The door to my room slammed open. I jumped and let out a startled yelp. Dominic didn’t even look up.
Adam looked from me, to Dominic, then back to me. The look on his face was deadly.
“What did you do?” His voice sounded calm, but he wasn’t anything like calm.
I felt awful, but I wasn’t going to admit it to Adam. I held my chin up and met his angry gaze. “I told him his demon isn’t dead.”
If looks could kill…
“Fuck!” Adam shouted. He strode forward.
I thought he was coming after me, so I leapt out of my chair, but he was going to Dominic, who still hadn’t looked up. His sobs were loud and heartbroken, and he was rocking back and forth in his chair. Adam knelt in front of the chair, putting both hands on Dominic’s shoulders.
“Dom,” he said softly, gently. “I couldn’t tell you. I’m so sorry.”
Dominic stopped rocking and looked up with tear-reddened eyes.
“How could you let me believe he was dead? How?”
“Because I thought I had to. If I’d known Lugh had lifted the injunction against it, I would have told you in a heartbeat.” He drew Dominic off the chair and onto his knees, then wrapped his arms around the still-sobbing man.
Cradling Dominic’s head against his chest, Adam glared at me with such malevolence my skin tried to crawl away and hide. I considered making a break for the door, but I wasn’t sure I’d live through the escape attempt.
“If you weren’t hosting Lugh,” he growled at me, “I’d kick your ass out the door and hang a big bull’s-eye on your back.”
A chill snaked down my spine. The humanity had disappeared from his eyes and his demon shone through. Literally. His eyes were glowing, like Lugh’s did in my dreams.
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the most pathetic of defenses. It wasn’t just because I was scared of Adam, either, though I was. Big, strong, fireman Dominic brought out something in me I hadn’t known I’d had—a protective instinct that I might almost have called maternal.
I met Adam’s furious glare. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think before I spoke.”
He didn’t say anything, just kept staring at me with those glowing eyes until I had to look away.
I heard him stand, heard him urge Dominic to come with him so they could talk. Their feet passed in front of my field of vision on their way out, but I was too ashamed of myself to look up.
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There was another round of whipping later that night. Only this time, it was Adam’s voice I heard crying out in pain—not even a hint of pleasure—
and there were no sex sounds afterward. My guess was that Adam had done penance for keeping that crucial secret. I hoped it was cathartic for Dominic.
I hadn’t bought any PJ’s on my shopping trip, and I wasn’t about to sleep naked in this house, so I curled up in bed fully clothed. I don’t think I’d ever felt so miserable about myself in all my life. My mind kept going over and over how I’d treated Brian and the rift I’d caused between Adam and Dominic. Asking myself when I’d come to be so hateful. Wondering if it was too late for me to change.
I must have drifted off eventually, because the next thing I knew I was in Lugh’s living room—or whatever it was.
I was sitting on the sofa, and Lugh sat on the love seat facing me across the coffee table. His right ankle was propped on his left knee, his arms spread out across the back of the love seat. He’d backed off from last night’s aggressive outfit. Black leather pants and boots seemed to be a uniform for him, but tonight he topped it with a plain black T-shirt. He still looked good enough to eat, but I didn’t feel an unbearable urge to fling myself at him. That was a plus.
My native defensiveness made an appearance, and before he had a chance to speak, I asked, “So are you going to tell me what a miserable bitch I am for what I said to Dominic?”
He smiled faintly. “Should I?”
I sighed. “Probably.”
“You’re too hard on yourself.” His voice was rich and dark as molasses.
“You meant well.”
I sank into the sofa and crossed my arms over my chest. “Did I? Adam sure didn’t think so.”
“Adam barely knows you.”
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better than I knew myself, even though he was a total stranger to me. He just smiled. “Your technique could use some work, but your heart was in the right place.”
I suddenly remembered something Adam had said, something I hadn’t paid much attention to at the time. If I’d known Lugh had lifted the injunction…
Lugh had lifted the injunction? Just how “I” was this VIP?
“So,” I said, “Adam seems to think you’re worth protecting.”
Lugh slid his ankle off his knee and put both feet on the floor. “As I happen to be inhabiting your body, I should think you’d agree.” He smiled at me. It was a friendly, disarming smile. But I’m not that easy to disarm.
“Wanna tell me who you are?”
“Not particularly. You haven’t shown yourself to be the soul of discretion.”
He scored a hit. I tried not to let it show. “Considering all the shit I’ve gone through because of you, I think I deserve to know anyway. I was almost burned alive last night, if you remember.”
I think I scored on that one, though Lugh’s expression didn’t change much. He leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees, looking at me as if trying to puzzle me out. His gaze was disconcertingly intense.
“Stop looking at me like that!” I snapped.
One corner of his mouth lifted, but he didn’t let it become a full smile.
“I suppose you do have the right to know how high the stakes are.”
I kinda thought the stakes were pretty high already, what with people trying to crispy-critter me, but I kept that opinion to myself.
“I told you I’m a reformer,” Lugh continued.
I made a “keep talking” motion with my hand.
He seemed to brace himself. “I frighten my own people because I have the power to make my reforms come to pass. You see, I’ve just ascended to the throne. I’m their king.”
Well, that was a stunner, no doubt about it. I was possessed by the king of the demons? Hell, I hadn’t even known they had a king. Then I realized he said he’d just ascended to the throne, which suggested that beforehand, he’d been a prince. Named Lugh.
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possible some of the mythology is loosely based on me.” I probably didn’t look any less alarmed. He rolled his eyes. “Remember, this is the same mythology that says demons live in the fires of Hell. There have always been segments of the human population who find us frightening and therefore vilify us. That doesn’t make the stories true.”
