Page 26

Chapter 26

Dex

D ex stared at her, chewing on his thumbnail as he watched her sleep. He couldn’t bring himself to leave, not after…

Nova had tried to kill herself rather than face him.

Thankfully, Agmos had found someone who had taught him how to heal. He could do it with demon magic, but the angel magic was more reliable when it came to healing wounds that big. He’d healed everything, but he didn’t know how to replace the blood she’d lost.

Time would have to do that.

He dropped his head into his hands and tried to figure out where he’d fucked up.

This wasn’t just a small one either.

A fuck-up of this size and magnitude meant everything after this would change. Everything he knew would be different – one way or another.

How the fuck was she the hunter?

Dex felt like a fucking idiot, assuming it was a guy. But the person he’d seen on that footage wasn’t the same person he’d met at the barcade. That much was obvious.

Until he’d seen her eyes, he’d had no idea even when they were fighting. Dex was still having a hard time wrapping his head around what he’d seen.

Had she been hunting him this whole time?

Looking down at his shaking hands, he stared at the stains.

He was covered in her blood.

Dex had managed to patch her throat and he’d flown her to his place as quickly as he could to properly heal her. No one had seen her face except him, and he had no idea what was going to happen when she woke up.

She’d slit her own fucking throat.

Up until that moment, he’d been so enraged Dex would have killed her himself after getting the information he needed.

The way she’d looked up at him while bleeding out though…the same emotions he’d seen when she’d confessed how she really felt were there. At the very least, she wasn’t lying about that.

He couldn’t decide if that made it worse, or better.

The chains rattled and he looked up to see her gasping, hand to her throat. Those gorgeous eyes were wide, and she stared at nothing while her chest heaved. Burying the urge to comfort her down as far as he could, Dex watched.

His room was so dark even a shifter would have trouble seeing, but she wasn’t a shifter.

Nova was a different breed altogether.

Dex watched as her eyes slowly refocused. Keeping her soul in her fucking body had been harder than he’d expected it to be, but he’d managed without slipping completely into his angel side.

Her hand dropped and she jolted when she heard the chains clink together. Nova stared down at the hell-forged, iron manacles and frowned. He’d give anything to know what was going through her head, but he could finally scent her and that was the next best thing.

Confusion rippled through her as she stared at the manacles—at the blood covering her hands. He’d taken off her gloves and stripped her of every weapon he could find including the various charms she wore.

There was nothing he could do about her tattoos, but Nova had used all her magic for that blast. Dex could still taste the ozone on the back of his tongue, thanks to her.

She looked up at the ceiling, then over her shoulder. The chains were mounted into the wall. Dex knew it would be impossible for a shifter to get out of hell-forged iron though.

But her?

He had no idea what she could do.

Nova had taken down fifteen of his best fighters like it was nothing – without killing them. And then she’d managed to get away from him. She had taken her own life without a split second of hesitation rather than be captured.

No doubt she was capable of more surprises.

Interestingly, she didn’t try to get free of the chains. Her hands went for her throat again, and then her shoulder. That one had been bad too. Dex couldn’t believe she’d climbed to a rooftop with only one working arm.

He was pretty sure her sheer will and determination were the most terrifying things about her. That and whatever magic she possessed that lay dormant. He could feel it simmering in her blood, waiting.

Dex had seen her use every ounce of her own magic, but there was something else she hadn’t tapped into yet – something stolen from a demon. He doubted she knew how to use it, or she would have already.

Regardless, the hell-forged iron would ensure she couldn’t access it.

“Am I in hell?” she whispered, staring down at the manacles again.

His heart wrenched at that, and Dex hated everything about this.

“You’re very much alive,” he told her, voice still vibrating with his rage.

It was impossible to temper his demon right now. All he could do was release it instead of letting it fester to trigger his angel.

“I’m alive?” Nova ran her fingertips over her throat gently. The scent of her disappointment broke his heart.

Then she moved.

Nova rolled off the bed, using all her weight to yank down on the chains, pulling hard. The anchors flew out of the wall and Dex just stared at her in wonder and awe. He should be fucking pissed, but she was just…

Beautiful.

Then she was sprinting…right toward his window.

Dex felt his stomach drop when he realized she knew how high up they were and didn’t care. Even for her, a fall from this height would kill her.

