Samael stared at me. I sniffed and glanced over his shoulder. The look on Vas’s face told me clearly that he knew I was full of shit. He shoved a hand over his mouth and walked away, his shoulders shaking.

I regarded Samael. His brow creased, a lock of dark hair fell over his forehead, and it made him appear almost boyish. “You want me to… stay with you?”

I would feel bad about my little ‘woe is me’ act, except that I was likely saving hundreds of lives.

“Yes.” I blinked quickly, as if holding back tears, and he gave a slow nod.

“I will stay.”

Excellent. You’re welcome, good— and not-so-good— people of Durham.

My eyelids were already heavy and I cursed. On the bright side, thanks to the fae healer, I was likely to wake up in a much better physical condition than I was in right now. But I didn’t have time to nap. I needed to find the coward who’d exploded my car and hurt them. When I woke up, I was going hunting.

24

Samael

Danica’s eyes fluttered open and immediately caught on mine. A glimpse of relief flashed through them before she rubbed at them with her fists.

“How long was I out for?”

“One hour. You will still be bruised and sore. I advised the healer that you would not wish to sleep through the day.”

And I had fought against all of my instincts to do so.

Surprise flashed across her face. “Thank you.” Then she scowled. “You didn’t go hunting without me, did you?”

“I gave you my word.” I was well aware that her insistence that I stayed with her was pure manipulation. But I’d found myself unable to deny Danica. I’d needed to watch her sleeping safely in my bed, after seeing how close she had come to true death.

My little witch was only half demon, and she healed like a human. Anyone could kill her. Even hate-filled humans.

A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck.

“Samael?”

I forced myself to regain my control. Her eyes saw too much, and she narrowed them on my face.

“Something else happened.”

I raised one eyebrow. I kept our bond tightly closed, but perhaps my rage was leaking through.

“There has been an attempted attack on my tower.”

Danica’s mouth fell open, revealing her pink tongue. My mind attempted to veer in the direction of all the things I wanted to do with that tongue, but I forced myself to focus.

She let out a low growl. “This is why you don’t let fae healers knock me out when I’m protecting two kids.”

I waved my hand in the way I knew made her grind her teeth in annoyance. “Cil and Zip are fine.”