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My fist slammed into his temple before he could finish. Brad’s eyes rolled up into his head and then his body collapsed on itself. Blood still poured from his nose, enough that I didn’t have to give him a fresh wound to cull the amount I needed.

Quickly I shrugged out of my clothes. Great Mother above and sprites below, it wasfuckingcold.

I turned to Brad.

He wouldn’t like it when he woke.

I stripped him of his boxers, studying his naked body. Itwaslovely, but that’s not why I was looking. I needed to make sure I got every detail right.

I stepped into his boxers as my magic pulsed through me, shortening my hair and contorting my body until I was a mirror image of the man sprawled at my feet. It took only several more seconds to pull the magic from what was left of his blood.

Then I was ready.

I muttered a quick prayer to the Great Mother on Brad’s behalf, then spared him one last glance. His nose was horribly crooked. As a parting gift, I knelt near his face and reset it.

Then I left the cell and headed to the other side of the building. Right where I knew Asher would be.

Asher

My eyelids sprangopen. A hulking figure loomed over me, silhouetted against the near pitch black of the underground bedroom, lit only by the glowing LEDs on my laptop.

Wide awake, I lunged for the cord dangling from my desk lamp and flicked it on, kicking up a flurry of blankets.

My eyes adjusted to the glare, and I almost laughed out loud.

Wearing only boxers, Brad shielded his eyes from the light, one leg raised like he’d been about to climb onto my bed... ontome. He froze like a deer caught in headlights.

“Uh... what the hell, dude?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I, mmh... hello, Asher.” His voice sounded strained.

With both of us in only boxers, he had some explaining to do. “Legoffmy bed, please.”

He seemed to finally realize, and he lowered his leg to the floor, shuffling awkwardly.Yeah, you better feel awkward.

My eyes narrowed. “You sleepwalking? What? What is this? What do you want?”

He stared down at his empty palms. “I, well... I wanted to... check on you and see how you were doing?” His gaze lifted to my torso, and then—very conspicuously—traveled down my abs and paused on my tight boxer briefs. He bit his lower lip.

Okay, I didnotjust see that.

His eyes snapped back to mine, and I could have sworn I saw him blush. “You seem to be doing just fine,” he said, his voice oddly stilted. “I’ll just go... you go back to sleep... please.”

“What do you want, Brad? You coming out of the closet? What is this?”

“I didn’t come out of the closet,” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “I came in through the door...obviously.”

I sat up and woke my smartphone, rubbing my eyes to focus. “The hell’s wrong with you? Are you high?”

1:09 a.m.

In my periphery, he edged closer. Ah, he was up making his rounds. “So you checked on the demon?”

“It’s Infernar—” Brad clamped his mouth shut.

I peered sideways at him, my eyebrow notching up even higher.

“Demon,” he agreed, nodding too enthusiastically. “Yep, she’s definitely a demon... a terrible, wretched demon.” He avoided my gaze.