Page 61 of Higher Demon

I nod. That’s especially important now that Ian’s made me vulnerable. I’ll need to make sure I’m fully shielded and can’t be found by anyone. “I’m being careful.”

His gaze searches my face for a moment. “I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.”

“Thank you. Your help is invaluable.”

His grin is sudden and unexpected. “The problem with you, Marc, is that you have so few actual friends that you can’t understand helping is what we’re here for.”

Before I can think of a reply, he’s gone.

“Marc?” Ian calls, and I go back to the hallway, shoving aside all the inconvenient thoughts the conversation stirred up.

“You bellowed?” I lounge casually against the doorframe and watch him come toward me. Now that Titus has forced me to acknowledge the reality of the situation, the mere sight of my human is enough to cause a flood of emotion. Interestingly, my body reacts physically to the mental stimulus. If I weren’t so personally involved, I’d want to spend time studying the cyclical connection.

As it stands, I’d be perfectly happy for it all to stop immediately.

“I didn’tbellow,” he grumbles. “Stop exaggerating. Uncle Norval was in Singapore yesterday, and they think he’s gone to Indonesia. I’m going to call there, but it occurred to me that he’ll come straight to me when I do, and I’m… here.”

Oh. He’s leaving. I keep my face blank. “Could the call wait until tomorrow? He’s not likely to have any information—he’d have come back if he did.”

His lashes sweep down in a ridiculously slow blink. “Uh… I guess?”

“Matt’s due home tomorrow and will probably want to talk to Norval as well,” I remind him, not adding that with Matt home, Ian won’t be spending any nights here. This will be our last until his best friend is sent out on another assignment.

“That’s true. I guess it won’t hurt to leave it until the morning. It’s been a really long day, and I don’t think I’m up to dealing with Uncle anyway.” He smirks at me. “Plus, I seem to remember someone owes me a rim job.”

I raise a brow. “Sounds like it’s time for bed.”

Chapter23

Ian

I timemy arrival home so I miss the flurry of kids heading to school and adults to work, but the retirement crowd hasn’t yet left their homes for their daily activities. I swear, there’s nothing worse than a retired hunter. We can’t sit still, are constantly suspicious, and love to play with blades. Now imagine that with physical abilities and mental faculties fading, and you have elderly hunters. Most of us hope we’re taken out by a demon before we get to that point.

Inside, I flop on the couch and wonder what the fuck I’m going to do. Despite my best efforts, I can’t deny that I feel more than just lust for Marc. Somehow over the past month or so we’ve gone from being friendly acquaintances who fuck to… I don’t know. I don’t want to say boyfriends. He’s an older-than-time demon, and using that word to describe him is frankly ridiculous. But we’re in a relationship, and I can’t keep hiding from that.

Even if I don’t know how to handle it.

There’s no way we can openly be together. Not now, anyway. Maybe in a decade or so, when people are more used to Marc and some of them have befriended him… But even then, there would be a lot who hate the idea. A demon with a human—ahunter? I’d be lucky if the only thing that happened was me being forced to leave the Collective. At worst, they’d hunt us both down and the truce would be shattered.

So… if I’m not going to end this—and I’m not—it has to stay a secret. But the problem with secret relationships is that there’s nobody you can talk to when you need advice. The three people I’d normally go to—my brothers—are the last ones who can know about this. Same for any of my friends in the Collective.

Maybe Dylan? I spend some time pondering that. He seemed okay with the idea of a human dating a demon. But Dyl’s more Matt’s friend than mine, and while I trust him to keep a secret, it’s not fair to ask him to keep one this big.

Who does that leave? Who can I talk to about maybe falling for the worst poss?—

I smack myself in the forehead. I’m such an idiot. I have a friend who literally makes a living—a good one—from romance, and I’m sitting here moaning about not having anyone to talk to about relationship problems. Grabbing my phone, I scroll to Liam’s number and call him.

“Hey! I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

The sound of his voice flashes me back to my college days, and something in me relaxes. Connor and Gabe fought hard for us to go to Franklin U, wanting us to have a break from the compound and get some experience living among normies. Those were the best damn years of my life.

Of course, that could have something to do with the fact that it was before the Battle for the Barrier and the responsibilities that came after.

“Yeah, I’ve been busy,” I excuse. “You know what work’s like. Did I get you at a good time?” He works from home but has a lot of client meetings.

“Yeah, I got time. No appointments until this afternoon. How are the archives?” As far as he and Charlie, his husband, know, I work as an archivist for a private historical trust. I’ve always tried to be vague on the details. They think Matt’s the regional manager of a sales team.

“Oh, you know. Lots of family records. Listen… I have this problem. Well, not really a problem. I mean, it’s?—”

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