Page 9 of Asher

Her gimlet stare zeroes in on me, and I swallow.

“What can’t he do?” Zac asks cheerfully as he and Micah stroll in—too late to rescue me, dammit. How am I going to get out of this? If I didn’t care so much about my grandmother and family, it would be easy—I’d say no and walk away. But it would break my heart to do that, and break their hearts… not to mention, she’s doing all this because she genuinely wants the best for me. She’s just… impatient and misguided. Apparently, my family needs to work on boundaries.

Grandmother narrows her eyes at my dad, who hurriedly explains the plan. Zac’s eyes get wide. “Oh no, he can’t do that.”

“Why not?” The words are cold and sharp. Grandmother turns back to face me. “Why not, Asher? Don’t you even want to try?”

Fuck. I open my mouth to admit defeat—

“He’s seeing someone!”

My head whips around so fast, my neck cracks, and I gape at Micah. What is hedoing?

“He’s what?” Grandmother asks.

“He’s seeing someone?” Dad echoes, exchanging a bewildered glance with my mother. “Did you know about this?”

She shrugs, her gaze on me. “He’s all grown up now. He doesn’t tell me his secrets anymore.”

“Who are you seeing, Asher?” Chloe asks, she and Isaac watching me with interest. “Do you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend?”

This is a nightmare.

“Asher?” Grandmother prompts.

“I…” Fuck. What do I say? I don’t want to lie to my family.

“He hasn’t said anything because they’ve been taking it slow,” Micah declares, clearly not sharing my aversion to lying to family. “His boyfriend isn’t a demon, and he’s not sure how he’d like living up here, but he doesn’t want to cause friction with the family either.”

Silence.

“Is this true, Asher?”

Mentally damning Micah while also grateful for the reprieve, I nod. It feels like less of a lie if I don’t verbalize it.

She smiles. It’s just a tiny one, small even for our species, but it’s there. “Well, I like that he’s taking such a respectful stance to your family. And of course I can understand his reservations about living here, given what we’re going through at the moment. Perhaps he could visit for a weekend, though? See the village and form a proper impression.”

Oh,fuck. I’m going to kill Micah. “No, that’s not—”

She holds up a hand. “I’m not trying to rush you both, Asher. I respect your decision to consider everything carefully. But how can he make an informed decision if he’s never been here before?”

Dammit, I’m going to have to lie. “It’s not that. I… he’s not local. And he doesn’t like being teleported, so when you factor in travel time, it’s not that easy for him to get enough time away from work.”

“Where does he live?” Mom asks.

“And what does he do?” Dad adds. If they weren’t genuinely interested in the person they think I’m dating, I’d want to strangle them. Can’t they tell this is all a big fake?

“He’s a…” Blank brain, blank brain. My gaze lands on the kids. “…teacher. And he lives in…” Where do I travel to reasonably often that isn’t that close? “…England. He’s English.” There, that should satisfy them.

“And he’s not a demon?” Chloe asks, fascinated by the concept. She’s only ever met one person who’s not a demon: Lucifer Sam, our cousin Gideon’s boyfriend.

“No, he’s not.”

“What is he, then?”

Whyyyyy are they asking all these questions? I shoot a glare at Micah, who’s grinning like a smug idiot. “He’s, uh, a hellhound. And he has brown hair and eyes and is very nice,” I add before anyone can ask, sending a mental apology to my hookup of the other night, whose identity I seem to be borrowing.

“What’s his name?” Grandmother asks, still smiling.

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