Page 15 of My Demon Hunter (Hell Bent #2)

14

AFTERGLOW

“I t’s our fault,” Iris said. “It was all because of us.”

“Why?” Lily called into the darkness. “How?”

“Everything that happened was because of us.”

“I don’t understand—”

“It’s all our fault. All our—”

“Lily!” It was her mother. Lily spun around, searching for the source of the voice, but again, there was only black.

“Keep digging, Lily. Seek the truth.”

“What truth?”

“The truth will make you safe. Don’t rest until you understand.”

“Understand what?”

“Trust your instincts. Your sister needs you. It’s up to you to make this right.”

“But how—”

“Lily.”

The new voice, deep and male, penetrated the blackness, and suddenly, she was surrounded by swirling mists. They lifted her, and then she became mist too.

“Wake up, Lily.”

She groaned, her eyes moving behind eyelids that wouldn’t open. She fought against their weight and blinked groggily.

She saw glowing yellow eyes and pointed teeth. She saw huge wings and a large, dark shape.

With a scream, she lurched back, snapping to wakefulness.

Mist was perched on the side of her bed, one clawed hand extended where he’d been shaking her awake. Still half stuck in the dream, she struggled to rejoin reality, but even then, she didn’t miss the way he flinched at her recoil.

He shifted to human form a moment later. The wings disappeared, his skin changed to tan, and his eyes became amber. Oddly, his body was lit with an unearthly light that made him glow.

“Mist—” What was he doing here? How had he gotten inside? She’d spent a good hour or two before bed scrubbing away Iris’s wards—and cleaning the blood and water in the hall, not to mention the disaster in the bathroom—so she supposed there’d been nothing keeping him out. Not that the wards would have done much good anyway.

“I woke you because I’m concerned about your current state. Is this normal?”

“What...?”

He pointed at her arm, and she lifted it to her face.

She was glowing, not him. He’d only appeared to be because the light from her body was reflecting off him.

“Oh, crap.” Her eyes widened and snapped to his. No one had ever seen her like this. No one knew her shameful secret. She couldn’t let him see. She had to hide this part of herself.

She leapt out of bed and raced down the hallway to the freezer, pulling out her precious bottle of whiskey and dumping it straight down her throat.

After two big swallows, she gagged, leaning over the sink as she coughed and gasped for air. She checked her arm. Still glowing.

Grimacing, she lifted the bottle to her lips—

Mist stopped her, pulling the whiskey out of her grip. His eyes were full of alarm. “What are you doing?”

“The alcohol makes it go away. I need it.” She reached for it, but he held it away.

“It makes you choke.”

“It doesn’t matter. It makes it go away. I need it to go away!”

“Why? Are you hurt?”

“No, but—”

“Are you in danger?”

“You don’t understand! I have to make it stop!”

“Why?” He searched her gaze almost frantically.

“Because— Because—” To her horror, tears filled her eyes. “Because I hate it. I hate it so much.”

“Why?”

She wanted to scream at him to stop asking her that, but she couldn’t be mad at his genuine concern. He just wanted to understand.

“Because...” She took a breath and let the panic bleed out. “It reminds me of what I am. And what I lost.”

“What did you lose?”

She looked away. “My parents.”

“Did your parents glow as well?”

She laughed despite herself. “No. At least, I don’t think so. But they were witches.”

He placed the whiskey bottle on the counter, sliding it carefully out of her reach. “Your mother was a blood-born.”

She nodded. “How did you know?”

“You are very powerful.”

She snorted again. “I don’t know about that. Malfunctioning, is more like it.” She looked down at her glowing arm. “I’ve never heard of a witch who doubles as a night-light.”

“Your parents were killed,” he guessed, and she nodded. “By demons?”

“No. In a regular old arson fire.”

If she was going to tell him this, she needed to sit down. She gripped the counter behind her and lifted herself to sit on its edge, putting them at equal height. Even in human form, he was still so much taller than her, and it was hard not to be distracted by the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. The “tattoos” on his chest and neck had taken on a whole new meaning now.

“It happened when I was eighteen. They were going to a coven meeting. They were always going to coven meetings. I didn’t want to go, but Iris went. She told me...”

