Page 24 of Demon Touched (The Demon Syndicate #2)

Nova

N ova had never understood why people freaked out over the phrase we need to talk until that very moment. She dialed his number and it felt like her stomach was trying to climb up her throat.

Dex better be okay.

“Come up to the roof,” he told her the second he picked up.

Nova dropped her phone and ran full speed through the apartment building. The door slammed open when she rammed her shoulder into it, and the entire thing was a fucking blur as she scented the air for blood.

Her heart was pounding, and she whirled around, looking for him with both eyes.

Dex stood on the corner ledge of the roof wrapped in his illusions.

Nova didn’t think she could breathe when adrenaline was drenching her system like this.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” She hated how shaky her voice sounded.

He turned around then and she realized he couldn’t scent her. Nova took the scent charm out of her ear with trembling fingers. Dex stood before her in the blink of an eye and wrapped his wings around her, hugging her so tight that some of the fear eased.

“What’s wrong?” she demanded, pulling back to inspect his face.

Everything seemed okay, but his eyes were glassy, almost like he’d been crying, or he was trying not to.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he murmured, rubbing both thumbs over her cheeks like that alone would soothe his soul. “Nothing we can’t figure out. I’m sorry I scared you.”

She pushed away from him and punched his arm as hard as she could, trying to regulate the emotions and adrenaline that were overwhelming every thought. “ Tell me ,” she gritted out.

“Agmos has ordered Grim Corp to stay within our borders.” Dex’s wings looked almost depressed as they hung morosely from his back. “He knows you’ve been here from the beginning. Knew about Zane before we did. I assume he has a source on the council which means he probably knows what you look like.”

It took more work than it should have to calm her heart rate as his words sunk in. Nova took deep breaths, inspecting him for injuries while she listened.

“Agmos didn’t like that I’d offered the hunter a position with the syndicate, but I don’t think he knows that I know you’re both Nova and the council hunter. Regardless, he told me to invite you and Zane to dinner if you ever entered our territory again.”

This wasn’t that bad.

She paced, trying to calm down. Dex had scared the living shit out of her.

“Things are getting dangerous,” he warned. “I don’t know what he wants with you. You can’t come into our territory unless it’s absolutely unavoidable, or you want to meet with him.”

“I thought you were dying, you jerk,” she snapped. “This is nothing in comparison.”

His eyes flashed then and Nova wanted to claw that smirk off his fucking face. “I’m flattered you care so much.”

“You’re so fucking annoying. I hate you.” This was something they could have talked about over the phone, or after she’d finished work.

Nova strode for the door, pissed as fuck. She didn’t have time for this shit.

He was suddenly right in front of her and she froze. Had she ever seen him move that quickly?

“How am I going to see you?” Dex asked. “How am I going to do that and keep you safe?”

“You’re doing it now, feather boy.” Nova felt like she needed to fight something and that was never good. “Now get out of my way.”

“So, what? I should just ignore his orders and put your life at risk?” Dex demanded, his wings rising in indignation. “What about the hunter that lives down the hall from you? What about Agmos?”

“What about him, Dex? I’ve never met the guy, so tell me why this is such a fucking problem.” Nova flexed her hands, making fists and then releasing them to ease some of the adrenaline still coursing through her veins.

“Agmos is one of the craftiest, meanest assholes I’ve ever met,” Dex said, his voice strangely calm as he approached her.

Nova took a step back before she even realized she was doing it.

“He views everyone who isn’t family as fickle and untrustworthy, so he tests them.

First, he tries to buy them off and if that doesn’t work, he tortures them.

You really want me to subject you to that? ”

Her heart started pounding for a completely different reason then.

Just how much had this demon fucked with his head to keep this strength at his side?

Asking Dex that question wouldn’t help anyone, so Nova just shook her head. “He wants to meet with the hunters, not the girl you’re seeing.”

“And you truly think he’s that stupid?” Dex slammed his hands onto the wall, trapping her against the door to the stairs. “You think he won’t figure it out once he meets you? He knows you aren’t a he , Nova.”

His eyes were blazing, and his wings were spread wide. Dex was losing his shit over this and she still didn’t understand why.

“Even if he figures it out, so what?” Nova glared up at him despite every warning bell in her head telling her not to push him even farther. “It’s not like I haven’t been tortured by a demon before.”

He flinched away from her, removing his hands from the wall. “Exactly. This whole thing was a mistake. I never should have let this happen.”

Nova slapped him across the face as hard as she could before she even realized what she was doing. It was enough his head whipped to the side and then he turned that brutal gaze on her.

“You begged me not to leave,” she reminded him.

“And what did you say about it costing my life?” he growled, his chest heaving with his fury.

Nova crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “I don’t understand how this would put your life at risk. Or mine.”

Someone needed to knock some sense into him and she was fully willing to volunteer. Dex needed to figure out she wasn’t some delicate creature.

“He’s a demon,” Dex growled, his voice so deep and volatile it was barely audible. “I trust him not to kill me, but you? He’s going to see you as a threat—someone who might take away the only person he’s ever cared about.”

This didn’t make any sense. “I thought you wanted me to work with you.”

“Yeah, as a hunter!” Dex ran his hand through his hair and nearly tore it out. “I wasn’t planning on telling anyone you were also a witch!”

Nova felt all the anger and outrage leave her in a giant rush. She felt so cold she actually shivered as she tried to find the path they could walk together.

“Will this always be a secret then?” she asked, her eyes losing focus until he was nothing more than a fuzzy outline.

Would they ever be able to actually be together, go on a date, and just…be like her parents?

The light dimmed in Dex’s eyes when he sensed the change in her. “I don’t know.”

Nova looked out at the glittering city just over Dex’s wings.

