Page 48

I’ve begun to lose count of the times Marcelo has brought me to absolute euphoria when the bedroom finally shifts from the radiant pinks and oranges of the sunset to the full darkness of a Belmouth night. I cling to him, limbs wrapped around his neck and waist, and I’ve determined that it would be completely fine if I decided to never let go.

What’s one demon in Belmouth going to do about it?

What’ll two demons do about it?

I sigh into his chest, where the wings of an angel are scarred into his skin. Marcelo’s fingers twist into my hair, twirling a lock round and round as his other hand rubs my back.

“We can stay,” he says to the room. “We can stay here tonight. Pretend we learned nothing.”

I want nothing more. What’s one night to a demon?

But I know we can’t. The demon showed itself to me today. And if the raging horny-fest was any indicator earlier, it knows we know.

And worse, I know the demon is Daren. The bouts only started after he moved in with us. Not to mention, he’s basically told me himself. He said if I wait till the time is right, I can have you. Now, it makes sense—the he Daren mentioned is the demon, Valac.

“What do you normally do at this point?” I ask, looking up at him; his brown eyes look black in the darkness.

Marcelo sighs and cups my cheek. “I’d follow the lead.”

I press my lips together and sit up. “Then that’s what we have to do.”

Marcelo follows me, and I can’t help but watch his abs tighten as he sits up. I’d be drooling over this man all day if I could.

Note to self: remember to burn all his clothes when this is over. I want to see him like this every day for the rest of our lives.

I know it’s wishful thinking. But . . . it’s what I need to be brave enough for tonight.

“But this is different, mi amor . Nothing about this follows my normal routine. Not since you became the center of . . . of everything. Of my everything.” He grabs my shoulders and turns me to him. My breasts press against his chest, his heartbeat in sync with my own. “You heard the demon today. You are the target.”

“And I’m sure it’ll find a way to use me whether we face them tonight or not.” I cup his face in my hands and force him to look into my eyes. “That . . . thing showed itself to me today. It paralyzed me, and I could do absolutely nothing to fight against it. You didn’t even realize it was happening, but it felt like I was trapped for hours, yet it was only a few minutes.”

Taking my hands, Marcelo entwines our fingers and brings them to his lap. “So, what are you proposing we do?”

I take a deep breath. “We follow Daren. Let him lead us to the convent, confirm there is in fact a full-fledged cult, and then—”

“And then, what? Take on a group of who knows how many men? Take on a demon? Songbird, I don’t know if you’d be able to throw a punch without breaking your finger.”

“We call the cops.”

He chuckles, and while my immediate reaction is to feel like he’s patronizing me, I know he’s not. He knows so much more about this than I do, it must be like explaining Demon 101 to a toddler.

“One, cops aren’t necessarily equipped for demon combat. Two, in half the towns I visit like this, the entire police force is part of the group.”

I straighten. “Okay. No cops.”

“A better idea would be to get you as far away from here as possible. I could send you to Miami. Rodrgio will know what to do—and you could stay with Willow. Then I’ll have Rowan call in back up. Until they get here, I’ll follow the cult members, one by one, and pick them off.”

“I’m not leaving. You promised you’d never let me out of your sight.”

“ Mi amor , this is the only way I can think to do that.” His fingers tighten on mine and he pulls our hands to his chest. “I have exorcised a lot of demons. I have hunted much of the occult. Never, once in my fifteen years of doing this, have I encountered anything close to dealing with the Devil. If this demon—” He pauses and takes a deep breath. “If Valac is trying to face the Devil, trying to overpower and outsmart him, if he already has tethered one of the princes of Hell to Earth, then he is stronger than anything I have ever faced. And he wants you .”

I bite my lip, not wanting to give in.

“Songbird, please . Please do this for me. If you got hurt—” He stops himself just as his voice breaks. There are unshed tears in his eyes, worry and fear pouring out of him. “Please,” he begs quietly, squeezing my hands once more.

I’ve never seen fear in this man. Not when he faced down a league of demons, not when he snuck into the heart of a cult, not when he punched my stepfather in the face and confronted my mother. And especially not when he broke his vows of priesthood—for me. Marcelo is rough around the edges; he’s hard, strong and courageous and uses his trauma to his advantage.

But now, the fear is breaking, cracking the hard facade he’s built after so many years. Fissures grow rapidly, and I see the fear in his eyes. The image of his sister, bent and broken, of his father, lost and bloodied. Of his mother, crucified.

I see that fear and know he is imagining me as they were. Battered, murdered, and no more.

This is more than me , I tell myself. If Valac is able to untether himself to the mortal realm through me , what would that mean for humanity? Would it go unnoticed? Would the literal Devil walking amongst us, stuck here instead of in Hell where he belongs, be any different?

Would the world simply end? Armageddon and all that?

“Okay,” I mumble. Marcelo doesn’t ask twice. He grabs my face and kisses me, over and over, my lips, my cheeks, my jaw, my forehead, my neck, all the while murmuring against my skin, “Thank you, I love you.”

Sliding out from under the covers, his warmth now a visceral absence, Marcelo slides into the pair of jeans he’d thrown to the floor hours ago and grabs his phone from the nightstand.

“I’m gonna go call Rodrigo. We’ll get you the soonest flight out of her so get dressed and pack a bag if you can.”

I nod, starting the crawl out of bed. “And Diablo?”

Marcelo is already scrolling through his phone. “You can take him with you.” His eyes find me in the dark of the room, and he steps toward me. His lips are on mine before I even clock that he’s leaning down, and he presses me back into the bed, his body atop mine.

“I fucking love you, June. Please, please know that.” I feel his bare chest heave against my nipples, the rough fabric of his jeans between my legs. “I’m going to fucking kill Daren for you. I’ll make him regret ever laying a hand on you, ever seeking you out.” More kisses, his tongue sliding between my lips.

“When you get back,” I breathe against his lips, “I want you to spank me so hard, you leave your mark on me forever.”

Marcelo bites my lips and pulls till it’s almost painful. “I’ll spank your pussy till you’re coming all over my hand.” My lips are swollen, but I want more. More of him. Always. Forever. “And I’ll do it where anyone can hear us, where anyone can walk in and see the mess you make all over me.” He licks the shell of my ear, sending shivers all over my body, heating between my thighs. And I know he feels the heat through his jeans as I feel his cock harden against my stomach. My eyes flutter closed, imagining each and every thing he whispers to me. “And then I’ll lick you all clean, my little songbird.”

There’s a weight on the bed around me, heavier at first—before it’s completely gone. Gone is the leg between my thighs, gone is the length of him on my stomach, gone is the heat of his chest teasing my nipples.

My eyes snap open, and Marcelo is just . . . gone.

His phone is resting by my head; there’s no sound in the apartment to tell me he’s walked outside.

It’s like he’s just vanished.

All that’s left to prove he was just here is the warmth spreading in my core, the scent of frankincense and leather, and—

And the circle of black soot marring the carpet where he had just been.