Page 24 of Demon’s Desire (Lovers of the Damned #3)

ONYX

“I’ve told you everything, Ash. How am I supposed to know how the bounty was set up?” Onyx wanted to pummel Ash’s over-large muscles until something popped.

Ash had the audacity to look offended. “I’m just wondering. Did the demons reveal themselves to a group of vampires or witches when they set the bounty? How’d they get the word out?”

“While that might be nice to figure it out, it doesn’t really matter,” Dante said.

They stood in Dante’s kitchen, where it appeared Onyx had interrupted Ash baking cupcakes. Naturally, Dante wasn’t far from the sweets.

No one had mentioned last night, at least not yet. Onyx wouldn’t be the one to bring it up. He planned to dump the necessary info and get the fuck out, fly to Nico’s, and claw all those soft, mushy feelings back into his chest.

Ash set down a spatula. “We said we’d face Luc in Shearwater Landing, but are we going to stay if we’re being hunted from all angles?”

Dante’s feathers ruffled. Maybe Onyx wasn’t the only one getting agitated. “It’s no different than before.”

Ash pointedly moved a bowl of frosting away from Dante. “Luc and a couple of random escaped demons hunting us is very different than a bounty on our heads and the magic world on alert. Even Harper’s coven’s hunt wasn’t a threat like this.”

Onyx hated to agree, but Ash had a point. “It’s not great. Though I don’t see why demons care about us now that they’re free.” The escapees hunting them before had been worried about being dragged back to Hell. That wasn’t such a concern now.

Dante tore his eyes from the frosting. “Our fight with Luc in the Realm of the Damned was pretty public. Maybe they think we were trying to prevent him from opening the gateway.”

“That’s stupid. We’ll have to set the record straight.” Onyx grabbed a spoon, scooped a glob of frosting, and stuck it in his mouth.

“Hands off.” Ash snatched the bowl away.

It was infuriating that Ash was acting like nothing had changed, even after calling Onyx a traitor. Did he honestly believe the accusation hadn’t mattered? Or was this a sign that Ash hadn’t meant to be so harsh?

Onyx caught himself. If Ash hadn’t meant it, he could apologize properly. Onyx wasn’t making excuses or putting any more hope into this doomed relationship.

He set the bowl of frosting on fire. It flared blue and melted over Ash’s hand.

“Asshole,” Ash growled, his eyes glowing orange.

Onyx tossed the spoon on the counter. “Harper will forgive me for ruining his cupcakes.”

“What I was saying before,” Dante interrupted, “was, even though the bounty isn’t a great development, it’s not that different than anything we’ve faced.

They want us captured, obviously not killed, and no one in the magic community knows our identities except the people we trust. Our mates and Nico.

Random witches and vampires aren’t going to be any help to the demons searching for us. ”

“True.” Ash burned the mess from his hand with orange fire, leaving it clean. “Nico won’t sell us out.”

Onyx’s fire sparked. “Are you forgetting that the whole Valero Coven knows who I am?”

Ash shrugged like this wasn’t a problem. He probably didn’t care, seeing as the Valeros didn’t know his identity.

“We trust them, don’t we?” Dante asked.

“I guess. But not in the way we trust the mates and Nico.”

Dante moved around the counter and lined up ingredients for Ash to whip up a new batch of frosting.

“Still. If we aren’t seriously worried they’ll sell us out, this bounty changes nothing.

Well, almost nothing. Onyx, it may be best not to be seen around Rowan, in case anyone gets suspicious of your connection to him. ”

That wouldn’t be a problem. Any excuse not to see the vampire was ideal.

“You trust Nico?”

Onyx jolted and glared at Ash. “Yeah, so? Don’t you?”

“Of course. Harper trusts him, and he’d never betray Harper. He seems noble.” Ash narrowed his eyes. “Why do you trust him?”

Onyx’s heart pounded. Why did he? Because Nico acted like he cared? Because Onyx had a crush?

He pushed his feelings down. “Nico’s never implied he’ll use our secrets against us. All he wants to do is help. Why wouldn’t I trust him?”

Ash nodded. “True. Harper said Nico likes to help people.”

Onyx’s heart clenched. That was probably all Nico saw in him: someone to help. A brat to tame. An outlet for his caring ways.

Dante spun abruptly toward the sliding glass door off the living room. “Someone’s outside the reserve.”

Ash dropped the butter. “What?”

“There’s a magical presence outside my shields. I increased my sensors to detect anyone poking around.” Dante’s eyes turned white, a sign that he was connecting to his shearwater flock.

Onyx and Ash stood frozen in silence.

“The signal is faint. Maybe they’re still flying toward the hill. The birds can’t see anything.”

