Page 75 of Demon's Heart

She ate a chip, studying him closely. “So you’ll take my word for it if I tell you and not continue doubting everything I say? Does that mean I’ve passed your trustworthiness test? Can I have your protection if it comes to getting dragged back?”

Dante briefly caught Ash’s eye. “If you’re going to help us, we’ll help you, but there’s no blanket protection. If you turn on us, all bets are off.”

Ren ate another chip. “Obviously. I’m not naïve.”

Dante and Ash waited for Ren to finish her snack. Was she choosing her words carefully or stalling, perhaps crafting a lie?

“Things have been rocky,” she said at last. “Demons are getting restless.”

Ash’s expression darkened. “Like they weren’t before.”

Ren glared. “It’s gotten worse. And the witches aren’t super pleased either. Lucifer’s been hiding and people are acting out the more he stays away.”

If Luc was losing control of his masses, that must be why he’d finally come for his Hounds. Dragging the three of them back would have been a strong display of power. Maybe enough to get people to fall in line and kill any hope of escape.

Once his, Ash, and Onyx’s escape had become widely known, Dante was sure hope of getting out of the Realm of the Damned started to brew. Maybe it took two hundred years for it to reach boiling.

Then why wasn’t Luc trying harder to get them back? Why mess around stalking Ash and Harper, then attack Ollie?

Not that this changed anything. Dante was still going to hunt Luc down. The Devil wanted them back. Learning he might be getting desperate was important but not a surprise.

Ren pulled out a phone, apparently bored of their conversation.

Dante eyed the device. “You seem to have taken to technology well.”

He’d hated adapting after nine hundred years away from Earth. How was Ren coping? At least two hundred years ago, there’d been no internet.

“Lucifer’s done a better job keeping us up to date.” Ren smiled at something on the phone. “Modern witch souls have helped make the Realm of the Damned more reflective of Earth. Though, I suspect a lot of this”—she shook the phone—“isn’t run on magic up here. I couldn’t tell you how this thing works. And the internet here has completely different sites. Can’t figure out which I prefer.”

Ash’s brows shot up, seemingly as surprised as Dante.

Unrest in the Realm of the Damned had always been inevitable. Luc trying to make the place more like Earth was strange.

Why would it matter? None of the demons trapped in the Realm of the Damned would ever have to adjust to life in the modern world, and witch souls—like human souls—prioritized different things after death. It wasn’t like they showed up in the afterlife demanding what they’d left behind.

Ren knowing about smartphones before she even escaped the Realm of the Damned didn’t sit right.

21

OLLIE

That afternoon,Ollie headed through the Banks toward The Herb Emporium.

As he neared the address Harper had given him, Ollie couldn’t help thinking that the street felt very Harper. Ollie peered in a window of a boutique. This had to be where Harper bought his trippy quilted throw pillows. Ollie hadn’t seen décor quite like that anywhere else.

He checked his phone. Dante hadn’t texted all day.

Part of Ollie had expected to be bombarded with messages. He’d braced himself to have to force space between them, though it seemed that wasn’t necessary.

It was true that, as a rule, Dante didn’t reach out much, especially outside coordinating meeting online. Dante had also said being bonded didn’t mean everything was decided. Their relationship could progress naturally and in a way that wouldn’t overwhelm Ollie’s life.

So why was Ollie doubting Dante’s word and expecting Dante to blow up his phone? Dante keeping his promise wasn’t a surprise.

It was as if, despite trusting Dante and knowing what kindof man he was, Ollie still expected everyone to lie and break boundaries.

That wasn’t true and he’d have to work on remembering that. Even if he and Dante were in this together, Ollie still had things to figure out for himself. He had to go slow and steady for this to work.

Could he really do that with the bond tying them together? It was hard to imagine, no matter how hard he tried. Magic and the bond might not be inherently suspicious, but he still couldn’t be sure they weren’t influencing his decisions.