“What’s bothering you?” he asked, lips against my ear.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me.” His fingers curled into my hips.

I couldn’t believe that this was real life. I couldn’t believe that I was really going to ask this. I gulped. “Do you believe in the irrational?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Like supernatural stuff, ghosts and vampires and… demons.” I whispered the last word.

He tensed. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

“I don’t know either,” I said. But I did.

Demons were real, and one was lying right next to me.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER 31

OceanofPDF.com

Dani

“So, do you think it actually worked?” Maria asked.

I placed the bag of popcorn into the microwave, leaned against the counter, and gazed into the living room. Eros and Zane were sitting on the couch, talking amongst themselves. Besides the glare of the paused romance movie on the TV screen, the room was dark.

Hell, everything seemed dark since I discovered that Eros was a demon. The way his eyes shifted between a piercing green and a reflective black, the way he could turn into one of the monsters from Mom’s stories in a single moment, even the way he looked at me with that devilish smirk.

Chillingly terrifying, yet undeniably erotic.

“Hopefully,” I said. “Did Trevon seem different when he left yesterday?”

“He said he felt better.”

The microwave beeped, the scent of butter filling the apartment. I took out the bag and walked with Maria to the living room. “Let’s just hope,” I said quietly to her.

While Maria sat a whole cushion away from Zane, I curled into Eros’s arm on the loveseat. He was rubbing the black metallic surface of his ring with his thumb like he had done last night after I asked him about demons.

“Oooh, what do we have here?” Maria glanced over at us, a mischievous glint in her eye. Eros brushed his hand against my shoulder, fingers dragging lightly over my skin and giving me goosebumps. “What’s going on with you two? You’re always either fighting or flirting. This is different.”

I gave Maria a side-eye. “I’ll tell you later.”

Eros pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “Why don’t you tell her now?”

“Why don’t you tell her?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“She asked you.”

These two were determined to embarrass me in any way that they could. I sighed and turned back to the paused movie. “Eros and I are… a thing.”

Zane raised a brow at Eros, and Maria just smirked—like she’d been waiting for this since that Sunday morning when she brought him over. “And what does that mean?” she asked.

I rubbed my palms together. “It means that we are… a—”

Someone pounded on my door, knocking hard and frantic. “Dani!” Trevon said. Damn it. “Please open up!”

Maria stared at me with wide eyes and I stared back with the same alarmed expression. It didn’t work. It couldn’t have happened if he was back again. Trevon still had a demon inside of him, and that same demon wanted only one thing the other night: to hurt my Eros.

When I leapt up, Eros snagged my waist and pulled me back down. “Don’t let him ruin our night.” His voice was sour.

Trevon banged again, and the hinges on the door shook.

“I have to. I’m sorry.” I pulled myself out of his grip and hurried to the door with Maria. I really, really, really hoped that I was wrong about this. Maybe he was just excited to see the two lovely women that let him stay in their apartment while he was possessed by the devil. Not frantic and covered in blood with the stench of hell lingering on every inch of his being.

For a single moment, the thought of telling Eros crossed my mind, but there were many reasons I was against it. First, Eros didn’t know that I knew about him and he was hiding himself for a reason. Second, Maria might’ve known that Trevon was a demon, but she didn’t know that Eros was a demon—and who knew if Zane was also one; that would freak her out more. Third, I felt inclined to protect Eros from Trevon.

That was probably the stupidest reason of all of them, but it was true. Trevon stayed calm when I was with him. And, if that priest was right and Trevon was possessed by the devil himself, I would have a hard time keeping him from tearing Eros apart, especially when I knew Eros would antagonize him.

“What are we going to do?” Maria said quietly to me. “He can’t come in here!”

I glanced back at the guys who were watching us from the couch. “Well, we’ll have to calm him down.”

Trevon was wrath, pure fury, and rage. Nothing like Eros’s lustful nature.

Maria and I slipped out of the room and slammed the door behind us. Trevon was on the ground and leaning against the wall, knees to his chest. His head was between his legs, and he was tugging harshly on his hair.

“Trevon,” I whispered, crouching next to him. I took his shaky hands away from his face and resisted the urge to cower away. Blood dripped from a hundred of his fangs onto his chin and rolled down his sweaty neck.

This wasn’t his fault, Dani. He didn’t choose this. Don’t show him your fear.

“Trevon,” I said again, softer this time. He snatched my wrists—like he didn’t even recognize me. “It’s okay, Trevon. It’s me, Dani.”

After taking a few deep breaths, his fangs slowly started to disappear into his mouth.

Someone opened the door, but Maria pulled it closed. “Are you okay?” Eros asked from behind it.

“We’re fine!” Maria shook her head. “I can’t believe that I’m helping this loser,” she said under her breath.

“I thought you said you were better,” I said to Trevon.

Trevon clasped my hands tightly in his. “I was, but this morning I lost control again.”

“You can’t keep doing this.”

“Dani, I’m not trying to. You have to believe me.” He sounded so frightened.

“Did you hurt anyone?” I asked. He grimaced, and I closed my eyes. God, was this the shittiest situation to ever be in. My ex demon boyfriend who wanted to kill my current demon boyfriend and who also had no control over himself and snapped at the smallest things, showing up at my apartment while I was watching a sweet romance movie with that current demon boyfriend. Wonderful.

Eros said something else, but I couldn’t hear him. Instead, I pulled Trevon to his feet and stepped close to him. “As soon as we get inside, go right to the bathroom. Don’t even look in Eros’s direction. We will talk about this later.”

Trevon wiped the blood off of his chin with the back of his hand. I licked my finger and rubbed the deep red stain off of his neck. Why the hell was I doing this again?

When he was ready, Maria opened the door, and we walked in. Eros leaned against the counter, eyes dark and arms crossed over his chest. “Feeling better?” Eros asked Trevon, annoyance dripping from each word.

Trevon kept his chin tucked but nodded, trying to walk past Eros. But Eros, being the damn guy he was, placed a hand on Trevon’s chest and stopped him. “Is that blood on your chin?” His muscles were strained against his gray v-neck. Great, not only do I have one demon to take care of… but now I have Eros.

I could feel the rage in Trevon, even caught a glimpse of a fang. He would lose total control in a moment and would try to rip Eros to pieces. Dig his claws right into his chest, let the blood gush out. Bite right into his neck with those fangs, stop his heart.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Eros. “Stop it,” I scolded, glaring right up into his dark eyes. “He’s sick. Let him go lie down.”

He looked strained for a moment, like he wanted to protest but his eyes softened just a bit when they looked into mine. “I just want to make sure he’s alright,” he said tensely.