Page 33 of Demon Touched (The Demon Syndicate #2)

Nova

N o one dared move a muscle.

Dex studied her for a moment and then his gaze shifted to the witch over her shoulder.

“Give her to me,” he ordered. His voice was deeper somehow – harsher than ever before.

“I told you that one of them was mine,” she reminded him. “I need to know why they were stealing magic and how.”

“This is my territory.” Dex pointed his sword at Zane then. “Give her to me or he dies.”

Zane glanced over at her once. “What the fuck is going on?”

Getting knocked out must have triggered this somehow. It must have given his angel side an opportunity to take over.

How the fuck did she get him to snap out of it?

“Will you share the information with me then?” she asked, keeping her voice as calm and collected as she could despite how fucking nervous she was.

“I owe you nothing,” Dex stated, his tone emotionless and bored. “You have five seconds before I just kill you both.”

“Nova…” Zane tried to step in front of her, but she shoved him behind her.

“Fine, you can have the witch. I’ll just keep your people then.” Nova set the unconscious woman down and then stepped back, pulling Zane with her.

That white fire flared so bright her heart literally stopped beating for a second. Then she took a deep breath and stepped in front of Zane—just in case there was something left of the Dex she knew who would hesitate to kill her.

Dex tilted his head slightly as he studied her. “You can’t hope to take me on in a fight.”

It reminded her so much of the first night they met, a lump instantly formed in her throat.

Nova reached up slowly and pulled her mask down. “Actually, I could.”

Zane pressed a hand to her back, clearly out of the loop and freaking out.

All this was her fault, so she would protect him no matter what – even if it meant hurting the man she loved.

Dex’s gaze fixed on her purple eye and the white fire flared even brighter until pain lanced through her head once again.

“Agmos wants you two to meet with him,” Dex finally said.

He walked forward until he reached the witch. He placed one boot on her head and the sound of bone crunching—brain squishing…

This Dex didn’t give a fuck how the witches were stealing power. He’d eliminated the threat and that was that.

Nova held his gaze, refusing to look away.

I would know you, but I wouldn’t care, he’d told her. I’d even kill you if you annoyed me enough.

She’d believed him then, but Nova had no idea what that would really look like.

“He wants to see us now?” she asked, keeping her hands loose at her sides.

There’d be no getting out of this if she was dealing with angel Dex.

“Give me the witches,” Dex ordered. “Then I’ll take you.”

“And if I don’t want to?” she arched an eyebrow at him and planted a hand on her hip. “Are you going to drag me there?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Nova, what the fuck are you doing?” Zane hissed, yanking her against him. “We need to get out of here.”

The witches they’d saved would probably be safe with Dex because that was part of his job, but so was taking her and Zane to Agmos.

She needed to get closer to him somehow, but Nova didn’t know what would make his angel loosen his control. Maybe a hard factory reset would help him get his shit together, but it might just make everything a thousand times worse.

“Can I have one minute to confer with my partner?” she asked, trying to buy some time.

His eyes narrowed and her stomach dropped. “If you stay where I can see you. Sixty seconds, Nova. Starting now.”

She whirled around and grabbed Zane’s face, forcing him to look into her eyes instead of at Dex. “There’s a lot I need to tell you, and I promise I’ll explain everything later. I just need to know one thing.”

“He has wings, Nova.” Zane was staring at the nephilim behind her, clearly in shock. “I thought you said he was half demon?”

“He is half demon. I promise I haven’t outright lied to you about anything. Now…do you trust me?”

Zane blinked and those blue eyes wavered for only a second before steeling in resolve. “Yes.”

“Completely?” she asked, making sure he understood just how much she needed to hear it. “No, matter what?”

“I’ll follow your lead,” Zane reassured her. “I trust you to get us out of this alive.”

“Good, now we’re going to give him the witches and let him take us to see the demon.”

Those blue eyes wavered again and then Zane nodded. “Okay.”

It was the only way to give them more time so she could keep Zane safe for long enough to figure out a solution to this new problem. She hoped it was nothing more than a meeting and then Agmos would release her and Zane.

No big deal.

They would walk out of this alive since Dex wouldn’t have a reason to come after them again – job complete.

Even if her Dex was gone forever…

That wasn’t what was important at the moment.

“I’ll keep you safe,” she whispered, hugging Zane tight.

“And I’ve got your back,” Zane promised.

“Aw, isn’t this sweet,” Dex drawled, resting his sword on his shoulder. “So, touching. Now get on with it already.”

“Tell him.” Nova stepped to the side and focused on Dex with her purple eye

“They’re around the corner, still asleep,” Zane told him. “We’ll wait here.”

