Page 50 of Hooked on a Demon (Leeside Witches #3)

Declan

“I ’m gonna go to the washroom while we wait,” Declan says, pointing awkwardly down the hall as he backs away. Cora looks at him, her expression saying she knows he’s lying through his teeth, but he smiles back.

As he moves down the hall, he peeks inside every open door, trying to find Eliana. Eventually, he bumps into June. “Oh, hi. That was a fantastic show. You all should be so proud.”

“Thank you, Mr. Grace. If you’re looking for Eliana, she’s in the office on the left.” He nods at her, and she smiles back before turning and continuing on her way.

He closes the few strides needed and turns into the office door. “Oaks, you were great—” His joy drops the instant he sees her, changing to a mix of fear and anger as his demon rises inside him. Declan is at her side, wrapping her in his arms faster than he thought imaginable. “What’s wrong?”

Her breaths are short and rapid as she tries to find her words. “S-s-Sam. H-here.”

The world beneath his feet falls away as rage suddenly boils under his skin. As gently as he can, despite the fire roiling under his skin and his demon fighting to shift, he places his hands on her cheeks, gazing into her eyes. “Love. I need you to tell me. Where is he? Did he say anything to you?”

Her breathing slows as she stays focused on him.

After a few deep breaths, she’s composed enough to speak.

“He—he was in the audience. He’s been trying to reach me, and I’ve been ignoring him, hoping he’d go away.

I was wrong. Oh, so wrong.” Sobs burst from her as she fists his shirt and buries her face in his chest.

Mine, his demon demands.

Yeah, I know, dipshit, Declan responds.

Protect, his demon commands.

Declan pulls her away, taking her face in his hands again and kisses her, tears and makeup running down her face. “I’ll get rid of him.”

“He left already. I saw him walk out with a woman. Charlie, I think her name was. I had brunch with her weeks ago when Kaia and I bumped into her and a friend of hers.”

Charlie . Of course. Anger flares inside him, and closing his eyes, he turns his head, forcing his demon to stay inside. This is not the time or place.

Declan goes to kiss her again when the only thing that could make this worse walks into the room.

“Hey, Dec, did you get lost? Zoe said you were—” Everest says, turning into the room, his words trailing off. “What. The. Fuck.” If they could, Everest’s eyes would certainly be blazing red right about now.

“Ev, I’m so sorry,” Eliana says, panic taking over her voice.

“Everest, this isn’t how we wanted you to find out.”

“Find out about what?” Everest says, raising his voice. “Are you fucking my sister? Is she another trophy to you?”

“It’s not like that,” Declan and Eliana say together.

Declan steps forward, but Eliana interlaces her fingers with his, grounding him. Even though this isn’t ideal, and not at all what they had planned, her touch reassures Declan that they are in this together.

“So what is it like then? Is she why you’ve been lying to me?”

Declan lets loose a resigned sigh. “Yes. Eliana and I needed time to figure us out.”

Everest doesn’t pay attention to Declan’s response before facing Eliana, his face contorted in anger. “And you? Do you know what everyone says about him? Do you honestly think he’s good enough for you?”

Everest’s words are a punch to the gut. They land.

And hurt. Poking at his insecurities. Not that Everest has been any better than Declan.

He’s been by Declan’s side the entire time, through all the shenanigans, encouraging the one-night stands, not that Declan needed it.

No, he and Everest are one and the same.

“Ev! That’s not fair,” Eliana says.

“Do you know he’s fucked like half the women in town?”

“So?” she says, wiping a tear from under her eye. “Haven’t you fucked the other half?”

Everest scoffs, flailing his arms in the air and turning away dramatically. “Please. I at least stay the night. I treat my partners as actual human beings. Besides, it’s different.”

“How?” Eliana asks.

“Because he’s fucking my sister .” The vitriol rolls off of Everest in waves. There will be no reasoning with him right now. Not in this state.

Eliana takes a step toward her brother, reaching out a hand as an offer of affection.

“Please, listen,” she pleads. He steps back, looking at her like she’s disgusting.

She flinches away as if she’s been slapped.

Declan understands Everest is angry and shocked, but that’s no reason to treat his sister like garbage.

Everest can throw whatever he wants at Declan, but he won’t hurt her.

“No,” Everest barks. “He’s a monster, and you’re only going to get discarded like any of the other women he’s been with.”

“Everest. That’s enough,” Declan says, his voice booming.

His vision is turning gold, and with already being agitated, he’s not sure how much longer he can hold his demon back, given everything his supposed friend is throwing at him.

