Page 71 of Bad Demon

“I’mgonna need you to tell me why we’re going back to the crone’s cottage, Tink.”

Relic strode beside me through the forest, and for the first time, I wasn’t hopped up on my courage potion or freaking the fuck out. I also realized I’d have to share some more with Relic if I wanted him to help me drag an unsuspecting demon through the forest and hand them over to Agatheena as an offering.

Sharing wasn’t something I was used to doing or felt comfortable doing, but the more time I spent with Relic, the less terrifying it was becoming.

He hadn’t used anything I’d said against me, and he’d taken care of me last night. He’d made me feel good, and I’d touched him. I liked touching him. Sweet Lucifer, the way he’d looked, lying on that bed—so strong, muscles straining, staring at me like … like he truly wanted me, like he truly cared about me—I’d never forget it. I never wanted to forget it.

“Remember, I told you that I’d only recently discovered I had soul collector DNA? Well, that wasn’t all.”

He glanced my way. “Yeah.”

Gods, he really was beautiful.

I cleared my throat. “Agatheena, well, it turns out, she’s my great-grandmother, and she has some information about me that could help me—a lot. The type of information that could mean I don’t need anyone to protect me anymore. But in exchange for information, she expects an offering.”

“What kind of information?” he asked, frowning.

“It’s hard to explain. I don’t fully understand it myself. I could potentially have some untapped powers, and she might be able to help me … uh, un-tap them, I guess.”

He curled his fingers around my arm, stopping me. “What kind of powers?”

“I honestly don’t know. But I …” I forced myself to say it. “She said I was a triplet, that I was the only one who survived. My siblings died while my mom was pregnant with us, and Agatheena said … well, she said I absorbed their powers. Only I have no idea how to tap into them.” I licked my dry lips and made myself keep going. “I don’t want to feel afraid and helpless and out of control anymore, Relic. And if Agatheena can help me stop feeling that way, I’ll do anything she asks.”

“You feel helpless?”

I dug my nails into my palms when the urge to start counting and tapping filled me. “All my life.”

The muscle in his jaw did that little jump that said he was clenching his teeth. “Don’t fucking like that, Fern. Don’t like that you were so scared that you felt you had to make a deal with a hellhound to feel safe. And I don’t fucking like that someone hurt you, that they put those scars all over you …”

I flinched, and he held up his hands.

“Not asking you to tell me where they came from, baby, not if you’re not ready to share, but if seeing the crone will help you with all of that, then I’m on board.”

I really liked this guy—like, a lot. Yes, it was dangerous to let myself feel things for him because this relationship wasn’t real. Whatever he thought he felt for me was warped by our deal, but still, I couldn’t help it. It was impossible not to like him.

“Thank you.”

“Never need to thank me, babe. That’s what I’m here for.” We started walking again. “So, you were telling the truth when you said you were a witch?”

“My mom was Agatheena’s granddaughter, but her demon blood skipped over my grandmother. As for my mother, well, it was there, but there was no outward sign. Then, my mom mated a soul collector, and I was the result.”

“What did her coven do?” he asked, his gaze sliding back my way.

I didn’t talk about this. The first time I had since it’d happened was in Agatheena’s kitchen. “When they found out about my father, they killed him before my mom knew she was pregnant. Her family forced her to marry someone else. Then, I was born and eventually, my eyes, they gave me away.”

“What happened after that, Tink?”

The words kept coming while goose bumps prickled all over my skin from the memory. “One night, Mom came into my room and woke me. She carried me downstairs and hid me under the hall table. A male walked through the kitchen door. He scared me. He was saying all these things to her I didn’t understand. Then, my dad walked in … well, the male I thought was my dad. I remember thinking,It’ll be okay because Dad will make the monster go away. But he didn’t stop the monster. My dad didn’t even try, and then she was gone.”

Relic’s lips peeled back from his teeth. “Tell me what your dad did after that. What happened to you, Fern?”

Memories filled my mind—memories I tried to avoid—and I flinched again. “Bad things,” I choked out. “Really bad things, Relic.” I turned away, looking into the forest around me, the dappled light filtering through the trees. For once, it looked pretty, and the shadows didn’t scare me because I had Relic, because Relic was with me. “They experimented on me, poisoned me … they hurt me. I escaped, but they want me back, and they won’t stop until they have me.”

He growled low, and I wrapped my arms around myself.

Fighting down the feeling of being utterly laid bare, I turned back to him—

He wasn’t there.

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