Just then the door swung open. Bain beckoned them in. “Don’t just stand there; get in here so I can get out. I have demon things to do before the fantasies start.”

Dacian was curious. “What do you do when you’re not working here?”

He expected a wiseass answer from the demon. Instead, he got none at all. Bain speared him with a hard stare and then shrugged. “This and that. Many creatures come out at night. What we do is our own business.”

Dacian couldn’t argue with that. He watched Bain leave and then turned back to Cinn.

She shook her head. “I don’t know about Bain. Even saying the word demon gives me the chills, but sometimes I like him. But that’s because he can be funny in a sarcastic way. Then he says something like that, and I wonder if the personality he shows is a cover for something a lot darker.”

“Don’t forget what Wade said about him. Take it from one dark creature that recognizes another like him. Never forget what he is.” He got serious. “And that goes for me, too.”

Cinn’s good mood seemed to be evaporating with all the talk of dark creatures. He felt bad about that, so he attempted to cheer her up.

“Hey, look around. No Wade stalking you with gifts from the sea. No Asima playing loud music. We’re alone.”

“Not exactly.”

The male voice spun him around. The man had slipped in through the door leading to the courtyard.

“Dacian. It’s been a while.” The man didn’t smile.

Dacian stared at him, memories piling on memories, so many that they faded into the distant centuries.

“Hello, Taurin.”

Chapter Fourteen

Taurin’s face was a calm mask—no narrowed eyes, no thinned lips. No welcoming smile either. Dacian’s brother wore his vampire face.

So Dacian searched for hints in Taurin’s body language. Clenched fists. That could mean he was trying to control his emotions, or more likely, he wanted to punch Dacian’s face in.

Dacian understood his brother’s reaction because he wore his own mask. But he was better at it than Taurin. He didn’t clench his fists.

Tension snapped and crackled around the greenhouse. Dacian figured if he touched metal right now he’d shock his ass off.

He wanted to take the few strides separating him from his brother and wrap his arms around him.

He wanted to walk out of here lugging his shame behind him.

He did nothing. He waited.