Using every bit of speed he’d been born with, Dex grabbed the chains and pulled back, clenching his teeth as the scent of fresh blood filled the room. The manacles tore the skin at her wrists, but she flew back, landing on the bed.

He pinned her before she could make another run for it.

This time he wasn’t wearing any weapons either. Nova was too good for him to risk it.

She stared into his eyes, and for a second, he thought she was going to fight him. Then her entire body relaxed, but he wasn’t going to fall for that again. Dex’s hands tightened on her wrists – the skin slick with blood.

“So, now what?” she asked.

Dex could smell her, and he closed his eyes as he tried to sift through her emotions. There were so many of them, and he was still getting used to being able to smell her at all.

“Tell me the truth,” he whispered into her ear. “All I want is the truth.”

“What happens after that?”

Fear. Not of him, but of what he would do to her.

Nova thought he was going to kill her.

“Depends,” he said. “I’ll take these off if you promise me you won’t hurt yourself again.”

“What do you care?” she snapped.

Dex snarled, grip tightening on her. Her fear started to fade, and he smelled…resignation.

“Stop trying to provoke me into killing you.” He let her go and then ripped the manacles off of her without even bothering to unlock them. They were useless now, but at least it would prove his point.

He gently wrapped his hands around her wrists and healed the new wounds.

What he was even trying to accomplish, he didn’t know. Dex had no idea what to do with her. Discovering someone he had feelings for was also the one hunting him certainly wasn’t something he’d ever had to deal with before.

When he released her, Nova studied her perfect skin for a long time and then finally met his gaze.

They were two sides of the same coin. She was a witch and a hunter. He could smell it on her. Her eyes mirrored his and Dex knew that if twin flames really existed…

Nova was it.

“You’re a demon,” she stated.

“And you’re a hunter.”

“Yes.” Nova sighed.

Dex felt that sigh deep in his soul.

Same, baby girl, same.

“After I tell you whatever you want to know, what happens to me?”

“I don’t know.”

Her head whipped to the side and the purple eye glowed in the darkness. “Why not?”

“No one else saw your face but me.” Dex didn’t know why he was telling her this, but he didn’t know what else to do. “I want to know the truth. Then I’ll decide what to do with you.”

Tears filled her eyes then and he gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to comfort her.

Dex couldn’t afford to let her see his conflict. That would be dangerous for the both of them until he knew which path to take.

“Well, my mother is really a witch, and my sister was a hunter,” she whispered, staring down at her bloody hands. “And as you’ve probably guessed, my father is also a hunter who comes from a very long line of them.”

Without her charms, he could hear her heart clear as day. He could scent every emotion. Nova was telling him the truth.

“I’m what they call a convergence,” she said, still refusing to look at him. “It’s what happens when two or more bloodlines manifest in the same person. I’m not a very powerful witch. I have enough magic to do what I need, but I am physically stronger than even my father. I was the only one. My sister wasn’t born with magic.”

Dex didn’t hear or scent a single lie, and something in his chest eased ever so slightly. Everything she’d told him as a friend so far had been true.

“We found out after it happened that there was a prophecy about a convergence who was both hunter and witch. It wasn’t me, but the demons hunting her came after all of us who showed powers from more than one bloodline. I don’t know what happened to her, but it cost my sister her life.”

A fucking prophecy?

Had they lived the same goddamn life?

“What are you doing here?” Dex asked, steering her back to the actual problem.

“I signed a ninety-day trial contract with the Council of Paranormals.” Nova shrugged and Dex could smell her fear again, but there was also grief.

Why did that make her sad?

“My orders were to recon the area thanks to reports of magic in front of humans. I had no plans to engage. I just needed to find out who was breaking the law and then report it and wait for further orders.” Nova finally looked at him. “When I met you, it was my first night here. I didn’t plan…”

Dex closed his eyes when she trailed off. He knew exactly what she meant. He hadn’t planned for any of this either.

Nova took a deep breath and continued. “I kept pushing you away because I didn’t know if the person I had to arrest, or kill, would be you. I didn’t want to get too attached if that was the case, but you were persistent and I…it was impossible to resist you.”

More truth.

“I told my father,” she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I didn’t know who else to turn to. When I told him, he only asked me one thing. He asked if I could kill you if they ordered me to.” More tears fell as she stared at him. “I hesitated.”

