Page 88 of Bad Demon

“You fucking scared the shit out of me, Tinker Bell. Thought I’d fucking lost you.”

A feeling rose up inside me, so overwhelming that tears sprang to my eyes. All I could do was wrap my arms around his neck and hold on tight, and for the first time in four days, everything felt right.

He started toward the front door, and I laughed, but it came out shaky.

“You can put me down now.”

“Not yet.” He carried me up the steps and through the front door.

Everyone had obviously made themselves scarce because the foyer and main rooms were now empty. Relic pressed a kiss to the top of my head, and I felt his reluctance when he finally lowered me to my feet.

I quickly wiped my eyes and took a step back. “So, um … this is obviously the entrance.” I motioned to the wide opening on the right. “That’s the living room, where everyone hangs out and watches TV or whatever.”

“What is this place?” he asked, looking around.

“The house was owned by a male named Reginald Ashborne. He was like me, mixed blood, witch and demon, like most of us here—and like us, he was rejected by his own coven. So, he formed this one for displaced witches. He passed away a long time ago, but the coven survived.”

“Yeah?” He smiled, but it looked a little pained. “You found your people, huh?”

“I did.” I rested my hand on his tattooed forearm. “I never thought they existed, people like Sutton. They’ve been really cool, Relic, so welcoming.”

He slid his thumb down my cheek. “Fucking love that for you, Tink.”

I smiled up at him, his words filling me with warmth. But why did it hurt as well? Probably because this felt like goodbye, and I guessed it was. The next time I saw him, I’d hopefully have a way to end our deal and release his soul, a way to free him from this insane, ever-growing connection between us. I’d be able to let go of these feelings I had for him and the stupid hope I’d let myself have when I was with him.

“Even after everything, losing two females from this coven because of me, they still—”

“No,” he said. “Don’t do that. None of that was your fault, Fern. You hear me? It was him. It was all fucking him.”

I drew in a shaky breath. “I know, I do. It’s just hard, knowing what he did to those females.”

“Fern—”

“I’m okay. I promise. Better than I have been in a long time.”

“Baby, you don’t need to pretend to be strong for me.”

I barely suppressed my shiver when he called me that. “I’m not, I promise.”

He studied me in a way that made me want to squirm. Time to change the subject. “So, um, Sutton actually found my name in the records at the witches council, in both the Gannon and Burnside family trees.” I opened my phone and showed him the picture. “That’s me there.” I pointed out my real name, not afraid of him seeing it, of him knowing the truth, showing him the red line through it. “When they banish you, like they did me and Agatheena, they cross you out in blood so there’s no coming back. I assume it was Gerald, my mother’s husband, who did the honors when he realized I wasn’t his, and Coven Burnside has already proven they’re bigoted and hateful.”

“Your name’s Estelle?”

I nodded. “But not anymore. I haven’t been her in a very long time. I left her behind the first time I escaped …” I stopped myself from sayinghisname. I didn’t want to talk about that monster, not right now.

“Why Fern? How’d you choose it?” he asked, that golden gaze searching my face.

I licked my suddenly dry lips. “The first night after I escaped, I slept under this massive fern in the forest. It made me feel safe for the first time since my mom died. The name just kind of felt right, I guess.” I wrapped my arms around myself. “Honeycutt—well, my mom always called me honey, and all I had left of her was this.” I pointed to the scar on the tip of my finger, where she’d cut me the day she died. “Stupid, I know, but I wasn’t exactly thinking straight at that time, and the name kind of stuck.”

“Not stupid, Fern. Not fucking stupid at all.”

The intensity he was giving off had me swallowing audibly.

I smiled, trying to lighten the moment a little. “So, you want the grand tour?”

“I’d like that,” he said easily, even though his eyes were saying so much more after everything I’d just shared.

I showed him the kitchen, the dining room, and the backyard. And besides him sniffing the air, growling, and asking how many males lived in the house, he’d been on his best behavior. I explained the wards and how they worked as we headed upstairs.

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