Page 31 of Demon Touched (The Demon Syndicate #2)

Dex

H is phone chimed and he pulled it out while flying over the city. The Black Lotus was becoming scarce now that word had spread that Dex was on the hunt. Good riddance.

We’re hunting in your territory.

Dex dropped down and landed on the closest roof, feeling slightly nauseous. Before he could respond Nova sent another message.

The witches are at your club looking for someone to steal from. I couldn’t avoid it.

We’ll take care of it so just keep your people from interfering if you can.

Her next message was a set of coordinates.

Fuck.

How the hell was he going to deal with this? How could he keep his people safe without letting them in on the small detail that this hunter was someone he knew – intimately

How was he going to keep this from Agmos?

Fuck!

Dex launched himself toward the club, trying to remember who was on duty there tonight. Dammit, this was going to be a fucking nightmare.

His biggest wasn’t the witches either, but that someone would see them – one of Agmos’s spies. They’d report her presence to him if they hadn’t already and there was no way he could pretend like he didn’t know they were here.

Dex slammed into the ground and cracks spidered outward in the pavement. He tucked his wings away and went into his club through the back, scanning the entire place with his magic. There were a lot of witches in the club, but he couldn’t pinpoint the ones Nova was hunting.

Taking out his phone, he sent a mass text, warning anyone outside the club to stand down.

If Nova couldn’t take care of this, he would. No one in his territory was going to get hurt. Not if he had anything to say about it.

Something in the corners shifted, catching his attention. Then he noticed how dark it was in the club. Everything but the neon lights was nearly pitch black.

She was here.

Dex crossed the dance floor and someone put their hand on his chest. He looked down at the female who pressed herself against him and bit back a snarl.

Wait, this scent belonged to a witch. Was this one of them?

He watched as she danced and narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know where Nova was, but he assumed Zane was also close by.

Which meant the other hunter would see him here.

Fuck , why did things have to be so damn complicated?

“Want to get a drink with me?” the witch asked, taking his silence as interest.

Dex nodded, keeping his eyes and ears open for whoever else this one was probably working with.

Why was she interested in him? Did he think he was a witch, or could she sense his demon magic like the other had?

Maybe he was overthinking it. This witch might not be one of the ones Nova was hunting, but he had to get this wrapped up as quickly as possible or things could get bad.

Dex followed her and wondered how a witch could even take angel magic. They could apparently take a demon’s. Nova was living proof of that, but how? How was it not killing her?

Her mother thought it was because she was both hunter and witch, but that was a very specific constitution.

So, how were these witches planning to keep his magic from killing them?

Unless Adelaide was wrong and a witch didn’t need anything special to hold that kind of power. Witches weren’t all that much different from demons. They’d simply been created on different planes of existence.

Dex sat down and watched as this witch proceeded to sit on his lap, wrapping her arm around his neck like it belonged there. He gritted his teeth and just barely managed to keep himself from shoving her off.

Nova was definitely going to give him hell for this later.

“I’ve never seen anyone as attractive as you,” the witch whispered into his ear. “It’s difficult to believe you’re here all alone.”

He grinned, showing off his canines. He was looking forward to watching Nova gut this one.

The witch went to kiss him and he turned his head so her lips landed on his cheek instead. Dex gripped the witch’s face hard enough her eyes widened, and her heart started pounding when he gave her a sharp smile.

“You didn’t ask permission to kiss me.” His fingertips pressed into her skin and he knew there’d be bruises later. “Seems like someone needs to teach you your place.”

The scent of her arousal disgusted him, but he let his eyes drop and then leaned in, brushing his lips against her ear. “What are you doing in my territory?”

A tinge of fear perfumed the air and Dex’s grin widened when he felt it awaken every predatory instinct he possessed.

“You own Grim Corp?” she asked, her arm slipping from his shoulders.

“My father does.” Dex gripped her thigh hard so she couldn’t make a run for it and he let the demon side of him show. “You do know he’s a demon, right?”

Her breath caught, but she wasn’t moving despite her fear.

Was this bitch marking him as prey?

“I’ve heard the rumors,” she finally said as she reached out to trail a finger over the hand on her thigh. “But I had no idea you were a demon. You must be pretty powerful then.”

His teeth ached to rip out her throat, but Dex released her instead. “I am pretty powerful. Would you like me to show you?”

The fear trickled away as she sensed a victory. She probably thought she could take him, but how? Did she have something that could incapacitate a demon?

That was a concerning thought.

“Want to come to my place?” she asked. “I promise I’ll be a good girl.”

He almost shoved her off his lap right then and there, but he needed to get these witches out of the club where all the humans were.

“Take me there,” he murmured. “We’ll see how good you really are.”

She blushed, but it wasn’t the same as when Nova did it. Her reaction actually pissed him off and he had no idea why.

The witch slid off his lap and took his hand, making him clench his teeth again just to keep from ripping his hand out of hers. His gloves eased some of the sensation, but he still didn’t like the way she touched him as if she had every right.

Stopping him was something she never would have done had she known he wasn’t just a demon.

The back of his neck prickled and Dex snapped his gaze to the corner where it was too dark for him to make anything out. Was she there, or somewhere else?

He was led through the club and out the front. The witch smiled at him and he pulled his hand out of her grip.

They were going to a secondary location.

Would she try to take him on alone or did she have friends?

Dex could knock her out and tie her up. Then he could head back in the club and make sure there weren’t any others, but Nova seemed to have stayed behind which meant this one definitely wasn’t working alone.

She led him down the street and then turned left, heading away from the parking lot.

“Do you live nearby?” he asked, trying to get some sense of what to expect.

The witch slid her arm around his waist and leaned into him. “Yeah, just up the next street.”

So, she wanted to take him somewhere she could steal his magic and it was close enough they didn’t need a car.

This would have been a thousand times easier if he was working alone, but he wasn’t. There were council hunters involved, and the sooner Nova completed her mission, the better.

But that wouldn’t keep Agmos from her.

Dex gritted his teeth, trusting her to know what she was doing.

“We’re here,” the witch told him. She turned around and slid her hand up his arm seductively. “Would you like to come up?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Isn’t that why we’re here?”

She leaned into him and Dex tensed. “I was just making sure you were still interested.”

A knife slid into his back and Dex stared down at her in shock.

Had she really just stabbed him?

“You’re too big to carry, but that’s what magic is for,” she whispered as his knees gave out and slammed into the ground. “You’re almost too pretty to kill.”

The witch pulled out something that had a strange smell and blew it in his face. The edges of his vision went black and he cursed himself up and down for not acting sooner.

Her fingers on his chin were the last thing he was aware of before everything went black.