“The hell you’re not. You just lied to me. That demon came gunning for you for some reason and you’re not telling me why. I’m not leaving you alone so he can pick you off. This is not a discussion. You’re staying with me, Isabelle. I want you protected.”

Cold fury lit her eyes and set her mouth into a thin, dangerous line. Her voice shook when she replied. “I won’t do it. You’re going to have to drag me in there and lock the door.”

“I’ll do what I have to do.”

She turned on her heel and walked away from him.

“Go find Doctor Oliver!” he called after her as he followed her out the door.

“Go to hell, Thomas!” she called back.

Thomas watched her climb the stairs to the second floor and disappear from view without looking back at him. He didn’t care how she felt about it, didn’t care at this point how she felt about him. His only goal was to keep her safe. If that meant pissing her off, so be it. He really would throw her over his shoulder and lock her in his room if it was necessary. The tattoo on his back tingled. He knew just the spell to keep her from leaving.

Some primitive male portion of his psyche had declared Isabelle his. Some leftover caveman part of his brain had decided he needed to protect her, destroy anyone—or any demon—who wanted to hurt her, challenge any other man who dared try to take her away from him.

He wasn’t sure when that possessive tendency over Isabelle had kicked in; maybe it had happened when he realized his feelings for her went further than just the physical. Maybe it was the maddening vulnerability that Isabelle possessed underneath all her bravado. In any case, knowing Isabelle had battled the demon alone made the part of him that had marked her as his go crazy.

The thought of finding Isabelle like her sister had been found was incomprehensible. His mind couldn’t even go there. So Isabelle would be spending her nights with him from now on. He would protect her. If she hated him for it, so be it.

“SO…YOU AND THE BOSS MAN, HUH?”

Isabelle glanced at Adam. “It’s just sex.” It wasn’t. Not anymore. But that wasn’t Adam’s business.

They were headed back to the Coven after another day of fruitless searching for Boyle. Every day they checked and rechecked all the places where they knew he hung out and had the warehouse under constant surveillance, but they kept coming up empty.

“That’s cool. I’m not judging. I think it’s pretty healthy, actually. Monahan is one guy who could really benefit from a little no-strings-attached shagging.”

“Yeah, he seems a little…immersed in his job.”