“Should we go out and hunt them down?” Ash asked.

Dante’s white eyes darted back and forth. “Seems like their magic is fading.”

“What does that mean?” Onyx glanced questioningly at Ash, whose expression was pinched in confusion. No surprise there.

“My counterspells must have diverted their interest, like they’re supposed to. They’re leaving.” Dante blinked, and his black irises reappeared. “If we want to catch a glimpse of them—”

He didn’t need to finish before Ash was speeding out the open door, Dante right behind him.

Onyx followed.

“Stay within the protections for now, so they won’t catch any hint of us,” Dante called. “I’ll send some birds farther afield.”

They flew along the tree line, scouring the clifftop. Onyx hadn’t brushed up on detecting invisibility illusions, so he cast out for any sense of magic.

Nothing registered.

“They’re gone,” Dante called after they’d covered the extent of the reserve.

Onyx turned toward the house. He arrived first and waited for Dante and Ash in the kitchen. It was too bad they hadn’t gotten a sense of who the intruder was.

Ash returned to the mess of baking on the countertop. “Think they’ll be back?”

The enchanted flock being common knowledge meant the clifftop nests were the first logical place for demons to search for them.

Dante opened a drawer and pulled out a king-size chocolate bar. “We’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully my spells convinced them nothing’s here and they’ll move on.”

“Well, that was a whole lot of nothing.” Onyx turned to go. “Have fun baking. I’ve got better things to do than be Ash’s sous chef.”

“Wait.” Dante grabbed his arm. “You shouldn’t leave immediately.”

“But we didn’t find anyone. They’re gone.”

“From the area around the reserve. They could be watching the clifftop or the coastline from farther away, and if they’re looking for invisibility illusions like Pamala did, you’ll give us away. That’s why I had us stay within the protected area.”

Onyx tasted smoke. Dante had a point, but fuck. “I had plans tonight.”

“I’m sorry.” To his credit, Dante looked it. “Please stick around for a few hours, just to be safe.”

Onyx wanted to tell them both to piss off, but they had to be smart about this.

“We aren’t going to hide completely,” Dante went on. “We can’t let demons think we’re easily intimidated, but there’s also no reason to give anything away for free. We need to scope out the threat before we confront it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Got it. I’m not stupid.” Onyx marched to the fridge and pulled out a bag of blood.

Seemed he wouldn’t be finding out what Nico had on his list of things to do with him. He shouldn’t have been so disappointed.

The next morning, Onyx flew from Dante’s house directly to the gallery.

He landed on the roof and pulled out his phone, bringing up his texts with Nico from last night.

Onyx:

I’m sticking with my brothers tonight. Nothing major, but someone came poking around our protections so we’re lying low. Don’t miss me too much.

Nico:

Are you all right?

Onyx:

Peachy.

Nico:

Okay. Stay safe. My list is growing.

Onyx hadn’t responded. Maybe he should have, but Ash had been eying him suspiciously, and Onyx hadn’t wanted to give Nico the impression he was too interested in his list.

There wasn’t anything he cared about more than the damn list, but that was beside the point.

Onyx shoved the phone away. He’d had a terrible night and wasn’t looking forward to a day without Scott. He could have gone home, rather than to the gallery, but that would have been worse. At least here, he could answer emails and double-check things for the upcoming show.

A cat was becoming more tempting by the day.

Onyx descended the ladder and slipped through his office window, stopping short.

His senses prickled. Something wasn’t right.

The office door remained closed, and he didn’t hear anything beyond. Onyx reached out with his demon sense. The protections he’d placed on the gallery were intact.

It would be just his luck to have a human intruder. But there was a state-of-the-art human security system to prevent that.

Maybe it was nothing more than paranoia after last night.

Still, it was better to check. Onyx re-rendered himself invisible and carefully opened the office door. He slipped into the hall and slunk silently forward. As he stepped into the upstairs gallery space, his heart leapt into his throat.

A tall figure stood with his back to Onyx, facing the painting on the far wall.

Even from behind, Onyx could tell it was Luc. That familiar night-black hair with its recognizable wave and his unmistakable posture, at ease but with a hint of authority. He even wore the same coat from the other night.

Onyx should shock him with lightning and call Dante, but for some reason, he couldn’t move.

Why was Luc here?

Abruptly, Luc turned and smiled, their eyes locking. “Onyx, it’s good to see you again.”

The fuck? Onyx took a step backward. He was invisible!

Luc held up his hands as if in surrender. “Would you like to know how I can see you?”

Of course he would. What an obnoxious question.

For some reason, Onyx couldn’t get his voice to work. All he did was stare.