Page 73 of Higher Demon

“With a T-shirt, I think,” Ian muses. “Oooh, a band shirt! I have a vintage one I got from the thrift store that would be perfect.”

I don’t dignify that with a response, and by the time I’m naked, he’s taken his shoes off the bedding.

Along with all the rest of his clothes.

I make him beg anyway. He likes it when I do.

Chapter27

Ian

The light snaps on,dragging me from sleep. “Demon, you—AAARRRRGH!” Uncle Norval’s scream wakes me all the way up. “Foul beast! I’m going to rend you?—”

“Uncle,” I interrupt, shoving down my panic. This is fine, this is fine, I canfixthis. “Keep your voice down. You’re going to wake the whole compound.” Sweat breaks out on my back as I imagine Connor racing in to see me in Marc’s bed, naked.

“You’re damn right, I’m going to wake the whole compound!” Uncle’s still yelling, his face red. Ghosts don’t have blood to cause those kinds of reactions to emotion, so I’ve always wondered how it happens.Not the fucking time, Ian!“I’ll need them all to send this demon to hell where he belongs!”

Marc pulls himself to a sitting position and leans against the basic wood headboard. He says nothing, but his eyes are watchful.

“Uncle Norval, listen to me. Marc’s done nothing wrong. I swear to you, I’m here of my own free will, and before we decided to take this step, we talked about it. A lot. We both had reservations, but we wanted each other enough to try anyway.”

His eyes bulge, and his head begins to shake back and forth, over and over. “No,” he gasps. “No!”

Shit. This is going nowhere fast. “If I can’t talk him down, leave,” I murmur to the naked demon beside me. “They won’t hurt me. I want you safe.”

“No.” The refusal is flat, and I grit my teeth. I know that tone. He won’t be argued with.

“My own family,” Norval’s moaning. “First, the traitors, and nowthis.”

Rage surges. “Don’t you fucking dare compare me to them,” I snap. “This isnothinglike that. Marc and I aren’t hurting anyone, and we’re both working damn hard for the Collective. I won’t let you or anyone say otherwise. Now, it’s the middle of the goddamn night and I’m tired, so you’re going to agree to keep your mouth shut about this until we can discuss it—calmly andprivately—and tell us why you barged in here to begin with.”

Uncle opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again, and then just leaves it hanging open like some kind of weird parody of a fish. Then he shakes his head like a dog and glares at me. “Oh, we’ll discuss it, alright. And until then, I’m not letting you out of my sight, Ian.”

I sigh. He’ll regret that—I planned to wake Marc up with a blowjob before I sneak back to my room later. “What did you want?” I repeat.

He sneers at Marc. “I’ve come from the estate. There’s a spirit there that wants to talk to you. They said they couldn’t sense you, so they went to Skye.”

Marc tenses. “A spirit?” He throws back the covers and gets out of bed, completely naked. Uncle Norval squawks.

“Ian, cover your eyes!”

Ignoring him, I scramble out of bed too, grabbing my boxer briefs.

“What name did the spirit give?” Marc asks. He’s turned to face what I’m pretty sure is the direction of Mannix Estate, which is about thirty minutes away from here, and his eyes are narrowed.

“The one that came last time,” Norval growls. “Wist.”

I frown, remembering something I was told. “Wasn’t that the spirit who works for you? The adiut?”

“Yes. Something must have happened.”

“Why can’t they sense you? We’re so close.”

“I’m blocking everything. I can’t risk anyone coming after me while I’m with you.”

My heart beats faster. “Why would someone come after you?”

He shakes his head. “It was just a precaution. But I have to go and talk to Wist.”

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