It was the most screwed-up meal she’d ever seen, but her mouth watered anyway. Hunger gnawed in her stomach.

With her fork, she lifted a tortilla, grimacing. Within the tortillas, candy hearts were stuck in a smear of jam. Red slogans emblazoned their surfaces: Love Me, Hot Lips, and XOXO. This had to be the weirdest quesadilla in the history of “dinners of food.”

Caine handed her a blue heart: Adore me. “This one’s for you. A reasonable suggestion.”

“It doesn’t seem fair to take that from you. I don’t think I could ever adore you as much as you do.”

“Give me your pancake.”

“What?”

“There are only two edible things on that plate. The candy fish and the pancake. At least let me warm it for you.” He reached over, spearing the pancake on his fork. After he chanted a quick spell, it thawed and toasted to a golden brown. He dropped it on her plate again. “Don’t say I never did anything for you.”

She nearly cracked a smile for the first time since the Brotherhood had come for her. The truth was, Caine had been helping her.

She just had no idea why.

She took a bite of the pancake. Sweet and fluffy. Within about twenty seconds, she’d chomped through the entire thing, before stuffing a handful of Swedish fish into her mouth. She moved on to the American cheese slices, and when she was unwrapping the final piece she looked up to find Caine eyeing her with concern.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone eat that fast,” he said. “I’m a little alarmed.”

Aurora stared over her drink. “Unsettling, really. It reminds me a little of that time I saw Horace eat a truck driver outside a McDonald’s.”

“I haven’t eaten in a full day.” She was still grumpy, in fact. She whispered, “What do you think the chances are that a high demon will come in?”

He shrugged. “Fifty-fifty. Might be fun, really. But if it happens, you should get out of here. Let me handle it.”

The arrogance on this guy. “What are you going to do, toast some waffles for him? Burn his bagel until he’s cross?”

“You’re still cranky.” Caine handed her his pancake. “Have mine.”

He glanced down the bar, catching Jorge’s eye.

Smiling, the bartender sidled up to them. “How were the dinners?”

“Amazing, as always,” Caine said. “We’ll just need two more bourbons. Neat.”

“No problem.” Jorge pulled a glass bottle from the shelves, unscrewing the cap to fill two more glass tumblers. “I’m just happy to see you with a girl who isn’t trying to murder you for once.”

“Give it time,” Aurora said.

Rosalind frowned. “Wait. Why is Caine always with girls who want to murder him?”

Jorge scratched his chin. “The vampire girls get obsessed with him after he screws—”

“We don’t need to get into that,” Caine snapped. “Has no one ever told you that bartenders are supposed to be discreet?”

Jorge furrowed his brow. “I’ve never heard that.”