Page 31 of Higher Demon

Well, well. Ian’s becoming more interesting by the minute. Of course, I don’t want either of them—or the ghost—polluting my home overnight. But this is a turn I didn’t anticipate.

Unfortunately, there’s no win for me here. Either I let them stay and have to put up with their company, or I refuse and give them the ammunition to question my dedication to the truce.

“You’re welcome to the guest room,” I offer, “but I’m afraid it’s not furnished comfortably.” Or at all. “In thespirit of friendship, I’d be happy to arrange and pay for a hotel room for you both.”

Matt perks up. “That. Let’s do that.”

“Oh no,” Ian says, shaking his head. “We’ll stay here. With our friend.”

Damn human.

Chapter13

Ian

What the fuckis wrong with me? Seriously,whatwas going through my head when I challenged Marc to invite us tosleep in his house?

The glare Matt’s giving me now as we follow our new host down the hall to the guest room should incinerate me where I stand. Matt definitely doesn’t want to sleep in the same house as a demon, much less a higher demon. Uncle Norval is muttering behind us, and I know I’m going to cop an earful from him later. They’re both going to ask what the fuck I was thinking.

The truth is… I don’t know. I just wanted to win. I wanted to beat him at something. I wanted to… I don’t know what the hell I wanted. My brain clearly went on vacation, because even when he offered the hotel and gave us both the chance to bow out without losing, I didn’t take it. Irefusedto take it. Like an idiot. And now we’re stuck here for the night.

Marc stops, opens a door, and steps back to let us enter the room. Matt goes first and stops dead so suddenly, I plow into him.

“Hey, what—” My gaze tracks over his shoulder, and I realize why he’s staring.

The room is empty.

Completely empty. As in, there’s not even a dust bunny.

I glance over my shoulder at Marc. “Any chance this is the wrong room?”

He shrugs. “There’s another room, but it’s not as suitable as this one.”

Turning to face him, I ask, “Why? Is it set up for ritual human sacrifice?”

Matt jabs his elbow into my left kidney and hisses, “Don’t give him ideas!”

“It’s smaller,” Marc replies, pretending he didn’t hear.

“But is it furnished?” I check. I wouldn’t put it past him to have a fully furnished guest room but show us an empty one just to throw us off the scent.

“No. Why would it be furnished? I don’t have visitors here.”

That’s sad. No wonder he needs friends—the ones he has won’t or can’t come to visit him on Earth.

“Is the hotel offer still open?” Matt asks hopefully.

Marc opens his mouth to reply, but I rush in. “Don’t be greedy. We can bunk on the floor—or on the couches. All we need are pillows and blankets.”

Fuck me. I just did it again.Again.

Matt and Marc are staring at me like I’m missing all the screws, and I can’t say I blame them.

“Ian, count backward from a hundred,” Uncle Norval demands. “Have you hit your head recently? Maybe I should talk to Connor.”

“Donottalk to Connor,” I order. “I’m just saying…” What am I saying? “Uh…” Come on, there has to be some bullshit reason I can give for totally losing my marbles this way. Something that isn’t “I felt sorry for the friendless demon with the amazing ass.”

If I say that, Matt’s going to call Connor while he’s carting me off to the nearest isolation facility. We don’t have a lot of hunters go insane, but itdoeshappen sometimes, and it’s never a good thing when someone who knows how to fight with knives and a sword or no weapons at all becomes paranoid and skittish. Those isolation facilities aren’t happy places.

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