Did any of this actually matter? Was she getting herself all worked up over something that could never fully manifest?

Her gaze shifted from the city to the arch of his wings and the deep black of his feathers, easing into a red that always took her breath away, but it was the first time it felt like his wings looked like they’d been dipped in blood.

Nova finally met his gaze and she blinked back the tears she could feel threatening to spill over, like she wasn’t a professional hunter. All her life she’d had immaculate control over her emotions.

Until Dex.

“Tell me what you think will happen if Agmos finds out the hunter is me, and that I’m also a witch. Tell me what you think he’ll do if he finds out we’re together.” Nova took a step forward and this time Dex was the one who stepped back.

“He could cage you, torture you, kill you, and use you as a lesson to keep me in line…he could use your life to force me into submission. Then there’s a different set of possible outcomes if he likes you.

Agmos might hire you, but he’d use our relationship against us, always threatening one to force the other.

But…he might just keep testing you until he decides you’re worthy of joining our family. ”

Nova considered all those possibilities and took another step forward. “What would he ask you to do that you’d normally decline?”

Dex watched her warily, but he didn’t back away this time. “Nothing I’m smart enough to think of.”

“You’re not stupid, Dex.” Nova closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I promise…there’s nothing Agmos could do to me that I couldn’t handle.”

“Nova… I couldn’t handle it,” Dex gritted out. “That’s the issue. It’s not you. It’s me. I can’t afford to lose control.”

She hugged him tight and rested her head on his chest. “What happens if you lose control?”

“My angel side would take over,” Dex murmured against her hair. “I would remember you, but I wouldn’t care. I wouldn’t feel anything at all. Angels…they’re detached war machines who exist only to exact their creator’s wrath. How my father and mother even…I don’t know. I couldn’t tell you.”

Nova tried to imagine what an uncaring, emotionless Dex would look like. “Honestly…I’m not really all that worried about it.”

He raised an eyebrow, looking at her like she’d finally lost what little sanity she had left. “About what?”

“About your angel side.” Nova shrugged and gave him what she hoped was a sassy smirk. “You assume I wouldn’t like it. Maybe I would.”

Dex actually laughed but it sounded painful and she hugged him even tighter. “Nova, I don’t think you understand. I wouldn’t care about you at all. I’d even try to kill you if you annoyed me enough.”

That should terrify her, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. “I agreed to this while knowing exactly what you are. If you ever tried to kill me, I’d just kill you first.”

He pushed her back so he could stare into her eyes with an intensity that took her breath away. “Do you promise?”

“I’ll promise, but only if you promise me something,” Nova closed her eyes and hoped he’d trust her enough to agree to this. “Promise me that you’ll let me handle Agmos when the time comes. I can take anything he throws at me, so don’t lose it if we ever meet.”

“And if he hurts you?” Dex demanded.

“I don’t think you understand,” she whispered, knowing she had to be honest. She had to tell him just how serious she was about this. “I’d gladly let him torture me if it means I get to have you at the end of it. I’d even do it with a smile on my face.”

“Look at me,” he ordered.

Nova opened her eyes and found her purple reflected in his silver fire.

“I can’t watch something like that,” Dex told her, his voice cracking. “Don’t make me watch that and do nothing.”

She smiled at him and wiped the tear from his cheek that managed to escape. “Just trust me. I won’t let him kill me.”

Dex pressed his forehead to hers and took a deep, shuddering breath. “Fine, then I promise I won’t interfere unless you tell me to.”

“And I promise, that if I have to, I’ll kill you.” Nova kissed him softly and held him tight.

Dex’s body slumped in relief.

She knew this wasn’t normal. She knew it was probably the dumbest thing she’d ever done, but there was no way she could just…let him go. Nova had told him she would stay – that she would try to make this work.

There was very little doubt in her mind that there was anyone else in the world who could make her feel the way Dex did and Nova wasn’t ready to give it up now that she finally had it—now that she knew she could have it.

Dex kissed her cheek and stepped back, putting some distance between them. “If we want to spend time together, it’ll have to be after I finish work, when I can sneak out without anyone noticing. And it’ll have to be here. I can’t be seen anywhere else.”

Nova laced her fingers through his and nodded. “That’s fine. Zane and I should have things wrapped up soon. So, we’ll just take this day by day, okay?”

This time, Dex was the one who nodded, but she could tell he wasn’t really seeing her. His eyes were too unfocused.

“Do you want to come back tonight?” she asked, trying to get a read on his emotional state.

“Tomorrow would be better.” Dex squeezed her hand and then released her. “I’ll let you know when.”

“Here.” She pulled her spare key out of the sole of her shoe. “You can come and go as you please. I’ll alter the ward on the window to recognize you when I’m gone or asleep. Just be there by dawn or leave by dawn.”

He took the key from her and stared at it for a long time. “And Zane?”

Nova shrugged. “If he figures it out, oh well. He won’t tell on us.”

“How can you be so sure?” Dex slipped the key into his pocket and then studied her like he might see a different answer than whatever she planned to give him.

“Zane would never do anything that might put me in danger. It would take something big for him to betray me, and I don’t think this kind of thing has any weight to anyone but Agmos.”

“Maybe. I guess…if you think it’s worth the risk, I’ll trust you.”

But Dex didn’t smile, he didn’t grin, and he didn’t smirk.

Nova desperately wished she could help him.

“And I trust you.” She wanted to give him one last hug, but they both needed to go back to work, and Dex didn’t look like he wanted to be touched at the moment.

“I’ll text you,” he murmured as he looked up at the night sky. “Stay safe, Novalie.”

Then he launched into the sky and she watched as he flew toward his territory, each beat of his wings powerful and graceful.

Everything would work out. It had to.