He had a point. Much as I disliked demons, I’d never subscribed to the hellfire-and-brimstone point of view. There was no reason to change that now. I nodded to indicate I was over my moment of superstitious dread.
“My brothers have taken the first step to start a war of succession,” he continued, “though I suppose if they succeed in killing me, it will not be much of a war.”
“Brothers…” I made the word halfway a question, though I would have liked to come up with something more eloquent and intelligent-sounding. Lugh nodded. “Two of them. Dougal is the elder and will succeed if something happens to me.” He met my eyes grimly. “My youngest brother is named Raphael.”
Shit on a stick! I swallowed hard. “That would be Raphael, as in the demon Andrew is hosting?”
“So it would seem.”
I frowned. “But if this is a war of succession and Raphael is in on it, why didn’t he just kill you the moment you possessed me? You make it sound like I was too out of it to put up much of a fight.”
“True.” His lip curled in distaste. “Raphael and I have a long history of bad blood. Dougal and I disagree on matters of policy, but with Raphael, it’s always been personal.” The hinges of his jaws stood out in stark relief, like he was grinding his teeth. “I suspect he found the prospect of a swift death…unsatisfying. And I suspect Dougal’s other supporters are rather annoyed with Raphael right now.”
He looked at me and shook his head as he spoke. “I always wondered why there was only one person there on the night I was summoned. I would bet my kingdom Raphael acted on his own to use you as a host. Since Dougal’s quarrel with me is political, not personal, he wouldn’t have let me live a moment longer than he had to. But Raphael is determined to make me suffer first.”
And I thought I had troubles with my brother!
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brother out of him?”
Lugh smiled at me. “Not unless you’d be so kind as to let me take control when you’re conscious.”
I shuddered.
“But even then, I don’t know if I could do it. Raphael and I are evenly matched. I have no way of knowing who would win if we fought.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What about me? Can I toss him out on his ear?”
Lugh sighed. “I’m afraid not. You are obviously a very skilled exorcist, but Raphael is beyond you.”
That tweaked my pride. “You never know until you try. I’ve kicked some serious demon ass in my time.”
He looked amused. “I regret to inform you that the vast majority of demons who walk the Mortal Plain are of far less exalted—and less powerful—lineage than Raphael and myself. You have not faced a demon of anywhere near our rank before.”
Just what I wanted to hear. “And what about Adam? Did you ever really believe he could exorcize you?”
His shoulders lifted in a hint of a shrug. “No. But I hoped to speak with him. I need an ally.”
“Other than me, you mean.”
His amber eyes crinkled with amusement. “Are you my ally?”
“Well, duh! I don’t have much choice, you know.”
He inclined his head, causing a lock of that fabulous black hair of his to slide forward across his cheek. My hormones took notice, but didn’t go nuts.
“Point taken,” he said. “But I suspect Adam has skills and contacts that we might find useful.”
“And you trust him?” I sure as hell didn’t.
“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have delivered myself into his hands.”
My heart thudded. “This was your idea! You told him to kidnap me and lock me up.”
Lugh laughed. “No, not in so many words. I asked him to help and protect you. He decided on the manner in which he would do so.”
I had a few colorful things I wanted to say, but Lugh kept talking.
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his ability.”
“A good man? Excuse me, but were you napping earlier this evening?”
Lugh’s shrug was elegant. “I didn’t say he was a nice man.”
“Sorry, in my book, good men don’t whip their lovers.” Judgmental?
Maybe so. But also heartfelt.
His stare pierced me. “Even if their lovers enjoy it?”
“Even if.”
Lugh looked disappointed in me. “If you could inhabit another’s skin as we do, your mind would be less narrow.”
I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but I didn’t know him well enough. Yeah, I actually have to know someone pretty well to be vulgar with them. I settled for willing myself to wake up from my dream. I didn’t expect it to work, but almost immediately my eyes opened and I found myself curled into a protective ball in bed. The room was still pitch black, my body heavy with exhaustion and interrupted sleep. I stretched and turned over, and before I had time to wonder if I’d now be awake the rest of the night, I was asleep again.
I woke up the next morning to the sound of someone clomping around my room. I blinked bleary eyes and turned away from the wall. The clomping was the sound of Adam’s biker boots impacting the wooden floor. I sat up cautiously, keeping my eyes fixed on him, but he had his back to me and didn’t seem inclined to look in my direction. He dropped a tray onto the writing desk, rattling dishes and silverware. It was just a wild guess, but I thought he was still pissed at me. I slid my feet out of bed, studying the tension in his broad shoulders. He must have heard me stirring, but he didn’t look my way.
After putting the tray down, he made a beeline for the door. I gathered he planned to leave without once speaking to me or even looking at me. But, sad to say, he was the closest thing I had to a friend right now, and I needed him. I swallowed my fear and my pride.
“Adam, wait,” I said as he jerked open my door. He froze with the door halfway open, his hand still on the knob. Still, he didn’t turn toward me, though I had a good view of his profile. His mouth was set in grim lines, his eyes narrowed, but it didn’t look like anger. It looked more like pain.
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“Did I cause irreparable damage?” I asked. I had to keep my voice fairly low so it wouldn’t wobble. Despite Lugh’s pep talk last night, I still felt really bad about the trouble I’d instigated.
He hesitated a long time in the doorway, then pushed the door closed and turned to face me. A muscle at the corner of his eye ticked, and his face looked paler than usual. For about half a second, that puzzled me. Then a sneaking suspicion crept into my mind.