Page 52 of Demon's Heart

“Didn’t I say I needed a trim? My bangs are getting in my eyes.”

Ollie ran his hands through Onyx’s fine hair, pushing his bangs in his face. “I see. Shall we take, say, this much off the top?” He captured Onyx’s hair between his fingers to demonstrate.

“Not that much. A small trim. Maybe half that.” It didn’t sound like Onyx wanted his hair cut, but if he was going to insist, Ollie wouldn’t argue.

“Okay. We can do that. Would you like anything to drink? Tea, coffee, water?”

Onyx wrinkled his nose. “No, I’m good.”

Did Onyx not enjoy eating like Dante? Maybe he only drank blood.

Ollie led Onyx to the sinks. “How’d you know where I worked?” Ollie hadn’t told Dante the name of his salon. Had Dante tracked him down? Stalked him online? Through the bond?

“I asked Harper,” Onyx grumbled like he’d wished he hadn’t had to go through the trouble. He sat at the sink and laid back.

“Right.” Ollie didn’t bother asking why Onyx sounded put out. He’d been totally wrong. Dante hadn’t sent Onyx. He wasn’t even involved. Maybe Onyx was curious about what happened at the beach.

Since Ollie didn’t want to talk about that, he took over the questioning before Onyx had the chance. He glanced toward his colleagues and their clients on the other side of the salon before whispering, “Do you have a mate?”

Onyx sat up from the sink and twisted around, looking at Ollie like he’d asked the world’s dumbest question. “No. Only Dante and Ash have mates.”

“You never wanted one?” Ollie couldn’t keep the defensive note from his tone. How was he supposed to know Onyx didn’t have a mate?

Onyx narrowed his eyes like he was reassessing Ollie. “You don’t really know what mates are, do you?”

Ollie’s cheeks heated. “No, not really. But how the hell am I supposed to know?” It occurred to him how strange it was that Ash and Dante were both older than dirt and had only recently mated.

Wouldn’t they have wanted a partner long before now?

If mates were forever, and you only had one, why had they waited? How did Ash know Harper was the right choice? How could Dante not regret mating with Ollie to save him?

“You aren’t supposed to know,” Onyx said more kindly. “Don’t worry, Dante will take care of you.”

“I don’t need to be taken care of,” Ollie muttered, even though warmth spread from his core to his fingertips. “Why are you really here?”

Onyx laid back in his seat, resting his head on the sink. He waved his hand as if requesting Ollie get on with washing his hair. “I wanted to check you out after Dante told me what happened.”

Ollie bit his cheek and turned on the water, testing the temperature.Don’t ask about the beach. Don’t ask about the beach.

“I’m sorry my brother is such a fucking asshole,” Onyx went on. “Not believing Ash and Harper were a bonded pair was no excuse for doing what he did.”

“What do you mean, your brother? Like actual brother?”Dante had said Lucifer was like family for thousands of years, but not actual family.

“Yes, Luc is myactualbrother.” Onyx made a humming sound. “What do you think is worse, being the Devil’s sibling or the spawn of Satan?”

“Um…” How was Ollie supposed to answer that?

“That’s Harper, by the way.Supposedly. My brother’s spawn, many generations removed.”

Ollie cringed. Did Harper know? “That’s fucking weird.”

Onyx choked on a laugh, tilting his head back to get another look at Ollie. “You’re not bad,” he said like he was reluctant to admit it and surprised at the same time.

“Thanks?” Ollie ran the water over Onyx’s hair, tilting his head gently to guide him back into the right position. “How’s this temperature?”

“Meh.” Onyx waved his hand again. “Make it as hot as you can stand. Everything feels lukewarm when you have internal fire.”

Ollie turned up the hot water and washed Onyx’s hair.