Page 18 of Semi-Reckless

“Go,” he hissed at Haven, barely even able to utter that much while he was choking on the smell of his own burning flesh.

She didn’t listen, of course. Just started throwing rocks, dirt, and whatever else she could find on the ground at the demon, to no avail. Roan punched and kicked and fought as best he could, too, and barely managed to make the thing loosen its grip.

That’s when he realized this moment might be it for him. He supposed he’d had a good run. Had lived a fairly full life. Figured he would’ve died long before now, so if this was how he went out, he could accept it.

He couldn’t take Haven down with him, though. “Haven…please…go…”

Her struggles ceased for a split second as her eyes locked on his. The moment she realized this was it, that he was going to die and there was nothing either of them could do to stop it, her eyes filled with tears. He’d always been able to read Haven like a book. That’s how little she tried to hide her emotions. And now?

Pain. Unbearable, unfathomable pain.

He’d do anything to spare her that pain. He wanted to tell her he loved her and about a million other things he should’ve said to her over the years. But maybe this—all this—was his penance for what he’d done to her. And if that was the case…

He stopped struggling. If it was fate’s will to take him now, so be it. At least he’d die looking at her beautiful face.

But that’s when everything got…weird.

Haven’s face shifted from panic, pain, and sadness to pure, unadulterated rage. Her gaze moved from his to the demon, her lip curled back in an angry snarl, and she let loose a scream of rage that shook the mine walls…and tore a blast of white-hot energy from her chest.

The force of it knocked the demon off his feet, breaking his hold on Roan. With another scream, Haven kicked the beast in the chest, putting the full force of her newfound power behind it, knocking him down the mineshaft, out of sight.

Or maybe she’d driven him back to his own dimension. It was hard to tell.

They stood there for a long moment, staring dumbly down the mineshaft at nothing in total silence. Eventually, Haven glanced over at him, eyes wide, and whispered, “How the hell did I do that?”

He had a good idea how she’d done it. But that was a bigger conversation than he was ready to have at the moment. “Are you OK?” he rasped.

Her gaze shifted to his neck, which he imagined looked pretty awful. It sure as hell hurt like a motherfucker. “Are you?”

He was breathing, which meant he’d be completely healed in a day or two. One of the benefits of being a demon. “We need to go,” he said. “Now.”

With a quick shake of her head, she snapped out of her stupor and eased a shoulder under his to help steady him when he listed heavily to the left. Apparently, almost melting was more draining than he’d imagined. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you changing the subject,” she said with a frown. “We will be talking about this later.”

Not if he could help it.

CHAPTER 10

Roan had third-degree burns on his neck and wrist and he still refused to see a doctor and get treated. Haven could let that go. He did, after all, have a demon’s enhanced healing ability.

But the way he disappeared—literally…that whole teleportation thing was wicked inconvenient—without saying a word to her the second she pulled her car back onto Section 8 grounds? That made him an idiot.

When he said he’d leave her alone once and for all when the case was solved, he really must’ve meant it, because he apparently didn’t give a flaming fuck why or how she got a crazy new power, or what happened to the flesh-melting demon she’d somehow managed to toss down the mineshaft.

Which was why Haven didn’t bother going back to her house. There was no way she was going to sit at home and stew in all these annoying feelings and questions alone. Lane was still honeymooning. She couldn’t talk to either of her parents about any of this. Same for her aunt and uncle. Which meant…

Haven pounded on the door until her brother-in-law opened it, dark hair sticking up in every direction, eyes barely open, wearing only a pair of black boxer briefs. Given the hour, she supposed she should feel lucky he wasn’t bare assed.

Gabriel gave her a palms-up, what-the-hell gesture. “What the fuck, Haven? It’s the middle of the night.”

“Very early morning, actually,” she said, shoving past him into the living room. “I’m sorry about that. But I need to talk to Addy.”

Other than her dad, her sister was one of the only calming influences in Haven’s life. Addy was cool in a crisis, level-headed, and most importantly, had wrangled her annoying demon into marriage, so she knew things—things about men with the last name Malek. Addy would be able to help her sort all this out.

Fluffy, the hellhound her sister picked up in Gabriel and Roan’s home dimension, lifted her giant head off the arm of the couch she was occupying, and gave Haven a sleepy, doggy smile along with a lazy tail wag.

She sat down next to the giant love bug and gave her the requisite ear scratches that were her due.

For a hellhound, Fluffy was shockingly adorable. Part of that was probably because of her outfits. Fluffy refused to start her day without being dressed, like a queen, in one of her outfits. Currently, she was wearing a little fleece onesie with rubber duckies on it. Frankly, it was one of Haven’s favorites, second only to her bumblebee costume. But even without the fancy wardrobe, Fluffy’s little potbelly, big black eyes, under bite, and thick, wiry fur labeled her objectively adorable. Not even the fact that she was the size of a Shetland pony with paws the size of dinner plates detracted from that. Especially when she was demanding belly rubs like she was now.

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