug. Like no time at all had passed.

Like nothing had ever come between us.

“Alright, let’s take a look,” he said, steering clear of the subject altogether. “You said you’d captured one?”

“You fucking blind? Right there.” I jabbed a finger at the cage. “Juvenile female, healer, early to mid-twenties, my guess... she gives me the willies, bro. Been freaking me out all morning.”

Her captivated eyes, I noticed, flicked back and forth between us... missing nothing.

Lana

I paced behindthe bars.

Trapped.

Trapped in this world, this house, this room. Inside all thisweldedmetal, as Asher had been so eager to inform me.

Once I got my hands on some blood, he wouldn’t be so impressed with his welded metal then.

The other human—the one he called Brad—startled at the sight of me. “Asher, you have a fucking cell down here? How many of them have you brought here?”

“A lot less than the number I’ve killed.”

“To yourhouse?” Brad said. “Bro, you sleep here.”

“That’s never stopped them from coming in before,” he said darkly. “Now, at least, they have proper accommodations.”

Brad took a tentative step forward. He was nothing like Asher, save for the mercenary build. He was light to Asher’s darkness, his hair the color of dry grass, his eyes the clear, cerulean blue of sky, skin the color of dry sand.

This one made me nervous. For one thing, he looked at me the way Infernari did when they wanted to court you. For another, he seemed to be Asher’s opposite, and I wanted to like him simply because of it. But humans were all the same when it came to us.

Brad walked over to me, and the way he stared... I felt like I was on exhibit. The man was transfixed. I stared back. He could be on exhibit too.

He dipped his head, not quite managing to look away. “You’ve probably noticed, Jame here, he’s kind of a dick—”