Page 64 of Higher Demon

“Hm?”

“Why did you think it was just sex and not that Marc was… you know?” I twirl my finger toward my head.

He snorts. “If Marc was mind-controlling you to have sex with him, he’d do a better job of hiding it.”

I think I’m offended by that, but I’m not sure why.

“Besides,” he adds, “you didn’t see the way you two are together now. It’s… Maybe I was taking a risk, but I don’t think he’d look at you that way if he was using you.”

That gives me a happy little thrill I ignore. “Connor’s going to freak.”

Matt’s spine shoots straight. “You can’t tell him! Are you fucking insane?”

My stomach sinks. “Not today, obviously. But even if we keep this a secret from the Collective, I… Con’s my family.”

“Shit.” Matt pinches the bridge of his nose. “You said you haven’t talked to Marc yet. Do that first, and then we’ll come up with a plan. Maybe if we break it to Gabe first—and Tom and Kieran. They can…” He trails off.

“Sedate Connor and chain him up?”

“Don’t laugh,” he tells me darkly. “It might come to that.”

Chapter24

Marc

“There’s no way around it,”Ian says, staring at his phone. “Even if we push hard, it’s a two-day drive there.”

“They’ve said they’ll pay for you to fly,” Tasha, the hunter who coordinates these education seminars, repeats patiently. As he always does, Ian immediately shakes his head.

“No fucking way.”

“It can’t be that bad,” she coaxes. “They said they’ll spring for first class.”

“They only said that because my asshole brother knows I’ll never take them up on the offer.”

I say nothing. In the years I’ve known him, I’ve never known Ian to fly anywhere. I assumed it was a hunter thing, since most of them prefer to have their ugly cars with all their demon-murdering paraphernalia, but maybe there’s something else?

Regardless, the easy solution would be for me to remind them that neither a car nor a plane is necessary. I can easily transport myself and Ian to the compound in Illinois. It would take a heartbeat and be completely harmless. Not to mention save me from having to sit in Ian’s horrid car for two days… each way.

Though having that time alone with Ian would be nice.

The dilemma is, if I suggest it, will Tasha assume I have nefarious plans? WouldIantrust me enough to allow it? I think he would, but for all I know, our relationship is filed neatly under the category of “delusion” in his mind, and he convinces himself I’m an ordinary human when he sleeps beside me. I’m always very careful not to use any demonic power when we’re having sex, so it’s not impossible. Once I transport him two-thirds of the way across a continent, he won’t be able to deny what I am.

If he even does.

Titus was right that Ian and I need to talk, but I find that one weakness this human body has given me is fear of change. When you live as long as I do, change is inevitable and unremarkable. Ian’s life is short, however, and I fear that any change to the status quo now will mean I lose him forever. That’s unacceptable.

But I refuse to succumb to fear and let this human body change me.

“There’s no help for it then.” Tasha sighs and leans back in her desk chair. “You’ll lose four days to travel. The question is, do you want to take some of it out of the time you’re supposed to be spending there?”

Frowning, Ian pulls the schedule she printed off across the desk and studies it. “There’s not much room to take time from this. We couldmaybeshave off half a day. I think we’ll just have to wear it.”

This is becoming ridiculous. “Not that I’m eager to spend hours trapped in an enclosed space with humans, but why exactly can’t we fly? I haven’t tried it personally, but if it’s faster than driving, it seems sensible.”

Ian shakes his head. “It’s a precursor to death,” he says darkly.

“Not for me,” I remind him. “I’m assuming not for the millions of others who safely fly every day also.”

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