Page 21 of Demon's Desire

Scooping up his drink, Nico left the bar and found Onyx at a slot machine.

“The strip club was more fun,” the demon complained.

Nico suppressed a smile. No doubt, Onyx could whine about anything. It shouldn’t be charming, but it was.

“Come on.”

A hallway lined with private rooms was situated at the back of the casino. High-stakes games, and ones where players wagered magical items and favors rather than money, were tucked away from prying eyes, though tonight wasn’t anything like that.

In the last room on the left, Leo—one of the casino bartenders and a good friend of Nico’s—waited with an air of excitement. Nico had texted to say he was bringing Onyx, and Leo must have come early to get a look at him before everyone else arrived.

“Glad you made it.” Leo pulled Nico into a one-armed hug. “Who’s this?”

Onyx braced a hand on his hip. “You mean my reputation doesn’t precede me?”

“Okay, you got me.” Leo raised his hands, palms out. He had pale skin and short brown hair, and was about Onyx’s height. “You must be the demon, Onyx. I’m Leonardo Valero, but you can call me Leo.”

“Pleasure.” Onyx extended a hand, and Leo shook it.

Leo’s eyes swept over Onyx. “I can’t detect your magic at all. It’s amazing.”

“Most things about me are.”

Nico hid a snort of laughter with a sip of his drink. Not well enough, going by the glare Onyx shot him. Nico smiled wider.

Leo ignored Nico’s amusement. “Can all demons hide their magic?”

Onyx raised a brow. “Are you fishing for information?”

Leo’s smile fell. It was more likely he was trying to show friendly interest.

But Onyx didn’t wait for a response. “I already told your boss that suppression is a demon trick. So no reason to pretend we can’t all do it.”

Leo brightened. “It makes it nearly impossible for anyone to spot you.”

Onyx hummed in agreement. “Unless we want you to.”

Leo laughed. “Right.” He turned his attention to Nico. “You weren’t online on Sunday.”

“Sorry.” Nico rubbed the back of his neck. He’d been too busy cleaning his apartment to log in and playWorld’s End.

He still had no idea who’d broken in. Nothing had been taken, or at least nothing noticeable, and they’d left no trace of magic behind. It seemed unlikely that any of the favors he’d done recently could have led to bad blood. All the requests had been low-key.

There was no point worrying Leo about it. “I got caught up with the neighbor. Hope you didn’t miss me.”

“We always miss you, but we did all right, so maybe we don’t actually need you.”

Nico shoved Leo’s shoulder and rolled his eyes. Leo grinned.

Onyx’s assessing gaze jumped between them.

“Do you playWorld’s End?” Leo asked.

“No.” Onyx frowned. “Not really my thing.”

Nico wasn’t surprised. “Ollie plays, right?” Harper had mentioned Ollie and Dante being into the game when Nico had brought it up the other day.

“Yeah,” Onyx agreed, like he wasn’t sure he wanted to give out the information.