Dex curled his hands into fists, needing to hear all of it no matter what she was making him feel. He couldn’t afford to make another mistake. If he was going to risk everything for her – he had to know the whole truth.

“My father told me that staying was reckless and dangerous, and I should cancel my contract. Leaving was the smart choice, but I didn’t want them to send another hunter in my place.” Nova shrugged again as if it was no big deal, but Dex knew it wasn’t that simple.

If he was fucking up, she would have turned him in just to make sure she had control over the situation. The pain of not knowing would be worse than dealing with it herself.

“It’s why I was so upset that night.” Nova took a deep, quivering breath. “After…after you asked if we could try being more than friends, I?—”

Her voice broke and Dex almost broke with it.

“I had to know if it was you. So, I was planning to follow you until I had confirmation or not. After that, I would have tried to kill you myself. I would have deserved it for being dumb enough to fall for someone who was endangering us all. If it wasn’t you…I was going to tell you who I really was.”

“And what did you find out?” he asked, keeping his voice as cold and emotionless as he could.

“You manage the businesses well,” she admitted. “It’s better than I’ve seen with most packs. The coven isn’t allied with you, but they don’t actively avoid you either. The only issues I’ve seen are the fights that break out along the borders. I haven’t been able to figure out which side they’re provoked by, but those shifters who came after me the first night weren’t yours.”

Dex leaned back, impressed. She’d figured all that out on her own? Nova must have been out all night every night to be so sure.

“I haven’t been able to really determine the cause of the fights though since I’ve only been following you the last four nights.”

“You broke into one of my buildings,” Dex stated. He needed the confirmation. If it wasn’t her, but someone dressed like her—he had to know for sure.

“Yes.” Not even a hint of guilt. “It was the safest and fastest way to figure out the potential hotspots and territory borders. I came to your place right after to watch anime with you.”

Truth.

Dex didn’t even know what to say. He was furious and impressed all at the same time, plus he was still very attracted to her.

Even more so than before, if he were honest with himself.

“You broke into my building, and then had the balls to come here and act like my friend?”

“I wasn’t acting,” she snapped, purple eye flashing. “I was doing my job. My personal life had nothing to do with it until I could no longer separate the two.”

Dex narrowed his eyes and studied her. “Before I found out who you were, I was going to offer the hunter a job.”

Nova froze, disbelief all over her face and in her scent. “Why?”

He shrugged and gave her a lazy smile. “A hunter is a valuable asset, but one with that kind of skill is priceless. You took down fifteen shifters without even trying. I couldn’t even imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t been holding back.”

“I don’t kill people who don’t deserve it,” she hissed. “And I’m not a tool to be used and then thrown away.”

The scent of her fury was honestly the most delicious thing he’d ever smelled, and Dex felt it trigger his feral side. He ran his tongue over his canines, the metal in his tongue clinking against his teeth.

“I never said you were a tool. I said your skills are extremely valuable.”

“And if I refuse?”

Dex slid off the bed and rolled his shoulders back, enjoying the weight of his wings and the fact that he no longer had to hide them with her. “Then you’re free to go.”

Nova stood, staring at him like she didn’t quite believe him. “I don’t understand.”

He whirled around and yanked her forward, so she was pressed against him. Dex purred his satisfaction at the feel of her. “You’re not a threat to me or my organization since I know for a fact we aren’t breaking the Council’s precious law. So, I’m letting you go. But don’t assume for a second that I’m not going to hunt you.”

She shivered and a flicker of fear went through her. “If you’re going to hunt me, then just kill me now.”

Dex chuckled and took her face in his hands. “Oh, I have no intention of killing you.” He leaned down then and kissed her.

Nova gripped his arms hard enough it hurt, but the way she practically melted into him, opening her mouth to give him access…

Dex lost it.

He grabbed her thighs and picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist, her arms going around his neck. The way her fingertips brushed his wings had him losing his mind and Dex kissed her hard, sliding his tongue into her mouth to give her a taste, teasing as he held her.

Nova kissed him back like she’d been wanting to do this since the very beginning. The scent of her arousal wrapped around him, and Dex’s grip tightened on her.

Before he completely lost control, he put her down. “The choice is yours, Nova.”

Dex turned and left before he took her right then and there.

Now that he knew who she was, he had no intention of letting her go. It didn’t matter how long it took either.

Nova was going to be his .

Continue Dex and Nova’s story in Demon Touched