Page 37

Kaz

K az paced the length of the kitchen island and back. He scrubbed a hand over his tangled hair. Unease had set up camp in his veins and he couldn’t seem to shake it loose.

Something was wrong with Miri. He was sure of it.

The demon eyed the cold oven. The sweet human had spent three days baking like crazy and then suddenly stopped.

No more muffins, no more cookies, nothing.

It was like someone had reached inside her curly head and flipped a switch.

Ever since he’d met Miri, she eaten chocolate like there was about to be some kind of embargo on it and now, all of the sudden, she’d stopped.

It was weird. And not “oh, my girl is saw a gross video online and is now boycotting grapes” type of weird, it was worryingly weird. Miri did not go days without chocolate, she just didn’t.

Kaz kept up his pacing. He was going to figure it out. He had to, because he was not going to lose Miri. They had come too far and the rosy-cheeked human was too firmly entangled in his brain for her to disappear from his life.

He tried to work through the problem in his head, but he couldn’t find the answer. She was leaving the house earlier than usual, her outfits seemed less put together, and some of her bright spirit seemed to have dimmed.

Maybe Miri was getting sick? His stomach did a somersault. The house had nearly had a meltdown when she had been covered in hives; how were they going to handle anything worse?

Kaz took a deep breath to calm himself. There had to be a thermometer around her somewhere. Was there a way to check a human’s temperature without them knowing? He didn’t want to worry her.

He circled the island again. As soon as Miri had gone back to work after spring break, the weirdness had started.

She never wanted to talk about her day anymore.

No more stories about Janie Whatherface whacking some bratty kid over the head with a ruler.

No more stories about chasing kindergartners away from the mistimed sprinklers during recess. She told them nothing.

He just couldn’t shake the feeling that their favorite little human was hiding something from them. What could she possibly be doing at work that she didn’t want them to know about?

Or who…

He shook his head hard. Miri wouldn’t cheat on them. Period.

Duke came into the kitchen. His dark brows soared at the laps Kaz was circling around the island.

“If you keep pacing like that, you’re going to wear tracks in the tile.”

“I can’t stop,” Kaz grumbled. It was like the suspicious thought had wormed it’s way into his head and was too stuck to shake loose. “It’s helping… maybe.”

Or maybe not. He was no closer to figuring out what wrong with Miri than he was when he started, and it was eating at him. Kaz hated secrets. Ever since the implosion of his last relationship, he couldn’t stand lies and sneaking around.

“What exactly is it helping?” Duke looked him up and down, utterly unconcerned. What it must be like to live in his head. “Are you trying to beat some kind of record?”

“Miri.”

“The pacing is helping… Miri?” he said dubiously. “Did you take too many punches to the head at work today?”

Kaz rolled his eyes. No, he did not have a head injury. He had a puzzle and no box to sneak peeks at. There was a problem and it was like he was the only one who could see it.

“Miri is being weird,” Kaz ground out.

“Yeah, and?”

He stopped in his tracks. “You see it too?”

“Duh.” Duke leaned against the kitchen island and shuffled his wings. “A blind demon could see that something was up with her. Nico and Ace have clocked it too.”

“And you’re not worried?”

“No. If it were really serious, she would tell us.” He shrugged. “She’s probably just working through something.”

Kaz stared at the big purple grape of a demon. “How does this not bother you?”

It was turning his brain into a worried puddle off anxiety soup, but Duke didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned. Of course… that could just be Duke being Duke. It was really hard to tell sometimes.

“Because we’ve only been together for a couple of weeks, Kaz. She’s allowed to keep things to herself.” Duke snorted. “Hell, she might just be tired from going back to work for all we know.”

“Then why doesn’t she talk about her day?” And why the hell was he the only one crashing out about this? Didn’t any of the other demons give a shit? “She went from talking our ears off about her students to nothing. She’s hiding something, I can feel it.”

Duke shook his head. Straightening up, he went to rifle through the pantry for a snack.

“You’re being insecure, Kaz.”

“No, I’m being cautious.” Kaz returned to his pacing. “The last time I had a girlfriend switch up on me like this, it was Dana and look how that turned out.”

Duke’s head whipped around. “Miri is NOT Dana.”

Kaz raised his hands at the thundering growl. The last thing he needed right now was for the big guy to take a swing at him.

No, Miri was definitely not Dana. Their ex had been a manipulative shrew, pitting the guys in their group against each other, starting drama… only for them to find out she was banging a kraken on the side.

“She wouldn’t do that,” the winged demon insisted.

