About fifteen minutes later, I was resting my head on Trevon’s shoulder—forcing myself to stay awake. I should’ve picked up Eros’s call or texted Kasey back, but how was I supposed to explain this? Eros always knew when I lied. He’d definitely see right through another Maria-got-her-period excuse.

Someone knocked on the door, and Maria hopped up. I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand. She gazed through the peephole and opened the door. An elderly man, dressed in a full white collared shirt and a cassock with a gold cross around his neck, shuffled in and bowed his head. “You’re the woman who called about the exo—”

“Shush it,” Maria said, shutting the door.

“So, where is—” The priest took one look at Trevon, eyes widening. “Oh, dear God.” He grabbed the cross and held it between his fingers. “Have mercy on me, Lord.”

I raised a brow. This guy was supposed to help us?

His hand was trembling as he stumbled back to the door. “This isn’t a demon! He’s the devil himself. The devil himself!” The man swung the door open and hurried out.

Maria, Trevon, and I stared at the open door—lips parted. The man ran down the hallway, screaming to the Devil and reciting prayers. I blinked a few times, in absolute shock. Well, that was a total flop.

Trevon wasn’t that bad right? That guy must’ve been an amateur or maybe he was just paranoid.

Maria giggled and then Trevon chuckled and suddenly I found myself clutching my stomach and laughing uncontrollably. Maria whipped a happy tear from her cheek. “Wow, that guy… loads of help.”

Trevon sat back down on the couch, still chuckling. “He was terrified.”

“Imagine if he actually saw you as a demon,” I said.

He bumped my shoulder with his, like he used to, and smiled. “He’d probably shit himself.”

For a single moment, everything felt normal again. Like we were laughing at a stupid movie with white wine and three pizzas. Trevon sitting next to me, his head resting on my shoulder, leg bumping into mine every so often. Not sitting in the scorching heat, terrified of my ex-boyfriend because he was a demon from Hell that could snap at any second.

“He was supposed to be the best around,” Maria said. “I don’t know how much help this lady will be tonight.”

“She’s our only hope,” I said, grasping Trevon’s wrist and squeezing lightly. Our only hope.

By 8pm, I had twenty messages from Eros asking me where I was and eight from Kasey inviting me over to her apartment. I reread them for the fourth time and pushed Trevon’s feet off of my lap. He grumbled to himself and shifted on the couch, placing them back on me and falling back to sleep.

Someone knocked on the door, and Maria answered it. Trevon blinked a few times and sat up. A young woman with silver hair stood in the doorway. She had black chalky markings on her skin, and her eyes were a piercing blue.

Without a word, she pushed past Maria and walked into our apartment. Trevon stared at her, eyes wide, and stood up.

“This is the man with a demon?” she asked with a thick Russian accent. She walked around him, looking him up and down. “Hmm.”

“Can you fix him?” Maria asked.

“I can,” she said. “But you two need to leave. I need space.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s dangerous.”

“Nonsense, nonsense.” She waved me off. “I’ve been doing this for years. Nobody hurt me yet.”

Maria and I gazed at each other. I shrugged my shoulders and walked to the front door. I didn’t want to leave her alone, but we needed a couple hours to relax, and she was our last hope.

“This is going to be so bad. We should’ve never come here,” I said, fiddling with my fingers. We stood in front of Kasey’s door, and I already could smell Eros’s faint scent.

She knocked twice. “It’ll be fine if you would just act calm,” she said, leaning closer to me.

Kasey opened the door, eyes wide. “Dani, I didn’t think you’d make it,” she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Her gaze shifted from me to Maria, and she smiled. “You must be Maria.”

Eros stood by the window with a glass of red wine in his hand, talking to Zane. Soft classical music was playing over everyone’s chatter. Eros inhaled deeply and gazed over to the door. I walked into the room with Maria, trying my hardest to think of an excuse that he would believe.

“Dani,” he said, hurrying over and grabbing my hand. Maria awkwardly walked over to Zane and sat next to him on the couch. She hadn’t mentioned him since she told me he wanted an open relationship.

Kasey placed a hand on my back, ushering me in. “Where have you been? You’ve been ignoring us. And…” She scrunched up her nose. “Why do you look like someone straight out of Satan’s kingdom?”

Damn Trevon. Making me look like Hell in front of Eros.

“I’ve been busy,” I said.

“Busy with what?” Eros asked.

Think, Dani. Think. I avoided eye contact with him and said the first thing that came to mind. “Trevon stuff.”

His grip on my hand tightened. “What do you mean ‘Trevon stuff’?”

“Um…” I peeled my hand out of his and rubbed my neck. Damn, it felt as hot as our apartment here. Kasey narrowed her eyes at me while Eros waited—quiet impatiently—for my answer.

If Eros found out that Trevon was staying with us on his own, he’d think that something was going on between us. Hell, he probably already thought that.

“Kase, can Eros and I talk in your spare room?”

She raised a brow. “I expect to hear this at some point.”

I nodded and walked with him to the other room. The moon was gleaming through the windows and hitting the side of Eros’s face. He was staring at me, so intensely with his piercing green eyes, that I couldn’t think straight. I fiddled with my fingers. “Trevon is—uh staying with Maria and me.”

“Why? You two broke up.” He shook his head and moved his ring around his index finger with his thumb. “I thought we were… a thing.”

A thing. We never officially labeled our relationship, and I wasn’t sure what being “a thing” meant to him. Friends with benefits? Boyfriend-girlfriend?

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly. I couldn’t tell him the truth, but I didn’t want to lie to him either. “He’s not well,” I said.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I—I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“I want to, I just can’t.” I swallowed hard. Trevon trusted us with his secret, and I knew that he didn’t deserve it, but I wasn’t going to blab to everyone about it. This wasn’t his fault. “You have secrets too that you don’t feel comfortable telling me.”

“I don’t have secrets that involve ex-lovers.”

My fingers grazed against his ring, and I looked him in his eyes. “I promise that nothing has happened between us.”

He forced a smile—which looked more like a grimace—and I felt like shit. Trevon just had to ruin this thing I had with Eros with his demon problem.

“Okay,” he finally said. He grabbed my hand and led me back to the living room, then he grabbed my waist and sat me next to him on Kasey’s couch. While everyone drank and talked and laughed around us, we sat in dead silence.

His arm was around me, but all I could think about was Trevon. I hope to God that the lady could help. I didn’t want to come home to a bloody mess that I’d have to clean up. And—if I had to dispose of a body—I didn’t know how I’d do that.

Eros leaned closer to me. “Tell me what you want me to do to you.”

“What’re you talking about?” I asked.

He grazed his hand against my knee, then up the inside of my thigh. And, with his other hand, he brushed a hand over my bra through my shirt. “Tell me what you want me to do to you right now.”

My cheeks flushed. “Nothing,” I said, pressing my knees together. I took off my grey cardigan, trying to cool myself off. Here I was thinking of a hundred different ways to hide a murder and Eros wanted to tease me.