Page 13 of Demon's Bane

He huffs a breath. “I came to this realm to—”

“Get answers. And I’ll try to help you get them. But in the meantime, we’re playing by my rules.”

“Playing by your rules,” Rhett says slowly, that hint of a smile unexpectedly returning. “What exactly does that mean?”

I don’t think I like the thread of amusement in that smile. I don’t care for the way it suddenly feels like he knows something I don’t, how my stomach sinks and that lump rises right back up in my throat.

Still, I’m not about to give up any ground here. Swallowing around it, I square my shoulders.

“It means you’ll follow my lead and be patient. You’re more than welcome to stay here if you can agree to that, but if not, I have no problem contacting Esme and calling this whole thing off.”

A flash of… something in Rhett’s eyes. Something like disappointment, or maybe just irritation at having me order him around, but he blinks it away and nods.

“I can agree to that.”

“Good,” I say, ignoring the way my gut twists.

Thisisgood. Him knowing what’s up. Me establishing my boundaries. It’s just the insanity of this entire night that’s got me screwed up, out of whack, feeling guilty over laying down the law.

Or maybe it’s the fact that I still can’t fully wrap my mind around what’s happening here.

If I take what he’s said at face value, maybe I don’t have anything to worry about from Rhett. Maybe he’s just here doing what he needs to for his people, probably feeling as off-balance and uncertain as I would be if someone plunked me down on the other side of the Veil.

Or maybe he’s just a grumpy demon who really doesn’t like witches, and I should absolutely keep my guard up.

“Come on, then,” I say, nodding toward the hall. “I’ll show you the guest room.”

He follows a few steps behind me as I lead him down the hallway.

Truthfully, ‘guest room’ is a very generous term for the catch-all the apartment’s second bedroom has become since Allie moved out a couple of years ago. Still, it has a futon and enough open floor space for it not to be a fire hazard for someone to stay here, so it will have to do.

“You’ll sleep here.”

Rhett makes a face as he surveys the space, then gestures to the futon. “That does not seem like it will be big enough for me in my unglamoured form.”

His unglamoured form.

My mind whirls for a moment at the idea of it. Huge black wings and spiraling, ram-like horns. Crimson eyes and a freaking tail, of all things. I wonder if he’d be as big and broad as Eren and Sylas, if that’s standard for demon men, or if…

“About that…” I say, pushing the thought aside. “It would probably be better if you kept the glamour on while you’re in the human realm.”

“Even while I’m in your home? When it’s just you and I and no one else around to see?”

Again with that damned demon’s voice. Low and rumbling, edged with a bit of humor that feels like a secret I’m absolutely not going to ask him to let me in on.

“Yes,” I tell him. “This place has windows that look down onto Main Street, and I’m not about to start some kind of incident if any of the humans in this town get a look at you.”

He contemplates that for a moment before nodding again and stepping into the room. When he reaches the futon, he sinks down onto it and tests the spring and bounce of the stiff cushions.

“It folds down,” I explain with another brief pang of guilt when I realize he probably doesn’t know how it works.

I mean, why would he? It’s not like they have cheap Swedish furniture in the demon realm.

He stands up and takes a step back, watching as I fiddle with the latch in the back until the mattress lays flat. For good measure, I grab a pillow and a few blankets from the dresser at the side of the room and dump those onto it, too.

“Better,” he allows.

Perching on the edge of the mattress, he glances up at me. The weight of the silence in the room grows heavier, charged with more of that confusing magick that threaded itself through the air as soon as we made our bargain.