Page 49 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse

The woman took a sharp breath and glanced around, confused. Slowly, she rose to her feet and backed away, disappearing into the crowd.

“What was that about?” I asked, though I knew very well he could have this effect on people. Innocent bystanders tended to approach him to reveal their deepest secrets or desires.

“I sometimes forget myself. I apologize,” he said, looking truly ashamed.

The urge to reach out and touch his hand assaulted me, but before I could act on the impulse, his nonchalant expression returned.

Planting my elbows on the table, I buried my face in my hands. “This is useless,” I mumbled to them. Arguing with Drevan was like being on a hamster wheel… you ended up going around in circles. “What now? Sage and Benjamin know about you.” Assaulted by an idea, I dropped my hands. “Can you erase their memories?”

“Hmm, not me personally, but…” He searched the crowd until he spotted one of the levitating vampires, “Lady Eventide could do it for us. She owes me a favor… or two.”

“What?! No! There’s no way I’m going to put them in further danger. Only the witchlights know what ideas your vampire friend could plant in Sage’s head. No, I don’t want to tangle with vamps.”

“That didn’t seem to bother you a couple of years ago.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Youuu!” I accusingly pointed a finger at his face. “Stop using my past against me. I’ve told you many times, it’s not fair.”

He was referring to the time I made out with a friend of a friend, a handsome vamp that had tempted me enough to throw caution to the wind. He’d turned out to be a good kisser, and never once tried to bite me. Still, he’d been a young vamp, not an ancient creature that still remembered a time when there weren’t any laws against eating people.

“In my defense,” Drevan said, “I thought yourfriendwas someone else.”

I frowned. “What do you mean? Like someone was impersonating him?”

“Exactly like that.”

“Who did you think he was?”

“That asshole, Jophiel.”

“Jophiel! He can do that?”

He looked annoyed. “Yes, of course. We all can.”

My heart started to drum loudly. If anyone had a device to measure stress levels, I would’ve blown it up into space at that moment. I was sure.

“Breathe, Lucia,” Drevan reminded me, which was a good thing because my lungs seemed to have frozen.

I inhaled deeply several times before I gathered my thoughts and regained my intelligence. When I finally calmed down, my logic also returned.

“Okay,” I said, “so you think Jophiel wants Striker’s Queller.”

Drevan placed a finger on his temple, then glanced upward as if sayingfinally, you’re thinking.

“It would have been nice to have a warning, you know? So I could’ve been on the lookout.”

His golden eyes filled with a sympathetic look. “So you could go about distrusting all your friends. Nah, I was keeping an eye on you. I always do whenever you’re not at the league.”

I shivered at the thought of Drevan watching me. “But what about Jophiel? He can get into the league. Or can he not?”

“Oh, he can, but he won’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s against the rules. Your home is off-limits. It’s done that way so there is a place for respite. He,” Drevan pointed a finger towards the heavens, “knows the limitations of his own creation. The need for sleep, calm, etc.”

“Ha! So good of him.”

“I think you’re starting to see through him.”