Even as they joined the others, she felt she should say something back to him, anything, but he honestly didn’t seem to be waiting for reciprocation or even an acknowledgment.

Which made her feel honored in some strange way—probably because it meant that his gift to her was unconditional.

The men had obviously found the beer, as they all had bottles in their hands, and Jim introduced the two who’d come with him to her. For some reason, she trusted them all—which was very unusual given the way she usually felt around big, muscle-bound members of the opposite sex.

Before any of them could speak, she said loud and clear, “What the hell is she? And how worried do I need to be?”

The men all stared at her as if she’d grown two heads.

Eddie, if she heard the name correctly, was the first to recover. He leaned forward and put his elbows on his jeans-clad knees. After a moment of concentration, he just shrugged, like he’d tried to find a way to sugarcoat things and decided to give up on the lie.

“A demon. And very concerned barely covers it.”

CHAPTER
35

Vin was totally impressed by his woman. Having just been through a hideous and frightening welcome-to-the-unreal-world, and then having gotten hit with an I-love-you bomb, she was holding her ground, staring at Eddie with steady, intelligent eyes as she absorbed his answer.

“A demon,” she repeated.

As Eddie and Adrian nodded in unison, Jim just took a seat on the couch, put his cold beer bottle on his swollen face and leaned back into torn-up cushions. The rippling sigh that came out of his mouth seemed to suggest that new bruise he was sporting looked bad, hurt worse.

God only knew how he’d—oh wait, Adrian’s knuckles were split.

“What does that mean?” she said.

Eddie’s voice was level and reasonable. “Your common conception of one is largely accurate in her case. She’s an evil entity who overtakes the lives and then the souls of people. She’s hardwired for destruction and she’s after Vin. Anything or anyone who gets in the way is in immediate danger.”

“But why Vin?” She looked across the way. “Why you?”

Vin opened his mouth and nothing came out. “I…I really don’t have a clue.”

Eddie paced around, going from the bookshelves to the ruined mirror. “You said you went to a psychic who gave you a ritual to perform. What did you do to call her to you?”

“But that’s the thing,” Vin said. “I didn’t call her at all. I was trying to get rid of the visions. That was it.”

“You did something.”

“It wasn’t to volunteer for this shit, I assure you.”