Page 28

He shivered, suddenly cold despite the summer sun, but then something warm pressed against his chest. He pulled the collar of his sweatshirt out and peered down. It was one of Nightmare’s shadows, about the size and shape of a handkerchief, plastered to Matty’s T-shirt.

Matty grinned down at it. “Oh, hello. What are you doing out and about?”

The shadow didn’t answer, of course, but it didn’t seem like it was going anywhere either.

“Are you ready to return?” Nightmare asked.

“No.” Matty shifted his sweatshirt back into place, patting at the shadow hidden there. Now that they were already out, it didn’t make sense to retreat so soon. “We should walk around a little more.”

He grabbed Nightmare’s hand, and they wandered further along the main street. It wasn’t long before they found Chaos standing on top of one of the benches, a group of older children huddled, rapt, in front of him.

Chaos held out his hand, his fingers bent into an imaginary claw. “And then I sliced him with my talons!” he cried. “All the way through!”

Cooper was on the sidelines, looking on with amused fondness, and Matty approached him. “Um, what’s he doing?”

Cooper’s grin grew wider. “He’s reenacting a deadly Mafia meeting for these innocent children.”

“And is he…allowed to do that?”

“They think it’s a made-up story.”

Matty watched Chaos slice through the air with vengeful glee. “Isn’t it a little violent?”

Cooper shrugged. “Have you seen the movies these kids watch these days?”

It was true that the children were all smiles as they stared up at the cackling chaos demon. One of them was holding an ice cream cone, and Matty gazed at it longingly. He hadn’t had ice cream in ages.

Nightmare gave Matty’s hand a squeeze, then let it fall. “I will fetch you some, sweet.”

“Um.” Matty tried to think of a polite way to ask his question and came up short. “Do you even know how to use human money?”

But Nightmare was already gliding away in the direction of the small ice cream shop on the corner. Matty frowned after him.

“Chaos and I will watch out for you,” Cooper reassured him.

“It’s not that.” Matty narrowed his eyes at a group of women in their twenties, whose attention was fixed on Nightmare’s retreating form already. “What if someone tries to touch him?”

“Then I think he’ll probably bite their head off. Possibly literally?”

“Oh. Right.” That had Matty feeling better, actually.

There was a burst of flame from the bench, followed by oohs and aahs from the children. Cooper ran forward. “Bracchus! Not the—the special effects, please.”

It must have been tough keeping up with a chaos demon. Matty was lucky to have gotten Nightmare. He was so…calm. Steady. Murderous but in a refined way.

A large figure approached, and Matty tensed, if only for a moment. The man was broad and muscular, with dark hair freshly grown out from a buzz cut.

And then Matty recognized him, and his tension melted. He grinned shyly. “Benny!”

“Little dude!” Benny lifted his huge palm for a high five, and Matty gave it to him.

Benny was Seth’s older cousin who did odd jobs around town. Matty had a hard time keeping track of them all, but he knew Benny was a regular bouncer at the Lighthouse.

But Matty had gotten to know him from his side job of delivering food for the apps.

Matty liked him. It was easy to like Benny.

He was friendly without being pushy, and he was never offended when Matty didn’t have the stomach for people and selected the “leave it on the porch” option for delivery.

Benny would just rap on the front door, yell, “Dinner’s on, little dude! ” and walk away.

Matty trusted him, and he couldn’t say that for many humans. Benny had been gone for weeks already this summer, and Matty had kind of missed him.

A throat cleared pointedly, and Matty realized there was someone else with Benny, standing a little behind him. A stunning man with wavy dark hair, aristocratic features, and shockingly bright turquoise eyes.

Bright, cold eyes, and they were narrowed on Matty.

Matty took a step back, the shadow on his chest vibrating against him.

“Oh.” Benny clapped his companion on the shoulder. “Right. Matty, this is my boyfriend, Helio. He’s a little shy.”

The guy didn’t look shy. He looked…mean. “Oh. Hi. I’m—”

A pale, tattooed arm wrapped around Matty’s middle, pulling him against a warm chest. “Do not give him your name, sweet.”

“Benny already knows my name?” Matty couldn’t help phrasing it like a question. Nightmare seemed tense, and Matty wasn’t socially adept enough to navigate whatever was going on here.

“The fae,” Nightmare rasped. “No names. No favors.”

Was he talking about the cold-eyed man, Helio?

Helio, who was now tugging at Benny’s arm, whispering furiously in his ear.

Benny’s eyes widened. “Oh, that guy’s a devil too?” he asked, pointing at Nightmare, his voice at a completely regular volume, like he wasn’t even attempting to lower it. “Like Kai?”

Matty gaped. “You know Kai’s a demon?”

Helio sneered in Matty’s direction. “If he didn’t, you would have just confirmed it.”

A rumble left Nightmare’s chest—a clear warning.

Benny only laughed. “Be nice, babe,” he said to Helio. He grinned at Matty. “I deliver at your house a lot. You all seem to forget that people can see through the windows when the curtains are open.” He gestured to the top of his head. “Those horns, you know.”

“Have you…told anyone?”

“Um, no.” Benny scratched at his chin. “It’s a secret, right?”

“Yeah, it is.” Matty didn’t know what to do in this situation, and he found himself giving Benny a thumbs-up. “Thanks.”

The two supernaturals seemed to be in a strange staring contest now, both of them vibrating with tension as they glared at each other.

“This is Nightmare,” Matty told Benny while they waited it out. “You can call him Night. He’s—” Matty paused. Boyfriend didn’t seem right. And husband wasn’t technically correct either. “He’s mine,” he concluded.

“Right on.” Benny raised his hand for a fist bump, only to have Helio tug it back down again immediately.

But he and Nightmare seemed to have come to some sort of unspoken truce, because Nightmare finally spoke again. “There will be danger,” he said, apparently talking to Helio. “Take your mate.”

“Oh! Take Seth too,” Matty added. He wanted to be sure his friendly neighborhood baker was safe.

Helio gave a stilted nod and began pulling Benny away. Benny waved as he was tugged in the other direction. “Nice to see you, little dude!”

Matty watched him go, patting at Nightmare’s arm around his chest. “That’s Benny. We like him, just so you know.”

“Is Benny short for Benjamin?”

“What?”

“The accountant?”

Who the fuck? It took Matty a minute to catch up. “Oh. You heard Kai? Benny’s just Benny. There’s no Benjamin the accountant. Kai was just—”

“Meddling,” Nightmare finished for him.

“He wasn’t meddling.” It wasn’t like Kai had actually tried to steer Matty away from Nightmare after he’d realized they were bonded. Or maybe he had, but he hadn’t done a very good job. “He was just…adjusting.”

Nightmare released his hold, turning Matty to face him. His dark human gaze bore into Matty’s. “There will be no accountants for you, Matteo.”

It sounded like a threat, but it only made Matty grin.

“I know.” He rose onto his toes to kiss his demon, then stopped when he saw what was in Nightmare’s other hand. “Oh! My ice cream! Thank you, Scary.”

Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all, being out and about in town. Not when Matty had Nightmare at his side.