Through a clenched jaw, Declan says, “I know I am not perfect. Fucking far from it. But Eliana,” he turns to look at her, as she wipes a tear from her cheek, “makes me a better person. She’s brought me a sense of calm when I felt like I was wading through a storm.

She is the light to my darkness, and I love her. ”

The room falls silent.

“You love me?” Eliana asks, her breath hitching as if she doesn’t believe it to be true.

“Yes, Oaks. I love you,” Declan says. He didn’t want to tell her like this. But it’s out now, and he’s not taking it back.

“I love you, too, Grace.”

“Fuck you both. I’m done,” Everest says before leaving the room.

Declan pulls Eliana toward him and kisses her fiercely. He doesn’t give a flying fuck that his best friend is still raging. No. The only thing that matters is her.

When he breaks the kiss, her hand comes up and wipes away a tear from his cheek that he didn’t know he shed.

Huh. Maybe the beast has a heart after all.

* * *

The ride to Eliana’s apartment is quiet.

What should have been a celebration after the showcase turned into a shit show with Everest storming off, and her parents and Kaia left confused. Eliana didn’t want to talk about any of it, and so Declan offered to take her home.

As he parks in front of her building, he hears her sniffle beside him. “Do you want me to come up?” he asks, knowing it was a big night and she may want to be alone to process it all.

She smiles weakly at him, tears rolling down her cheek, which he reaches over and wipes away with his thumb. She leans her head into his touch, her eyes closing slowly as she does. “That would be nice,” she says softly.

He leans over, kissing her forehead, before opening his door and climbing out.

He runs around to her side, opening her door for her, and holds out a hand to help her down.

Her fingers interlacing with his, she steps next to him and rests her head on his arm as he tosses her bag on his other shoulder as they make their way to her apartment.

Declan grabs a drink from the fridge and sits on the couch as she goes and changes.

He takes a sip, and then his head tips back on the back of the sofa, and he huffs audibly.

He knows he’s gonna have to have a talk to Everest, not only to try and repair their friendship, but to try and convince him that what Declan said at the theater was true.

It’s not a game to him. He loves Eliana—more than he can even say.

Her footsteps pull him back into the room.

Even in a pair of oversized sweatpants and a T-shirt with her hair in a messy bun, she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.

She comes over to him and kisses him quickly before lying down, placing her head in his lap.

His hand comes to rest on her hip, where he finds a slice of exposed skin that he begins to caress with his thumb.

“I don’t care about what Everest said about you,” Eliana says, breaking the silence.

“I…”

She rolls onto her back, looking up at him as his hand slides across her soft stomach. “I don’t. We all have a history. A past. The important thing to me is that it is in the past. It’s you and me.”

“I know I’m not perfect, and I know people say shit about me.

They always will. But I swear, there has been no one else since you walked into my shop.

It’s only you. It will only ever be you, Oaks.

”He leans down, awkwardly kissing her. Breaking away, he says, “What Ev said was true. I’ve been a dick and I’ve been a player, but it’s not who I am.

At least not anymore. I think I was afraid to get attached to someone, for fear that they wouldn’t stick around or see me as worthy.

So I made it a thing to leave before I ever had the chance to.

I mean, one night can’t hurt anyone, right? ”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Declan.”

His thumb rubs a circle on her stomach. “How do you figure?”

“You didn’t see yourself tonight, when I said Sam was here.

You didn’t see the fire in your eyes. How you wanted to tear the world down.

It was the same when I first told you about him, and when you realized something was wrong after the drive-in.

When you care, Declan, you care so deeply.

It’s what I love about you. Well, one of the things I love about you. ”

He’s not sure how to respond. Declan can’t think of a time he has ever had someone say something like that about him.

For years, he’s tried to stay detached, doing his best to be the fun friend who goes along for the ride.

But if he’s honest with himself, that hasn’t been who he really is for some time.

Sure, it sucks that Everest is angry at him, but the anger is worth it if Declan can finally allow himself to feel. To have what he’s been missing.

“I’m gonna have to square things away with your brother.”

“I know,” she says, tilting her head down to look at her hands as she places them on top of his. “Maybe we could go together? Maybe if he knows everything, he’ll understand.”

“I think that’s good. United front and all. Let him see us together in a different situation. Hopefully, it will help him see how serious we are.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she says. Her fingers intertwine with his, and she rolls over onto her side, bringing their hands up to nestle between her breasts. A smoky tendril brings him the remote from the table. He turns on the TV, and she picks out some comedy movie to watch.

Declan shifts, scooting down a little to get comfier and allowing her to snuggle in further, all the while trying to figure out how he got so fucking lucky.