Page 74 of Demon's Heart

Last night reset Ollie’s world. He wanted all the hope and safe feelings he had around Dante to be real and to be the one Dante turned to. To be equals. Partners.

He still wasn’t sure how to accept his future as an immortal, but knowing death had never been the end he’d believed it to be—that he’d have gone to an afterlife and been surrounded by magic like he’d never fathomed—put things in perspective.

Regardless of Dante and their bond, Ollie would always come up against things he hadn’t seen coming and didn’t understand. So would every other human. That didn’t make the unknown magical side of the universe bad or suspicious.

Maybe that applied to the mating bond too.

20

DANTE

Dante and Ashknocked on Ren’s door.

“I see Onyx slipped out of helping,” Ash muttered.

“He said we didn’t need him for this, and he’s right.”

“But he always says that.”

Dante willed himself to be patient. Ash and Onyx’s animosity was exhausting at the best of times. “I’d rather let him out of helping today and focus on getting him on board with going to the Realm of the Damned. Or are you okay to venture down there and hunt Luc without him?”

Ash rumbled something unintelligible.

“That’s what I thought.”

Mercifully, the door opened, revealing Ren. “Oh hey. I guess I should invite you up.” She turned and walked up the stairs to her apartment without waiting for a reply.

“It’s like she’s not glad to see us.”

“Is anyone other than Harper ever happy to see you, Ash?”

“You are. Or do I need to be offended?”

Dante chuckled.

Ren turned to face them as they entered the living room. “I haven’t had any luck.”

“Shocking.” Ash crossed his arms. “What have you done to look for these supposed other demons?”

“Notsupposed. Someone else has to be here. I didn’t hurt your birds.” She turned to Dante. “I’ve been leaving my magic around the city. Trying to tempt them into tracking me down. Either they’re not in Shearwater Landing anymore, or they aren’t interested in me.”

“What if a witch or vampire picks up on your magic?” Ash asked. “We don’t need the wider community knowing demons are all over the place.”

“Yes, because me in the city equals demons everywhere.” Ren rolled her eyes. “They’ll think I’m a powerful witch. No one’s jumping straight to demon. But if you’re that worried, why’d you ask me to help? What else am I supposed to do, look them up in the super-secret directory of escaped demons and give them a call?”

“We appreciate you trying,” Dante said before Ash could respond. “It’s good to know they aren’t interested in contacting you. My flock has been fine, so perhaps they’ve moved on.” Or maybe the measures Dante had taken to protect his birds were the only difference.

“That’s certainly possible.” Ren glanced at the door like she hoped they might be ready to leave.

Dante didn’t budge. “I actually wanted to ask you what’s been going on in the Realm of the Damned?”

Ren’s expression darkened. “What do you care?”

Ash growled and Dante shot him a glare.

Ren turned away and grabbed a bag of chips from the kitchen. “All I mean is, you’ve been gone, you aren’t going back, what does it matter?”

“If demons are escaping when Lucifer travels between realms, it’d be good to know what’s going on down there.” Dante wasn’t revealing his plan to go to the Realm of the Damned. Hedoubted Ren was working against him but wasn’t trusting her completely.