She picked at a loose thread on the hem of her nightie. “Mam sent her to the store for supplies. It was late, and she had to drive far to find one that was open. While she was gone, someone set the building on fire. The flames blocked all the exits, and the firefighters couldn’t get inside. My parents and everyone in the coven were killed. Iris arrived after it started and couldn’t get in. If my mother hadn’t sent her away, she would have been killed with them. They never caught the arsonist.”

She picked harder at the thread, though she knew it was making it worse. “Afterward, Iris was obsessed with leaving Ireland. I guess she wanted to start over somewhere without any bad memories, and I didn’t blame her. We picked Montreal and moved only six months later. We’ve been here nine years now.”

She chanced a glance at Mist to find him watching her intently. She waited for him to say, I’m sorry for your loss , or something similar like everyone else did, but he didn’t.

She was glad. “Sorry” had never brought anyone back from the dead.

“So you’re afraid of glowing because it reminds you of the fire?”

Despite everything, she smiled. His directness made him easy to talk to. In fact, she had never told that story so easily.

“No, it’s more like... the glowing reminds me of what I am. I stopped practicing after their deaths because I guess I resented that part of myself. My parents spent so much time with the coven when I was growing up. I have all these memories of asking them to go to the park or whatever and them saying they couldn’t because they had to go to coven gatherings. I swear half my childhood was spent playing on the floor of the hall while they met.

“All that work, and for what? The person who killed them was just a human. They couldn’t save themselves. They couldn’t put out the fire.”

She swallowed and then admitted what she’d never told another, even Iris. “I guess I just feel like, if they were going to die anyway, their time would have been better spent as normal parents who hung out with their kids. I hate that I resent them for that. They were so passionate. They did what they loved, and now that they’re gone, it seems horrible to focus on the negative, but... I can’t help it.”

She looked at Mist. His eyes weren’t brimming with sympathy or pity. He wasn’t pushing her to embrace her true nature or telling her to confront her past. He was just listening.

And then he said, “I’m glad you’re alive.”

She managed a smile. “Me too.”

And she was. After everything she’d been through, she felt nothing but gratitude to be sitting in her kitchen in the middle of the night with a demon, telling him about the most painful part of her life.

“Thank you for listening.”

“I want to listen.”

“You’re good at it.”

“How can one be good at listening? It’s simple concentration.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, well, most people can’t concentrate worth a damn, and they’d rather talk about themselves than listen to others.”

“I like your human stories.”

“Even the tragic ones?”

“No.” He frowned. “I don’t like that you lost your kin. If I could take away your sorrow, I would.” He seemed confused about that.

She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. That, in essence, was what other people meant when they said they were sorry for her loss. But there were varying degrees of conviction. Some were genuine, others just wanted to get away from the uncomfortable emotions as quickly as they could.

But Mist didn’t understand platitudes, so when he said that, it was because he meant it. And being what he was, having experienced things she couldn’t imagine... His words meant everything.

She frowned suddenly. “When did you come back? Your friend made it sound like you were gone.”

His amber eyes shifted away. “I never left.”

“You didn’t?”

“I perched on the roof and told myself to go, but I could not.”

“Why not?”

One shoulder lifted slightly. “I wanted to watch over you. You weren’t supposed to know I was there, but I saw you through the window, and you had left it open...”

And he’d been concerned she was in danger, so he’d woken her. “Mist...”

Swallowing her customary lack of courage, she reached out and took his hand, threading their fingers together. He tracked her movements with a sharp gaze. He may have been in human form, but in every other way, he was still the Hunter.

“Thank you for coming back.”

“It would be better for us both if I could leave.”

“Maybe.” She dared to meet his gaze and offered a weak smile. “But I’m glad you’re here.”

He didn’t smile back. He just looked at her.

He was so handsome in this form, with his warm, tanned skin and round, normal pupils. His fingers ended in blunt nails and there was nothing on his back except smooth skin and muscle. No wings, no tail.

It would be so easy to be with him like this, to forget what he really was and where he came from.

But this wasn’t truly him. Yes, his human form was part of who he was, but it was only a small part. If he could stand here, holding her hand and listening to her story without batting an eye at the fact that she was glowing like a bioluminescent jellyfish... then shouldn’t she do the same for him?

She took a breath. “Will you... shift for me?”

His eyes narrowed, and she didn’t miss the distrust and hurt that flashed in them, though it was quickly masked. She had put that look there, and while she didn’t blame herself for freaking out, it was time to get over it.

