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“Gawk all you want, Lana. From right here. But you’renotgoing down there.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you so worried about me anyway?”

I laughed. “Oh, you think it’syouI’m worried about. No, I’m worried aboutthem.” I thrust my finger down at the oblivious tourists. “I’m worried about what happens when a bloodthirsty demon is set loose on the streets of New Orleans.That’swhat I’m worried about.”

She flashed me a scathing look. “Ugh, I’m not going toeatthem.”

“No, you’ll do worse. You’ll cut them open and drain their blood, you’ll heal as many demons as you can, and you’ll curse every living soul in this city... starting with me.”

She gave me a petulant look. “Then come and babysit me if you’re so scared. And if I bite someone, you can burn me to ash like you’ve sworn to do so many times... you deceitful liar.”

“Lana...” I warned.

She stepped up into my space. “Or will you always break your oaths when it comes to killing me?”

I stared at her, the only sign of my turmoil the air hissing from my nostrils.

Below us, a swaggering group of drunk guys caught sight of Lana and started hollering, “Show us your tits!”

“See, not a good place to be.” I turned back to my room. “Me? I’m going to sleep.”

Lana, if anything, only looked more fascinated.

The moment I returned to my room, her bedroom door banged open and her footsteps stormed down the hall.

“Damnit.” I slumped against the wall, utterly exhausted by her.

She was going out no matter what I said. And why shouldn’t we go out? Enjoy ourselves for once? I certainly needed a real meal after that dinner. Hell, maybe I could even get her sloshed and wheedle some more information out of her. Could be fun.

It would beat wiling away the evening in Grandmaddox’s house of hell.

Fine, Lana, you win.

“I’m getting too old for this shit,” I muttered, pushing into the hallway and charging after her.

I caught up with her on the curb and steered her toward Bourbon Street. “You want to see a human shit show? Let’s go see a human shit show.”

Chapter 12

Lana

Holy Mother ofGods, thisplace.

Asher was right, people swarmed the streets. And there were so many of them! It was so unlike Abyssos. So unlike everything I had known.

And the way people dressed... I’d once read that long ago our royal court had harlequins—people with painted faces and ridiculous attire who were brought in to entertain the old rulersand their nobles—but mortal memory of those days had long since been wiped away. But I would imagine that if they still existed, they would look something like these people.

Only, with more clothes.

I glanced over at Asher, wondering what he thought of the crowd. But, as usual, his face was closed off, his expression grim. The man could stand to have some fun.

Everything seemed to glitter in bright, luminescent colors. The lights, the beads, the clothes and makeup people wore. It was all so reminiscent of my magic. Here, humans seemed to revel in it.

People staggered and wove through the streets, and the air was heavy with the scents of sweat, human sickness, and strong spirits.

It was terrible, terrible and wonderful, all of it so contradictory.

Bright purple and green lights hung over the outdoor seating area of the building ahead of us, a string of skull-shaped lights draped in the doorway. The sound of raucous laughter drifted out from inside.