Sweet Miri with her dimples and bouncing curls, she didn’t have a cruel bone in her body… of course, Kaz had thought that about Dana at one point too. Maybe he wasn’t such a great judge of character…

Something bright by the front door caught his eyes on his latest circle. Kaz paused and stared at the patchwork bag. Miri’s purse. He shook his head and continued his laps; he was definitely not doing that.

Doubt gnawed at him. What if Miri was like Dana? What if he had her all wrong?

Kaz crossed the kitchen and picked up the purse.

He hurried back to the kitchen island and set the bag on the countertop.

Taking a step back, he warred with himself.

It would just be a quick peek, a little look just to make sure there wasn’t anything right on top.

Duke still had his back turned as he ransacked the pantry; he would never know either.

Craning his neck, Kaz tried to peek inside Miri’s bag. A sparkle teased him from inside the depths. He poked the edge of the bag out of the way. Her glittery phone case twinkled back at him.

Was he really about to be that guy?

Kaz bit his lip, driving one of his fangs deep into his lip. The taste of coppery blood rolled over his tongue and did nothing to shake him out of it.

He hated drama. If it were anyone else, the demon would just cut his losses and move on. But Miri… he couldn’t walk away, not even if he tried. He had to know.

Before he could let the more rational part of his brain take over, Kaz plunged his clawed hand into the purse and fished out her phone. He tapped the screen. The phone unlocked and her cheerful yellow background smiled back at him.

Gaia, she didn’t even have a passcode.

The sharp edge of his anxiety eased the tiniest bit. There was no way sweet, twinkly-eyed Miri was doing something shady without a passcode on her phone—she was way too smart for that.

“Kaz…” Duke rumbled.

Fuck. He’d been counting on the hulking demon to be distracted by trail mix for at least another two minutes. He had to pick now to stop crunching and turn around? Rude.

“I’m just taking a quick peek,” he promised. A quick glance for any dating apps and that would be it. Okay, maybe just skimming her messages. Just to be sure.

Duke shook his head, his thick arms crossing over his chest. Kaz squirmed under his judgmental frown.

“You’re sabotaging yourself, do you realize that?”

“I am not sabotaging myself, asshat.” Kaz glowered at him. “I don’t understand how you, and Nico, and Ace aren’t shitting bricks right now. That woman is everything to us and something is clearly wrong. Why am I the only one worried about her?”

“Because you’re the only one here who is emotionally damaged from a disastrous relationship and you can’t see past your own trauma and resulting insecurity to accept that you don’t need to know absolutely everything about your partner at every given moment to trust her.”

Kaz stared at him. “Dude, what the fuck?”

“I went through a phase where I only read psychology books.” He shrugged his broad shoulders, his heavy wings dipping behind him.

“They didn’t tell me much I didn’t already know about myself.

I might not always get the joke or catch the social cue, but I’m not an idiot.

Emotions are easy, communicating them is the hard bit—not just for me, but for everyone. ”

He laid the phone on the counter. Okay, either he was really spiraling or Duke was secretly wise. Either way, Kaz was not a fan of the direction this day was taking.

“I don’t want to lose her,” Kaz said quietly.

“Then walk away from the phone and go ask her what’s wrong.”

“She could lie.”

His booming laugh made the plates rattle in the cabinet. “Miri has no poker face. We’ve known something was wrong for over a week. You’d know she was lying before the words finished coming out of her mouth.”

Kaz tapped his claws on the counter. He knew snooping through her phone was wrong. It was massive breach of her trust in them… but that aching feeling in the pit of his stomach would not let up.

As if sensing her thoughts, Duke’s frown deepened. “If you do this, you risk losing her. Is that a risk you’re willing to take?”

Kaz barely heard his words. His mind was running in circles. Dana’s lies, the betrayal, the pain. It was all there, spinning faster and faster into a cyclone. He couldn’t go through that again. He wouldn’t be blindsided if his world was going to come crashing down.

Straightening up, he grabbed the phone and started to flip through her apps.

“I have to know.”

“Don’t. That’s not something you can easily walk back.”

“I just want to make sure she’s okay.” His words even sounded hollow to his own ears.

“If she catches you, you’re on your own.” Duke turned his back and grabbed another handful of trail mix. “I’m not going down for your stupidity.”

“If I don’t find anything, I’ll tell her myself,” Kaz promised. “I just need to be sure.”

He breathed a sigh of relief when he couldn’t find any dating apps hidden away in her phone. Thumbing open her group chat with her friends, he started to skim. Just a quick glance. If anyone knew what she was hiding, it would be her besties.

Eyes glazing over the words, his heart stopped.