“Dani,” someone said from down the hall. I looked at the elevators and saw Eros jogging toward me. When he reached me, he grasped my hands. “Finally,” he said.

I took my hands out of his and clasped them by my side.

He gazed down at them, frowning. “What’s wrong?”

All I wanted was to wrap my arms around him and pull him closer to me, but I didn’t want to chase after someone who didn’t want me back, who didn’t return my messages, who ignored me until it was convenient for him. It sucked.

“Dani, tell me.” His voice was soft.

“What’s wrong with you? Where have you been? Why do you keep ignoring me?”

“I had to leave for a couple days. I didn’t get back until late last night.” He hesitated but then grabbed my hands.

After a moment, I frowned. “I was worried about you.”

The corner of his lip twitched. “You were?” he asked. I nodded. “I should’ve called you. I just didn’t think you’d worry.” His forehead was creased ever so slightly.

He had said one thing, but all I heard was that he didn’t think I’d worry about him because nobody else has before. I wanted to tell him that I cared about him, but my head was spinning with all the possible ways he’d react, and I couldn’t form a single word.

I opened the door to my apartment. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

He grabbed my hand and walked in with me. “Of course.”

Thankfully, Maria hadn’t come home yet. I didn’t know where she was, but I was glad she wasn’t here with another guy. I couldn’t deal with another dry humping under the blankets during a perfectly good movie.

Eros turned on the TV, and I curled into his shoulder—watching him shift through Netflix. I didn’t care what we watched, I just wanted to be here with him. He turned on a comedy that neither of us found funny, and I gently closed my eyes—his scent so soothing.

Throughout the movie, I felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was probably Luci, his ex, trying to ruin our night yet again. I snuggled closer to him and closed my eyes. When his phone rang, he pulled it out of his pocket and swore under his breath.

I opened one eye and gazed at the screen.

Luci.

He shifted slightly, and when I didn’t move in his arms, he clicked on the answer button. “Lucifer, I’m busy. Call back later,” he whispered.

Lucifer?

I couldn’t make out what the man on the phone was saying.

Eros sighed. “I just want one night that I don’t fuck things up with her. Can’t this wait?” He paused, swore again, and turned off the phone. He picked me up and brought me to my bedroom. I groaned and curled into his chest, not wanting him to leave again. He tucked me under the blankets and knelt down next to me, fingers grazing against my forehead. “Dani… I have to go.”

I opened my eyes and frowned.

“I’m sorry. This is important.”

Just one night. That’s all I wanted.

“Don’t hate me,” he said.

I paused for a moment. “I don’t.”

And when I was watching him depart from my room, all I could feel was my heart racing in my chest. Eros was going to see Lucifer.

Lucifer, not Luci.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 28

OceanofPDF.com

Dani

I woke up, startled, as someone pounded on our front door. The window was cracked slightly, and a cold breeze was creating goosebumps on my bare arms. I gazed at the bright white numbers on my phone.

2:34AM

Who was knocking this late at night? I rolled onto my side, breathing in the scent of cinnamon on my pillow. Maybe they’d go away.

The banging continued, each one becoming louder and more forceful. I jumped out of bed, slipped into a t-shirt, and jogged into the kitchen.

Light flickered into the room from below the front door. I turned on the light and watched the door shake. Maria stood in the kitchen, frozen to the spot.

“Maria!” I whispered. She turned around, clutching a large kitchen knife to her chest. “Who is it?”

She handed me the knife. “I don’t know. You check.”

I hesitantly took it from her and approached the front door. The only thing I could hear was the deep, ragged breathing coming from the hallway. I clutched the knife in my sweaty palm.

When I peered through the peephole, I sighed and placed the knife on the side table. “Trevon, what the hell are you doing here this lat—”

Trevon pushed the door open, his bloody hands running through his hair. My eyes widened, and I backed away. His face, his neck, his shirt—blood was splattered everywhere.

“Close the door!” he said.

“What—what happened to you?” I asked, hands trembling. “Are you hurt?” I examined him for any open wounds. “Maria, get him gauze and a towel!” Maria disappeared into the bathroom and came out with a medical kit.

“No, no, I’m not hurt.” He paced around the living room, tracking blood and mud on Maria’s white carpet. “I—I…”

“You what, Trevon?”

Maria placed the kit on the couch, eyes wide. “Is someone after you?”

He continued to pace around the room. “Oh, God. Oh, God. I really screwed up.” He walked to the kitchen, placed his hands on one of the counter chairs, and squeezed. “I can’t fucking”—he hurled the chair across the room—“believe it.” When the chair hit the wall, it broke into pieces.

We jumped back. “What happened?” I asked. He stopped, the blood dripping off of him and forming a small puddle on the ground. I kept my distance. “Take your shirt and shoes off. We’ll wash them.”

“No!” A bead of sweat rolled down his neck. “No… I can’t.” He was sweating profusely now.

“Take it off or I will. You’re not going to ruin all of our furniture,” I said. Who did he think he was barging into our home at 2AM, waking up us both, and ruining all of our furniture with his blood? I snatched the top button of his shirt.

He grabbed my wrist and dug his nails into my skin. “I said no!” His voice was low and absolutely terrifying, nothing like I had ever heard before.

I pulled myself away from him, clutching my wrist. Blood was dripping down my forearm from the deep nail wounds that punctured my skin.

When he saw the blood, he stumbled back. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what’s happening.” He pressed himself against the couch, chest heaving up and down.

What was wrong with him? What was going on? Why was he suddenly so angry?

Maria was standing near the foyer, her brows furrowed together. Her arms were wrapped around her small body.

“Trevon, it’s okay. Just… just tell me what happened, please,” I said.

His beady black eyes darted around the room like he was watching for something or someone. “I don’t remember.”

“Is this your blood?”

“Dani,” he said, voice low and full of fright. “I think something is happening to me.”

Mom’s pendant began to freeze against my skin. “What’re you talking about?” I asked.

With trembling hands, he unbuttoned his shirt. There was blood all over his chest, and what looked like claw marks. He stared at me, tears filling his eyes, and dug his fingers into his chest—breaking the skin.

“Trevon…” I breathed deeply. He continued to dig his nails, about an inch deep, until blood began spewing out. “Trevon, stop!” Tears welled up in my eyes, watching the blood pour out of him. When he pulled his fingers out of his chest, the wound closed slowly—like it had never even been there.

“That’s not all.”

God, I wished that was all.

He gazed up at me with pitch black eyes. They were darker than Eros’s. Then, he parted his lips, showing me a mouthful of fangs.

Maria let out a piercing scream.

This couldn’t be real. It couldn’t. I shuffled back against the front door. There was a demon in the middle of our living room. I grasped Mom’s pendant. It felt like ice against my fingers.