I heard my name, and my ears perked up, tuning back into the conversation—though when I did, I regretted it.
Sierra was on a rant roll. “You are telling me that Angel…” she said my name like it left a bad taste in her mouth, “…broke his enchantment.” She wore a cold, distasteful expression.
Sometime during the recap of what had happened, Chase had put his arm on the back of the couch, encompassing me in his warmth. “Yeah. He had some kind of wall, blocking me from getting to her—and him.” You could hear his frustration and anger.
“How did she do it?” Sierra questioned, always the skeptic.
“I have no earthly idea. Angel?” he prompted.
I wiggled uncomfortably on the couch, all eyes on me. I hated being the center of attention. “Umm. I don’t know really. He cut off my link to Chase, isolating me. I felt nothing, so…” This was the embarrassing part. I could already feel my cheeks beginning to turn pink. Chase rubbed the back of my neck, and I took a deep breath. “I realized that I didn’t want him to take that from me, what I felt. So, I closed my eyes and solely concentrated on those feelings. That was it.”
Sierra was the first one to speak. Go figure. “You’re shitting me, right?”
I shook my head. “I wish.”
“Then what happened?” Hayden asked from his perch next to Lexi on the arm of the chaise. He was usually the quiet one of the bunch.
I shrugged. “I don’t remember.”
“She blacked out,” Chase filled in at the raised brows.
“Great, just great,” Sierra started spazzing. “This is what we have to go on. An altered human who doesn’t know squat about what she can or can’t do. Meanwhile, there is a higher-demon in town, determined on making all our lives miserable.”
“Sierra,” Travis growled her name in warning.
Her red hair whipped in the air as she scowled at Travis.
“Regardless of how it happened, Angel was somehow responsible for both of them getting out of there alive,” Travis reminded her.
“Well, isn’t that just dandy? Who died and made you king?” she said, flipping her bitch switch up a few notches.
Travis jerked in his seat, but Emma’s hand squeezed his knee, stopping him from jumping up. I wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but the glint of yellow in his eyes was a good indicator it was something hotheaded.
Sierra had her claws out, ready to pounce.
My smile turned sour, pinning Sierra. “You’re just jealous.”
She touched a hand to her heart. “Me? Jealous of you? Bless your delusional heart.” There was sarcasm lacing her sickeningly sweet tone.
I wanted to choke her with it.
That was it. I started to fly off the couch with the intention of…I wasn’t sure, but it involved bodily harm to Sierra. Chase’s hand shot out and tugged me back down beside him. “Hey there, she-devil,” he said with a hidden grin teasing his lips.
“I think we all need to take a minute,” Devin advised. He stood at the center of the room with his hands shoved into his pockets. “Take five, then we can try to figure out what we are going to do. Sierra, you better call your parents.”
I was going to need more than five minutes to cool down. The need to knock Sierra off her holier-than-thou pedestal was pounding inside me. Chase laced our fingers and led us to the porch. I stepped outside, grateful for the space and fresh, crisp air. Closing my eyes, I let the twilight breeze bathe over my heated skin. “Why is it, whenever we all get together, we spend most of the time at each other’s throats?” I asked, sitting on the top porch step.
He stood behind me, his eyes scoping out the yard. “It keeps things interesting.”
I glanced up, mesmerized by the twinkling stars that broke through the bluish-purple, murky night. “I should be scared, shouldn’t I?”
“Probably, but I am guessing you are getting used to living on the edge.”
I aimlessly kicked snow off the steps. “Do you seriously think that we are going to be able to prevent him from getting what he wants?”
He his expression hardened. “I’ll find a way to keep you safe.”
I looked into his eyes. “You’re beginning to sound like a broken record.”
There was a demon galloping around Spring Valley, skin jumping. I didn’t know whom to trust anymore. He could potentially be anyone at any time, but his eyes would always give him away. There was no allure, no trick he could weave. When it came to the guy I loved, I had to believe that we would always see the truth.
Thanks to our demon mark and the love that glued us together.
The intricate mark not only tied me to Chase, but also to his creator, and, therefore, looped me to them both. Talk about an awkward threesome. The repercussions of being connected to Chase’s maker had never really crossed my mind, not until Alastair had become far too real.