Page 71 of Of Blood and Smoke

“Let’s go inside.” Josiah slid an arm around me and led me away as I looked over my shoulder.

“Is there something out there?”

“I have a couple wraiths that monitor the property. They are subject to me; they won’t hurt you.”

I shuddered, huddled at his side as he led me to the front door. One by one, lights popped on, and the elegant manor started to come to life as if waking from a long slumber. The front door was opened, and a man so pale he was nearly translucent stood just inside. He held the thick wooden panel, bowing slightly, as we entered.

“Thank you, Murdock,” Josiah said. I tried not to stare rudely, but something was very different about the man, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

“Demon,” Josiah told me. “Lesser, from an arctic type of world.”

“Were there just wraiths outside?” The shifting shadows I’d seen seemed unnatural and made me think of whatever had touched me while I’d been shackled to the chair at Vincent’s house. I hadn’t been able to see anything, but it felt like what I’d imagine a shadow would. If a shadow could even touch you.

“Just the wraiths.”

While pondering the fascinating confirmation of the other beings, I looked around the foyer. We had just entered the home, and it was what I’d imagined it would look like, wooden molding in warm colors, with black and gold accents everywhere.

“Something touched me, earlier, at that house. It choked me. It was cold.” I looked up at the man beside me. “I’m sorry yourcelebration dinner was ruined. I had no idea Brett would do something like that.”

Josiah unbuttoned his jacket, stripping down to the dark red button-up shirt he wore underneath, the color reminiscent of drying blood. He folded the coat, laying it over his forearm. “His mind was disturbed, which I can fully understand when it comes to you.”

He wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and pulled me close to kiss my forehead. “He won’t be bothering you anymore.”

A pang of guilt needled at me. It was my fault things had come to this. I should’ve been firmer with Brett or worked harder. There was nothing in my life that should’ve stopped me from getting a third job; I could’ve worked nights too, instead of two daytime jobs. Melinda was always around to assist; it didn’t all fall on me. I could’ve done more. I could’ve paid what I owed.

Brett never would’ve tried to pull anything like what he had tonight if I’d just put my foot down. I’d taken advantage of him, using his company and, at times, his body. Just like he’d done to me.

“It's totally my fault though, I led him on.” I put my hand on his arm. “I mean, I told him I just wanted to be friends, but I still hung out with him all the time. That let him think there was a chance.”

“If you're asking for mercy, I have none,” Josiah growled. “His behavior can’t stand.”

“But I could’ve taken more control of the situation. You wouldn’t have had to come rescue me,” I argued with him.

Josiah reached out and held the side of my face, his thumb stroking my skin. “You can’t control everything.” Something flickered in his gaze, but it was gone before I could ask.

He turned away from me and started walking, before he motioned for me to follow. We crossed the foyer, and he led me up a staircase.

My mind raced, wondering what he meant. What would he do to Brett? “What are you going to do?”

“You took control in the only way you knew how, with your limited options. He should not have preyed upon you. Now, he’s the captured prey.”

At the top, I peered down the hall and saw a woman carrying a basket with what looked like a pile of linen inside. She bustled through a door and out of sight. “Demon,” Josiah told me, following my gaze. “I don’t employ humans in my home.”

“Where do you... How do you find them?”

Did he have a supernatural creature detector? He’d told me he was from a place called the Second Realm and told me how he was apparently the last of his kind, unless more were born. He’d told me how our relationship was forbidden.

I knew next to nothing about where he’d said he came from, other than it was populated with a multitude of traditionally evil beings. It must take one to know one and I was under no illusions despite my feelings for the man. He wasn’t going to let Brett live. Should I fight for his life? I didn’t feel inclined to, as he’d risked mine.

“There are many here, in your realm. They know I offer them shelter and safety if they accept what I offer.” He opened the door to the suite.

There was a dark current lying below his words. “And if they don’t accept?”

He smirked lightly and guided me inside. “Then they receive neither shelter nor safety.”

I let out a sigh. I knew he was intensely private and reclusive, and I understood why given what he was. It wasn’t exactly something one would advertise. “Vincent knew who you were.”

“Yes, it seems I’ve become a curiosity.” He frowned and then said, “Your new guards will be here shortly.”

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