The revelation made me feel a little naked in front of him. If he could hear my heartbeat, what other private details could he sense?
“Did something happen at Campbell Hall?” he repeated. I noticed he was clenching his fists. I picked at a loose stone, not wanting to answer him out loud. I didn’t want to tell him about Anders and the almost-crime. Once again, I knew I shouldn’t be, but I was embarrassed, embarrassed to have even thought for one second about kissing Anders. But since Graham saved me, in the end nothing actually happened.
I changed the subject. “Why didn’t you just come to the party if you knew I was there, and you were so concerned?”
“I can’t go in there,” he answered.
“Why not?”
“It’s a demon seat.” He shrugged as if it were the expected answer.
“A what?” The hairs on the back of my neck prickled at the mention of demons.
“Like my clan’s village is sacred ground and the demons are forbidden from it, so are angels blocked from entering a demon lair,” he said.
I realized with a jolt why Campbell Hall had seemed familiar to me: it was one of the buildings in my mother’s journal. Huge, blackened columns with a two-story staircase flanking the front door; how had I not recognized it when we first pulled up in the limo?
More pieces fell into place. Campbell Hall was in my mom’s book, the book she called “Demon Strongholds.” Gavin had called Campbell Hall a demon lair. Which meant demons lived there. Which meant Anders was a demon!
A tidal wave of panic crashed over me. I had been with a demon. I had been poisoned and almost taken advantage of by an actual demon. A handsome, blond beast. And I’d walked right into his trap. Or more like skipped into, I thought sourly. From his butler-delivered invitation to my pampering session with Jo and her mom, I’d been excited to be his prey. I’d wrapped myself up in sparkly eye makeup and a fancy hairdo like a freaking present.
I was such a fool. I should have paid more attention. Or maybe I should have been warned. How was I supposed to know some book from my mom would lead to this kind of danger? She could have at least told me a little bit about what she did, her secret life, and how it would all come back to haunt me one day. And Gavin! He’d known about Campbell Hall too.
“How could you not tell me there’s a demon fortress nearby?” My anger bordered on hysteria. “That I go to school with a demon? That’s not information you thought I needed? You said the demons had left the area.”
“It’s completely forbidden,” he said, his face a mash of confusion and anguish. “If we told humans where demons were all the time, there would be complete chaos. I’m breaking all the rules telling you this much. But only one demon lives there, and he’s not all that dangerous.”
“Oh, really,” I shot back. “Some demons aren’t dangerous?” Tell that to Anders and his girl poison, I thought.
“It’s not that they’re not dangerous, they just aren’t jinn. Their primary objective isn’t to kill.”
“Jinn? What are you talking about?” I interrupted. “There’s more than one kind of demon?”
“Yes,” he answered. “There are three. Each has a singular purpose. One steals, one kills, and one destroys. The demons that kill are called jinn; that’s what I hunt, the kind that killed that homeless guy in the woods. They roam the world in packs, killing regularly to fill their bloodlust. But they never settle in one place, because they know they’d get caught and wiped out.”
“What kind of demon lives at Campbell Hall?” I asked, carefully avoiding saying Anders’ name out loud.
“Incubus,” he answered. “They’re thieves.”
“What do they steal?” I asked, relaxing just a bit. Maybe I wasn’t in as much danger as I’d imagined.
“Mostly virginity,” he said.
“What?” I screeched, visions of the fountain house flooding back into my brain. Gavin shot me a look, and I calmed myself down. “I mean . . . I don’t get it.”
“The incubus are pleasure seekers,” he said, still eyeing me anxiously. “They drug and then seduce girls. They’re really the lowlifes of the demon world. No one respects them. They don’t really have any power.”
“Oh,” I said, trying to sort out how I managed to be one of those girls.
“I know how clever you are, though,” Gavin continued. “I knew you wouldn’t be fooled by their charm.”
“I wasn’t,” I lied, grateful that he saw me as smart, and thankful that he hadn’t seen me idiotically flirting with Anders. “What about the third type, the demons that destroy?”
A dark cloud passed over his beautiful face. “I can’t talk about them. To even say their name can be deadly.” He didn’t look like he was kidding.
The conversation lulled, and I began working out everything in my head. Anders was a demon, but a relatively harmless one. I would just stay away from him and from Campbell Hall at all costs and, without revealing too much, made sure Jo did the same.
As I sat in silence next to Gavin, I knew I should be mad at him, but I found I couldn’t be. We weren’t touching, but a sizzling energy pulsed between us. The delicious excitement made it difficult to breathe. It enveloped my entire being, soaked through my skin.
He stood up abruptly. “I have to go. I have . . . other duties.” He held out his hand to help me up. When I took it, my hand tingled as if I was touching a low-voltage electrical current. He didn’t let go until I was safely back inside my room.
I leaned out the window. I didn’t want him to leave.
“Thanks,” I said. “For stopping by and checking on me.”
“It’s no problem.” He shrugged as if it was just another part of his job. But something in his eyes told me it wasn’t. “I . . . Well, goodnight.”
He ran and jumped off the roof, falling for a few feet until his wings suddenly burst out of his back. He flew away as gracefully as a bird, without any noise, but I imagined his wings beating to the same rhythm as my heart. My heart. The heartbeat he’d memorized.
I realized that he hadn’t taken off his shirt; that his wings seemed to come out through his clothing. I guessed angel clothing wasn’t like human clothing. Why had he taken off his shirt in front of me in the village, then, if he didn’t have to?
Show-off. I smiled to myself. Gorgeous, gorgeous show-off.
CHAPTER 19
Hunter was being chased through dark alleys and cobblestone streets. Shadows swam along the walls, pushing ahead of her, blocking her way. She tripped and slammed into the ground, opening a large gash in her knee. She sat still, hugging her wound to her chest, knowing she was doomed.
It began to rain. She looked up, hoping the rain would soothe her throbbing wound, make the shadows disappear. A drop of liquid fell into her eye, causing her to blink. It burned, and she rubbed it furiously, trying to stop the pain. When she opened it, everything was blurry, but she could see the dark splotches on her arms and legs.
It was raining blood.