“Please?”

Slowly, he did. His eyes became yellow instead of amber, and the lemony glow filled the entire orb save for a vertical-slitted pupil in the center. Then, ashy gray bled over his skin, and when it reached his fingertips, claws grew from them.

His wings appeared at his back and unfolded, and she saw his shoulders relax as if he felt more comfortable with their weight. She wondered if it threw his balance off without them. His tail snaked out and wrapped around her ankle, the soft rope sliding up to her calf where it dangled off the counter, but this time it didn’t scare her.

Okay, so he scared her a bit. He was just so big .

Her flat was old and had high ceilings, but his tall wings made them feel low. His hand was twice the size of hers, and when he curled his fingers around, her palm disappeared completely.

Heart racing, she lifted their joined hands and studied them. Her pale, glowing skin against his dark gray skin made her think of a yin-yang symbol.

“These look really sharp.” She tilted their hands so she could see his black claws in the light cast from her body.

He said nothing, watching her with that hunter’s gaze.

She glanced up. “Can I see your teeth?” His lips were the same soft, kissable ones he had in human form, only they were nearly black.

He bared his teeth, and her eyes widened. No wonder he’d made that mark on her neck.

“Wow, those look even sharper.”

To her surprise, he smiled. It was the first time she’d seen him do it fully. His face still had mostly the same features as his human form, she realized. He was still handsome. He was just also strange and unearthly and gray. With wings and claws and fangs and a tail. But once she got past all that... he wasn’t so scary.

“A demon takes pride in his teeth and claws,” he said. “You’ve paid me a great compliment.”

So basically, judging by the look on his face, it was the demon equivalent of stroking his muscles and calling him manly.

“They’re very formidable,” she said encouragingly. “I wouldn’t mess with you on my best day.”

“I won’t hurt you.” As he spoke, his gaze flicked to where he’d bitten her neck.

Instead of looking regretful, however, his eyes burned.

“I know.” At least, she knew he wouldn’t intentionally.

“It healed.”

“What?”

“The mark.” He touched the spot gently with a claw.

She unwound their clasped hands and put her palms there, feeling around for the broken skin and finding nothing. Just hours ago, it had been unmistakable. How...? She shook her head. Guess it wasn’t as deep as it looked.

She dropped her hands, and he drew her hair back, making her shiver. Stooping, he touched his nose to the skin below her jaw and inhaled.

He was smelling her again. His chest expanded with breath, and when he exhaled, it rumbled with a growl. Her heart pounded until she felt lightheaded.

But when he stepped back, he was frowning. “You’re afraid.”

“No—”

“I can scent your fear. Do not lie.”

“I’m not scared of you.”

His eyes narrowed. He obviously didn’t believe her.

“Well, I am sort of, but not because— Well, you’re very different, and I’m still getting used to it, and I suppose that does scare me a bit. But that doesn’t mean I want you to go, and I would have told you that earlier if you hadn’t left so fast. The truth is, I’m mostly afraid of...” She picked at her nightie seam again. “My reaction to you.”

“This form repulses you.”

“No!” Her eyes shot up to meet his. “No, it doesn’t. And that’s partly why I’m afraid.”

A crease formed between his brows. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s just, I find you very— You’re so big and... not human, and I, well, maybe it’s not right to— I feel like I shouldn’t— It’s overwhelming.”

She winced at her inarticulateness. What happened to no more stuttering?

“I don’t understand.”

She looked at him. She couldn’t not look at him. He was everywhere. The moment she did, her stomach flipped over, and something clenched in her lower abdomen. His eyes. The way he watches me. The sheer size of him...

His nostrils flared as he inhaled, and his eyes widened.

“You smell like fear and...” He inhaled again. “Arousal.”

In a flash, his hand shot out and wrapped around her throat. He didn’t choke her; he just held her securely so she couldn’t escape. Maybe she should have screamed, but that wasn’t what happened at all. Her lower abdomen clenched again, but this time it was unmistakably rooted in her core.

He used his grip on her throat to tilt her head, and he pressed his nose to her exposed skin. A growl rumbled in his chest, and her heart pounded faster.

“This scent...” He lifted his head suddenly. “But you’re still afraid.”