Dex stroked his chin as he considered, spreading blood across his face. Nova swallowed and wished she didn’t like how that looked so much.

This Dex was terrifying and violent and didn’t give a single fuck about her, but she still liked who he was— what he was. This side was sharper and meaner, but it was just as beautiful as the other.

His angel was something Dex feared, but all she could think about was walking over to him and letting him do whatever the fuck he wanted to her.

Nova knew that was messed up—that she should be fucking terrified right now and running in the opposite direction, but she was just as obsessed with him when he was like this as she was when he’d been the demon.

Half and half just like her.

She couldn’t have one side without the other, and if she were honest, she didn’t want just a piece of him. She wanted everything.

“Fine.” Dex studied them like he couldn’t care less. “If either of you run, I’ll kill the other. Since you’re so attached to each other.”

Then he took a step and just…disappeared.

Fuck, he was so goddamn fast.

Zane shook his head. “I thought he was half demon,”

“He is, but it’s not safe for me to tell you anything more right now.”

Especially if this angel Dex decided that Zane couldn’t walk around alive with the knowledge of what he was.

Nova wasn’t willing to take that chance.

“Did you know this could happen?” Zane asked as they listened to Dex unbinding the witches.

Nova heard a car coming around the corner and pulled her mask back over her nose. “I knew it was a possibility, but I didn’t think it would happen tonight, if ever.”

“And you’re still with him?”

“We are what we are,” she murmured as a familiar van pulled up alongside them. “It’s not his fault he was born this way.”

No, Dex had been made as she had been, but unlike him she’d stolen something that wasn’t hers – something that might just be the only thing that could keep him in check.

“We can’t help loving who we love,” Zane whispered in agreement.

George the bear and Larry the wolf popped out of the van before it had even fully stopped. She saw A.J. in the driver’s seat studying the scene and they all stared at her and Zane, then the dead body before heading over to Dex.

It didn’t take long for them to come back. George and Larry each carried a victim while Dex carried three.

The victims were gently placed in the van and she watched as George turned back to Dex. The bear kept his eyes down and just stood there, silently awaiting orders.

Larry climbed into the van, but he and A.J. made sure to keep their heads down and the back of their necks exposed.

They must have recognized the shift in Dex.

Nova was fascinated that their behavior didn’t seem to irritate him. If anything, it seemed to put him at ease.

How interesting.

“Put them in one of the hotels,” Dex instructed. “Make sure they’re healthy and whole and keep them there until I can speak with them tomorrow. Right now I have business with Agmos and the hunters.”

“Of course, sir,” the shifters murmured.

Dex turned and started walking. “You two, come with me.”

Were they going to walk the whole way there with him holding a sword and covered in gore? What about the body left on the ground?

“Larry, get a team on this building ASAP,” Dex glanced back at her like he could read her goddamn mind. “I want it scrubbed clean by dawn.”

“Yes, sir.”

Zane and Nova followed him around the corner. Her heart was pounding as she tried to figure out how this was going to play out.

Dex stopped without warning and pulled out his phone. He sent a text and then stared at her as he tucked it away.

What was he thinking as he studied her? What was he remembering?

Nova refused to look down or away no matter what she’d seen the shifters do, but she did step in front of Zane to keep Dex’s attention on her.

She couldn’t help but wonder if this version of him knew everything his demon did or if it was like a split personality thing.

Dex tilted his head. “You like what you see?”

“I do actually.” But her heart was pounding and she was sweating despite how cold it was.

Dex narrowed his eyes when he heard it. “Do I frighten you, Novalie?”

She pulled down her mask and smiled at him, baring her teeth. “No, you don’t.”

He slammed her against the wall and placed his sword to her throat. “Anything I can do to change that?”

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

Dex studied her like he was trying to figure out why he’d ever been interested in her and Nova held his mismatched gaze despite the risk.

“I should kill you,” he said, as if it were a simple fact.

“Because I can kill you?” Nova raised an eyebrow at him and smirked, knowing how much it would annoy him and how much his demon would like it.

“Obviously.” Dex pulled back but didn’t look away. He was so sure she could and Nova found that reassuring. “But we both know you can’t kill me with that power bound.”

Nova crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed that he remembered that. “And Agmos needs me alive.”

His smile was sharp and cold. “For now.”

Someone appeared out of thin air with a pop and he reached for her just like the last demon had.

It felt like a punch to the gut, but his hand wrapped around her wrist before she could scream. The demon grabbed Zane and then pulled them both into the void.

For the first time in her life it felt like she was drowning the darkness.

Continue Dex and Nova’s story in Divine Monster