Page 19

Hazel

Liam and I hurried through the park as I ordered myself not to look too closely at the shadows that followed us. My heart was pounding in my chest, and the knowledge that I had no way to fight these things made me feel completely helpless.

It was after lunch when we’d heard the ice cream truck and decided that we both needed a snack; the demon had a notorious sweet tooth. With our cones in hand, we’d gone for a walk in the nearby park. It was such a gorgeous day, and we were both sick of being inside.

I was glad to have some fresh air, though I wished Seth was here with us. He was called out to a meeting at EA headquarters downtown. Liam had pouted in the cutest way, and Seth had promised he’d take us out for another afternoon on the lake when he returned.

Liam and I had done the full loop around the park when I started getting that feeling again, the same one that had woken me up the other night in the spare bedroom.

“Liam?” My hand went instinctive to my firearm, only to realize I wasn’t armed. I reached for him instead. “Something feels off.”

“I feel it. Get close to me.”

I did, and Liam fished the world’s tiniest can out from his man purse—yes, he totally carried one if he didn't plan on dematerializing—and opened it. A plume of magic expanded to surround us.

“What was that?” I asked.

“It hides us from whoever is seeking you. But if it gets too close, it’ll still be able to find you. And it doesn’t last long.”

Liam sent a message out to Seth, letting him know that Samuel was up to his hijinks, and then we were off, making our way back to the loft.

The walk back to the building felt like an eternity.

Shadowy forms seemed to come out of everywhere and nowhere, all of them looking for me.

Except they didn’t know where I was. I wasn’t sure if this was because of the canned spell or because they didn’t know exactly who to look for, maybe a bit of both.

“It’s Samuel,” Liam explained as we waited impatiently at the lights. The shadow people were scary, but so was being run over by a car. “I think he doesn’t have a lock on you yet. That’s a good thing. We can’t let those things touch you.”

“I don’t plan to let them. Now if this light would fucking change!”

I hated feeling so useless. I knew that even if I had my weapons, chances were it wouldn’t work on these things.

Suddenly, the shadow of the bush nearby grew, changing and morphing into the shape of a man. It staggered toward us. My hand tightened on Liam’s bicep, even as the lights changed. We crossed the road, heading straight for the front door of Seth’s building.

What I saw had my blood running cold.

A half-dozen or so of the shadow things milled at the front door.

A woman who was just stepping out of the building screamed, and one of the shades reached for her, lifting her off her feet with its translucent arms. And of course, lucky me, the canned spell chose this exact moment to fizzle out. Six phantom heads turned toward me.

Oh fuck!

“Change of plans,” Liam yelled.

It was the only warning I got before he picked me up and ran. But despite his inhuman speed, the shades kept appearing, springing forth from every shadow around us, blocking us in.

“Hold on,” he said, and I realized he planned to put those wings of his to use.

But we never made it off the ground. One of the shadow creatures grabbed hold of Liam’s feet.

“What the hell!” Liam yelled. “I can’t dematerialize.”

The shade tried to reach for me, but I tucked myself into a tight ball.

Then Seth was there like some hero from a fantasy movie, shooting balls of light from his hand.

They hit the shades with a flash, canceling them out and destroying them.

The woman dropped to the ground when the shadow holding her was eliminated.

Seth made a sweeping gesture with his hands, and several shadowy locations flashed with bright light as the shades hiding within burned with magic.

By the time it all ended, we had a small audience, mostly residents of the building.

“You’re the upstairs neighbor,” said the woman who’d picked herself up off the ground. “Thank you. Should we call the EA or something?”

“No need. They already know,” Seth said. That was clearly a lie.

Then we were inside and on our way up to the loft. Liam and Seth took turns making sure I was okay.

“None of them actually touched you, did they?” Seth asked.

“No.”

“Good. My father will not be able to track you then. I’m sorry you have to deal with this. He can’t seem to let me live my life, even after all these years.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s all on him. Do you think he’ll lose interest once I’m no longer staying here?” I didn’t want this asshole wizard to mess with my job.

Seth wrinkled his nose like he didn’t like the idea of me leaving. “Perhaps.”

Stepping into the loft, I was flooded with a sense of safety. I flopped down onto the couch with a big sigh. It must suck to have a crazy, too-rich-for-consequences asshole as a father.

I knew the moment Seth’s eyes landed on the bottle of pills on the side table. Shit. Why hadn’t I put that back into my bag?

My magic must be healing because all I’d needed today was a single pill in the morning after Seth left for the meeting with the EA, and I’d been feeling great since.

I might even call Chief later and tell him I’m ready to get back to work.

As much as I enjoyed lounging around doing nothing, I also missed my everyday life.

Seth grabbed the bottle and held it up. “What is this?” he asked

“According to the label, it’s ibuprofen,” I replied innocently.

“You lied to me.”

Seth stepped toward me, the look in his eyes enough to make me feel like a teenager trying to sneak in after curfew. Behind him, Liam was quietly and surreptitiously tiptoeing away.

This side of Seth was so different from the carefree rebel he usually portrayed. And it was all kinds of hot.

“This morning, I asked if you had a headache, and you told me no. I asked again before I left, and you still said no. And you, Pumpkin.” He whipped around and squared a look at Liam.

“Don’t you take a single step more.” Sparkling energy radiated from his fingertips, wrapping around the demon and hauling him back. “Were you going to tell me?”

“I had no idea,” he lied. He also winked at me very obviously.

Ah, so this was some sort of game. I could play along.

“Looks like you two need a primer on who’s in charge here.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “In charge? Who put you in charge?”

“Oooh,” Liam gasped.

“Last time I checked, this is my house. My rules.”

“Fine, I can leave.”

I didn’t get a warning. The shirt and sports bra I was wearing were whipped up over my head, and I found myself bent over the back of the couch, even as some invisible hand pulled my leggings down to my ankles.

My hands were pulled behind my back and locked into place.

I tried to struggle but got absolutely nowhere.

“Eat me?” Seth chuckled. “Don’t mind if I do.”

Oh right! I’d put that pair on today.

Then Liam was also bent over the back of the couch next to me. By the look on his face, he was having fun. “Save some for me,” he quipped.

Then Seth’s hand was on my ass again, pulling my ass cheeks open as he buried his tongue in my pussy.

I gasped and arched my back. But it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.

My clit felt so ignored, and I soon realized he was doing it on purpose, because when I closed my legs to try to wiggle so that the edge of the couch could hit a better spot, he froze me in place and laughed.

He moved over to the front of the couch and lifted my upper body. “Open,” he demanded with his hand supporting my throat.

I was about to tell him off for being a meanie, but the moment I opened my mouth, he was stuffing his cock in it. I shouldn’t be turned on by all this, but I was, especially when his hand tightened in my hair and he swore like he couldn’t control himself.

After several thrusts, he moved over to Liam.

“Oh yeah, worship my cock,” he grunted as he took turns fucking our mouths. And when he said to Liam, “Get me nice and wet so I can fuck our bad little girl,” I shuddered and let out a little whimper.

Then Seth was behind me again and lining us up. But he didn’t give me what I needed. He just stood there, cock in hand, and sliding the tip against my wet lower lips. “Tell me, Sweetcheeks, are you going to lie about your headaches again?”

I arched my back and tried to shove back instead of answering.

“Nuh-uh,” he said. “Answer first.” He slid the thick head through my juices again but refused to fuck me.

I whined.

“Come on. Tell me,” he urged.

I whined.

“Are you going to tell me how you feel and let me take care of you?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Louder.” He slid just the tip into me.

“Yes!”

Then he was thrusting into me, and my yes turned into a scream.