How to explain? “I can be scared and... other things at the same time. I’ve never— It’s just, you’re not human. Isn’t it wrong?”

He frowned. “I don’t care.”

Suddenly, she didn’t either. The fear still coursed through her blood, but it was a different kind of fear now. It was fear of the unknown, but it was laced with... anticipation. Excitement.

As if he sensed the shift in her emotions—and he probably did—he leaned closer, peering into her eyes. They were in her kitchen, in almost the same place as the first time they’d kissed.

Only this time, his hand collared her throat, and he looked nothing like a human. This time, there were no more secrets between them.

He waited, gauging her reaction, and she felt her cheeks heat at the look in his eyes. No man had ever looked at her like that—half with wonder, half with a near-frightening possessive intensity.

“Mist...”

His name was like a trigger. The next instant, his fingers flexed slightly, and he tilted his head and fused their lips together. The air gusted out of her, and she closed her eyes, overwhelmed by sensation.

As he deepened the kiss, she dared to put her hands on his shoulders. Touching him made her feel positively minuscule. Beneath her palms, his skin was so hot it burned, so soft she longed to stroke every inch of it.

He growled as her fingers clenched on the firm muscle, and he released her throat to grip her thighs. She jumped when she felt his tail snaking up her leg like a stray tentacle.

He broke the kiss, searching her gaze as if to see if she looked frightened. She wasn’t. His strangeness was quickly becoming something she desired. She briefly thought that with a few kisses, he may have ruined human men for her for life.

Satisfied with what he saw, he leaned down and kissed her again.

The press of his soft lips against hers, his strong body surrounding her, his wild hair brushing the backs of her hands... She had never felt anything this consuming. Another moan hummed in her throat as his hands slid up her thighs beneath her nightie.

She’d always felt like her thighs were huge, but his hands wrapped almost all the way around them. When his grip tightened and she felt the prick of his claws, her back arched, her breasts brushing his chest.

Another growl rumbled from him, and he tugged her closer to the edge so their bodies finally aligned. The minute her heated core pressed against him, they both sucked in air from the space between their mouths.

For a moment, they froze like that, just breathing, and time stood still.

And then Lily shocked herself by daring to flick her tongue between the rows of deadly teeth.

When her tongue brushed his, his grip flexed, and he reciprocated with a tongue that was decidedly not human. It was long and pointed, and it moved in ways a human tongue could not. When he wrapped it completely around hers like a lasso, she nearly had a heart attack.

All of a sudden, she forgot that there was anything unusual about making out with a giant gray demon. She forgot about being shy and the fact that she was self-conscious about her body.

She wrapped her legs around his hips, tangled her hands in his hair, and pressed herself as close to him as she could get. Their heads tilted opposite directions, tongues twisting between them.

He pulled her closer and pressed his hips against her, and she felt the hard outline of a formidably sized erection. She tightened her legs and tried to squeeze him closer, desperate for friction at her core.

He dragged his mouth away and pulled back without loosening his grip. Their heavy breathing was the only sound to disturb the silence.

“Your scent...” His voice was nothing but a raspy growl. “I want it.”

She would have been embarrassed he could smell her arousal so easily if she hadn’t already concluded that his hunter instincts were a turn-on.

“I could follow it anywhere. There is nowhere you could hide I wouldn’t find you.”

She imagined him stalking her, led by her scent and her scent alone, and another wave of desire flooded between her legs.

“I would want you to find me,” she whispered.

Eyes burning, he lifted her off the counter like she weighed nothing. She’d never had a man carry her before, and the rare times one had tried even lifting her, watching the poor bloke struggle had been mortifying.

But Mist tucked her against him like she was a tiny bundle, surrounding her with his arms and holding her so close she could see only him. If there was anything that could make her desire him more, that was it.

By the time he made it to her bedroom, she was squirming. He laid her on the mattress and crawled over her, his looming size and powerful wings blocking out the rest of the world. The light from her skin cast a glow on his features, making him appear even more unearthly. He planted the talons at his wingtips into the mattress above her and his palms on either side of her head.

Their eyes met. Her palms slid over his strong chest, her legs splayed open, and she had no desire to hide from him. In fact, lying there like that, watching his hungry gaze rove over her, made her melt with desire.

His lips peeled back from his teeth, and he growled, “You’re mine.”

She arched her back and begged him with her eyes to prove it.