Page 62 of Demon's Mate

“Where have you been?” Onyx asked when Ash entered the kitchen.

“Out in the city.” Ash opened the fridge and pulled out a bag of blood.

He longed to taste Harper’s blood like he longed to kiss or bury himself inside him, but biting Harper should be special. What was a little more waiting when the mate bond was his prize?

Onyx slunk closer, leaning against the counter beside Ash. “You’re out an awful lot.”

“So?” Ash cocked a brow. “You understand not wanting to be cooped up.”

Onyx frowned, ignoring him. “More of Dante’s precious birds died. You see anything that might explain that while you wereout in the city?”

“No.” Not that he had been looking. “Where’s Dante?”

Onyx shrugged. “He should be back soon. I’m sure his flock saw you come in and told him.”

Ash drank his blood, unsettled by the dead birds. He tried not to feel guilty for spending the whole day with Harper.

“We’ve missed something,” Onyx went on. “For all we know, Luc could be in the city taking out Dante’s flock.”

“How?” Ash set his mug down. Onyx hadn’t thought that the other day.

“I don’t know how. That’s the whole problem. How are we supposed to know what we’re missing?”

“If Luc were here undetected, why wouldn’t he come for us? Why spend his time killing birds? That would be wasting a huge advantage. Surely, he’d realize every passing day gave us more time to find him.”

Onyx crossed his arms. “Who’s killing the birds then? If it’s not Luc, then it has to be someone else who’s on to us. You know there’ve been rumors in the magic world about the demon flock.”

Ash’s brow furrowed, and he scowled at the remaining blood in his cup. “You think it’s the hunters?”

Onyx wrinkled his nose. “Maybe.”

“What about the hunters?” Dante asked, coming in from the deck, folding his wings against his back.

Onyx turned to face him, a hand on his hip. “Think they could be the ones after your birds?”

Dante slumped onto one of the barstools on the opposite side of the kitchen island. “If they’re trying to find us and know about my connection to the birds, killing them doesn’t make sense. Why not try to use the birds to track me down?”

“Maybe they’re trying to draw you out by killing them,” Onyx countered.

Dante didn’t look convinced. He cut a sidelong glance at Ash. “Where’ve you been?”

Ash swallowed the urge to deflect. He had to tell them about Harper. “I’ve been seeing someone.” There, that sounded off-hand. He turned to wash his mug in the sink.

“Wow.” Ash could practically hear Onyx’s eyes roll. “And I thought I was the irresponsible one. Luc is knocking at our door, and you’re out getting laid.”

Ash clenched his teeth. “It’s not about getting laid.” He turned and faced his brothers.

“So you haven’t been out fucking around?” Onyx raised abrow. “Wait. Is that what you’ve been doing all this time? Have you even tried to track Lucifer?”

“Yes, of course, I’ve tried to track him,” Ash growled. He wasn’t irresponsible. “I can handle more than one thing on my plate, you know.”

“Didn’t think you were sharp enough for that,” Onyx sneered.

“Stop it.” Dante slapped the counter. He looked tired, the lines around his eyes more noticeable than usual. “Who have you been seeing, Ash? It’s not like you to get involved.”

Ash held Dante’s stare, his stomach twisting as he hesitated, a strange emptiness in his chest that felt a lot like dread. “You’re right. I don’t usually get involved. But this man isn’t just anyone. He’s… He’s my mate.”

Onyx laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”