Page 35 of Demon's Desire

“I appreciate you telling me. Michael better not be trying to set up here again, but either way, if you need somewhere else to stay, I can find something.”

“Thanks.” Evelyn looked relieved. “I think I’ll be okay with my roommates for now, but it’s good to remember I have options.”

“Of course. You still have my number?”

She nodded.

“Call anytime, and even if I can’t get there, I’ll send someone.”

“I will. Hopefully, him being back isn’t about me, but when I heard…”

“I totally understand. Is your security all up to date?”

“Yeah, it’s solid. My roommate is dating a seriously powerful woman who cast all sorts of stuff on our place.”

“Perfect. I’ll call if I hear anything, and if it turns out to be a rumor and Michael’s not here, I’ll make sure to pass that along too.”

“Thanks, Nico.” She smiled. “Hope you’re doing well. It was nice to see you, even like this.”

“Same to you.”

She left, and Harper drifted out of the back room. “I canmake her a magic suppressant so she can’t be tracked. Do you think that would help?”

Nico appreciated it. He clapped Harper on the shoulder. “We checked that Michael didn’t have blood or anything of hers he could use to track her before he was asked to leave the city. She should be safe from tracking, but if that changes, we’ll do whatever we have to.”

Harper seemed relieved. “Okay, good. How did you get her ex to leave town?”

Nico summarized the issues with Michael’s new coven and how Rowan had put his foot down. “The Valeros have a strong presence here and work hard to keep criminal-minded covens out, both witch and vampire. Last year, there was a serious issue with the Orlov Coven trying to move in and get access to the port, but Rowan shut it down. Made the issue with Michael feel like a breeze.”

“Why did they want access to the port?”

“Trafficking, most likely. The Orlovs had a reputation for mistreating humans, to say the least, but their leader was killed, along with most of the members, and their operations shut down.” There were hardly any Orlov vampires left as far as Nico knew, and none were in Shearwater Landing.

Harper seemed to hang on Nico’s words. “Oh, man. That’s a lot.”

Nico smiled ruefully. “Rowan’s used to it.”

Harper’s eyes widened. “If you say so.” He returned to the back room and his potions.

Could Michael have had anything to do with the break-in? Trashing Nico’s place seemed like the kind of petty thing he’d do, even if he wasn’t willing to risk attacking Nico outright and having Rowan’s wrath come down on him a second time.

If he had been the one to break in, he wouldn’t be able to getin now. Nico would have to track him down to figure out if he’d been involved.

He shot off a text, telling Rowan the guy might be back, in case he tried anything.

As he closed out of his text conversation with Rowan, his finger seemed drawn to his message thread with Onyx. He clicked it, even though he had nothing to say. Nico had already thanked Onyx for protecting his apartment, and it was too soon to ask him to come over to game again.

Still, he didn’t close out of the thread.

As Nico stared at the screen, three little dots appeared, indicating Onyx was typing. Nico’s heart leapt like he was a kid with his first crush. Ridiculous, but he waited with eager anticipation as the dots popped up and disappeared.

No message came through. After a while, the dots didn’t reappear. Onyx must have changed his mind.

What had he been about to say?

Nico put the phone away and returned to work, more disappointed than he should be.

11